1 Illinois Permanency Enhancement Field Office and Community Forums Fall, 2010 “…for these are all our children, we will all profit by or pay for what they become.” –James Baldwin BEYOND OBSTACLES Mobilizing Child Welfare Staff and Stakeholders to Improve Permanency and Eliminate Disparities in Child Welfare
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1 Illinois Permanency Enhancement Field Office and Community Forums Fall, 2010 BEYOND OBSTACLES Mobilizing Child Welfare Staff and Stakeholders to Improve.
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Illinois Permanency Enhancement Field Office and
Community ForumsFall, 2010
“…for these are all our children, we will all profit by or pay for what they become.”
–James Baldwin
BEYOND OBSTACLESMobilizing Child Welfare Staff and
Stakeholders to Improve Permanency and Eliminate Disparities
in Child Welfare
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Forum Agenda• Panelist Introductions
• Permanency Enhancement Project (PEP): Background and History
• Permanency Enhancement Accomplishments and Work Yet to be Done
• Impact of Long Term Foster Care
• Disproportionality , Disparity, and Permanency in Child Welfare
• How is Our Community Doing? (local data)
• Developing a Local Action Plan to Improve Permanency in Our Community!
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Overview Of Illinois Permanency Enhancement
Initiatives
Illinois Permanency Enhancement
Strategy
Differential Response
Court Improvement Projects
Anti-Racism Transformation
Teams
Family Advocacy Centers
Father Involvement Projects
Trauma Informed practice
LOCALCOMMUNITY ACTION
TEAMS
Illin
ois
Perm
anen
cySt
rate
gy
Permanency Enhancement Project (PEP)
• Partnership between:– Community Stakeholders– IDCFS – IDCFS AA Advisory Council – Illinois AA Family Commission– State Universities
• Illinois State University (Lead University)• Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville• University of Illinois at Chicago• Northern Illinois University
Overall goals of PEP:• Improve permanency outcomes for all
children in foster care • Reduce disparities in the number of African
American children in foster care • Promote community based solutions to
improve permanency among DCFS involved youth
• Monitor child welfare and permanency outcomes for youth
What We’ve Accomplished So Far…
Court Partnerships
Community Partnerships
Parent Outreach
University Partnerships
-16 Local Action Teams have been established to address permanency in Central Illinois
-50+ Local Action Teams have been established throughout the State of Illinois
Court Partnership Projects
Bloomington
• COURT IMPROVEMENT GRANT: Hired 2 Birth Parent Mentors to work with court involved families
Galesburg
• TRAINED WORKERS on Courtroom protocol
Danville
• FAMILY TREATMENT COURT: intensive services for substance effected parents
Community Partnerships/Outreach
Decatur• Housing
Vouchers for children returning home
• Faith-Based Partnerships
Jacksonville
• Foster parent Recruitment Project
Champaign• Domestic Violence
Forums• Faith Based
Partnerships• Systems Of Care
SAMSAH Grant
Parenting Support/Outreach
Charleston• Parents
Empowering Parents Support group
Peoria
• “Partnering with Parents” Support Program (job search skills, parent support
Rock Island
• Latino Family Community Resource Assessment
• Foster Parent Recruitment
University Partnerships
Technical Assistance /Training/ Outcomes
• Workshops and Training (strategic planning, data driven decision making)
• Technology: Permanency Enhancement Web site • Permanency Data• Stakeholder Focus Groups (identifying barriers to
permanency)
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WE’RE ON THE RIGHT PATH, BUT… THERE’S A LOT MORE WORK AHEAD
Moving forward we need the FULL FORCE of our STAFF, COMMUNITY LEADERS, and local CITIZENS to bring about major systemic changes .
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Impact of Long Term Foster Care on our Children, Families,
Community
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- Low educational achievement- Unemployment and underemployment- Poverty- Legal involvement/ incarceration- Early parenthood- Homelessness- Victimization- Physical and Mental Health Challenges(Casey, 2005)
Long-Term Foster Care Impact
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Poor Employment Outcomes
• 48% currently employed (Courtney, Dworsky, Lee & Raap, 2009 )
• $9.45 average hourly wage compared to $12.00 for non-foster care peers (Courtney, Dworsky, Lee & Raap, 2009)
• Average income of less than $6,000 annually (Casey, 2005)
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Homelessness
• 46.6 experienced at least one episode of homelessness
• 20 experienced homelessness for more than 90 days
• (Source: Courtney et al., 2009)
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Early Parenthood• Foster care alumni at risk for young
parenthood, early pregnancy
– 60% of females had given birth, some multiple times
• 19% of females, 8% of males were parents 18 months after discharge
(Source: Pecora et. Al., 2003)
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Legal Involvement/ Incarceration
• 27% of males, 10% of females incarcerated at least once 12 – 18 months after discharge
• 35% had been arrested
(Source: Courtney, et al., 2001)
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Victimization
• Casey study (2005) found 25% of males and 15% of females reported “serious physical and/or sexual victimization)
• PTSD rates almost twice that of U.S. war veterans - 25% vs. 4% in general population and 14% among war vets
RACE AND PERMANENCY: Having the Difficult Discussions:
DISPROPORTIONALITY: The percentage of children in a population
as compared to the percentage of children in the same group in the child welfare system.
