Permanency – Why Now?

DCF Family Services 2011

10 Things

Independent Living Checklist

Employment experience A resume

An alarm clock A photo ID

Copy of birth certificate Social security card

Info on health insurance A hobby

High school graduation A place to live

or GED An adult connection

Outcomes for Youth

Aging Out of Foster Care

EducationCompared to those who did not experience foster care,

these young people were:

• over three times as likely not to have a high school diploma or GED

• half as likely to have completed any college

• one-fifth as likely to have a college degree.

• and more likely to be enrolled in a 2-year college rather than 4-year college or graduate school if they were pursuing postsecondary education.

Employment

• Leaving foster care, only 48 percent were currently employed(compared with 76% of other youth)

• Of those with jobs, they worked an average of three hours less per week and earned $4 less per hour than other youth

• Median earnings were just $8,000.

Living Arrangements

• Over two-thirds of the young adults had lived in at least three different places, including 30 percent who had lived in five or more places.

• 24 percent of these young adults had been homeless

• One-half of the young people who had been homeless had been homeless more than once.

Permanency In VT

• In 2008, the Transformation Plan was created and we began to shift our practice.

• Changes were put in place to reinforce earlier involvement, use of non-court involved strategies and engagement with families.

What Our Data Tells Us

• Our data reflects the results:– the number of Child Safety Interventions has

increased;– the number of open family cases has

increased; and – the number of children in custody has

declined.

Child Safety Interventions

Year          Number of Child Safety Interventions

2007 29382008 35262009 44902010 4601

Open Family Cases

Year          Number of Open Family Cases

1/1/2008 86

1/1/2009 88

1/1/2010 4581/1/2011 451

Children In Care

Quarter/ Year       

Number of children in care

1st Quarter 2008 13151st Quarter 2009 11821st Quarter 2010 10411st Quarter 2011 985

Length of Stay In Care – 3+ Years

Year Children in Care

#  in Care 3+ years

% in care 3+ years

2008 1315 301 23%

2009 1182 265 22%

2010 1041 225 22%

2011 985 202 21%

Length of Stay In Care – 2+ Years

Year Children in Care

#  in Care 2+ years

% in care 2+ years

2008 1315 494 38%

2009 1182 435 37%

2010 1041 391 38%

2011 985 331 34%

The Data Suggests….

• We have not transformed our practice for children who enter custody sufficiently to guard against long lengths of stays.

• The longer a child / youth remains in care, the more likely they are to experience placement changes which are connected to poorer outcomes for children.

Permanency Round Tables How They Fit

• Provide an opportunity for focused discussions / consideration of situations to either address or avoid long lengths of stay.

• Offer a venue to open up our practice to elevate the issue of permanency for youth in our care.

Permanency Roundtables

Purpose

• To develop a permanency action plan for each child/youth that will expedite legal permanency

• To stimulate thinking and learning about pathways to permanency for these and other children

• To identify and address barriers to expedited permanency through professional development, policy change, resource development, and the engagement of system partners

How is a Permanency Roundtable Different?

• Structure

• Length & depth

• Sense of urgency

• “Fresh eyes”

• Strengths-based

• Solution-focused

Roles of Roundtable Participants

Everyone-

creative thinking that results in an effective Permanency action plan

Master Practitioners & Permanency specialists

internal consultation

Caseworkers

Case Presentation; response to questions

Supervisors

supplemental information; Response to questions

Permanency consultants

Facilitation and consultation

Permanency Roundtable Phases

I. Welcome and overview

II. Present the case

III.Clarify and explore

IV.Brainstorm

V. Create permanency action plan

VI.Debrief

Welcome and Overview (5 minutes)

• Facilitator welcomes team

• Team members introduce themselves

• Facilitator overviews purpose and process

• Facilitator overviews ground rules

II. Present the Case(20 Minutes)

• Caseworker presents oral case summary • Facilitator invites additional comments on

the case from other case-related team members (supervisor, others)

III. Clarify and Explore(15 Minutes)

• Team members ask questions to clarify and expand upon information presented

 • Team members ask questions to explore other

aspects of the case

• Team members rate the child’s current permanency status

IV. Brainstorm(25 Minutes)

• What will it take to achieve permanency?

• What can we try that has been tried before?

• What can we try that has NEVER been tried?

• How many things can we do concurrently?

• How can we engage the youth in planning for permanence?

V. Create Permanency Action Plan(35 Minutes)

• Review and combine strategies developed during brainstorming

• Prioritize strategies• Discuss strengths of each prioritized strategy• Finalize strategies and timelines• Discuss what it will take to successfully implement each

strategy in the plan.

VI. Debrief (10 minutes)

Are there any unanswered questions or concerns?

If so, how should we address them?

What did we learn in this discussion that could be applied to other cases?

Summary of Key Points• No child should ever grow up in foster care ~ Permanency is vital

for healthy development and well-being in all children and youth.

• Permanency is possible and achievable for all children and youth.

• Meaningful, effective engagement of the youth, parents, caregivers and other significant people is the key to successful permanency outcomes.

• Using a team approach improves engagement opportunities and permanency outcomes

• There are skills, strategies and specific casework behaviors that, when consistently applied, can enhance practice and improve outcomes.

When a Youth Says “NO”• I am ready for independence, I don’t need more adults

telling me what to do!

• I don’t want to get dragged down by my crazy family and their issues

• Adoption is for babies – I am not a baby!

• I am happy where I am – I don’t want to move

• I don’t want to lose important connections to my siblings, grandparents, birth parents, former foster parents

• I need to protect myself from being hurt again!

• I don’t want to change my name

• No one will want me

When we Give the Youth the “POWER of the NO” – we say

• You are not lovable

• No one would want you anyway

• There is no hope for your future

• You are not important enough for me to exert myself trying to find you a family

So what about my role?

Permanency Roundtable Role within the Youth’s Full Team

“Pitchers & Catchers clinic” Roundtable: Full Permanency Team:

Supervisors Youth

Master Practitioners Family

Permanency Consultants Court (Judges, Attorneys,

Caseworkers CASA) Tribal leaders/members

Youth Network

Others Designated by

Youth & Family

Desired Results

• Expediting permanence

• Increasing staff competencies (attitudes, knowledge skills) related to expediting permanence

• Gathering data to address systemic and cross-system barriers to permanency (policies, protocols, procedures, training needs)

Next Steps

• Following our first two weeks of Permanency Roundtables, we will take time to reflect on the experience to determine what worked, what we want to replicate, what elements we believe should be carried forward in each district and how this should be accomplished.

Discussion

Karen Shea, MSW

Child Protection and Field Operations Director

Karen.Shea @ahs.state.vt.us

Susan Reilly, MA

Director, Strategic Consulting

Casey Family Programs

sreilly@casey.org