2016-2017

SPRF staffings refocused to families open for targeted periods of time

March 2015

Common intake form developed for use in co-location resource center

January 2015

First courtesy case referred to Navigators from Lane County

March 2014

Co-location, Dallas Community Resource Center opens at Academy Building

August 2014

Family Resource Navigator Program began

Winter 2014

SPRF referral processes established including common referral form

January 2016

Co-location, Central Community Resource Center opens in Independence

March 2015

First courtesy case referred to Navigators from Multnomah County

Summer 2016

Polk County Community Resource Guide compiled from information provided by Resource Navigators

July 2016

First courtesy case referred to Navigators from Yamhill County

August 2016

First annual SPRF program review

completed

2016-2017

Clearer communication centered on goal progress

2016-2017

Increased leveraging of funds

Summer 2017

Second annual SPRF program review completed

2017-2019

Expand Resource Navigator program service area

2017-2019

Increased staffing for Resource Navigator Program

2017-2019

Development of After-Care Program

Family Resource Navigator Program Timeline

December 2015

First courtesy case referred to Navigators from Marion County

Date:

Family Resource Navigator Program

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Polk County Family Resource Navigators assist families with an open DHS child welfare case to achieve greater stability. They accomplish this by connecting families to resources in the community and removing barriers that prevent the families from accessing those resources.

The goals may be mandated by a court, required by DHS staff or desired by the family itself. The ultimate purpose of this service is to reduce the number of children in the foster care system, enable families to learn about and access community resources on their own, and compose a stronger overall community through stronger individual families.

Our Program

Who We Are

Client Activities

Internal Activities

KEY

Some families served by navigators have a few, targeted resource needs. Others have needs in multiple areas. Sometimes being able to chip away at one makes satisfying most of the others achievable. Navigators recently served a parent in this latter category. Confronting serious legal charges, she struggled to care for her newborn son-not because of poor parenting skills, but because of the uncertainties her legal situation posed for her. She was also living under unsanitary home conditions with no income. Navigators assisted her to meet several resource needs for her infant: supplies of diapers; a baby monitor. They assisted her with transportation vouchers to be able to connect with multiple service providers on the same day. They also helped her to secure a badly needed eye exam and subsequent new glasses so she could drive safely and read applications. And they helped her to apply for and obtain a Section 8 housing voucher. Perhaps most importantly, the mother knew she could count on navigators to accompany her to court as she met with her attorney and moved toward having her charges dropped. Those charges were, in fact, dropped. The mother continues her both behavioral health therapy and substance abuse treatment. She is now actively looking for work, engaged in the recovery community, ready to move into her own apartment and able to focus the bulk of her energy on parenting her son without great weight hanging above her.

Fresh Start

Navigators first met this mother of five when she walked in to the Dallas Resource Center. She was homeless, sleeping in front of friends’ houses in her car, and about to lose her driver’s license. She had family in the county, but her children were in their care, and she wasn’t permitted to be under the same roof because she was considered a safety threat to them. Homeless, recently released from jail, angry and depressed, she came to the Resource Center for help. Navigators negotiated a reduced, two-day rate for her at a local motel, for which her parents paid. Over the course of the next nine months, Navigators assisted her to re-enroll in addictions counseling, remain engaged with mental health therapy, complete parenting and anger management classes, and pay off substantial debt to the Housing Authority. Having overcome many challenges and no longer considered a safety concern, she was eventually reunified with her children in her parents’ home. A short time later, her debts cleaned up, Navigators helped pay for her deposit as she and her children were approved to move into their own apartment. With her family close by, she remains active in her children’s many school athletic pursuits and can fully enjoy being part of the community.

Overcoming Homelessness

Navigators began working with a father when his children with high-needs were unexpectedly placed in his care. At that time, he had never parented on a full-time basis and struggled to understand his children’s needs. In addition to lacking basic parenting skills, he needed help in keeping his home clean and safe, and becoming financially self-sufficient. Unfortunately, due to his children’s needs, they were removed from his care, but he persevered in building his skills, meeting and exceeding the tasks DHS put before him. With Navigators’ help, this father worked diligently to better understand the needs of his children. This included tasks such as making doctors’ appointments, ordering prescriptions, and advocating for his children with their insurers. He participated in parenting classes, where he was the model student. While attending nearly all DHS-required appointments, he was also able to complete his Vocational Rehabilitation program with three different welding certificates and was soon hired as a welder with a local business. A year after his case’s closure, he has moved out of his parents’ home into his own apartment, purchased his own car, opened a savings account, and maintained steady employment with increasing responsibility.

Self-Sufficient

Navigators worked with a mother who had her child removed from her care shortly after his birth. The mother struggled with legal matters, tracking down her medical records, and engaging in the services required by DHS for reunification. The Navigator Program helped her obtain copies of all of her medical records, complete and file all legal documents, and encouraged her to take the necessary steps to engage in required services. Navigators were also able to help this mother get on the housing waiting list to better prepare her to be on her own. This mother was successfully reunified with her son and her case has now closed. She continues to provide updates to the Navigators to let them know all is well.

On Their Own

Navigators assisted a single mother with two young children who were removed from her care with little hope of being returned. This mother struggled to maintain a budget and keep track of her appointments despite successfully holding down two jobs without consistent access to transportation. Navigators were able to assist the mother in building a budget that allowed her to care for herself and her children. They also helped her create a plan to keep her appointments organized. Once the mother was on-track for reunification, Navigators assisted her with preparations for the children’s return. This included preparing a bedroom complete with bunk beds and new bedding. The children have been in the mother’s care for over a year now and are doing great.

