Child Welfare Update

1. Child Welfare Update The Division of Children and Family Services: Vision and Direction Patricia L. Rideout JD, Administrator May 14, 2013

2. Mission • The purpose of the Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services is to assure that children at risk of abuse or neglect are protected and nurtured within a family and with the support of the community.

3. Family to Family Core Principles • A child’s safety is paramount • Children belong in families • Families need strong communities • Public child welfare systems need partnerships with the community and with other systems to achieve strong outcomes for children

4. Vision of CCDCFS • We will improve the lives of children as a result of our attention, care and support.

5. What we do… • Receive and investigate referrals of abuse/neglect • 23,539 calls , 15,578 calls screened in for investigation (2012) • Provide ongoing services to strengthen families – while children are at home (75%) or in care (25%) • Current caseloads: Ave. # of new investigations per month= 13.5, Ave. Ongoing caseload= 15.1 • Provide adoption services if children can’t be reunified or placed in alternative permanent family settings • 155 Adoptive placements and 137 Adoption Finalizations (2012) • Provide independent living preparation • 465 youth served,15 youth aged out per mo.(2012)

6. Workflow Diagram

7. Who we are…DCFS organization chart

8. DCFS Strategic Planning Process • Our last agency plan was in 2009 • While waiting to secure a consultant, engaged in “Early Strategic Planning” • Now developing a formal 3 year plan with the help of JRS Associates • Plan to finalize this summer • Plan will reflect our continuing commitment to a practice model based on Family to Family • Today’s presentation: an informal report on recent/current efforts

9. An Overview of Our Vision, Based on Cornerstones of Our Work • Safety • Permanency • Well being

10. For each of 3 cornerstones… • What are some of the key indicators? • What are some of the strategic initiatives we’re doing/planning

11. 1. Safety • Key Indicators include: • Repeat referrals, repeat substantiations, re-opening of cases, re-entries into care • Incidents while children in care • High level goals: increase quality of investigations and Team Decisionmaking process

12. 1. Safety: Strategic Initiatives Include • Investigations backlog cleanup: over 94% (1,068) of overdue investigations were cleaned up between Oct. 2011-April 2012 • Investigative Consultants (retired detectives) • ECMH Coordinator onsite • Improved Team Decision Making model fidelity: eg Family Facilitator approach • Supported Visits Initiative • Trauma Focused Interventions (Defending Childhood) • Child Advocacy Center • Enhancement of Support Services unit • New clinical consultation arm

13. Cont’d • Crisis intervention for parent-teen conflict: • Assessment pilot • Plans for use of Applewood Academy for Youth • Continued discussions w/ Court, ADAMHS, DD re: more effective response than Intent to Grant process • Creation of Multi System Youth unit within Case Review • Supported Visits initiative: to ensure quality parent education in context of better parent-child visits • Revision of Minor Parents protocols • Human Trafficking: enhanced screening protocols and staff training

14. 2. Permanency • Key indicators include: • Length of stay in out of home care/time to reunification, adoption or guardianship • Stable reunification • Permanent family connections for youth who ‘age out’ without reunification/other family

15. Permanency: Strategic Initiatives Include: • Family Tree Initiative to ensure early ID • Family Search and Engagement: enhancing our own staff skills; Family Finding via TVN; Accurint software • Child Centered Recruitment: enhancing our own staff skills; 5 Wendy’s Wonderful Kids recruiters • Deep analysis of cases of our longest stayers • Visits project: to ensure every child in care has at least a weekly visit w/ parents and siblings

16. Continued… • Partners for Forever Families (PFFF): federal “diligent recruitment” grant with many strategies, including Karamu play and Ambassador Program • Residential Reviews process • Development of clinical consultation arm in our Support Services area

17. 3. Well-Being • Newest focus and least defined/mandated/regulated • Ensuring safety and achieving permanency are necessary but not sufficient to well- being • Research: Adverse effects of maltreatment are concentrated in behavioral, social, and emotional domains • Negative impacts across lifespan • Direct tie to current efforts to make all our work “trauma-informed”

18. Recommended federal strategies include: • Re-think our most commonly provided services: counseling, parenting classes, and life skills training • Use functional assessment: assess multiple aspects of child’s social-emotional functioning, using developmentally appropriate tools, including trauma screening • Better use available assessment tools for parents too

19. Federal recs, cont’d. • Develop capacity to integrate new research, implement new practices without compromising ongoing efforts • Use interventions that are known to be effective or have promising results (TFCBT, MST, PCIT—all available here) • De-scale programs that aren’t showing results; shift resources to proven or promising practices • Workforce development, training for partners outside child welfare; engage judiciary and courts

