Title: Issues of Race Equity in the Child Welfare System: An examination of the history of recent efforts and examination of their applicability to the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative
1The Collaborative Partnership of the Minority
Youth and Families Initiative
Brad Richardson, Ph.D. Univ. of IA School of
Social Work National Resource Center for Family
Centered Practice DMC Resource Center B-G Tall
Bear Iowa Department of Human Services Woodbury
County (Sioux City)
Frank LaMere Four Directions Center Sioux
City Julia Kleinschmit Rembert, MSW Univ. of IA
School of Social Work DMC Resource Center Sioux
City Campus
1
2What well cover today . . .
- What and where the Minority Youth and Family
Initiative (MYFI) is - What the data tell us about whats working with
MYFI - Successful and promising practice changes
- How these changes came about through community
work - Replicating the approach
3- Disproportionality is the over-or-under-represent
ation of minority children under age 18 in foster
care compared to their representation in the
general population. - In 2004, American Indian children made up 0.4 of
the general population of children in Woodbury
County, but 2.2 of children in foster care a 5
X overrepresentation rate
4Where is Woodbury County?
4
5Tribal Affiliations of Native Children Assessed
for Abuse, Woodbury County January
2005-December 2007
- Northern Cheyenne
- Oglala Sioux
- Omaha
- Potawatomie
-
- Rosebud Sioux
- Santee Sioux
- Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux
- Spirit Lake Sioux
- Standing Rock Sioux
- Alaska Native
- Assiniboine
- Blackfeet
- Oklahoma Cherokee
- Cheyenne River Sioux
- Chippewa
- Crow Creek Sioux
- Fort Peck Sioux
- Wisconsin Ho-Chunk
- Hopi
5
6Timeline 1950s to 2005
- Migration to Sioux City, IA
- 55 Years Later . . .
- 1998
- Community Initiative for Native Children and
Families (CINCF) begins meeting - 2003
- Recover Our Children (ROC) Memorial Marches for
Lost Children - Iowa Indian Child Welfare Act
- 2004
- Minority Youth and Family Initiative funded
- DMC Resource Center begins providing technical
assistance - Accurate accounting of child welfare-involved
Native children - 2005
- Native Unit begins work
6
7Timeline 2006 to present
- 2006
- (Casey) Alliance and Race Matters Consortium
provides technical assistance - Evaluation shows families served by Native Unit
improve in functioning and risk of re-abuse is
reduced - Iowa DHS launches Redesign
- 2007
- Alliance-funded advocate helps Native families
navigate or avoid system involvement - Evaluation shows DHS-involved Native families and
community encouraged by new approaches to Native
families - Other research shows differences between how DHS
and community providers and others perceive DHS
approach, effectiveness, and ability to
communicate - 2008
- Family Drug Court begins
- Juvenile Court Services, DHS, courts, and
community providers engage in Crossover project
to address youth who are both child welfare and
juvenile justice-involved.
7
8Practice that makes a difference starting with
the end in mind
Native American children are safely raised in the
Native community.
9The Native Unit
- The people
- Tribal/Native family liaisons - 2
- Supervisor
- Social workers - 4
- Child Protection workers
-
. . . I was surprised that they gave me a
chance to participate in placement for my niece
because of my past history with DHS. People
change and the Unit recognized that and gave me a
chance.
10The Native Unit
- Tools approaches
- Work with all self-identified Native children as
if ICWA-eligible - Working with relatives immediately
- Connecting with Tribes early and often
- Emphasis on Relative/Community/Tribal Networks
- Flexible resource dollar pool
- New approaches to recruiting Native foster
parents - Strong focus on cultural competence
- Helping non-Native foster and adoptive parents
become more culturally competent
11How do we know this is working?
