HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 10171995 - D1 — — D&O I
TO:' BOARD OF SUPERVISORS F&HS-01
Contra
FROM: •;IC `
FAMILY AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE Costa...t,•
... ..�� County
=:
DATE: October 9, 1995 f fj C'y
rp�.2'oiiy`�
SUBJECT: STATUS REPORT ON THE COUNTY'S ADOPTIONS PROGRAM
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. DIRECT the Social Service Director to report to the Family and Human Services
Committee on Monday, December 11, 1995 on the status of the consultation which
has been requested from Region IX of the Administration on Children and Families
of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services regarding ways to improve
the court process in order to expedite permanency planning.
2. DIRECT the Social Service Director to report to the Family and Human Services
Committee on Monday, December 11, 1995 on the results of the audit of SSI
payments and recordkeeping by the Social Security Administration.
3. DIRECT the Social Service Director to report to the Family and Human Services
Committee on Monday, December 11, 1995 on the status of training, particularly on
the Department's ability to meet the three identified training needs of:
❑- On-going training for experienced workers.
❑ Induction training for new workers, and
❑ Development of a training manual.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD C MMI T
APPROVE ^ OTHER
SIGNATURES
ACTION OF BOARD ON _ OGtopor 17, 1995 PPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
_X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT none ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
ATTESTED October 17, 1995
Contact: County Administrator PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
CC: SUPERVISORS A COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
The Hon. Lois Haight, Juvenile Court Judge
Social Service Director
County Counsel BY DEPUTY
F&HS-01
4, DIRECT the Social Service Director to report to the Family and Human Services
Committee on Monday, December 11, 1995 on the status of the mediation program
outlined to our Committee on October 9, 1995 by Barbara Suskind which attempts
to avoid, through mediation, the need for contested court action to resolve
placement and custody issues affecting children who are or are being considered
for dependency.
5. DIRECT the Social Service Director to report to the Family and Human Services
Committee on Monday, December 11, 1995 on the status of the administrative
review of children in long-term foster care.
6. DIRECT the Social Service Director to report to the Family and Human Services
Committee on Monday, December 11, 1995 on the status of the implementation of
each of the goals outlined in the paper entitled "Child Welfare Services Goals
Related to Permanency Planning for Children", consistent with the timetable
proposed by Breck and Associates.
BACKGROUND:
On July 18, 1995, the Board of Supervisors adopted a report from our Committee on this
subject which included the following recommendations:
1. DIRECT the Acting Social Service Director to prepare responses to each of the
questions raised by former Grand Juror Mr.Jim Fallis as outlined below[See
page 3 of the attached report] and report them to the Family and Human
Services Committee on Monday,October 9, 1995.
2. DIRECT the Acting Social Service Director to prepare responses to each of the
Supplemental Security Income(SSI)issues as outlined below[See page 3 of the
attached report]and report them to the Family and Human Services Committee
on Monday,October 9, 1995.
3. DIRECT the Acting Social Service Director to prepare status reports on the
following issues and report them to the Family and Human Services Committee
on Monday,October 9, 199.5:
A. The status of the State's plans to implement the CWS/CMS
(Child Welfare Services/Case Management System) in Contra
Costa County.
B. The status of the outreach program to the ministerial alliance
and minority groups designed to generate additional minority
foster homes and potential adoptive homes.
C. The status of the administrative review of children in long-term
foster care.
D. The status of the implementation of each of the goals outlined
in the paper entitled "Child Welfare Services Goals Related to
Permanency Planning for Children consistent with the timeline
proposed by Breck and Associates.
On October 9, 1995, our Committee met with John Cullen, Social Service Director; Danna
Fabella, Assistant County Welfare Director and other staff from the Social Service
Department; members of the 1995-1996 Grand Jury; concerned adoptive parents; and the
Rev Curtis Timmons, Executive Director of the Multi-Cultural Development Association,
Inc.
John Cullen and Danna Fabella reviewed the attached report with our Committee. [The
referenced attachments are available to any Board member or interested citizen who
wishes to review them, but they are not attached herewith, with the exception of
Attachment B on the training program, because of their bulk and technical nature]. Mr.
Cullen noted that the Department receives 8100 calls a year about neglected or abused
children, but that only 700 of these children have to be removed from their homes. While
this is still a large number, it represents only 9% of all of the calls the Department receives
2
F&HS-01
requesting intervention. The Adoptions caseload and workload have increased
dramatically in the past year or two, with the increased focus on the need for permanency
planning for children and the availability of additional staffing for the Adoptions Program.