20. Well-being, continued • Key indicators based on well-being framework: 1. Cognitive functioning: eg school success, employment readiness 2. Physical health 3. Behavioral/emotional functioning: mental health issues, reliance on psychotropic meds 4. Social functioning: healthy relationships, IL skills

21. Well-being: Strategic Initiatives Include: • Outcome Referrals initiative: to assess impact of out of home care and lead to outcome-focused contracting for board and care; pilot underway • Development of automated placement matching and monitoring system to ensure better fit for each child (RFP underway) • Establishment of DCFS Resource Specialists in 31 different specialty areas

22. Older Youth programming • Monthly director’s meeting: establishment of agency youth coordination council; external assessment of older youth programming by NRCYD, summer 2013 • TAG (Teen Advocate Group) • Independent Living life skills education • Connecting the Dots partnership with Workforce Investment Act (WIA), including summer employment program, and Big Brothers Big Sisters volunteer mentor program with a goal of 125 youth/mentor matches over the next 3 years • Family search and engagement strategies to assure permanent family connections • Mentoring- 28 youth are currently matched with a Permanency Champion through Adoption Network Cleveland

23. Well-being initiatives, cont’d. • Juvenile Court collaboration efforts: • Crossover Youth Initiative • Continued discussions of mandated custody cases • CASA? • Health care for foster children: • In place soon: • Health Care Coordinator • Contract for 2d opinions on psychotropic meds • Care coordination partnership w/ Metro Health • Staff re-education on chronic child health issues such as asthma and diabetes

24. Well-being initiatives, cont’d. • Improved services and supports: • Differential Response: target October 2014 • Overhaul of our Semi Annual Review process • Continuing p’ship with ADAHMHS Board, including clinicians at TDM meetings

25. Well-being initiatives, cont’d. • Educational improvements Strengthening partnerships w/ CMSD and inner ring districts Much more to do here • Homelessness prevention: • Partnership with IIC/others on NEST vision, to support child welfare families at risk of or experiencing homelessness • Older youth: discussions with Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative

26. Well-being initiatives, cont’d. • Race equity: disproportionality in placement and outcomes; links to poverty • Consultant guiding revival of agency work group, to engage community next • Presentations on NIS-R research and other developments in this area, last fall, in p’ship w/ CWRU

27. Workplace Culture • We must ensure an environment that supports staff and motivates them to engage in initiatives • Doing more with less despite challenges: • less staff/workload impacts (loss of transportation unit, START Advocates, etc) • no pay increases for NBU

28. Putting Tools in Staff’s Hands • New worker classes, have filled 92 vacancies since May 2012, 12 in class now; plans to conduct quarterly hiring/training of SWs • Performance Management Unit • Leadership around self evaluation, quality improvement, County- and AgencyStat • New clinical consultation arm of Support Services • Technology • New phones, blackberries, tablets, Accurint

29. Tools for Staff, cont’d. • Functional Workload Analysis: partnership w/ FCCS and PCSAO to establish workload recs; early results any day • Strategic Planning with broad staff input • New transportation unit to serve county foster and kin homes and ensure weekly visits • Increased Visits Initiative: weekly visit expectations of network providers via board and care contracts

30. More tools for staff • External partnerships and efforts • 14 Community Collaboratives • Improved public system relationships • Universities and Foundations (eg Schubert Center co-sponsorships; Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Programs, local foundations) • Positive Media: Channel 5/Danita Harris and Wednesday’s Child series; Plain Dealer series • Board and Care provider partners: engagement around issues of importance to staff, eg increased and higher quality visits, improved clinical interventions, trauma informed care

31. Staff Workgroups • On nagging issues… • Agency forms • SACWIS data requirements • Release of records • Multi System Kids • Learning from successful workers’ strategies • Keeping Siblings Connected On continuous agency improvement areas… • Wellness Committee • Race Equity • Fatherhood Initiative • Etc.

32. …and a few more tools • Foundation Support: • Casey Family Programs and Annie E. Casey: technical assistance via consultation, training • Local foundations: pending grants to support many initiatives • Team Decisionmaking Fidelity Project: AECF selection of DCFS to support its evidence-based initiative • Responsive training: data entry, family search & engagement, TDM track • Monthly e-newsletter, director forums, etc. • New Communications Specialist Donisha Greene

33. Many Challenges Remain… • A few examples: • In-home services cases (case plans, contacts, monitoring) • Communication • Moving support services contracts to outcome focus • Youth transitions • County FHs: day care and respite support for employed parents, leadership development for FP Association • OCWTP: E-Track, ITNA • SACWIS data entry and report reliability • Career Ladder/leadership development for staff: creation of a “passionate work culture” • START rebuilding

34. A Bright Future www.cfs.cuyahogacounty.us