Presentation Transcript

1. Illinois Permanency Enhancement Field Office andCommunity ForumsFall, 2010 BEYOND OBSTACLES Mobilizing Child Welfare Staff and Stakeholders to Improve Permanency and Eliminate Disparities in Child Welfare “…for these are all our children, we will all profit by or pay for what they become.” –James Baldwin
2. Forum Agenda Panelist Introductions Permanency Enhancement Project (PEP): Background and History Permanency Enhancement Accomplishments and Work Yet to be Done Impact of Long Term Foster Care Disproportionality , Disparity, and Permanency in Child Welfare How is Our Community Doing? (local data) Developing a Local Action Plan to Improve Permanency in Our Community!
3. Overview Of Illinois Permanency Enhancement Initiatives
4. Illinois Permanency Strategy
5. Permanency Enhancement Project (PEP) Partnership between: Community Stakeholders IDCFS IDCFS AA Advisory Council Illinois AA Family Commission State Universities Illinois State University (Lead University) Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville University of Illinois at Chicago Northern Illinois University
6. Overall goals of PEP: Improve permanency outcomes for all children in foster care Reduce disparities in the number of African American children in foster care Promote community based solutions to improve permanency among DCFS involved youth Monitor child welfare and permanency outcomes for youth
7. What We’ve Accomplished So Far… -16 Local Action Teams have been established to address permanency in Central Illinois -50+ Local Action Teams have been established throughout the State of Illinois
8. Court Partnership Projects
9. Community Partnerships/Outreach
10. Parenting Support/Outreach
11. University Partnerships
12. WE’RE ON THE RIGHT PATH, BUT… THERE’S A LOT MORE WORK AHEADMoving forward we need the FULL FORCE of our STAFF, COMMUNITY LEADERS, and local CITIZENS to bring about major systemic changes .
13. Impact of Long Term Foster Care on our Children, Families, Community
14. Long-Term Foster Care Impact Low educational achievement Unemployment and underemployment Poverty Legal involvement/ incarceration Early parenthood - Homelessness Victimization Physical and Mental Health Challenges (Casey, 2005)
15. Poor Employment Outcomes 48% currently employed (Courtney, Dworsky, Lee & Raap, 2009 ) $9.45 average hourly wage compared to $12.00 for non-foster care peers (Courtney, Dworsky, Lee & Raap, 2009) Average income of less than $6,000 annually (Casey, 2005)
16. Homelessness 46.6 experienced at least one episode of homelessness 20 experienced homelessness for more than 90 days (Source: Courtney et al., 2009)
17. Early Parenthood Foster care alumni at risk for young parenthood, early pregnancy 60% of females had given birth, some multiple times 19% of females, 8% of males were parents 18 months after discharge (Source: Pecora et. Al., 2003)
18. Legal Involvement/ Incarceration 27% of males, 10% of females incarcerated at least once 12 – 18 months after discharge 35% had been arrested (Source: Courtney, et al., 2001)
19. Victimization Casey study (2005) found 25% of males and 15% of females reported “serious physical and/or sexual victimization) PTSD rates almost twice that of U.S. war veterans - 25% vs. 4% in general population and 14% among war vets (Source: Casey, 2005)
20. Mental Health Challenges Foster Care Youth General Major depression 20% 10% Social phobia 17% 9% Panic disorder 15% 3% Drug dependence 8% 1% (Source: Casey, 2005)
21. RACE AND PERMANENCY: Having the Difficult Discussions:
22. Racial Disproportionality DISPROPORTIONALITY: The percentage of children in a population as compared to the percentage of children in the same group in the child welfare system.
23. Racial Disparities DISPARITY: Unequal treatment and/or outcomes when comparing a African Americans to non-minority. African American children are negatively affected by both.
