Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

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Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

• Strategies for Addressing Disproportionality
  through Community Engagement Cross-System
  Collaboration
• Presented by
• Joyce James DFPS Assistant Commissioner for CPS
• Carolyne Rodriguez Director, Texas State
  Strategy,
• Casey Family Programs
• Mike Griffiths Director of Juvenile Services,
• Dallas County Juvenile Probation
• 11th Annual Disproportionate Minority
  Contact Conference
• September 9, 2006 New Orleans

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Desired Outcomes for Today

• Understand the community-based approach being
  taken in Texas to address Disproportionality
• Understand the internal cultural change needed in
  systems to address Disproportionality and
  disparate outcomes
• Learn about the community engagement strategies
  for leading this work
• Recognize the challenges, barriers and
  opportunities in this work
• Establish the linkage of this work to DFPS
  Renewal in Texas
• Consider practical applications by juvenile
  justice systems and related disciplines to
  address disproportionality

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A Shared Vision . . .

• In May of 2004, Casey Family Programs and
  DFPS entered a collaborative relationship,
  committed to concentrating resources and energy
  to establish an intensive planning and
  implementation process to reduce
  disproportionality in the Texas child welfare
  system.
• Texas was chosen in part because of
• its large child population
• its potential for significant program and policy
  impact on a statewide level, and
• its long-established working relationship with
  Casey Family Programs in a systems improvement
  collaborative called the Texas State Strategy

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Texas State Strategy System Improvement Efforts

• Development of tools and identification of
  evidenced-based practices
• Consultation and provision of technical
  assistance
• Shared facilitation of state-focused, strategic
  partnerships
• Joint collaboration in addressing systemic racism
  in child welfare

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Texas Department of Family and
Protective Services (DFPS)

• Children First, Protected and Connected!
• The Child Protective Services (CPS) program of
  DFPS is designated to receive alleged reports of
  child maltreatment and to investigate reports of
  suspected abuse and neglect.
• The total child population for the state of
  Texas is estimated to be 6,277,205.
• Goal To ensure child safety and to provide
  services that promote the integrity and stability
  of the family.

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CPS Leading Change

• CPS is committed to addressing
  disproportionality through its vision of Children
  First, Protected and Connected, and ensuring
  alignment with CPS values of
• respect for culture
• inclusiveness of families, youth and community
• integrity in decision making
• compassion for all
• commitment to reducing disproportionality
• Strategies include
• Implementing legislative changes and mandates
• Adopting promising practices and tools
• Improving use of data
• Increasing the cultural competence of CPS staff
  at all levels
• Facilitating community-led solutions

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Texas Legislative Mandates

• Senate Bill 6 requires the State to take specific
  actions to address disproportionality.
• The bill gives statutory authority to the work we
  are doing and planning to do
• The bill adds to our Texas Family Code, requiring
  DFPS to do four things
• Provide cultural competency training to all
  service delivery staff.   
• Increase targeted recruitment for foster and
  adoptive parents to meet needs of children
  waiting for homes
• Target recruitment efforts to ensure diversity
  among child welfare staff.
• Develop collaborative community partnerships to
  provide culturally competent services to children
  and families of every race and ethnicity.  

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Additional Legislative Mandates

• Examination of removal rates and other
  enforcement actions
• Analysis of disproportionality provided to the
  legislature on January 1, 2006
• Development and implementation of remediation
  plan reported to the legislature on July 1, 2006
  available on agency website
  http//www.dfps.state.tx.us/Documents/about/pdf/
  2006-07-01_Disproportionality.pdf

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Expected Outcomes

• To reduce, and ultimately to prevent, the
  disproportionate representation of and disparate
  outcomes for African-American children in the
  Texas child welfare and juvenile justice systems,
  and to improve services to all children and
  families.

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Who is Involved?

• DFPS
• Casey Family Programs
• Youth and family representatives
• Community stakeholders
• African-American children and families
• Local government agencies including law
  enforcement
• Non-profit agencies
• Community leaders
• Legislative staff
• Foster parents
• University partners
• Faith-based leaders
• Community advocates
• Media

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Guiding Principles from the Beginning..

