California Child Welfare Core Practice Model Design Workshop: Refining Elements & Building Consensus

1. California Child Welfare Core Practice Model Design Workshop: Refining Elements & Building Consensus MARCH 6 & 7 2014 THE WESTIN LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA

2. Welcome • Kelly Woodard • DirectorMadera County Department of Social Services • CWDA Vice President for Services

3. California Child Welfare Core Practice Model: Past, Present and Future • Diana Boyer, Senior Policy AnalystCounty Welfare Directors Association of California • Sylvia Deporto, Deputy DirectorSan Francisco County Department of Human Services

4. Background • California child welfare reforms have been implemented by counties since before 2000 • Most counties have adopted multiple promising initiatives • A number of common elements have transformed the nature of child welfare work across California • Recent efforts have emerged to integrate the various initiatives into more comprehensive practice models • Katie A. • California Partners for Permanency (CAPP) • County-specific practice models

5. Towards a Statewide Practice Model • Beginning in 2012 the CWDA Children’s Committee has been working to develop a statewide practice model • Monthly subcommittee planning meetings • Statewide Workshop in July 2013 • Goal: • To define California’s Child Welfare Services as a profession grounded in theory, with a set of core values, common elements and identified behaviors

6. Stakeholder Engagement • Statewide and County-level initiatives have been informed by broad stakeholder engagement • Youth,Parents, Caregivers, Tribes, Communities • Results of that engagement have informed the work of the statewide Practice Model development • Further engagement in inviting partners to today’s workshop • Additional engagement will an essential goal of next steps in the evolution of the Practice Model

7. Guiding Vision • California’s 58 counties embrace one practice model that guides their individual Child Welfare Services programs by integrating successful practices into a framework that supports the achievement of safety, permanency and well-being for children and their families in the Child Welfare Services system.

8. Workshop Objectives • ACHIEVE CONSENSUS ON THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, VALUES AND COMPONENTS/ELEMENTS OF THE PRACTICE MODEL • ACHIEVE CONSENSUS ON THE PROCESS FOR DEVELOPING PRACTICE BEHAVIORS AND AGREEING ON THE LEVEL OF STANDARDIZATION • DEVELOP A COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR ADDITIONAL INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT OF STAFF AND STAKEHOLDERS

9. FUTURE WORK • This workshop is one step in moving forward that will help us realize our Guiding Vision • Next steps include: • Working with county partners to define Practice Behaviors, • Developing Organizational System Standards, • Engagement of internal and external stakeholders in understanding and embracing the Practice Model

10. Opening Plenary: One State’s Journey to a Statewide Practice Model Carole Wilcox, Interim Manager Child Safety and Permanency Division Children and Family Services Administration Minnesota Department of Human Services

11. Development of California’s Theoretical Framework • Anita Barbee, ProfessorKent School of Social Work, University of Louisville, KY

12. Practice Model Elements

13. Overview of Today’s Work • Regional Breakout Conversationsto review work to date on • Theoretical Framework • Values and Principles • Practice Elements • Input will be recorded and reported back at morning Plenary tomorrow morning

14. A few words on consensus. . . • Your facilitators will take you through a consensus process • Consensus ≠ Unanimity • The Design Team has worked very hard to integrate all of the work that has gone on around the state.

15. In other words, we don’t necessarily need this:

16. Breakout Groups Room assignments(Map in your packet): • Southern Region 3rd Floor Melbourne Room • Bay Area Region 3rd Floor Naples Rom • Mtn. Valley/North Regions 3rdFloor Casablanca Room • Central Region 4thFloor Palos Verdes Room • County stakeholders, please go with your county group • Statewide stakeholders, please divide yourselves among the regions

17. Day 2: Welcome Back • Review work from Regional Breakouts • All recorded comments will be forwarded to the Design Team • Everyone’s input will be considered • Some overall themes emerged • We will highlight some specific comments from each group

18. Overall Themes • “Evidence Based Practice” is too limiting—need to clarify language • Need to explicitly include After-18 services • Need to clarify language about partners, stakeholders, etc; be explicit about public agency partners(including internal partners)

19. Overall Themes (cont’d) • Simplify language/make it more family-friendly throughout • Apply Values, Principles, Elements inside the agency as well as externally • Make more explicit the importance of organizational culture and climate

20. Theoretical Framework • Overall Response—High Consensus/Enthusiastic Support across all Regions • Bay Area Feedback • More clarity about role of relationships and engagement in the Framewok • Need more synthesizing statements • Southern • Competing Values Theory needs more clarification and narrative • Important to drill down from leadership to direct practice—balance between skillful use of authority and engagement

21. Theoretical Framework (cont’d) • Central • Concern about representing all 4 quadrants of the Competing Values Theory • Northern • Need to be explicit about how to support youth into adulthood • Want to see something more explicit about disease model of addiction • Need to be more explicit about the child and youth in the family • Would like to see more about parent and youth leadership in the Organizational theories • Want to see more about Prevention and Early Intervention

22. Values • Overall Response—High Consensus/Enthusiastic Support across all Regions • Southern • Make sure that there is overall language in the introductory statement about the interplay of the values—that they should be understood as working together • Use “we strive for” vs. “we do” • Would like to use Minnesota model of using a word or two to summarize each Value • Potential for Change might be split into two values • Healthy and Competent Workforce needs to include responsibility for oneself • Concern about use of word “legal” in referring to family permanence

