HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 09171991 - IO.1 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS �F Contra
Costa
FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE .- is
September 9, 1991 County,:;
DATE:
REPORT ON HOW TO INSTITUTIONALIZE THE FAMILY PRESERVATION
SUBJECT: PROGRAM INTO. THE SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT'S ON-GOING
OPERATIONS
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1 . Approve the attached report from the Social Services
Department in response to the directions provided by the
Board of Supervisors April 2, 1991, including the plans the
Department has for the operation of the Family Preservation
Program countywide and plans to implement Family
Preservation services in the family reunification program.
2 . Authorize the Social Services Director to request an
amendment to the County' s contract with the State Department
of Social Services for the Family Preservation Program to
permit the implementation of Family Preservation services in
the family reunification program as is outlined above.
3 . Request the Social Services Director to schedule semi-annual
meetings with the concerned community organizations on a
regional basis throughout the County to keep these
organizations up-to-date with the Department' s activities in
regard to the Family Preservation Program and to respond to
any concerns or questions the community organizations may
have.
4. Request the Social Services Director to forward copies of
his report to our Committee, along with our Committee' s
report, to all of the community organizations which have
expressed concerns about the Family Preservation Program.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENTS YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNT N ATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OT
SIGNATURE(S): C ODER SUNNE WRIGHT McPEAK
ACTION OF BOARD ON SepteFmber 17, 1991 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON T E DATE SHOWN.
CC: ATTESTED / 7
County Administrator PHIL BATCH OR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
Social Services Director SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
Local 535 (Via CAO)
BY DEPUTY
M382 (10/88)
5 . Request the Social Services Director to discuss with his
counterparts throughout the Bay Area ways in which counties
in the Bay Area can undertake a positive and unique response
to the fourteen days per year when the Bay Area does not
meet Clean Air Plan standards, perhaps by encouraging
families to undertake activities at home which do not
require transportation to work and which will assist in
reducing motor vehicle emissions, and report his findings
and recommendations to our Committee on December 9, 1991.
BACKGROUND:
Our Committee has been monitoring the implementation of the
Family Preservation Program since the passage of legislation for
the County last year provided a statutory mechanism for
implementing the program countywide. Most recently, the Board
directed the Department, at the request of our Committee, to
determine ways in which the Department could institutionalize the
Family Preservation Program as a part of the Department' s
on-going program operations.
In response to the Board' s order of April 2, 1991, the Social
Services Department filed the attached report with our Committee.
On September 9, 1991, our Committee met with. Mr. Rydingsword, Ms.
Rose Manning and Mr. Bill Weidinger to review this report.
Mr. Weidinger noted that the therapists being hired in West
County include two black women and one male who is
Spanish-speaking. A fourth therapist is in the process of being
hired. Our Committee is pleased with the plans the Department
outlined and recommends that the Board approve them as outlined
in the attached report.
We are asking. Mr. Rydingsword to continue to meet regularly with
the community organizations in the County who have previously
expressed concerns about the Family Preservation Program.
Our Committee is also interested in trying to design a unique and
innovative way of addressing the fact that on some fourteen days
a year, the Bay Area does not meet the new Clean Air Plan
requirements. This situation has suggested a number of more or
less extreme measures which might have to be taken. One
suggestion (only partly in jest) was that everyone in the Bay
Area simply stay home on those days and spend time with their
families, rather than going to work or school and running errands
which require the use of a motor vehicle. We would seriously
like Mr. Rydingsword to discuss this situation with the other
welfare directors in the Bay Area and try to come up with some
suggestions for how we can link our environmental concerns about
the quality of our air with our concerns about the need to
strengthen the family unit and report back to our Committee on
the results of his discussions on December 9, 1991.
• �Y - C} - Z, 1 t- K 1 1 L. - E YJ J V ti L M L +? G K V i L •... JJ L` I- I I - z+ r
SOCIAL. SERVjQE DEPARTMENT Contra Costa Coun
TO Supervisor Robert Schroder DATE August 28, 1991
Supervisor Sunne McPeak
FROM James R cc
BY Rose M
SUBJ FAMILY P ERVATION SERVICES
At the March 25, 1991, meeting of the Internal Operations Committee,the Social
Service Director was requested "to build into the Countywide expansion of the
Family Preservation Program a component which will allow the Program and the
family-centered philosophy on which the Program is based to be institutionalized
within the Social Service Department so that it will not always be necessary to rely
on outside contract agencies to provide the intensive level of services which
distinguish the Family Preservation Program and discuss this matter further with
our Committee before the additional expansion to Central County takes place in
October, 1991."
