Transcript Statewide Parent Collaboration Group and Local Parent

Statewide Parent Collaboration Group and
Local Parent Support Group
May 23, 2012
Presented by:
Kathryn Sibley, Family Based Safety Services Program
Specialist
Sandra Haire, Program Administrator/CPS Liaison
Leshia Fisher, Program Director/CPS Liaison
Michelle Hansford, Parent Liaison Region 6
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Learning Objectives
• Learn about the statewide Parent Collaboration
Group (PCG) and the local Parent Support
Groups (PSG)
• Role of parent volunteers
• Hear about the importance of
partnering with parents
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What is the Statewide Parent
Collaboration Group?
• A partnership between the Texas Department of
Family Protective Services (DFPS) and parents
who have been recipients of CPS services.
• A venue for gathering and incorporating parental
feedback to enhance CPS policy and practice.
• Provides:
– information to staff regarding what parents
experience as recipients of CPS services; and
– recommendations for improvement.
3
What is the Local Parent Support
Group (PSG)?
• An informational support group led by parents who have
successfully gone through the CPS system.
• Parents co-facilitate with the CPS.
• Meetings occur at least once a month in every region –
not in every county.
• Parent facilitator shares their personal story.
• Important information is provided about the CPS process
• There is a short question and answer session
4
Parent Volunteers
•
Parent volunteers are
not paid to co-facilitate
PSG meetings and are
not CPS employees
•
This is not a contracted
service; it is a support
group where one parent
offers hope and support
to other parents; and
•
Parents do not receive
formal training from
CPS.
5
Benefits of partnering with parents
Parents understand CPS process and their role in it:
– With some hope and support
– Feeling empowered and
encouraged
– Not feeling so alone, strength in numbers
– With some information about
various community resources.
As a result, permanency can be achieved sooner!
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Benefits of partnering with parents
(Cond’t.)
• There is value in shared
experiences because
they’ve “been there.”
• Communication is often
accessible, plain talk,
absent jargon.
• Support includes:
emotional, informational,
and development of selfreliance.
• Offers hope,
encouragement and trust
– “if I can do it, you can
do it, too.”
• Exchange of strategies
can occur for parenting,
growth in confidence and
personal development
• Engaging families
promotes better
outcomes for children.
7
Results of Studies
•
Contra Costa, California results indicate that “reunification may be more likely for children whose
parents were served by Parent Partners. Specifically, approximately 60% of children with a
Parent Partner reunified with their parents within 12 months of removal, compared to 26% of
children whose parents were not served.”
•
Iowa Partnering with Parents for System Change - MCWIC Midwest Child Welfare
Implementation Center – A Service of the Children’s Bureau currently conducting the research
evaluation on Parent Partners.
6/13/2011 Baseline Data Brief on Family Centered Attitudes and Situational Decision
Making – Iowa DHS Case Managers
Overall, the at this time the baseline data is showing all positive attitudes for Parent
Partners.
•
The Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Parent Advocate
Program Evaluation: Jefferson County, Kentucky June 2007 – results indicate advocates reported
gains in strength, improved communication skills and increased self-sufficiency in most families
they served. Had higher percentages of reunification with their parents, similar instances of
permanent placement with a relative, and fewer exits to adoption and emancipation.
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Other states who have Parent Partners
•
Iowa Department of Human Services Parent Partners (mentor) families who are
currently navigating through DHS.
•
The Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Department
for Community Based Services – Parent Advocacy Program.
•
Contra Costa County, California – Parents Helping Parents – where parents who
have been involved in the child welfare system now serve as mentors and resource
guides to other parents currently receiving child welfare services.
•
New York City, New York – Child Welfare Organizing Project - continues to provide
training and other tools needed for parents to communicate effectively about the onthe-ground experience of child welfare and helps provide a voice for those so rarely
heard.
9
What you can do?
• Ask if there is a parent support group
• Contact state or regional representative
• Have Parent Partners in your court
• Create Parent Navigators within your
systems
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Resources
•
Department of Family and Protective Services
- Web site: www.dfps.state.tx.us
•
CPS Liaison
- E-mail: [email protected]
- Telephone: (409) 944-4948
•
CPS Liaison
-E-mail: [email protected]
-Telephone: (936) 525-2170
•
Parent Liaison
- E-mail: [email protected]
-Telephone: (832) 891-1363
•
Parent Program Specialist
- E-mail: [email protected]
- Telephone: (512) 438-2224
11
References
Publication
•
Iowa Partnering with Parents for System Change MCWIC Midwest Child Welfare
Implementation Center – A Service of the Children’s Bureau 6/13/2011
•
Partnering with Parents Promising Approaches to Improve Reunification Outcomes
for Children in Foster Care Executive Summary, July 2009,
http://ccyp.berkeley.edu/pdfs/parenting_with_partners_exec_summary.doc
•
The Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Department
for Community Based Services – Parent Advocacy Program Evaluation June 11,
2007
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Questions?
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