Successful Reunification

Several cases have been open to Navigator Services more than once. In one circumstance, DHS re-referred a family to Navigators because nearly all aspects of stability appeared to be falling away: the family was being evicted; the mother was deeply in debt; relatives and members of the community expressed substantial mental health concerns; and the mother appeared to be at wit’s end over her son’s behavior, her parenting skills seemingly disintegrating as he became more aggressive. The case didn’t start well; the mother came to the DHS offices almost daily, first begging for help, then becoming emotional and sometimes verbally abusive when her son was ultimately removed. Things could have gone very wrong. This case remains open, but the mother has made substantial progress: she contributed her own physical labor to a plan Navigators put together to help her resolve several hundred dollars’ worth of storage unit debt; she became consistent in attending mental health therapy appointments and reengaged with a prescriber to get back on needed medications; she worked with Navigators to find and be approved for housing; she built a safe, sober social network; she dealt with many of her past demons, cleaned up debt and overdue obligations; and she began to trust, working with her caseworkers instead of seeing them as adversaries. It has been a long road, and it hasn’t been easy, but her son has now returned to her home, and they are continuing to make progress through counseling and WRAP as he prepares for a new school year—this year, with his own family.

Re-Referral

Stand-Out Client Accomplishments

Completion of Vocational Rehabilitation Secured Housing

Stable Employment Completion of Treatment

Successful Reunification Awarded Full Custody

Restored Driving Privileges Completed Parent Education

September 2014-Present

185 Cases to date

376 Children

114 Cases had children in home

253 Children

23 Families have been reunified

42 Children

Cases to Date

34 Open Cases

71 Children

19 cases have children in home

42 Children

$46,200 estimated monthly savings, based on

DHS average monthly cost of $1,100 for one

child in foster care

Current Caseload

60

Walk-In Referrals in last 12 months

12

Walk-in clients became SPRF referred Clients

19

SPRF Clients became Walk-in Clients

Walk-Ins &

Referrals

2014-15

20 Cases

2015-16

29 Cases

Average Number of Open Cases

Tasks Resource Navigators have completed beyond basic resource connection:

Strong relationships with independent landlords Accompany clients to engage in referred services

Long distance transportation Legal document assistance Installation of baby gates

Assembled furniture Furniture moving

Plumbing

Above and Beyond

Resource Navigators

2 Full time County Staff

Supervisor

Family & Community Outreach Program Manager

Interns

Bachelor’s level interns from Western Oregon University

Current Staffing

Only one case has ever been

closed at screening

Longest running case open for 17

months

Polk

Marion

Yamhill

Linn

Benton

Lincoln

Multnomah

Washington

Lane

Clatsop

Jackson

63%

18%

13%

4%

2%

>0%

Needs

Addressed Baby Gates

Birth Certificates

Bunk Beds

Bus Passes

Car Batteries

Car Seats

Car Tires

Clothing

College Admissions

Communication Device

Dust Mite Kits

Equestrian Therapy

Food Boxes

Furniture

Gas Cards

GED Classes

Glasses

Housing Applications

Hygiene Kits

Legal Documents

Lizard Supplies

Lock Box

Long Distance Transport

Mason Jars

Mattresses

Oregon Health Plan

Parent Education

Plumbing

Rent/Utility Assistance

Runaway Resources

School Registration

School Supplies

Storage Units

Veteran’s Services

Washers/Dryers

YMCA Memberships

Financial leveraging only, excludes in-kind materials, services, and time

$3,960 SPRF Funds

+

$24,130 Community Partner Contributions

=

$ 28,090 Resource Funding

Leveraged Funds

Most Referred to Agencies West Valley Housing Authority

Polk County Service Integration

Polk County Behavioral Health

Social Security Administration

ARCHES

Community Action Agency

Family Building Blocks

Mid-Valley Parenting

The Salvation Army

Energy Assistance

Top Needs

67%

51%

44% 40%

36% 32%

23% 19% 18%

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Months

Open

Goals Completed

Goals Partially

Completed

Goals Not Completed

Children in Home Children in Home Children in Home

Yes No Yes No Yes No

1 4.5 0.5 5 0 8 7

2 14 0 6.5 4.5 4 4

3 7 1 9 0 5 7

4 4 2 4 3 0 3

5 2 1 1 5 0 1

6 2.5 1.5 1 2 0 2

7 3 0 0.5 2.5 0 0

8 2 0 1 0 0 0

9 0 1 0 1 0 0

10 1 0 0 1 0 0

11 1 1 0 0 0 0

12 0 0 0 1 0 0

14 1 0 0 0 0 0

16 1 0 0 0 0 0

17 1 0 0 0 0 0

Closure Data This chart shows the number of cases with or without children in the home at closure based on the number of months the

case was open to Navigator Services and, whether or not they were able to meet their established goals.

A majority of cases close with some or all children in the home after 1-3 months; however, closure with children in the home does NOT correlate with meeting DHS goals to establish stability.

NO case open 7 months or longer failed to meet DHS goals, whether or not children ended up in the home.

53% of cases open 7 months or longer, completed goals with some or all children in the home at closure.

57% of cases closed with ALL children in the home at closure.

60% of cases closed with some or all children in the home.

In 2 years since the Navigator Program was established, only 4 out of 185 cases have been open longer than the

one-year contract agreement.

Of 142 closed cases, only 5% closed without children completely in or completely out of the home.

8 Additional cases have resulted in reunification following their closure to Navigator Services.