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Foster Care Redesign

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Florida has higher rate of removals than Illinois, New York, Ohio and Texas ... remain in their homes do better than in foster care. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Foster Care Redesign


1
Foster Care Redesign
  • Department of Children and Families
  • Partnership For Strong Families
  • Casey Family Programs

2
Foster Care Redesign
  • Rethinking Child Welfare Services to
  • Phase 1. Safely Reduce the Number of Children
    Entering Out of Home Care
  • Phase 2. Reduce Time to Permanency for Children
    in Out of Home Care

3
First - The Scope of Our Problem Child Victims
per 1,000 Children
4
Alachua Co Some Indicators or Verified Findings
2006-07
What happens to children?
3127 maltreatments 1904 different children were
victims
5
Alachua County
September 2007 526 children out of home care in
Alachua County September 2008 465 children in
out of home care Trend to placement with
relatives and not in Foster Homes
6
The Case for Change
  • Research by Casey Family Programs, and others,
    shows that many children who enter foster care
    are at greater risk of juvenile delinquency,
    later mental health problems, teenage pregnancy,
    dropping out of school, unemployment,
    homelessness and other major life problems.
  • Although it is coming down, last year the state
    average for removals was 30.9 children per 1,000.
  • Florida has higher rate of removals than
    Illinois, New York, Ohio and Texas
  • Keeping families together, is the right thing to
    do.

7
Research Is Measuring the Effects of Foster Care
Source Dr. Joseph Doyle, Child Welfare and
Child Outcomes Measuring the Effects of Foster
Care, MIT Sloan NBER
8
Other Studies - Similar Findings
  • Casey Family Programs NW Foster Care Alumni
    Study
  • Interviews with young adults who spent many
    years in foster care, revealed 25.2 suffered
    from PTSD, a rate nearly double that of US war
    veterans.
  • Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, Kids
    who can
  • remain in their homes do better than in foster
    care. Some kids, for their own safety, need to be
    removed from their families, but in marginal
    cases of abuse, more should be done to keep them
    together.
  • Lawrence, Carlson, Egeland, The Impact of Foster
    Care on Development, Development and
    Psychopathology, 2006 children placed in out of
    home care exhibited significant behavior problems
    in comparison to children who received adequate
    care, and .foster care children showed elevated
    levels of behavior problems following release
    from care.

9
Racial Disparity Issues
  • Alachua County has higher reporting rates for
    African-American children
  • And disparity in removing children into out of
    home care in Alachua County

10
Racial Disparity in Reports to Hotline and Out of
Home Care
11
Our neighboring counties Children in Care by
Race
12
Review of the Problem
  • Reviewing cases as to types of reasons children
    are sheltered
  • Preliminary recommendations are to address
    training, cultural competence in our own staff
    and with reporting professionals
  • Risk Assessment tools to help make more
    systematic and race neutral decisions regarding
    removal.

13
Response to All These IssuesOrganizing
Principles for Change
  • Cross system collaboration coordination
  • - DCF does protective investigations
  • - Partnership does all follow-up services,
    manages foster homes, adoptions
  • Ongoing feedback Continuous Quality Improvement
  • Data collection Monitor system improvement with
    monthly reports
  • Community investment and engagement to support
    the necessary changes

14
Elements of Change
  • Facilitate/ Support Change
  • Assessment/ Decision Making
  • Promote Family Engagement
  • Increase Diversion Services
  • Create Prevention Effort with the Community for
    32609
  • Ensure timely permanency for children in out of
    home care

15
II. Assessment - Case Decisions
  • Team Decision Making Involving Family, Staff,
    Supervisors, consultation with experts in our
    area
  • Assessment Review family strengths, needs,
    safety and risks to select best fit level of
    services/visits for families at different needs.
  • Decision Team Consultant (Casey Funded position)
  • Streamline staffings at both DCF and PSF.
  • Domestic Violence Specialists
  • Rapid response from DV SA providers to CPI
    request for assistance at beginning of
    investigation. Peaceful Paths and Meridian
    Behavioral Healthcare are partners

16
III. Promote Family Engagement
  • Ensure family centered efforts
  • Training to improve engagement
  • Staff from different agencies meet jointly with
    family
  • Advocate for the familys success

