The Collaborative Partnership of the Minority Youth and Families Initiative

1. The 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

2. What we’ll cover today . . . • What and where the Minority Youth and Family Initiative (MYFI) is • What the data tell us about what’s 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-representation 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

4. Where is Woodbury County? 4

5. Alaska Native Assiniboine Blackfeet Oklahoma Cherokee Cheyenne River Sioux Chippewa Crow Creek Sioux Fort Peck Sioux Wisconsin Ho-Chunk Hopi Mdewakontan Sioux Wisconsin Mille Lacs Mississippi Choctaw Mohawk Navajo Northern Cheyenne Oglala Sioux Omaha Potawatomie Rosebud Sioux Santee Sioux Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Spirit Lake Sioux Standing Rock Sioux Tunica-Biloxi Turtle Mountain Chippewa Nebraska Winnebago Yankton Sioux Tribal Affiliations of Native Children Assessed for Abuse,Woodbury CountyJanuary 2005-December 2007 5

6. Timeline: 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

7. Timeline: 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

8. Practice that makes a difference… starting with the end in mind Native American children are safely raised in the Native community.

9. The people Tribal/Native family liaisons - 2 Supervisor Social workers - 4 Child Protection workers The Native Unit “ . . . 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.”

10. 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 The Native Unit

11. How 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

12. ICWA Compliance Review: Casereading 2008

13. Disproportionality Rate, Rate per Thousand, and Disparity Ratio Indices by Race for Child Placements in Out-of-Home Care (OHC)in Woodbury County, FY 2007

15. Number 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

16. PermanenciesRate 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

19. Using 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

20. Woodbury County, (Sioux City) IA, Pre-1995 Healthcare Schools Woodbury County DHS Extended Family Tribes State Policy Mental Health Services Law Enforcement Federal Policy: ICWA Employment Disproportional Representation of Native American Children in Woodbury County DHS Culture & Spirituality Court/ Legal Community Advocates Substance Abuse Services Housing Racism, Historical Oppression and Genocide Racism, Historical Oppression and Genocide 20

21. Woodbury County, (Sioux City) IA, Nov 2008 Woodbury County DHS Health Schools Extended Family Tribes: varied response IA Ind Affairs Com. Employment Law En-forcement More prop Rep of NA Children in Woodbury County DHS State DHS National Attention Culture & Spirituality Federal Policy: ICWA, ASFA, JJDP, CFSR, MEPA Community Advocates JCS Courts State Policy: MYFI, IA ICWA Substance Abuse Services Mental Hlth Serv. Housing State Agency presence Interest from other Stakeholders Cult competent /NA provided health, mental health, and Substance Abuse Services Cty Atty / Legal Casey Alliance Racism, Historical Oppression and Genocide

22. National 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

23. National Association of Professional Child Welfare Administrators Disproportionality Diagnostic Tool Woodbury County (Sioux City, IA) 2006 compared to 2008) - Society

24. National Association of Professional Child Welfare Administrators Disproportionality Diagnostic Tool Woodbury County (Sioux City, IA) 2006 compared to 2008) - System

25. National Association of Professional Child Welfare Administrators Disproportionality Diagnostic Tool Woodbury County (Sioux City, IA) 2006 compared to 2008) - Individual

26. Key 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

27. Key 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

28. Practice 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

30. 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 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 Partnersin Change

31. Community Initiative for Native Children and Families

32. Woodbury County, (Sioux City) IA, future IA Dept of Human Rts. Indian Commission Woodbury County DHS Schools Extended Family Tribes: consistent response Employment Law Enforcement Racial Equity & PROPORTIONAL Representation of Native American Children in Woodbury County DHS State DHS National Attention Culture & Spirituality Federal Policy: ICWA, ASFA, JJDP, CFSR, MEPA Community Advocates JCS Court/ Legal State Policy: MYFI, IA ICWA IV-E Access for Tribes Housing Interest from other Stakeholders Culturally competent /Native American provided health, mental health, and Substance Abuse Services Culturally competent/Native American provided family services Racism, Historical Oppression and Genocide