NACHSA Conference Olmsted County Community Services Taking Action on Disparities Project

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NACHSA ConferenceOlmsted County Community
ServicesTaking Action on Disparities Project

• December 4, 2006

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We Are

• John Edmonds, Senior Social Worker
• Olmsted County Child and Family Services
• 2116 Campus Drive SE
• Rochester, MN. 55901
• Phone [phone]
• E-mail edmonds.john_at_co.olmsted.mn.us
• Linda Billman, Supervisor
• Olmsted County Child and Family Services
• 2116 Campus Drive SE
• Rochester, MN. 55901
• Phone [phone]
• E-Mail billman.linda_at_co.olmsted.mn.us
• Joyce Skjeie, Supervisor
• Olmsted County Financial Services
• 300 11th Ave NW

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Our Partners

• County Social Financial Services
• Project H.O.P.E.
• Family Services Rochester
• Express Personnel Services
• Workforce Development, Inc.
• Rochester School District IS 535

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Rochester, MN

• Who are We?

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• This?

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• Or this?

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• Or, perhaps all of the above!

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Defining the Community - Who We Are

• Minnesota 5.1 Million
• State Supervised - County Administered
• 87 counties
• 11 tribes
• Child Welfare Reform
• Olmsted County
• 135,000 Urban/Rural
• 86 Caucasian
• Regional Hub
• Rapid Growth

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Defining the Community - Who We Are

• As of the last census, Rochester is the States
  3rd largest city _at_ 90,000
• Black or African Americans represent 2.7 of the
  County population and 3.6 of the population of
  Rochester

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Defining the Community - Who We Are

• Median family income is 61,000 for the City of
  Rochester.
• Mayo and IBM are by far the major employers in
  Rochester.
• Black or African American students make up 8.5
  of the school population.
• 28 of the population didnt live here in 1995.

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Disparities Project- Background

• Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP)
  Self-support Index (2004) shows discrepancy in
  success of African-American participants to gain
  economic stability.Overall Self-support Index
  77.5 Somali/East African 79.9 White 78.7 Hispa
  nic 77.5 African-American 64.5
• African-American children are over represented in
  the child welfare system. A disproportionate
  number of children are reported because of
  community concerns about child safety, stability
  and well-being. DHS facilitates an African
  American Disparities Work Group seeking
  constructive practices to support children and
  families.
• An Otto Bremer Foundation Grant (2005) funds
  sixteen county initiatives to reduce
  discrepancies among racial/ethnic or immigrant
  populations.

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Olmsted County Community Services Department
Family Support Assistance DivisionTotal MFIP
Caseload Profile- EthnicityUpdated 12-2005
MFIP Minnesota Family Investment Program.
Minnesotas welfare reform work program.
Recipients receive cash and food support benefits
while they are seeking employment.
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Olmsted County Community Services Department
Family Support Assistance DivisionFamily
Profile- Household TypeUpdated 3-2006

• Child-only has no adult getting benefits, just
  minor children.
• Relative Caretaker often grandparent or other
  older relative like Aunt/Uncle. Adult relative
  getting benefits along with minor children.

African-American families 10214 of total MFIP
cases
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Olmsted County Disparities

• 8 of our African-American MFIP families are out
  of compliance with their Self-sufficiency/Employme
  nt Plan and are in sanction (reduced benefits),
  compared to 6.3 overall.
• 39 of our MFIP families whose cases are closed
  at the 60-month lifetime limit with no basis for
  an extension are African American (not working,
  not disabled).
• Besides the disparity on the Self-support Index,
  other disparities exist or are of concern when
  assessing successful outcomes for
  African-American families.

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Disparities

• Approximately 21 of the children in care in
  Olmsted County are children of color
• As a percentage of the population African
  American children are 5 times more likely to be
  in out-of-home care
• African American families are more likely to be
  reported for neglect (80 vs 71)
• Youth of color are up to 5 times more likely to
  become pregnant than white youth.

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Disparities

• 1 in 4 African-Americans are living below the
  poverty line
• Rates of home ownership are 77 for whites and
  32 for African-Americans
• Disparities in health care access and health care
  outcomes

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Disparities

• Incarceration rates
• We have 2 achievement gaps in the schools, the
  gap between non-native and majority students and
  native-born African-Americans and the majority.
• The graduation rate for white students is 92 and
  for African-Americans is 73
• Youth of color are up to 5 times more likely to
  become pregnant than white youth.

