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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 12171991 - IO.3 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ��' S L ` I .O.-3 1 Contra FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE M. Costa '3 o'. County December 9, 1991 4� DATE: ----------- SUBJECT: ----TN`sSUBJECT: REPORT ON EFFORTS TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN FOSTER PARENTS SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS: 1 . Acknowledge receipt of this report from our Committee, including the attached report from the Social Services Director. 2 . Authorize the Chairman to write to Congressman Miller, bringing to his attention the problems California counties have with the interpretation of federal regulations which is working to discourage grandparents from caring for their grandchildren, particularly when the grandparent needs the money from the foster care program in order to adequately care for his or her grandchildren and request Congressman Miller to determine the feasibility of introducing legislation or taking administrative action which would reverse this interpretation of the regulations . 3 . Request the Social Services Director to report to the 1992 Internal Operations Committee in December, 1992 along the same lines as the attached report, providing any comments or recommendations he wishes to provide. 4 . Remove this item as a referral to our Committee and instead refer continuing oversight of the foster care recruitment and retention program to the 1992 Internal Operations Committee. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMIN RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHE SIGNATURE(S): . S DER SUNNE WRIGHT MC PEAK ACTION OF BOARD ON De ber 17 1991 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER r 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 O THE DATE SHOWN. cc: County Administrator ATTESTED 17 1 /? 1/ Social Services Director PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR M382 (10/88) BY DEPUTY I .O. -3 -2- BACKGROUND: For the past several years, the Internal Operations Committee has been providing oversight to the problems of recruiting and retaining adequate numbers of high quality foster parents . Attached is the Department's report for the current calendar year. On December 9, 1991 we met with Assistant Social Services Director Rose Manning and members of her staff to discuss the attached report. We continue to be concerned at the reduction in the number of foster homes and licensed beds, although Ms . Manning noted that in some cases this reduction is intentional on the part of the department. With the growing difficulty in the level of problems which are presented by children in need of foster care, the Department is, in some cases, reducing the number of children a foster home is licensed to care for so that the foster parents will be able to devote adequate time and attention to these very troubled children. Ms . Manning also corrected one figure in this report (page 4) to note that there are currently only about 35 license applications pending, rather than the figure of 70 which is in the report. Ms . Manning also noted that (page 1) the figure of 27% of licenses that were terminated for personal reasons includes some licenses which were revoked for cause. In future reports the Department will attempt to separate these figures . The Department also shared with our Committee a change in the interpretation of a federal regulation which will cause untold ` hardship to many grandparents ' who are caring for their `,. grandchildren. While the language of the regulation has not changed, California was interpreting the regulation one way. The federal government has now ruled that the State of California has not been interpreting the regulation properly. The issue is whether a grandchild is federally eligible for foster care funds . If the child is federally eligible, a grandparent can be paid the foster care rate. If the child is not federally eligible the grandparent can only be paid the AFDC rate, often only 1/3 of the foster care rate. The issue is when the child began to be cared for by the grandparent in relation to the month in which the court declares the child a dependant of the court. California had been interpreting that the grandparent was eligible to the foster care rate once dependency is established, regardless of when the grandparent began to care for the child. The federal government maintains that federal eligibility can only be established when the grandparent began to care for the child in the same month that dependency is established. Thus many grandparents who are caring for one or more of their grandchildren will lose their foster care payment over the next several months and will be eligible only for 'the much lower AFDC rate. In some cases, this means that the grandparent may not be able to continue to care for the child, regardless of how' much they may love and be concerned about the