Transcript Framework For Child Welfare Practice In California

Welcome to
Framework For Child
Welfare Practice
In California
Date:
Trainer:
Sponsor:
1
What strengths,
capacities, attributes, and
assets do you bring to
this job that will benefit
youth and families?
2
Once around your table please share your:
 Name
 One of the strengths, capacities, attributes
or assets you bring to this job.
Write them on the strips of paper provided.
3
Today's Agenda
• Welcome
• Overview Of Training: Common Core
• New Initiatives
• Evidence-Based & Promising Practices
• Fairness and Equity Awareness
• Lunch
• Fairness and Equity Awareness – con’t.
• Strength-Based, Family-Centered Engagement
• Transfer of Learning, Course Evaluation & Closure
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California’s Standardized
Child Welfare Training
California has four Regional Training Academies:
 BAA
 Southern
 Central
 Northern
And the Inter-University Consortium in collaboration
with Los Angeles County DCFS
The coordination of California’s Child Welfare
Training is conducted by the California Social Work
Education Center (CalSWEC).
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Statewide Training &
Education Committee (STEC)
The Statewide Training & Education Committee
is facilitated by CalSWEC and CDSS. STEC
includes representatives from Regional Training
Academies, County Directors, and Staff
Development. One of the purposes of STEC is
to oversee the development and implementation
of standardized core curricula in California.
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CALIFORNIA’S 7*
COMMON CORE COURSES
 Framework (you are here)
 Child & Youth Development
 Child Maltreatment Identification:
Parts 1 and 2
 Critical Thinking in Child Welfare
Assessment: Safety, Risk, &
Protective Capacity
 Case Planning/Case Management
 Placement/Permanency
* PLUS more to follow
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Five Themes in the Common Core
 Accountability & Outcomes
 Evidence-based & Promising Practices
 Fairness & Equity
 Strength-based Practices & Programs
 Family & Youth Engagement
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Competency Outcomes
 Understands the federal, state and county emphasis on
achieving positive and measurable outcomes for families
and children.
 Understands how evidence-based research contributes
to the improvement of public child welfare practice and
outcomes.
 Recognizes and values the need for fair and equitable
treatment of children, youth, and families that addresses
their unique sociocultural context.
 Understands and values the importance of engaging
children, youth, and families, kin networks, care
providers, and community resources in a collaborative,
strength-based process.
 Initial your priority today
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Competency Outcomes
Compare your selection with someone sitting near
you. Ask them:
Which competency interests you the most today?
Why?
Then share your priority.
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New Initiatives
Child Welfare prior to 2000
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Review of ASFA
Two overarching goals:
 Move children stranded in the
system into permanent placements
 Change the experience of children
entering the system today!
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Adoption & Safe Families Act
(1997):

Safety

Permanency

Well-Being
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Seven Indicators of ASFA