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It matters

• From a social justice perspective
• Because of the social and economic costs to the
  families we serve and the community as a whole.
• Because the service delivery system is confounded
  by an increasing demand from a population with
  which there is little familiarity

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Key Realizations

• African-Americans experience disparity in many
  different ways and different settings.
• Concentrating on one aspect misses the larger
  implications of the intersection of poverty,
  class and racism and their impact on the social,
  economic, environmental and psychological lives
  of the families we serve.
• Its critical to see disparities in a broader
  context than only out of home placement rates or
  MFIP success.
• Our strategies need to be equally broad based and
  contextual.

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Key Realizations

• The demographics of Rochester have changed
  dramatically in the last 20 years. There have
  been waves of immigrants settling in town
  beginning with Southeast Asians in the late 70s
  and 80s to sub-Saharan Africans, primarily from
  Somalia and to a lesser extent the Sudan, to
  Bosnians and Croatians in the 90s.
• Census data doesnt track African-Americans
  separately. The category of Race combines
  Africans and African-Americans into one category,
  making it impossible to decipher who might have
  been born here and who has arrived from another
  country. This has implications for both policy
  and practice.
• Less obvious has been the arrival of what I
  characterize as Invisible Immigrants. They are
  African-Americans arriving here from urban
  centers in other states, Chicago, Milwaukee,
  Gary.

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Invisible Immigrants

• There is an acknowledgement of the obstacles
  newcomers from other lands confront when they
  come here. We make the presumption that anyone
  born in this country should be capable of
  assimilating into our community.
• We fail to recognize that the world and culture
  from which many African-Americans came is as
  dramatically different from Rochester, MN as any
  foreign country.

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Invisible Immigrants

• Many are fleeing from crime, poverty and
  substandard housing in the large urban centers.
• There is a qualitative difference between
  fleeing from and moving to in the approach to
  a major life change and successful maintenance of
  the change.
• The prime motivation for coming here is safety
  and a better life.
• They arrive with few skills and fewer prospects.

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Challenges

• In many important ways, the newly arrived
  African-Americans struggles mirror those of
  foreign arrivals. E.g.
• Understanding, accessing and negotiating
  different systems like schools, human services,
  transportation.
• Finding jobs, housing
• Adjusting to the climate
• Learning the language and the general customs of
  the City and the region.
• Suddenly finding oneself part of the minority
  when one has been used to being in the majority.

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• Whether this invisibility springs from ignorance,
  inattentiveness, some benign concern or a more
  conscious attempt to disenfranchise, the impact
  is the same, what I call the Ds of our
  Demography.

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Ds of our Demography

• Distrust Distrust of the majority population,
  and formal organizations in the community,
  especially Government agencies and an expectation
  of negative treatment based on prior experiences.
• Disorientation Bringing a worldview, a set of
  norms and values shaped by the experiences of
  inner city America to middle class Rochester
  where the clash of cultures is inevitable.
• Dislocation Many new arrivals are fleeing crime
  and violence and see Rochester as a safe
  community in which to raise children. There is no
  planning for this move other than a dream of a
  better life.

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• Discomfort Many feel the services and personnel
  are not culturally relevant/sensitive.
• Disengagement The majority of immigrants are
  caught at the intersection of poverty and race
  and consequently are not part of the economic
  mainstream. As a consequence of all of the above,
  the new immigrant doesnt connect well with
  services, if at all.
• A perception arises that they are hostile or
  unmotivated.

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What strategies need to be developed to respond?

• The strategies need to be broad based.
• So far we have moved in 4 substantive areas
  Funding, Policy Making, Programming , and
  Collaboration
• We are going to focus on the latter 2,
  Programming and Collaboration

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Olmsted County Community Initiative for
African-American Families

• The County has an established record of working
  effectively with families in transition
• It is actively applying lessons learned from
  previous experiences to enhance welfare-to-work
  transitions for African-American families.
• The County put together a team of agencies and
  workers to support families with multiple
  challenges in making the transition.
• The County is utilizing a strong up-front
  assessment process and quick attachment of
  participants to available supports and jobs.

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Olmsted County Community Initiative for
African-American Families

• The cornerstone of the Countys efforts is the
• African-American Express Project

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African-American Express Project

• The Express Project focuses on job readiness,
  placement, and job stability for African-American
  families receiving cash public assistance
  (Minnesota Family Investment Program).
• It is a partnership between MFIP and Express
  Personnel Services for employment and job
  placement, and with Project H.O.P.E. for social
  services support.