23. Values • Northern • Need Value about Prevention and Early Intervention • Tribes need to be recognized for their Sovereignty in addition to being partners • Need to balance transparency and family’s right to privacy • Need to be more explicit about accepting youth for who they are

24. Values (cont’d) • Central • Concerned about the word “transparent”—need a better explanation of what it means • Healthy and Competent Workforce Value---needs a principle that translates into an understanding of systems supports and how to make this become a reality • Would like more specificity to ensure inclusion of faith communities, proximal placements • Bay • Agency transparency is important within and outside the agency • “Grounded in Cultural Responsiveness” needs to be more explicit about addressing disparities • “Services and Supports to meet family needs” needs to be more explicit about promoting community based early intervention and prevention • Add a principle about organizational culture and climate that addresses Value #8 on Workforce • Need to emphasize shared accountability throughout the organization

25. Practice Elements Overall Response—High Consensus/Enthusiastic Support across all Regions Southern Safety, Permanence, Well-Being doesn’t look like the other elements—it is an outcome We might adopt Minnesota’s example of “listening” for engagement Ensure service linkage is included vs. just “advocacting” for services Shared Commitment and Accountability---one or 2 Elements? Is it an Element? Trauma informed system parallels—what does it mean? Clarify or eliminate

26. Elements • Central • Safety, Permanency, Well-Being should be more aligned with the Value of Safety, Permanency and Well Being; it is very permanency-skewed; needs to be more about well-being; needs to include screening, should eliminate words “to adulthood” to focus on more transitions • Workforce Support---link more to learning organization, need to be more transparent in communication with workforce • Reword last sentence

27. Elements • Northern • Last bullet in S,P,WB needs to refer to all transitions (not just to adulthood) • S,P, WB--ratther than talk about recovery, talk about growth, building parent/family capacity, achieving goals • Cross-walk elements and values • Self-Advocacy should be part of Engagement • Clarify scope of Advocacy

28. Elements • Bay Area • Overarching themes: the language “we will work to…..” is not powerful enough • “Child, youth, young adults and family” should be consistent throughout • Inquiry and Exploration—use “strategies” vs. “tools” • Trauma Informed system---more than “trauma informed” needs to be included

29. Practice Model Elements

30. Practice Behaviors • Proposal for identifying Practice Behaviors • Table talk exercise • Report back

31. Practice Behaviors • Define expected practice so agency and community partners can create coordinated supports. • Support evaluation of model fidelity and outcomes. • Provide a framework for training.

32. Practice Behaviors • Provide direction to practitioners about how they will practice social work using the practice model.

33. Getting to Practice Behaviors • Casework components and practice elements provide the scaffolding for practice behaviors • Theories, values and principles guide the selection and development of the behaviors

34. Our Goal • Identify a set of practice behaviors that are • Specific enough to be observable and recognizable to all parties involved. • Flexible enough to allow for customization to incorporate county level differences in procedures, tools, and supports. • Analogous to existing practice behaviors already in use. • Informed by our key stakeholders, who know what good practice looks like.

35. Sample Practice Behaviors • Katie A. • Be diligent in reaching out to children and families in ways that are welcoming, appropriate and comfortable for them. • CAPP • Assesses with the family and their team the need for interactive, experiential coaching during visitation and at other times of natural parent/child interaction to improve parenting skills; follows through with identifying, arranging or advocating for this when needed. • SOP • Actively engages safety network members to critically evaluate their group process. Specifically focuses on ways to increase understanding, agreement and collaboration going forward.

36. Recommended Process

37. Table Activity • Work as table groups for the next 20 minutes • Review the recommended process using the handouts on your tables • Choose someone to speak for your table in the report out • Answer the discussion questions on the back of the blue copy of the handout • Give your YELLOW handout to Barry or Melissa after the report out

38. Day 2 Regional Breakouts Overview • Outreach and Engagement of both Internal and External Stakeholders • Overview of Communications Materials and Use for Alignment of materials with engagement strategies

39. Friday Breakout Rooms Southern Region Lobby Level Ocean Ballroom Bay Area Region 3rd Floor Tokyo/Vancover Room Mtn. Valley/North Regions 3rd Floor Barcelona Room Central Region 4th Floor Palos Verdes Room

40. Recap of Our Work • Objective: • ACHIEVE CONSENSUS ON THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, VALUES AND ELEMENTS OF THE PRACTICE MODEL • Largely Accomplished • Excellent Input to Improve the work that we brought to the Workshop • Additional work for the Design Team to meld input into the final Framework, Values and Elements

41. Recap of Our Work • Objective: • ACHIEVE CONSENSUS ON THE PROCESS FOR DEVELOPING PRACTICE BEHAVIORS AND AGREEING ON THE LEVEL OF STANDARDIZATION • Excellent input that will help refine the draft development plan that we provided today • Design Team will rework the plan to develop a process that is doable for counties and engaging for partners • Additional communications materials and technical assistance/facilitation will be developed to assist in the implementation of this process

42. Recap of Our Work • Objectives: • DEVELOP A COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR ADDITIONAL INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT OF STAFF AND STAKEHOLDERS Brief Report out from the Regional Groups

43. Next Steps • Design Team reviews today’s work to incorporate input on the Framework, Values, and Elements • Define what we mean by “Practice Behaviors” • Develop communication tools and materials and technical assistance to support the engagement of staff and partners • Engage staff and partners in understanding and embracing the Practice Model • Work with county staff and partners to develop Practice Behaviors, • Develop Organizational System Standards,

44. What Does the Future Look Like?