Fewer children are abused/neglected
Fewer children are in foster care
Fewer children re-enter foster care
Fewer multiple placements for children in foster
care
 Reduced lengths of time to reunify children with
parents or caregivers
 Reduced length of time to achieve adoption
(less than 24 months)
 Increase the levels of health and education
support for children in foster care
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Organization of Child Welfare
in California
 Federal laws and state laws are passed
 Counties are required to follow these laws after the State
issues regulations pertaining to the law that has been
passed or through policy letters called ACLs
 Funding is connected to following regulations and ACLs
 Counties then provide their staff with county policy and
procedures to implement these regulations and policies.
Counties have many differences. Imagine a rural county
with 5 social workers and L.A. County with 3000. Do you
think they would have many differences?
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Current California Statistics
On a Post-It® note, write down what you think
are:
1) The number of cases of child abuse/ neglect
reported last year in CA
2) The number of children with a substantiated
allegation of child abuse/neglect last year in
CA
3) The number of children in CA Foster Care
now
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The Case for Change in CA
 487,154 referrals of child
abuse/neglect each year
(for the 12 months ending July 2007)
 108,513 children with
substantiated allegations of
abuse/neglect
(for the 12 months ending July 2007)
 76,310 children in foster
care (Point in time on July 1, 2007)
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California’s Challenges
California has:
13% of the nation’s child population
BUT
16% of the nation’s foster care population
(2005 Data)
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The Case for Change in CA
 65% of foster children in care
for at least 2 years
experience 3 or more
placements
 6% of children in CA are
African American, but 26% of
children in CWS are African
American
(Data for the period of July 06-June 07 )
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New Initiatives
Improving the way we
serve families involved
with child welfare
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The Vision
Every child living in a safe,
stable, permanent home,
nurtured by healthy families
and strong communities.
From the California Stakeholders’ Report
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Goals/Outcomes
1. Children are protected from abuse and
neglect.
2. Children are safely maintained in their own
homes whenever possible and appropriate.
3. Children have permanency and stability in their
living situations.
4. The continuity of family relationships and
connections is preserved for children.
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Goals/Outcomes, continued
5. Families have enhanced capacity to provide
for their children’s needs.
6. Children receive appropriate services to meet
their educational needs.
7. Children receive adequate services to meet
their physical and mental health needs.
8. Youth emancipating from foster care are
prepared to transition to adulthood.
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California Child Welfare Outcomes
and Accountability System
 Three year cycle with quarterly reports
 What about Division 31 Regulations?
“Division 31 remains in full effect. AB 636
is a review process and replaces the
Division 31 Compliance Review
Process; so the Division 31 reviews have
ended, but not the regulations themselves.”
- S. Oppenheim Jan-04
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System Improvement Efforts
Children and Family
Services Review (CFSR)
Federal Program
Improvement Plan (PIP)
OUTCOMES:
• Safety
CWS Improvement
• Permanency
• Child & Family
Well-Being
California Child &
Family Services
Review
(C-CFSR)/(AB636)
Peer Quality Case
Review (PQCR), Self Assessment
(SA), and System Improvement
Plan (SIP)
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Evidence-Based Practice
How do we
know what
works?
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What does EBP mean?
Please have a short discussion at your tables
regarding what you think EBP means.
Have you heard this term before?
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Some Definitions:
EBP “is the integration of best research
evidence with clinical expertise and [client]
values”
Sackett, Straus, Richardson, Rosenberg & Haynes (2000). Evidence-Based
Medicine: How to practice and teach EBM (2nd ed.)
“It is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use
of current best evidence in making decisions
about the care of individual [clients]”
Sackett et al. (1996)
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Definitions, continued
Gilgun’s 4 ‘Cornerstones’ of EBP:
1. Research and theory
2. Practice wisdom, or what we and other
professionals have learned from our clients
3. The person of the practitioner (personal
assumptions, values, biases and world views)
4. What clients bring to the situation
Gilgun, J.F. (2005). The four cornerstones of evidence-based practice in social
work. Research on Social Work Practice, 15(1).
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Definitions, continued
Practice that is informed and ‘mindful’ of:
 Best available research evidence;
 Best clinical experience;
 Client values and preferences.
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The Five Steps of EvidenceBased Practice
STEP ONE: What do we want to know? What
are the questions?
Convert information needs related to practice
decisions into answerable research questions
STEP TWO: What evidence is there?
Track down the best evidence with which to
answer them (Sackett et al., 2000, pp.3-4) courtesy of
Eileen Gambrill
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The Five Steps of EvidenceBased Practice
STEP THREE: What is the quality of the evidence?
Critically appraise that evidence for its validity, impact
(size of effect) and applicability (usefulness in practice)
STEP FOUR: How do we use the evidence to make
decisions?
Apply the results of this appraisal to practice/policy
decisions. This involves deciding whether evidence
found (if any) applies to the decision at hand, while also
considering client values and preferences in making
decisions as well as other application concerns. For
example, is a client similar to those studied? Is access
to services described?
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The Five Steps of EvidenceBased Practice
STEP FIVE: How did this work?
Evaluate effectiveness and efficiency in
carrying out steps 1-4 and seek ways to
improve them in the future
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Clearinghouse




www.cachildwelfareclearinghouse.org
Serves as an online connection for child
welfare professionals, staff of public and
private organizations, academic institutions,
and others who are committed to serving
children and families.
Provides up-to-date information on evidencebased child welfare practices.
Facilitates the utilization of evidence-based
practices as a method for achieving improved
outcomes of safety, permanency and wellbeing for children and families involved in the
California public child welfare system.
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Promising Practices . . .