• To effect social change will require a
  multi-faceted approach socially, economically,
  educationally and politically
• The community must be the driving force behind
  any sustainable change

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Starting with the Data
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Compelling Facts About Disproportionality

• There is great difference between races in the
  likelihood that a child will be removed from home
  and placed in foster care
• Children of color enter the system at
  disproportionately high rates as compared to
  Anglo children
• African American children are 4 times more likely
  to be placed in care
• African Americans are no more likely to abuse
  their children than any other race
• Unadjusted data indicate African American
  children are overrepresented in the Texas CPS
  system and the level of disproportionality
  increases at each stage of service

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Texas Data - FY 2005Summary of Statewide Data
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Dallas County Data FY 2005
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2005 Texas / Dallas County Juvenile Justice
Referrals Texas Juvenile Probation Commission
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Juvenile Age Population vs. Referrals Texas
Juvenile Probation Commission
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Dallas County Juvenile Department

• Criminal Justice Policy Council
• Stakeholder Report Card Sessions
• Texas State University
• Texas Family Protective Services
• Annie E. Casey Juvenile Detention Alternatives
  Initiative Replication Site

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Annie E. Casey FoundationJuvenile Detention
Alternatives Initiative

• Collaboration
• Reliance on Data
• Objective Admissions Screening
• Alternatives to Secure Detention
• Expedited Case Processing
• Strategies for Special Detention Cases
• Strategies to Reduce Racial Disparities
• Rigorous Facility Inspections

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Juvenile Justice Strategies to Impact
Disproportionate Minority Contact

• Examination of System
• Social Context Issues
• Juvenile Justice System Practices
• Collect Data From All Contact Points
• Formulate Vision
• Develop Structure
• Build Alliances
• Diversify Systems Workforce
• Provide Training
• Create Instruments / Guidelines to Minimize
  Disparity
• Challenge Ancillary Systems to Address Issue

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Project HOPE Successful Model

• Began in May 2002
• Community Vision, Mission and Goals
• Community focused, data-driven
• Existing data maximized and improved
• Gaps identified
• Current status

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Project Hope Center Opening
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Statewide Planning Process
                                       
 
 
 
Form Community Advisory Committee
Begin implementation
Undoing Racism training      
Analyze data to select region Identify community
members and leaders      
Hold community planning meeting  
Analyze data to select
region Identify community members and leaders

• Form Community Advisory Committee
• Review of data
• Charter development
• Other stakeholders
• Plan for decision making
• Identification of resources
• Action planning

• Begin implementation
• Town Hall meetings
• Determine practice models
• MOUs
• Who else should be at the table?

Hold community planning meeting
Undoing Racism training
 

• Town Hall meetings
• Determine practice models
• MOUs
• Who else should be at the table?
•  
•  
•  
•  

 

• Review of data
• Charter development
• Other stakeholders
• Plan for decision making
• Identification of resources
• Action planning
•  
•  
•  

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Requirements

• Leadership commitment
• Diversity and breadth of Disproportionality
  Community Advisory Committee
• Commitment to stakeholder involvement
• Alignment with Vision and Values

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Statewide Accomplishments

• Through community advocacy, Texas has been
  legislatively mandated to address
  disproportionality
• State Disproportionality Director and Specialists
  in place
• Target sites selected in several regions to
  implement community strategies
• Undoing Racism training achieved for all regional
  and state office managers and directors, and for
  pilot site staff and collaborators
• Texas is one of 13 nationwide jurisdictions
  participating Casey Disproportionality
  Breakthrough Series Collaborative
• Best practice training curricula is being
  implemented to address cultural competency for
  CPS staff
• Disproportionality data used to guide community
  strategies for systems improvement

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Challenges and Opportunities

• Challenges
• Public sentiment
• Impacting Social Context issues effecting
  Disparity issues
• Political will / support
• Practice issues
• Elevating the voice
• Supporting child welfare leadership
• Opportunities
• Strong community engagement
• Strong relationships with stakeholders
• Anti-racist principles in all aspects of CPS and
  other systems embedded
• Constituents engaged in an in-depth way
• Impacting public policy through legislative
  engagement
• Bar will be raised for all children, youth,
  families communities
• Chance for a collaborative evaluation with
  university partners
• Strong impact for sustainable change through
  legislative mandates

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Benefits for African-American Youth and Families

• More youth and family engagement
• Fewer youth in the foster care system
• Fewer out-of-home placement moves
• Less time in foster care placement
• More youth placed with kin
• More foster and adoptive homes
• More community commitment, involvement, and
  resources

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The Right Thing to Do

• Cowardice asks the question, is it safe?
• Expediency asks the question, is it polite?
• Vanity asks the question, is it popular?
• But conscience asks the question, is it right?
• And there comes a time when one must take a
  position that is
• neither safe, nor polite, nor popular
• but one must take it because it is right.
• Martin Luther King, Jr.