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EXPRESS Project Overview

• 116 MFIP/DWP families identified as potential
  participants with Express.
• Currently 96 people are enrolled in the project.
• 20 people have Universal plans (SSI pending,
  unable to work)
• 47 participants (40) are currently working the
  required 30-hours per week for compliance with
  MFIP rules.
• Social Worker support continues for families with
  child welfare or other family stability issues.

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County/Community Initiativeswith
African-American Families

• Project H.O.P.E.
• Project H.O.P.E. (Hope, Opportunity, Pride, and
  Empowerment) is a collaboration of Olmsted County
  Community Services Department, Child Family
  Division, and Family Services of Rochester (FSR)
  and a partnership effort with the Rochester
  Public Schools.

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Project H.O.P.E. OverviewHope, Opportunity,
Pride Empowerment

• Project H.O.P.E. is a program for parents and
  their children designed to empower families in
  the community.
• The projects focus is on engaging families in
  partnership to build safety and well-being for
  children through advocacy, education and support,
  and by providing an entry point to needed
  services.
• There is also recognition that a successful
  partnership requires all the parties share in the
  responsibility to make it work.
• Therefore, the goal of safety and well-being for
  families and children involves working to ensure
  efficient and effective collaborative
  relationships between agencies and organizations.

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Project H.O.P.E. OverviewHope, Opportunity,
Pride Empowerment

• Project HOPE has partnered with the
  welfare-to-work program to provide a monthly
  short term class, Giving You Keys to a Brighter
  Future for African-American MFIP families.
• The curriculum incorporates two trainings
• Enhancing Nurturing Parenting skills in African
  American Families (Lessie Artis, D.S.W. and
  Deborah R. Moody) and Getting Ahead in a
  Just-Getting-By World" (Philip E. DeVol).
• The class is a psycho-educational experience
  affording participants an opportunity to have an
  honest discussion about The realities of
  oppression and racism internalized oppression
  The barriers to realizing a vision for oneself
  and ones familys future Strategies for
  overcoming these barriers And making and
  maintaining positive changes.
• More importantly, participants make a decision
  as to whether they are ready, willing and able to
  strive to make their vision a reality.

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Project H.O.P.E. OverviewHope, Opportunity,
Pride Empowerment

• Classes are held at the Hawthorne Adult Basic
  Education Center so participants can benefit from
  GED and other adult skills assessment and leaning
  opportunities.
• Project HOPE also provides social work support
  and other child welfare/family stability
  services.

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Project H.O.P.E. ResultsHope, Opportunity,
Pride Empowerment

• Project H.O.P.E has held 9 Giving You Keys to a
  Brighter Future classes.
• As of Nov 2006, 32 people have gone through the
  class.
• Many participants have significant barriers to
  overcome E.g. lack of education, past criminal,
  substance abuse, and domestic violence histories.
• Despite this there have been some notable
  successes.
• 19 people who have gone through the classes are
  currently employed. (59)
• 18 are off MFIP, 14 are still on MFIP
• Of those still on MFIP, 6 are still working.

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Project H.O.P.E. ResultsHope, Opportunity,
Pride Empowerment

• Participants have been positive about the content
  of classes.
• Participants have commented on the fact that they
  like having staff from Hawthorne Adult Education
  Center come into the class and talk to them about
  getting GEDs and other programs available at the
  center.
• Participants also appreciate that Express
  Personnel Services stops into the class and sets
  interviews up for them once the class ends.

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Project H.O.P.E. ResultsHope, Opportunity,
Pride Empowerment

• Self-Support Index
• As mentioned earlier, the SSI for
  African-American Families was 64.5 in 2004
• In March of 2006 the SSI had risen to 72.7
• We believe this can be attributed to increased
  attention and targeted interventions such as the
  Express Project and the Project HOPE classes.
• We anticipate a continued narrowing of the gap
  between the African-American families and the
  majority.

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Conclusion

• Disproportionality needs to be addressed on
  micro, mezzo and macro levels simultaneously.
• Individual workers need to be informed of the
  issues and challenges facing African Americans.
  (The 5 Ds) They need to be given the tools,
  (knowledge and support) to effectively respond to
  those challenges.
• Agencies need to examine their policies and
  practices to eliminate potential barriers to
  engagement with families of color.
• Systems need to make a concerted effort to
  partner and collaborate to avoid duplication.
• All of us need to discover new, creative ways to
  address the issue of disparity.

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Where Do We Go From Here?

• How have other systems approached the issue of
  disparity?
• Are there opportunities for new collaborations?
• Are there other stakeholders?
• Can we think out of the box?