Are programs that appear to be successful, but
have not yet been rigorously studied or tested

Are implemented while rigorous research is
being done
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Examples of Promising Practices





Family to Family
TDMs
Linkages
Wrap-around services
California Permanency for Youth Project
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…All children and families will achieve similar benefits and
achieve equally positive outcomes.
from the California Stakeholders’ Report
Fairness and Equity:
The Vision
38
Pizza Activity
 You have been invited to a rather eclectic Pizza
Party. As people introduce themselves to you,
you realize there are only six pieces of pizza for
all 21 of you.
 Individually decide how to fairly prioritize who
gets a slice of pizza and who doesn’t.
 Convince your group that your way is the fairest
way to share your six slices.
 What fairness principle did you use to help you
make these decisions?
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Fairness, Equity & Equality
Equity implies the application of justice
influenced by principals of ethics.
Fairness implies the absence of bias.
Equality implies the likeness or sameness in
quality, power, status, or degree.
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Does Equitable = Equal?
 What are the implications for child welfare?
 How should services be allocated?
 How do we build a fair and equitable system for
service delivery?
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FAIRNESS & EQUITY IN CWS
INVOLVES MULTIPLE ISSUES
• Disproportionate representation
• Cultural competency
• Diversity
• Socioeconomic
• Immigration status/acculturation
• Sexual orientation (LGBTQ)
• Gender
• Disability
• Age
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Ethnicity at Decision Points of the
California Child Welfare System-2006
100%
3.30
9.8
0.5
3.9
0.9
4.0
1.1
3.1
80%
50.3
60%
51.6
48.6
Other
42.4
25.7
28.4
Population
(9,988,199)
Native
American
Hispanic
27.9
White
31.9
6.1
1.4
Asian/PI
29.6
0%
2.3
48.0
40%
20%
1.4
15.4
14.9
19.0
Referrals
(441,260)
Substantiations
(108,290)
Entries
(34,508)
28.3
Black
In Care
(77,232)
Chart taken from presentation by Barbara Needell, CSSR UC Berkeley,
California’s Child Welfare System: Using Data From CWS/CMS, February 2008
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Statement of the problem
African American children are:





Referred to child welfare more than any other
segment of the population
Entering the system more frequently
Less likely to receive in-home services
Least likely to reunify
Staying in care longer than their White or
Hispanic counterparts
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What is Culture?
 A unique set of behaviors, attitudes, practices,
customs, values, music, beliefs, food, religious
experiences, history, celebrations, preferences,
lifestyles.
 It is not innate: it is learned
 It provides the lens through which we see the
world, process information, and communicate
with others.
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Cultural Expression
Not everyone of the same race will express
culture in the same way; other factors are:

Social class/privilege/poverty

Rural or urban residency

Occupation

Education

Marital status

Age

Personal values
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Cultural Backpacks
We all bring our “Cultural Backpacks” or our
“biases” with us to work…
Our own “backpack” shapes the nature of:
• the conversations we have with
each family and child
• assessment
• treatment plans
• the allocation of resources
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What’s in
your
“Cultural
Backpack”?
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Achieving Fairness and Equity
Achieving Fairness and Equity in CWS as it
pertains to:
 the treatment of families and
 the access of services for families
requires us to look at MODERN DAY RACISM
as a contributing factor in disproportionality.
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Modern Day Racism
Includes three systems which operate
simultaneously to suppress discussion on race and
mask biases:
• Principle of colorblindness
• Racial and gender stereotypes
• Institutional racism
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Colorblind Ideologies
 The purpose of colorblind ideologies is to
suppress public discussions regarding
race…



Told not to talk about race or culture
Taught not to “notice” race or ethnicity so
everyone will be treated “equally”
Told that whoever brings up race is the racist
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Stereotypes
 A belief that members of a group:
 possess an inherent characteristic

and every person in this group is presumed to
possess the same characteristic
 In a “colorblind society,” stereotypes and their
consequences often go unchecked.
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Stereotypes and Perceptions
Let’s identify some of these common assumptions
(not necessarily your own values/beliefs)

