Foster Care Redesign

1. Foster Care Redesign A New Direction in Foster Care A PLAN FOR A RADICAL CHANGE IN THE FOSTER CARE SYSTEM

2. Bottom Line… A New Direction in Foster Care Eliminate foster care as we know it in the State of Florida

3. A New Direction in Foster Care Performance Incremental Change Radical Change

4. Guiding Principle: Protect the safety and well-being of Florida’s children & families A New Direction in Foster Care

5. At-risk children who remain with their families do better than children in foster care. A New Direction in Foster Care Fact

6. Facts… A New Direction in Foster Care *MIT’s Sloan School of Management

7. Minnesota Study A New Direction in Foster Care Minnesota Study shows: “children placed into unfamiliar foster care showed higher levels of internalizing problems compared with children reared by maltreating caregivers, children in familia care, and children who received adequate care giving.”

8. Chapin Hall/Jim Casey A New Direction in Foster Care Chapin Hall: The 500,000 children in foster care are more likely than other kids to drop out of school, commit crimes, abuse drugs and become teen parents. Jim Casey: Confirms what experience and observations tell us: Kids who can remain in their homes do better than in foster care…Some kids, for their own safety, need to be removed from their families, but in marginal cases of abuse, more should be done to keep them together.

9. Ulrich Group Focus Group Comments A New Direction in Foster Care “Clients expressed remorse and frustration at being removed from their home to foster care.” “Many clients were defensive of their own parents’ lack of parenting skills, claiming they would never neglect or abuse their own children.” “A lot of the time it makes things worse for the kids than the situation they were pulled out of.”

10. A New Direction in Foster Care

11. Foster Care Redesign Goals A New Direction in Foster Care • Safely reduce the number of children in foster care through intensive family support • Meet or exceed the State of Florida’s goal of a 50% reduction of Children in Care by 2012

12. A New Direction in Foster Care • Assure a safe and permanent home for every child who comes to the attention of the child welfare system • Align Results with the Casey Family Programs 2020 Vision on foster care reduction and addressing diversity disproportionality Foster Care Redesign Goals

13. A New Direction in Foster Care • Change the culture of removal to a culture of safe services • Expedite permanency and reduce time in care by identifying where existing services and protocols can be augmented or changed Foster Care Redesign Strategy

14. A New Direction in Foster Care • Introduce preventative services to divert children from coming into care and supporting a family in crisis • Focus on timely permanency for the child

15. A New Direction in Foster Care • Use results analysis and “best practice” reviews as a catalyst for change and as a measurement of success Foster Care Redesign Strategy Develop a community consensus to support family-based prevention services

16. Funding A New Direction in Foster Care • Other than start-up, Title IVE Waiver would support this initiative • Florida is only state with this ability

17. Building Sustainable Change A New Direction in Foster Care • Change the culture of the Child Protection Workers • Offer support in decision making • More team decisions on removals • Provide Master Level Social Workers to staff • Develop training on new system utilizing a practice model with real cases

18. Sustainable Partnerships A New Direction in Foster Care • Rocket Docket: Specialized staffing to ensure permanency achieved as quickly as possible • Increased Expedited Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) • Shorter case plans Specialized Judicial Interventions

19. A New Direction in Foster Care • Introduced Mediation Process to Expedite Reunification • Create special supports for Domestic Violence cases • Intensive Training • Specialized CPI “experts” • DV Advocate funded through Auditor General’s Office • Create special supports for Substance Abuse Cases • Family Intervention Specialists conduct assessments

20. A New Direction in Foster Care • Offer alternatives to families in crisis to ensure child safety • Enhanced VPS (Voluntary Protective Services) • STEPS (Strengthening Ties and Empowering Parents) • Co-located with Child Protective Investigators • Trained in Family Team Conferencing

21. Phase I A New Direction in Foster Care Do everything possible to safely reduce the number of children in foster care!

22. Cultural Change A New Direction in Foster Care • Make it Unacceptable for a child to grow up in Foster Care • Do what ever it takes to keep a child safely with their family

23. Cultural Change A New Direction in Foster Care • Training • Team-Based Decision making • Neighborhood Centers

24. Phase I - Diversion A New Direction in Foster Care Co-locate CPI & Prevention Staff Drug Court on every case involving drugs Increase service offerings (Alternative Response Pilot/ARS, Enhanced Voluntary Protective Services/VPS, STEPS Diversion) Casey Peer TA Domestic Violence Advocate Domestic Violence Specialists Casey Specialists – Master Level Social Workers Florida State University MSW (Social Work Program) Mediation Develop additional Neighborhood Centers (Cassat House) Revise Assessment Tools

25. Reduce Caseloads/Speed Permanency A New Direction in Foster Care • Rocket Docket • Expedited TPR • Aggressively Adopt • Relative Searches • Relative Caregiver Supports • Shortened case plans • Youth Villages Program • Substance Abuse Protocol • Domestic Violence Protocol

26. Phase I – Project Organization A New Direction in Foster Care • Project Manager • Project Plan • Metrics • Outside Evaluation

27. Phase 1 - Marketing Media Plan Community Meetings Monthly Communiqué Internal Communications A New Direction in Foster Care 27

28. We’re Already Making a Difference We’ve reduced the number of children coming into care… A New Direction in Foster Care 28

29. We’re Already Making a Difference We’ve reduced the number of children coming into care….. 29

30. A New Direction in Foster Care GETTING STARTED

31. A New Direction in Foster Care Do Your Homework • Get Your Facts Straight • Review Data Trends • Review Secondary Research

32. A New Direction in Foster Care Create Teams and Work Groups • Executive Oversight Committee • Steering Committee • Core Management Working Committee • Field Staff Advisory Committee

33. A New Direction in Foster Care Clear The Deck • Solicit The Community • Review ALL Current Processes • Select Project Manager • Identify Key Barriers • Partition The Project

34. A New Direction in Foster Care Initial Strategy • Change Management Project • Change the Culture-”Out of the Box, Means Out Of The Box” • Train Everyone On Culture Change • Audit Everything: Reinforce The Message • Communicate At All Levels All The Time • Develop Processes For Change • Determine Measurements

35. A New Direction in Foster Care Examples Of Change Management • Co-located Investigative and Prevention Staff • Created Neighborhood Center • Joint Training of Staff • Non-Judgmental Process Change • Look At Everything That Affects TIME IN CARE and REMOVALS

36. A New Direction in Foster Care Engage the Community • Develop A Marketing Plan • Communicate Early and Often • Be Transparent • Emphasize the Success Stories

37. A New Direction in Foster Care Look For Funding • Casey Family Programs • VOCA • TANF • Title IV Waiver • Medicaid

38. Phase II A New Direction in Foster Care Redesigning The Foster Care System!

39. Next Steps A New Direction in Foster Care System Redesign • Implement comprehensive changes based upon Phase 1 experience • Licensed Foster Care is eliminated and replaced with short term professional Respite Homes • A single, comprehensive service plan is immediately available to protect the child and support the family through reinvestment in resources from deep end to preservation services

40. A New Direction in Foster Care Next Steps • Comprehensive programs are available for Domestic Violence, Substance Abuse and Mental and Physical Health issues • The Child Welfare Worker is viewed as an asset to the family in crisis, not someone to be feared