Racial Disproportionality
DISPARITY: • Unequal treatment and/or outcomes when
comparing a African Americans to non-minority.
African American children are negatively affected by both.
Racial Disparities
Systemic Factors that impact Permanency for African
American Children
Disproportionality and Disparity
AGENCY RELATED FACTORS: -Lack of culturally responsive family engagement practices
-Lack of collaboration with courts -Lack of sufficient linkages to community based resources ‐(See: Houston, 2007: http://adoptionresearch.illinoisstate.edu/PEP/Reports/Index.shtml
COURT RELATED FACTORS: -Lack of judicial training on minimum parenting standards and risk
- Lack of awareness about emotional trauma caused by parent‐child separation
- Unrealistic “middle class expectations” for parents
- Lack of awareness about cultural differences among diverse family types
(See: Houston, 2007)
COMMUNITY FACTORS:
-Lack of culturally responsive service providers
-Lack of community ownership and investment in families
-Perception that DCFS can solve the problem
-Insufficient cross systems collaboration‐(See: Houston, 2007)
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Why Issues of Permanency and Overrepresentation Matter
Racial Disparity and Overrepresentation of African Americans in Child Welfare is a Current and Historical Reality:
– AA children comprise 31% of the U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000)
– AA children comprise 50% of the foster care population (US ACYF, 2005).
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Why Issues of Race and Permanency Matter
–AA children are more likely to age out of foster care without reunification or other permanency options (Courtney and Wong, 1996; Wulczyn, 2004).
– Nationally, Caucasian children are 4 times more likely to be reunited with family (Hill, 2006)
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National Evidence of Racial Disparity and Disproportionality
• African American mothers more likely to be tested/reported for pre-natal drug exposure than Caucasian mothers (Chasnoff, 1990)
• Doctors more likely to diagnose “abuse” for low income families and “accident” for affluent families (Lane, Rubin, Monteith, & Christian, 2002).
• Low income African American families receiving public assistance are more likely to have allegations substantiated (Barth, 2005)
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National Evidence of Racial Disparity and Disproportionality
• Once a report is made…African American Families are more likely to be screened for an abuse/neglect investigation (Gryzlak, Wells, & Johnson, 2005)
• Investigations of African American families are more likely when reports come from social service providers. (Gryzlak, Wells, and Johnson (2005)
• A report is more likely to be indicated when initiated by a professional AND the family is African American (U.S. DHHS, 2005).
• AA youth 36 % more likely to be removed from the home following a substantiated report (U.S. DHHS, 2005).
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Once a Case is Substantiated for Abuse/Neglect…
• Black children(families) are less likely to receive in-home preservation services
• Less likely to receive mental health services• Less likely to be returned home• Remain in care longer before achieving
permanency through adoption/guardianship• More likely to age out of care without
permanency(Source: Hill, 2006).
Talking About PERMANENCY in Our
Community
What Does the DATA Tell Us?
*Review ISU county level permanency data
Moving Forward as Partners to Improve
Permanency
Steps to Developing a
Community Action Plan
Permanency Action Teams
• Step 1 Come together as local stakeholders, staff, ►decision makers, resource providers, DCFS involved families/youth
• Step 2 Review local permanency data to:►– Examine current foster care rates– Identify outcome disparities across groups– Identify positive and negative permanency trends
• Step 3 Discuss our ► local barriers to permanency
Permanency Action Teams
• Step 4 ► Develop a Plan of Action [See ACTION PLAN Worksheet]
• Step 5 ► Work the Plan!
• Step 6 ► Review data for progress
Let’s Get Started
► What Form of Permanency is Our Priority?
We ant to Change Policies and Practices to…
• Reduce Racial Disparities in Foster Care
• Keep Children at Home/ Preserve Struggling Families
• Return Children to their Families More Quickly
• Improve Adoption and Guardianship Resources
► What SYSTEM or GROUP do We Want to Impact First?
