Foster Care Redesign

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Foster Care Redesign

• Department of Children and Families
• Partnership For Strong Families
• Casey Family Programs

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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

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First - The Scope of Our Problem Child Victims
per 1,000 Children
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Alachua Co Some Indicators or Verified Findings
2006-07
What happens to children?
3127 maltreatments 1904 different children were
victims
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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
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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.

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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
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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.

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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

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Racial Disparity in Reports to Hotline and Out of
Home Care
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Our neighboring counties Children in Care by
Race
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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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
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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

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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

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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
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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!

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Tell us your reaction

• What do you think?
• Do you have any suggestions?
• What have we missed?
• Questions you would like answered?