24. Disproportionality and Disparity Systemic Factors that impact Permanency for African American Children
25. AGENCY RELATED FACTORS:-Lack of culturally responsive family engagement practices -Lack of collaboration with courts-Lack of sufficient linkages to community‐based resources (See: Houston, 2007: http://adoptionresearch.illinoisstate.edu/PEP/Reports/Index.shtml
26. COURT RELATED FACTORS:-Lack of judicial training on minimum parenting standards and risk- Lack of awareness about emotional trauma caused by parent‐child separation- Unrealistic “middle class expectations” for parents- Lack of awareness about cultural differences among diverse family types (See: Houston, 2007)
27. COMMUNITY FACTORS:-Lack of culturally responsive service providers -Lack of community ownership and investment in families-Perception that DCFS can solve the problem-Insufficient cross‐systems collaboration (See: Houston, 2007)
28. Why Issues of Permanency and Overrepresentation Matter Racial Disparity and Overrepresentation of African Americans in Child Welfare is a Current and Historical Reality: AA children comprise 31% of the U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000) AA children comprise 50% of the foster care population(US ACYF, 2005).
29. Why Issues of Race and Permanency Matter AA children are more likely to age out of foster care without reunification or other permanency options (Courtney and Wong, 1996; Wulczyn, 2004). Nationally, Caucasian children are 4 times more likely to be reunited with family (Hill, 2006)
30. National Evidence of Racial Disparity and Disproportionality African Americanmothers more likely to be tested/reported for pre-natal drug exposure than Caucasian mothers(Chasnoff, 1990) Doctorsmore likely to diagnose “abuse” for low income families and “accident” for affluent families(Lane, Rubin, Monteith, & Christian, 2002). Low income African American families receiving public assistance are more likely to have allegations substantiated(Barth, 2005)
31. National Evidence of Racial Disparityand Disproportionality Once a report is made…African American Families are more likely to be screened for an abuse/neglect investigation (Gryzlak, Wells, & Johnson, 2005) Investigations of African American families are more likely when reports come from social service providers. (Gryzlak, Wells, and Johnson (2005) A report is more likely to be indicated when initiated by a professional AND the family is African American (U.S. DHHS, 2005). AA youth 36 % more likely to be removed from the home following a substantiated report(U.S. DHHS, 2005).
32. Once a Case is Substantiated for Abuse/Neglect… Black children(families) are less likely to receive in-home preservation services Less likely to receive mental health services Less likely to be returned home Remain in care longer before achieving permanency through adoption/guardianship More likely to age out of care without permanency (Source: Hill, 2006).
33. Talking About PERMANENCY in Our Community What Does the DATA Tell Us? *Review ISU county level permanency data
34. Moving Forward as Partners to Improve Permanency
35. Steps to Developing a Community Action Plan
36. Step 1 ►Come together as local stakeholders, staff, decision makers, resource providers, DCFS involved families/youth Step 2 ► Review local permanency data to: Examine current foster care rates Identify outcome disparities across groups Identify positive and negative permanency trends Step 3 ► Discuss our local barriers to permanency Permanency Action Teams
37. Step 4 ► Develop a Plan of Action [See ACTION PLAN Worksheet] Step 5 ► Work the Plan! Step 6 ► Review data for progress Permanency Action Teams
38. Let’s Get Started
39. We ant to Change Policies and Practices to… Reduce Racial Disparities in Foster Care Keep Children at Home/ Preserve Struggling Families Return Children to their Families More Quickly Improve Adoption and Guardianship Resources ► What Form of Permanency is Our Priority?
40. Court Agency Law enforcement Birth parent/child Foster/adoptive parent Service Provider Community Stakeholder Schools Medical Other (list) ► What SYSTEM or GROUP do We Want to Impact First?
41. WE WANT TO CHANGE OR IMPROVE first… …Policy/Procedure …Practice …Communication …Engagement …Professional Knowledge …Resources in our Community ► Within the selected system, what do we want to change?