child. Of course,' when the child is then moved into a foster home, the foster parent is entitled to the full foster care rate. We believe that this situation must be brought to the attention of Congressman Miller to see what can be done about this problem which will have the effect of forcing some children to be raised by foster parents rather then their own grandparents . In response to questions from our Committee, Ms . Manning and her staff verified that foster parents are being asked to care for a much larger percentage of medically fragile children than has been the case in the past. In addition, social workers see a much younger population of children going into foster care. This is Continuing to put a substantial strain on the entire system. M 4 SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT CONTRA COSTA COUNTY TO: Claude Van.Marter DATE: December 2, 1991 Assistant County Administrator FROM: James A. Rydingsword Director SUBJ: FOSTER PARENT RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION PROJECT UPDATE -------------------------------------=---------------------------------------------7-------------7------------------------ Attached please find the report to be presented to the Internal Operations Committee on, Monday, December 9, 1991, at 10:30 a.m. Additional copies for distribution are also attached. Rose Manning and Linda Waddington will make a brief verbal presentation of this report and will be prepared to respond to questions. When the last report was submitted in June, the Department was asked to report back in December with an update on three specific items: 1) Number of total foster families. 2) Number of available foster beds. 3) Number of foster families obtained through our recruitment efforts versus families licensed to care for a specific child. The attached report addresses these areas. In addition, we have continued our policy of providing updates on retention, as well as comments on areas covered in the last report and future recruitment plans. Attachment JAR:NC:ww fpupdate.cvm disB/other Gen 9c (New 3/86) Foster Parent Recruitment and Retention Project Update November 18, 1991 Prior reports have been submitted in April 1989, October 1989,June 1990, December, 1990, and May, 1991. These reports provide background information on Foster Parent Recruitment and Retention. This update, in accordance with the request of the Internal Operations Committee, covers these specific questions: 1) Number of foster homes. 2) Number of available foster beds. 3) Number of foster families obtained through our recruitment efforts versus families licensed to care for a specific child. We have added comments on other areas, such as retention, which we believe are of particular interest. We have also provided information on our future recruitment plans. Number of Foster Homes Licensed Since May 1. 1991 The attached May 1, 1991, report provided data from November, 1990, through April, 1991. The updated material and attached charts provide that data through October, 1991. We have issued 70 new licenses between May 1, 1991, and October 31, 1991. During this same period of time, we have lost 85 homes for a net decrease of 15 homes. This equates to an approximate 2% decrease. (See Attachment A). Number of Beds Available During the period of May 1, 1991, through October, 1991, the available bed count has decreased from 1220 to 1189 for a net loss of 31 beds, an approximate 2.5% decrease (See Attachments B, C). Number of Homes Obtained Through Our Recruitment Efforts Versus Families Licensed for a Specific Child The following information was obtained through our Social Service Reporting System (SSRS) which was explained in detail in the October, 1989, report. We continue to cross- check this data manually to ensure that it remains completely accurate. Of the newly licensed 70 homes, 37 were licensed'as regular foster homes, 33 were licensed for a specific child, and 6 of those licensed for a specific child were available for other foster,placements. This breaks down to an approximate 55-45 split, with about 55% of the new homes licensed as a direct result of our recruitment activities as well as the outstanding recruitment efforts of our existing foster families. Retention As previously stated, 85 homes were closed from May 1, 1991, through October, 1991. We have kept accurate statistics on these closures in an effort to improve our retention factor, and in order to obtain an accurate assessment of why these homes have opted to close. Of the 85 homes closed,45 (53%)were those foster homes that had been licensed for a specific child. As these children turned 18 or were no longer in the home, the foster family indicated that they were no longer interested in foster care. Another 11 families (13%) moved out of Contra Costa County,while 23 families (27%) closed due to personal changes (divorce, death, etc.)within the family unit. Approximately 6 families (7%) left to work with private agencies. This last statistic, families who