- Data
- ICWA Compliance Reviews
- System Involvement
- Out of Home vs. Family-Centered Placement
- Placement for children in out of home care
- Voluntary vs. Court-ordered involvement
- Scorecard Update
12ICWA Compliance Review Casereading 2008
Apr-Jun Jul-Sept Oct-Dec
Initial Efforts 82 100 100
Collaboration w/Tribe 80 100 100
Active Efforts 100 100 100
Kinship Permanency 80 100 100
Court Proceedings 100 100 100
Overall Compliance 88 100 100
13Disproportionality Rate, Rate per Thousand, and
Disparity Ratio Indices by Race for Child
Placements in Out-of-Home Care (OHC) in Woodbury
County, FY 2007
Race/ Ethn. of Est Pop (0-17 yrs) of Est Pop (0-17 yrs) of Est Pop (0-17 yrs) of Children in 1st Placement in OHC (undupl.) of Children in 1st Placement in OHC (undupl.) of Children in 1st Placement in OHC (undupl.) Disprop. Rate of Chil. in 1st place-ment to est. pop. Disprop. Rate of Chil. in 1st place-ment to est. pop. Disprop. Rate of Chil. in 1st place-ment to est. pop. Rate per Thousand Rate per Thousand Rate per Thousand Disparity Ratio (compared to White) Disparity Ratio (compared to White) Disparity Ratio (compared to White)
Year 05 06 07 05 06 07 05 06 07 05 06 07 05 06 07
Native Am. 3.0 3.6 3.6 19.5 15.4 18.2 6.4 4.2 5.0 87 106 51 7.7 6.1 8.9
Asian 2.7 3.0 3.0 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.7 0.5 0.3 10 13 3 0.9 0.7 0.6
Black 4.4 5.2 5.2 6.4 8.9 12.4 1.4 1.7 2.4 20 42 24 1.7 2.4 4.2
White 75.6 88.1 88.1 62.8 60.9 49.5 0.8 0.7 0.6 11 17 6 1.0 1.0 1.0
Latino 14 17 17 1 2 2 1 2.65 1.02
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15Number of Children Receiving Services from
Woodbury County DHS in One Month, 2005 -2008
(in home and out of home)
- All Data for this table obtained from Iowa
Department of Human Services
16PermanenciesRate per thousand children in the
general population of the same race/ ethnicity
Woodbury County, Iowa 2005-2007
- All Data for this table obtained from Iowa
Department of Human Services
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19Using Eco-maps to look at Systems Relationships
Over Timeas they impact Child Welfare System
Involvement
- Key Strong/supportive relationship
- Tenuous/weak relationship
- Conflictive/harmful relationship
- New element
19
2020
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22National Association of Professional Child
Welfare Administrators Disproportionality
Diagnostic Tool Woodbury County (Sioux City, IA)
2006 compared to 2008) NAPCWA Disproportionality
Diagnostic Tool
Disproportionality Developing a Public Agency
Strategy By Danna Fabella, Sandra Slappey, Brad
Richardson, Anita Light Susan Christie July
2, 2007 http//www.napcwa.org/DDT/ddt_main.asp
23National Association of Professional Child
Welfare Administrators Disproportionality
Diagnostic Tool Woodbury County (Sioux City, IA)
2006 compared to 2008) - Society
Domains DHS DHS DHS Community Community Community Total Total Total
Domains Pilot 2006 2008 Pilot 2006 2008 Pilot 2006 2008
Strategy 100 100 70 50 60 57 65 80 65
Culture 54 91 37 29 50 48 38 72 41
Policy 55 75 60 44 67 29 57 71 47
Legal System 13 6 38 17 29 54 15 43 44
Training Education 9 44 25 17 19 43 13 26 32
Communication 60 81 55 8 33 50 33 56 53
Resources 70 63 72 36 65 60 46 64 67
Practice 58 58 57 26 25 43 36 42 51
Economic Issues 75 70 47 34 33 24 46 61 37
Data/Technology 25 80 60 22 60 43 25 78 53
Personnel/People 100 100 90 44 60 71 64 80 82
OVERALL 54 75 53 28 44 46 36 59 50
24National Association of Professional Child
Welfare Administrators Disproportionality
Diagnostic Tool Woodbury County (Sioux City, IA)