• Court• Agency• Law enforcement• Birth parent/child• Foster/adoptive parent• Service Provider• Community Stakeholder• Schools• Medical• Other (list)
► Within the selected system, what do we want to change?
WE WANT TO CHANGE OR IMPROVE first… • …Policy/Procedure• …Practice • …Communication • …Engagement• …Professional Knowledge• …Resources in our Community
► How can the following partners help us to bring about desired changes? (Brainstorm together)
• … Parents• … Practitioners/Caseworkers• … Court Personnel• … Law enforcement• … Business Leaders/Commerce community • … Foster /Adoptive Parents• … School staff• … Faith Leaders• … Law makers/legislators• … Local Media• … Medical providers• … Higher education• … Housing• … TANF workers• … Mental Health/Substance Abuse clinicians
References:Barth, R. (2005). Child welfare and race: Models of disproportionality. In D. Derezotes et al. (Eds.), Race matters in child
welfare: The overrepresentation of African American children in the system (pp. 25-46). Washington, DC: CWLA Press.
Barth, R. P. (1990). On their own: The experience of youth after foster care. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 7(5), 419-446. Casey Family Services. (2005). The Casey Young Adult Survey: Findings over Three Years Seattle, WA: Casey Family Services. Chasnoff, I.J., Landress, H.J., & Barrett, M.E. (1990). The prevalence of illicit drug and alcohol use during pregnancy and
discrepancies in mandatory reporting in Pine County, Florida. New England Journal of Medicine, 322, 1202-1206. Courtney, M., Dworsky, A., Lee, J., & Raap, M. (2009). Midwest evaluation of the adult functioning of former foster
youth: Outcomes at age 23 and 24. Chicago: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.
Courtney, M., Piliavin, I., Grogan-Kaylor, A., & Nesmith, A. (2001). Foster care transitions to adulthood: A longitudinal view of youth leaving care. Child Welfare, 80, 685-717.
Courtney, M. & Wong, Y. (1996). Comparing the timing of exits from substitute care. Children and Youth Services Review, 18(4/5): 307-334.
Fluke, J., Yuan, Y., Hedderson, J., & Curtis, P. (2003). Disproportionate representation of race and ethnicity in child maltreatment: Investigation and victimization. Children and Youth Services Review, 25(5/6): 359-373.
References:Gryzlak, B., Wells, S., & Johnson, M. (2005). The role of race in child protective services screening decisions. In D. Derezotes et
al. (Eds.) Race matters in child welfare: The overrepresentation of African American children in the system (pp. 63-96). Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.
Harris & Hackett (2007). Decision points in child welfare: An action research model to address disproportionalty. Children and
Youth Services Review, 30 (2008) 199–215.
Hill, R.B. (2006). Synthesis of research on disproportionality in child welfare: An update. Casey/CSSP Alliance for Racial Equity in the Child Welfare System.
Houston, D. (2007). Removing Barriers to Permanency. Springfield, IL: Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. June, 2007.
Lane, W., Rubin, D., Monteith, R., & Christian, C. (2002). Racial differences in the evaluation of pediatric fractures for physical abuse. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288(13): 1603-1609.
Pecora, P., Williams, J., Kessler, R., Downs, C., O’Brien, K., Hiripi, E., & Morello, S. ,( 2003). Assessing the effects of foster care: Early results from the Casey National Alumni Study. Seattle, WA: Casey Family Programs.
Rolock, N. (2008). Disproportionality in Child Welfare. Urbana, Illinois: Children and Family Research Center. Sedlak, A., & Schultz, D. (2005). Racial differences in child protective services investigation of abused and neglected children. In
D. Derezotes et al. (Eds.), Race matters in child welfare: The overrepresentation of African American children in the system (pp. 97-118). Washington, DC: CWLA Press.
U.S. Administration for Children and Families. (2003). Children of color in the child welfare system: Perspectives from the child
welfare community. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
References: United States General Accounting Office (2008). African American Children in Foster Care . HHS and Congressional
Actions Could Help Reduce Proportion in Care. Washington, DC:U.S. Government Printing Office Westat, 1991. A National Evaluation of Title IV-E Foster Care Independent Living Programs for Youth: Phase 2 Final
Report, Volume 2. Rockville, MD: Westat. Wulczyn, F. & Lery, B. (2007). Racial Disparity in Foster Care Admissions. Chapin Hall Center for Children.
Wulczyn, F. (2004). Family Reunification. The Future of Children: Children, Families and Foster Care, 14(1), 95-113.