17
IV. Increase Diversion Services
  • Improved framework for referrals between DCF and
    PSF
  • Co-location of staff members
  • Rapid help for Domestic Violence, Mental Health
    Substance Abuse problems
  • Resources best match for families
  • Collaboration for services
  • Training, collaboration, feedback, project
    evaluation

18
Hotline Case Received Accepted Investigation
Initiated By DCF
Team Decision Making Process Implemented to
Determine Pathway for Services with Partnership
PATH 1 DIVERSION Environmental hazards or safety
concerns can be mitigated. May use Mobile Crisis
Response Team High risk family in crisis and
needs short term help to prevent removal. Help
as needed quickly with DV, MH, and/or SA
interventions
  • PATH 2
  • VOLUNTARY PROTECTIVE SERVICES
  • Moderate-high risk, needs assistance quickly
    (within 24 hours) Needs longer term case
    management

PATH 3 OUT-OF-HOME CARE Severe abuse. Safety not
assured. Place with relatives if possible, if not
place in childs own community.
Family Resource Center Collaborative Prototype
in C8 Low to Moderate to risk, with needs that a
community agency can address. Family cooperative
19
Diversion Pathways Focus on
  • Stabilizing and supporting families so that they
    can remain intact
  • Providing the right level of intervention for the
    family, and at the right time
  • Bringing multiple disciplines to the table to
    address multiple needs
  • Preventing entry or further penetration into the
    dependency system

20
And A New Take on an Old Idea
  • A welcoming place where families are nurtured
    and encouraged Neighborhood based centers where
    families can come for help.
  • Build on family strengths
  • Help with issues of
  • Financial stability
  • Parent education, family support and early
    education
  • Healthcare
  • Counseling - Issues of domestic violence,
    substance abuse and mental illness
  • Offer help, before a family is failing

21
Circuit 3/8 Child Victims Ages 0-17 - Yellow
BarsFor January to June 2007 for Top 10 Zip Codes
Starting in this Neighborhood An Area of
Concern
Lake City
Lake City
Live Oak
22
The Planning Team
  • Alachua Co. Housing Authority
  • Alachua Co. Health Dept.
  • Alachua Co. Social Services
  • Alachua Co. HeadStart
  • Childrens Home Society
  • Childrens Medical Services
  • Early Learning Coalition
  • Early Steps/CMS
  • Florida Works
  •  Gainesville Housing Authority 
  • Gainesville Job Corp
  • Dignity Project
  • Healthy Families Alachua
  • Healthy Start
  • HIPPY
  • Meridian Behavioral Healthcare
  • Peaceful Paths
  • UF/Child Protection Team
  • UF/CAPP Nurturing Program
  • United Way
  • Gainesville Community Ministry
  • Florida Institute for Workforce Innovation (FIWI)
  • And others who will help us when the doors swing
    open!

23
A real place
  • Partners with the Alachua County Library
  • Proposed site on NE 16th Ave, next to Dollar
    General
  • Near the schools
  • On the bus lines

24
Next Steps
  • Creating detailed plan with collaborative
    partners for referrals
  • Offers of help from all those agencies some
    will send staff on routine basis
  • Joint trainings to improve skills of partner
    agencies
  • Survey families in neighborhood
  • Create meaningful plan of family activities and
    learning opportunities at center
  • Create community steering committee
  • Community Outreach Education
  • Document successes spread to other counties in
    Circuit
  • Create Service/Resource Bank
  • Prototype underway in Circuit 8 - Gainesville

25
Measures of Success for Families
  • Parent/Family
  • Parenting knowledge and attitude
  • Parenting Behavior
  • Family Functioning
  • Health (includes substance abuse, mental health
    and domestic violence)
  • Economic self-sufficiency
  • Child Outcome
  • Cognitive development/school performance
  • Social-emotional development
  • Physical health/growth
  • Child safety no re-abuse cases

26
Measures of Success for the Child Welfare
System
  • Reduction in children removed from their parents
    into out of home care
  • Success in providing services as shown by no new
    maltreatments of a child by parents
  • Reduction in disparity of referrals and
    placements of African-American children
  • Increase in availability of services to support
    and strengthen family functioning

27
Tell us your reaction
  • What do you think?
  • Do you have any suggestions?
  • What have we missed?
  • Questions you would like answered?
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