2006 compared to 2008) - System
Domains DHS DHS DHS Community Community Community Total Total Total
Domains Pilot 2006 2008 Pilot 2006 2008 Pilot 2006 2008
Strategy 100 88 67 33 58 48 56 70 59
Culture 73 82 45 37 77 61 47 79 51
Policy 100 83 65 25 60 36 50 69 53
Legal System 25 30 45 11 11 36 15 21 41
Training Education 18 67 43 22 42 32 21 54 24
Communication 47 87 60 19 50 54 32 67 57
Resources 58 57 53 30 33 52 38 42 53
Practice 69 84 51 18 36 47 34 58 50
Economic Issues 41 87 45 28 27 33 39 51 40
Data/Technology 63 100 50 38 13 50 46 46 50
Personnel/People 56 73 50 46 73 61 48 73 54
OVERALL 63 77 52 28 46 46 39 59 50
25National Association of Professional Child
Welfare Administrators Disproportionality
Diagnostic Tool Woodbury County (Sioux City, IA)
2006 compared to 2008) - Individual
Domains DHS DHS DHS Community Community Community Total Total Total
Domains Pilot 2006 2008 Pilot 2006 2008 Pilot 2006 2008
Strategy 43 60 60 19 38 71 26 46 50
Culture 88 71 90 44 90 79 58 82 85
Policy 100 100 60 38 60 29 55 78 47
Legal System 86 67 45 35 50 36 50 56 41
Training Education 25 50 40 11 0 7 15 25 27
Communication 75 71 50 33 80 57 46 76 53
Resources 75 78 75 30 67 86 44 71 79
Practice 74 94 83 26 46 46 40 65 68
Economic Issues 56 100 50 38 43 43 42 57 47
Data/Technology 33 100 50 13 50 57 18 67 53
Personnel/People 100 100 80 50 100 86 64 100 82
OVERALL 70 79 63 31 57 50 42 66 58
26Key Services/Practice ImprovementsWoodbury County
- Emphasis on Relative/Community/Tribal Networks
- Flexible resource dollar pool
- Strong focus on cultural competence
- Understand when the case does not belong at DHS
- Knowing how to plug in community resources and
collaborate with the Native Community
27Key Services/Practice ImprovementsWoodbury County
- Looking at relative placement right away
- Utilizing Tribal/Native Family Liaisons from the
time of CPS Assessment - Closer working relationship between social
workers and CPS workers - Supervisor, family, DHS worker, Tribe operating
from the same page - Training to keep you doing the right thing
reinforcing that it is not our job to create
model families, whatever that is. We are to
keep kids safe. - Judge training has helped them understand that
ICWA requires IMMINENT danger for removal, not
that abuse is likely
28Practice advances How a Liaison works
- Coaching workers on understanding Native families
and their dynamics. - Asking Is this a SAFETY issue? Are basic needs
being met? - Can we utilize community/other resources to meet
the needs of these families? - Is removal REALLY necessary?
- Contingent on social workers really utilizing
Liaison expertise
29(Casey) Alliance 6 Dimensions of Change
necessary for long-term reform
- Legislation, Policy Change and Finance Reform
- Research, Evaluation and Data-Based
Decision-making - Youth, Parent and Community Partnership and
Development - Public Will and Communication
- Human Service Workforce Development
- Practice Change (site-based implementation)
29
30Partners in Change
- Race Matters Consortium
- Recover Our Children (ROC)
- Sioux City Police Department
- Third Judicial District
- Tribal Council Leaders
- Tribal Domestic Violence workers
- University of Iowa
- University of South Dakota
- Woodbury County Administration
- Area Tribes
- CASA
- Casey/CSSP Alliance on Racial Equity
- Child Advocacy Center
- Iowa DHS
- Woodbury County DHS
- Iowa Legislature
- Local Human Rights Commission
- NICWA
- Native Service Providers
31Community Initiative for Native Children and
Families
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