Pru¢= Undlate
On July 17, 1991, the first West County referral was made to the Interagency
Family Preservation Prograrn. A West County Interagency Referral Committee has
been formed, and this group will meet approximately every other week to screen
referrals. This followed the June 27, 1991, in-service training to approximately 55
Probation and Social Service staff outlining the program, program goals and
referral process.
FamiliesFirst has hired three of the four West County therapists with the fourth to
be on board in mid September. FamiliesFirst seeks to recruit culturally-competent
and ethnically-sensitive staff to provide the intensive home-based services the
contract requires. Additionally, FamiliesFirst staff met a number of West County
community-based organizations at a June 17th meeting at Supervisor Powers' office,
is developing linkages in the West County community(region) and has expressed
interest in assisting West County organizations with resource development.
The RFP for support services is in process, and we anticipate distribution prior to
September 15, 1991. A June 28, 1991, meeting was held with five community-based
organizations in West County to discuss barriers to service delivery, and this was
insightful. Staff vacations and difficulties in scheduling on agreed upon time may
not allow a similar meeting for Central County community-based organizations
prior to the distribution of the RFP.
{ r m 1 1 s. G 1 .? U Le 1 M L :? G t Y 1 L+ ` Y .- . • - .... .,_.
Supervisor Robert Schroder
Supervisor Sunne McPeak
August 29, 1991
Page 2
5125,000 will be available for the provision of follow-up services by community-
based organizations for the period November 1, 1991, through June 30, 1992. The
$125,000 is allocated by district considering percentage of children in out-of-home
placement. Since 34 percent of the County's children in out-of--home placement are
from West County, then West County will be allocated 34 percent, or$42,500. _
East County wc11 be allocated 44 percent, or $55,00, and Central County will be
allocated 19 percent, or $23,750. Three percent, represent one percent from each
region, will be allocated for special needs, ie. translation services, etc,, when
appropriate.
Future Plans
The Social Service Department plans to%stitutionaliW Family Preservation in the
following ways:
1. Continue to contract with FamMesFirst as the Interagency Family Preservation
Program provider of services to families in crisis who are at imminent risk of
having at least one cid placed in out-of-borne care. This part of the
continuum of Family Preservation services will only become institutionalized if
all eligible families with children at risk of placement are automatically
referred to the program. Effective October 15, 1991,we plan to implement in
our Antioch office this new requirement: After it is evaluated, and if
successful, this will be implemented Countywide.
2. The second phase will be the implementation of Family Preservation services
in the family reunification program. Service intervention will be delivered to
families who already have one or more of their children in placement, and the
goals will be to significantly reduce the time a child spends in placement and to
prevent a reentry into placement. national figures indicate that 33 percent of
children entering foster care reenter out-of--home placement within a year of
returning home.
We propose to use three additional County staff(and one-third FTE first-line
supervisor) to provide extensive services to eight to ten families for a four-
month period. This too will be developed and implemented as a project in
East County in order to evaluate its effectiveness. If your committee accepts
this plan, the Department will request to amend the contract we have with the
State Department of Social Services to include this additional service-
Allowing for staffing, training and start-up issues and negotiation with the state,
the three workers are targeted to accept uses in November, 1991. It is
anticipated that they will be carrying a full complement of ten cases by the end
of January, 1.992. When fully operational it is anticipated that these three
L— C K v 1 •v c u c r • .__. -.
Supervisor Robert Schroder
Supervisor Sunne McPeak
August 29, 1991
Page 3
workers will be terminating ,work with 30 families a quarter, or 120 families a
year.
Projected costs for eight months (November through June, 1992):
3 Caseworkers -7
$270,000
1 Supervisor
Training 6,000
Mileage (14 per month,
x 8 months x 3 weeks) 3,360
TOTAL $279#360
Some of the anticipated differences of this model are: a) 24-hour on-call
availability is not a requirement because of the non-crisis case situation,
however it is assumed that there will be some overtime needed especially once
the "honeymoon"ends after return home; b)locating housing for families in
order to affect reunification will be some of the resource skills needed by our
caseworkers; c) working with the out-of-home facility in order to develop a
transition plan; d) solidify the skills acquired by minors in placement an
preparing them to use these dulls at home.
3. Internally the Social Service Department has established a union/management
task force to examine the issue of recommending a cl ldren's services delivery
system which incorporates the family-centered approach. Although this
committee has temporarily suspended meetings during negotiations, the
members are committed to reconvening when negotiations are completed.
4. Additionally, the Social Service Department has integrated the family-centered
philosophy and approach into the curriculum of the Child Welfare Training
unit to ensure all new Child Welfare staff are trained in and utilize the
approach.
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