1 / 21

Presenters: Rudy Brooks Former Bureau Chief, Prevention Services

CT’s DCF-Head Start Partnership Working Together to Serve Vulnerable Families & Support the Development of At-Risk Children. Presenters: Rudy Brooks Former Bureau Chief, Prevention Services CT Department of Children & Families Grace Whitney Director, CT Head Start State Collaboration Office

lilka
Download Presentation

Presenters: Rudy Brooks Former Bureau Chief, Prevention Services

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. CT’s DCF-Head Start Partnership Working Together to Serve Vulnerable Families & Support the Development of At-Risk Children Presenters: Rudy Brooks FormerBureau Chief, Prevention Services CT Department of Children & Families Grace Whitney Director,CT Head Start State Collaboration Office   Child Welfare, Collaboration and the Courts: A Collaboration to Strengthen Educational Successes of Children and Youth in Foster Care Renaissance Arlington Capitol View Hotel, Arlington, VA November 3-4, 2011

  2. Why Should We Partner? • Head Start/EHS and DCF often serve the same children • Many Head Start/EHS children and families are at risk • Great potential for identification and prevention • Head Start/EHS is a natural environment for interventions to occur

  3. What Would the Benefits Be? • Programs understand one another • Establish regular procedures for working together • Achieve continuity of care through case management • Develop creative solutions for unique and difficult cases

  4. How Would Families Benefit? • Families understand and access services • Families feel supported • Placements reduced and permanency increased for children • Children access high quality ECE • Children receive care from knowledgeable, nurturing adults working together

  5. Protocol for Working Together Section I: Identifying and Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect Section II: Communication on Open DCF Investigations Section III: Treatment Planning and Case Management

  6. Protocol for Working Together Section IV: Placement of Children Section V: DCF Referrals to Head Start/EHS Section VI: Agency Planning

  7. DCF-Head Start Partnership Phase 1 - Pilot 1999 1DCF Areas & 3 Head Start/Early Head Start • Created Protocol for Working Together Phase 2 – Ready Communities 2007 8 DCF Areas & 15 Head Start/Early Head Start • Began quarterly facilitated meetings Phase 3 – Statewide Implementation 2009 6 DCF Areas & 11 Head Start/Early Head Start • Added mental health, other early care, etc.

  8. Evaluation • Quarterly Data Collection • Building Trust and Partnership • Maintaining On-going Collaboration • Improving Services to Families • “Stories” of interest

  9. DCF-Head Start Partnership & Collaboration Needs Assessment

  10. Results • Simplify/standardize referral processes and intentional enrollment of DCF-involved children, including foster care, into Head Start • Align Treatment Plan/Family Partnership Agreement • Connect mental health supports, housing supports, other early care • Modifying DCF LINK data system to help identify and serve children under five

  11. The Collaborative Process • It must be meaningful to you! • Balancing Process with Product • Mental Models • The Collaborative Path

  12. Getting to Know One Another as Organizations

  13. Common Ground

  14. Improving Outcomes for Children Stage 5: Going to Scale • Adapt and expand prototype • Deepen collaborative culture • Institutionalize processes Stage 4: Taking Action • Implement new processes • Collect data • Evaluate progress-make course corrections Stage 3: Developing a Plan • Formalize interagency relationships • Define service delivery processes • Develop technical tools Stage 2: Building Trust • Get to know one another • Build cooperative relationships • Establish shared goals Stage 1: Getting Together • Commit to Collaboration • Involve the right people • Decide to act

  15. Team Self-Assessment • Where are we now? • Have there been changes for which we need to repeat earlier steps to get everyone up to speed? • Are there others we need to invite to our table? • What are some logical next steps to include on our Goal Sheet? • Do we need any additional supports?

  16. What’s Worked for Us..... • Ongoing commitment from and access to all levels of both agencies • Critical importance of support at the top! • A process that promotes statewide goals yet respects local differences and needs • Opportunities to share accomplishments with and learn from other communities

  17. Community Leaders Local Meetings Membership Lists Quarterly Data Sheets Quarterly Goal Sheets “Community NEWS” Federal/State Leaders Strategic Facilitation Meeting Supports Data, Data, Data Policy/Practice Change New Resources What’s Worked for Us.....

More Related