42. … Parents … Practitioners/Caseworkers … Court Personnel … Law enforcement … Business Leaders/Commerce community … Foster /Adoptive Parents … School staff … Faith Leaders … Law makers/legislators … Local Media … Medical providers … Higher education … Housing … TANF workers … Mental Health/Substance Abuse clinicians ► How can the following partners help us to bring about desired changes? (Brainstorm together)
43. ► Planning Our Next Steps
44. Visit the Illinois Permanency Enhancement Web site: http://adoptionresearch.illinoisstate.edu/PEP/Index.shtml
45. References: Barth, R. (2005). Child welfare and race: Models of disproportionality. In D. Derezotes et al. (Eds.), Race matters in child welfare: The overrepresentation of African American children in the system (pp. 25-46). Washington, DC: CWLA Press. Barth, R. P. (1990). On their own: The experience of youth after foster care. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 7(5), 419-446. Casey Family Services. (2005). The Casey Young Adult Survey: Findings over Three Years Seattle, WA: Casey Family Services. Chasnoff, I.J., Landress, H.J., & Barrett, M.E. (1990). The prevalence of illicit drug and alcohol use during pregnancy and discrepancies in mandatory reporting in Pine County, Florida. New England Journal of Medicine, 322, 1202-1206. Courtney, M., Dworsky, A., Lee, J., & Raap, M. (2009). Midwest evaluation of the adult functioning of former foster youth: Outcomes at age 23 and 24. Chicago: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. Courtney, M., Piliavin, I., Grogan-Kaylor, A., & Nesmith, A. (2001). Foster care transitions to adulthood: A longitudinal view of youth leaving care. Child Welfare, 80, 685-717. Courtney, M. & Wong, Y. (1996). Comparing the timing of exits from substitute care. Children and Youth Services Review, 18(4/5): 307-334. Fluke, J., Yuan, Y., Hedderson, J., & Curtis, P. (2003). Disproportionate representation of race and ethnicity in child maltreatment: Investigation and victimization. Children and Youth Services Review, 25(5/6): 359-373.
46. References: Gryzlak, B., Wells, S., & Johnson, M. (2005). The role of race in child protective services screening decisions. In D. Derezotes et al. (Eds.) Race matters in child welfare: The overrepresentation of African American children in the system (pp. 63-96). Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America. Harris & Hackett (2007). Decision points in child welfare: An action research model to address disproportionalty. Children and Youth Services Review, 30 (2008) 199–215. Hill, R.B. (2006). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. Casey/CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity in the Child Welfare System. Houston, D. (2007). Removing Barriers to Permanency. Springfield, IL: Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. June, 2007. Lane, W., Rubin, D., Monteith, R., & Christian, C. (2002). Racial differences in the evaluation of pediatric fractures for physical abuse. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(13): 1603-1609. Pecora, P., Williams, J., Kessler, R., Downs, C., O’Brien, K., Hiripi, E., & Morello, S. ,( 2003). Assessing the effects of foster care: Early results from the Casey National Alumni Study. Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs. Rolock, N. (2008). Disproportionality in Child Welfare. Urbana, Illinois: Children and Family Research Center. Sedlak, A., & Schultz, D. (2005). Racial differences in child protective services investigation of abused and neglected children. In D. Derezotes et al. (Eds.), Race matters in child welfare: The overrepresentation of African American children in the system (pp. 97-118). Washington, DC: CWLA Press. U.S. Administration for Children and Families. (2003). Children of color in the child welfare system: Perspectives from the child welfare community. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
47. References: United States General Accounting Office (2008). African American Children in Foster Care . HHS and Congressional Actions Could Help Reduce Proportion in Care. Washington, DC:U.S. Government Printing Office Westat, 1991. A National Evaluation of Title IV-E Foster Care Independent Living Programs for Youth: Phase 2 Final Report, Volume 2. Rockville, MD: Westat. Wulczyn, F. & Lery, B. (2007). Racial Disparity in Foster Care Admissions. Chapin Hall Center for Children. Wulczyn, F. (2004). Family Reunification. The Future of Children: Children, Families and Foster Care, 14(1), 95-113.
48. Prepared by: Illinois State University School of Social Work and Center for Adoption Studies http://adoptionresearch.illinoisstate.edu/PEP/MeetTheStaffISU.shtml