left to work;-with private agencies, is a decrease-down from 18% in our May 1991 report. Staff Activities There have been no staff changes since the last report. We continue to operate with one full-time clerk and a back-up clerk who assists 2 days per week. The 4.5 licensing worker positions remain intact. The recruiter position continues to provide ongoing meetings throughout the County. The sessions remain expanded from one meeting to two in order to incorporate a training component into our program.. We are pleased to report that several of our current foster parents are assisting us with our orientation programs. Their participation, as well as that of a public health nurse,have greatly enriched our presentations as prospective foster parents are able to get first hand information on foster care. We continue to focus our orientation efforts on West County where two sessions are held each month. One session follows in East County monthly, and one in Central County. During the period from May 1, 1991, through October, 1991, approximately 415 people attended orientation meetings in our County. Of these people, 200 were from West County, 144 were from East County and 71 were from Central. These meetings continue to be advertised weekly in all County newspapers as well as Public Service Television stations. Approximately 34% of those attending orientation were in attendance due to media advertisement. The remainder were referred by Social Services or due to referrals from our foster parent community. Our toll-free recruitment line continues to receive calls daily as a result of our media efforts. During this report period, 416 calls were received countywide. These calls are all handled personally by our recruiter/developer. There was a significant increase in the number of calls received since our last report. Some of this is due to our involvement with Channel 5's "Waiting Child" program as mentioned in our last two reports. Each caller receives a personal response and additional foster care information is sent to the caller within a few working days. The majority of the calls continue to come from West County (61%), with 26% from East, and 13% from Central. 2 The recruiter/developer, in addition to orientations, continues the following activities: 1) Liaison with the Foster Care Education Program at Diablo Valley and Contra Costa Colleges. The recruiter works with the coordinators in order to increase training and provide needed services in such areas as CPR and behavioral management. The recruiter also circulates updates on these training schedules and encourages licensing and placement workers to refer foster parents to training events.. 2) Newsletter Editor The recruiter/developer continues to provide information to our licensed foster families through this medium. Our newsletter has become one of the finest of its kind in the Bay Area and other counties are adopting similar formats. The newsletter is published quarterly and covers areas ranging from health care to reporting Difficulty of Care payments to the IRS. 3) Liaison with the Foster Parent Association 4) Participation in the Bay Area Family Finders (group of Bay Area recruiters) 5) Coordination of our subsidized emergency foster homes. (The recruiter processes monthly demands, arranges for new contracts, etc.) 6) Handing of Foster Parent Mailings The recruiter arranges for timely mailings for the Foster Parent Association meetings held throughout the County, as well as for mailings on current events, such as free glasses for foster children in November at Lens Crafters. Another staff activity of note during our report period was the Foster Parent Recognition luncheon on May 18, 1991, at the Sheraton Hotel in Concord. Glendora Patterson of the Black Adoptions Agency in Oakland was the keynote speaker. She addressed the issues of the large number of black children in foster care and their urgent need for roots. Six foster families were recognized for over twenty-five years of service each. Accomplished Goals 1) As stated in our last report in May, 1991, the current licensing staff have managed to significantly reduce the number of pending applications, and are 3 continuing with these efforts. We had 155 pending applications at the end of October, 1990, and had reduced pending licenses to 71 by April, 1991. .WE continue to have about 70 new pending licenses. 2) We continue to focus our recruitment activities 'on the African-American communities, especially in.West Contra Costa County. Our largest number of applicants continue to come from this area, thus our efforts have been successful. 3) Our foster families continue to actively participate in our orientation programs. This participation can be credited to the contracts for reimbursement to foster parents for this service negotiated in January, 1991. We anticipate renewing these contracts in January, 1992. 