White women

Poor women

African American women

Asian women

Mexican women

Middle Eastern women

Native American women
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What are implicit stereotypes?
 An implicit stereotype is one that is powerful
enough to operate without conscious thought or
awareness.
 Implicit stereotypes can “flavor” individual
behaviors and perceptions in CWS decisionmaking.
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Bias leads to Institutional
Racism
 Bias is embedded in longstanding U.S. cultural
values, beliefs and norms.
 Bias flies under the radar because it manifests in
behaviors and attitudes which are implicit rather
than explicit.
 Bias can occur without expressing any
hostilities.
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Fairness and Equity in your
Core Training
Throughout this core curriculum, expect ongoing
training to better prepare you for:
 More effective intercultural communication
 Interpersonal relations
 Interactions with individuals from cultures
other than your own
 Decision points where we need to be
especially aware of fairness and equity issues
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Strength-Based Child Welfare
Family Centered
Engagement of Youth
and Families
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What do we mean by
“Strength-Based?”
Strength defined:
“Capacity for exertion or endurance; a strong
attribute or inherent asset”
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Goals for Strength-Based Work
 Identify family strengths and resources that can
be used to support the family
 Use strengths as benchmarks to assess the
status of the family over time
 Use community-wide information of family
strengths to develop community resources
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Strength-Based Described
 Developed from a set of supportive relationships
 Processes that support and protect families,
especially during adversity and change
 Maintains family cohesion
 Supports development and well-being of
individual family members
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Positive Family Processes
 Household routines
 Time use
 Communication and
praise
 Cultural and religious
celebrations
 Parent-child warmth
and supportiveness
* Which of these
strengths are in
your family?
* What does (or
did) YOUR
family rely on in
times of crisis?
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Circles of Strength & Support
Whom would
you call if
YOUR children
were being
detained?
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Promoting Circles of Strength
& Support
# 1 = Family and
Extended Family
# 2 = Community
Partners/Resources
#3 = Child Welfare
Agency
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What we say makes a difference
If it were you and your
family being
discussed, would any
of these offend you?
What would feel
better?
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Strength-Based Language
 Focuses on what is strong, not what is wrong
 Encourages families to do their personal best
within the framework of their cultures
 Reframes deficits as opportunities for growth
 Acknowledges and builds on successes
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Strength-Based Language
 Presumes a desire for and the possibility of a
positive outcome
 Includes feelings and words to match
 Models empathy and offers support
If YOUR children were detained, which one of
these practices would you like to know your
social worker would be using? (Compare
with your table mates.)
66
Strength-Based Language
Do you believe that any of these are . . .
 Culture Specific?
 Race Specific?
 Gender Specific?
67
What we say makes a difference
What we say...
Influences what we think...
Which affects what we
value/feel/believe...
Which determines how we
act/treat others...
68
Getting at Strengths
 Think of what you DO want family members to
do
 Determine the PAYOFF for WHEN they do that
 Tell the payoff first, then what to do
 Avoid negative language
 Blaming
 Shaming
DON’T
 Whining
 Complaining
 Threatening
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Core Values of FamilyCentered Initiatives
 All families have strengths
 Families are the experts on themselves and their
own histories
 Families deserve to be treated with respect and
dignity
 Families can make well-informed decisions
about keeping their children safe when
supported
70
Core Values of FamilyCentered Initiatives
 When families and community resources are
involved in decision making, outcomes can
improve.
 A team is often more capable of creative and
high quality decision making than an individual.
 The family’s culture is a source of strength, and
culturally responsive practices honor the family’s
customs, values and preferences.
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Values
These values come from established teaming/family
meeting models in CA (Promising Practices).
Notice common characteristics:
 Team Decision Making (TDM)
 Family Group Conference Meetings (FGCM)
 Wrap-Around Meetings
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Take a stand on these core values
 Mark “SW” next to the one YOU, as a Social
Worker, believe is a Core Value
 Mark “A” next to Administration’s Core Value
 Mark “F” next to what you believe many Family
Members would say is the most important of
these Core Values--to their family
73
Please keep this thought in
mind as others speak:
“You know,
you might
be right!”
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Now let’s put what we’ve
learned to work
 Strength-based, family-centered practice
 The new way of serving families involved with
public child welfare
 Fairness and equity issue awareness
Next we’ll look at additional ways to engage
families...
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Managing the Use
of Power and Authority
What do you think might be the potential impact of
“power & authority” in the engagement process?
Re: The attorneys
and the courts?
Re: The child
welfare worker?
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“Engagement”
“Bling-Bling”
77
Engagement
Telling
=
Declare
Decide
Determine
Demand
Engagement
=
Inquire
Invite
Involve
Include
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