4) We continue our participation (along with the five Bay Area counties) with the "Waiting Child" program. As noted in our last report, this program is sponsored by Channel 5 and is also known as 'Brian's Kids." Weatherman Brian,Sussman continues his weekly profiles of foster children, with all calls being funneled through the United Way in San Francisco. Of all the calls received from July - September, 1991, over 17% were from Contra Costa County. (See Attachment E and F), 53% of callers were African-American. The remaining were: ,28% Caucasian, 6% Hispanic, and 13%, other minority groups. .The program continues to provide our County with new resources, especially from our minority populations. Future Plans for 1991 As stated in our prior reports, we will need to look for new and innovative ideas to increase the number of foster families, especially minority families, in our County. As noted by the Internal Operations Committee on June 10, 1991, the need to recruit high quality foster homes has become "a significant financial issue" due to program realignment As a result of a significant increase in the County's share of responsibility for the cost of foster care placements, counties will be looking increasingly towards foster homes, rather than group homes, to care for children with a variety of behavioral and emotional problems. It will be our biggest challenge. We remain hopeful that with our positive efforts and creative staff we will be able to meet this challenge. 4 NC:ww fpupdate.cvm disk3/other ATTACHMENT A MAY, 1991 - OCTOBER, 1991 Number of Number of New Licenses Issued Licenses Terminated May/91 9 17 , June/91 9 16 July/91 16 14 August/91 12 8 September/91 11 8 October/91 13 15 fpupdate.a disk3/other ATTACHMENT B MAY, 1991 -OCTOBER, 1991 Number of Number of Beds Licensed Homes May/91 514 1220 June/91 507 1202 July/91 509 1198 August/91 513 1209 September/91 509 1202 October/91 507 1189 fpupdate.b disk3/other N•�CJ W a P. 4�b 4. .P P 4- Vn V1 CTI CD o r cv . to .P CA rn a ao to o r w o 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 , r ON to r 0x K F+ r I hd r � r M 1 (] . M 00 H co M ' 0 00 � r M h! w O M wH F+ M F+ M to r O %D r r r t0 r 1-3 1-3 n t=i Z �3 n . r- ATTACBMENT D THE UNITED WAY INFORMATION & REFERRAL SERVICE FOSTER CARE & ADOPTION DATA QUARTERLY REPORT JULY - SEPTEMBER 1991 SUMMARY OF CLIENT PROFILE COUNTY TOTAL COUNTY JUL AUG SEP CALLS PERCENT San Francisco 17 16 22 55 13 . 19% Alameda 53 60 59 172 41.25% Contra Costa 20 22 30 72 17 .27% San Mateo 4 12 12 28 6.71% Marin 4 0 2 6 1.44% Santa Clara 6 11 12 29 6.95% Napa 1 1 2 4 0.96% Solano 8 9 9 26 6.24% Sonoma 1 5 2 8 1.92% Mendocino 0 1 0 1 0.24% Santa Cruz 1 0 0 1 0.24% Lake 1 0 1 2 0.48% Multiple 0 0 . 0 0 0.00% Other California 2 5 4 _l 2.64% Out of California 1 1 0 2 0.48% TOTAL 119 143 155 417 100.00% REFERRAL SOURCE TOT..L REFERRED BY JUL AUG SEP CALIS PERCENT TV 87 92 115 2:4 70. 50% Radio 2 1 1 4 0.96% Newspaper 0 2 0 2 0.48% Transit Sign 0 0 0 0 0.00% Billboard 0 0 0 0 0.00% Relative/Friend 9 12 11 2 7 . 67% Agency 5 7 3 _5 3 . 60% United Way 0 2 1 3 0.72% ' Phone Book12 22 15 =9 11.75% Used Before 4 3 5 _2 2 .88% Other 0 2 4 8 1. 92% Unknown 0 0 0 0 '0 .00% TOTAL ;119 143 155 4:7 100. 00% ATTACHMENT E THE UNITED WAY INFORMATION- & REFERRAL SERVICE FOSTER CARE & ADOPTION DATA QUARTERLY REPORT JULY - SEPTEMBER 1991 NUMBER OF REQUESTS• The United Way of the Bay Area's Information and Referral Service (772-HELP) received a total of 417 requests-,.for information on foster care and adoption during the third quarter of this year (July, August, September) , with 126 calls for Waiting Child. REFERRAL SOURCE• 70 percent (294) of our callers heard about the HELPLINE on television. and 12 percent (49) found our number in the phone book. 7 percent (32) were .given our number by a relative or friend, and 4 percent (15) were referred by an agency. 12 clients had used us before, 8 callers found our number through .some other source, 4 people heard our number on the radio, 3 from United Way and 2 from the newspaper. CALLER DEMOGRAPHY: 41 percent of the callers (172) . resided in Alameda county. 17 percent (72) people were from Contra Costa county, and 14 percent (55) were from San Francisco. We received 29 calls from people in Santa Clara, 28 from San Mateo, 26 from Solano, 8 calls from Sonoma county and 6 from Marin. The remainder called from Napa, Santa Cruz, Lake and other counties and/or cities. 2 clients called from out of California. 33 percent (137) of the calls were from families. 24 percent (98) of the callers were single parents, 22 percent (91) were . couples, and 18 percent (73) were single adults. 68 percent (285) of our clients were employed full time. 60 people were on public assistance, 13 were self employed, 9 were employed part time, and 7 received Social Security. The remaining callers had a pension, unemployment insurance, child support or some other source of income. ETHNICITY• Of the callers, 53 percent (219) were African Am./Black, 28 percent (117) Caucasian, and 6 percent (23) Hispanic. There were 13 calls each from Asian/Pacific Islanders and Native Americans.