Ms. Fabella particularly noted the problem with an unusually large time delay between the
jurisdictional and dispositional hearings. Whereas this time should only be perhaps six
weeks, in this County it is taking 5-6 months. The Department plans to bring in some
outside consultants to review the entire system and provide some recommendations on
what can be done to improve the highly litigious nature of the child welfare system in this
County, including those portions of the system which are outside of the Department's
control.
Mary Jensen, Training Coordinator for the Department, outlined the training program as
it is presented in Attachment # B to the Department's report. In response to a question
from Supervisor DeSaulnier about whether workers seem reticent to participate in training,
Ms. Jensen replied that, to the contrary, the workers seem excited and anxious to
participate.
In response to another question from Supervisor DeSaulnier about how the Department
can involve the consumers of services, Mr. Cullen suggested that the Department could
undertake community surveys to obtain input on such questions as:
+ How is the Department doing?
♦ What should the Department be doing differently?
+ What suggestions are there for how the Department can improve?
Mr. Cullen suggested further than these same processes can be used to educate the
public to what the role and function of the Department is. Supervisor DeSaulnier indicated
that he was pleased that the Department was considering a more proactive stance with the
community.
The Foreman of the Grand Jury indicated that he was generally pleased with the report
and with the progress the Department is making. This sentiment was generally echoed by
Ms. Trokey and Ms. Woods. They did, however, have several questions about training
and the administrative review which Ms. Jensen and Ms. Fabella answered.
The Rev Timmons read into the record the attached letter which again asked that the
Department fund the Multicultural Development Association to assist in recruiting African-
American foster parents and that the Department establish a Family and Human Services
Commission which could be empowered to address problems within the foster care and
adoption system as well as other issues involving family and human services.
In response to Rev. Timmons' comments, Mr. Cullen promised to respond in writing to Rev.
Timmons' current and previous letters on this subject. Rev. Timmons was most
complimentary with the outreach which Mr. Cullen has made to the African-American
community and clergy.
Rev. Timmons noted that Mr. Cullen would be participating at a breakfast meeting of East
County clergy to address some of these issues as follows:
Pittsburg Preschool Coordinating Council
Saturday, November 4, 1995
8:30 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.
s
3
F&HS-01
Finally, Barbara Suskind described the mediation program which has been undertaken
recently as a pilot project from the State wherein attorneys who are knowledgeable with
the child welfare system serve as mediators in an effort to forestall the need for the
extended contested court battles which too often occur in Juvenile Court over dependency
matters. The program has only been underway recently so there are no solid statistics yet
regarding the success of the program. Five mediators are involved one day a week. It is
hoped that the program can be extended in the future.
Based on this excellent report from the Department and the other comments which were
made, we have suggested the above recommendations, which will provide the Board of
Supervisors with a final status report before the end of the calendar year.
4
µ'♦
a ,
SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT Contra Costa Countv
r rr
TO Family and Human Services Committee, DATE October 5, 1995
Board of Supervisors
John Cullen, CC Phil Batchelor,
County Welfare Director County Administrator
FROM Danna Fabella, , h Z1C6 `:�� Ramiro Arosemena,
Assistant County Welfare Director Foreman, Grand Jury
SUBJ STATUS REPORT ON THE REVIEW OF THE ADOPTIONS PROGRAM IN THE
COUNTY
This report is submitted to the Family and Human Services Committee as directed
by the Board of Supervisors on July 18, 1995.
1. The status of the State's plans to implement the CWS/CMS (Child Welfare
Services/Case Management System) in Contra Costa County.
As previously reported, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS)
resolved the issues with its contractors and the system is back on track. We
have attached a copy of the time frames developed by CDSS which indicates
that installation of the office automation will begin in Contra Costa County in
March or April, 1996.
The actual CWS/CMS will not be installed until 1997 with roll out to start in
July, 1997, and completion in October, 1997. This schedule is subject to
change dependent on how smoothly "rollout" occurs. John Cullen, County
Welfare Director, serves on the Automation Advisory Committee (AAC) which
consists of staff from counties who meet regularly with State staff to review and
approve the system.
Staff attended a demonstration of the system in Santa Clara on October 2,
1994. We have attached some information from that meeting. (See
Attachment A.) Additionally, we are planning to send a staff person to
Sacramento for two years to participate in the implementation of the
CWS/CMS system. Jack Rogers will be "loaned" to the CWS/CMS project
which will reimburse Contra Costa County for his salary and benefits while on
loan. This will be advantageous for us because when Mr. Rogers returns to the
County he will be able to offer us technical assistance.
Family and Human Services Committee
October 5, 1995
Page 2
2. The status of the outreach program to the Multi-Cultural Development
Association, Inc., and minority groups designed to generate additional minority
homes and potential adoptive homes.
We have been recruiting in the African-American community through a project
funded by CDSS called the Heritage Project which focused on West and East
County. We have had an African-American recruiter and have been able to
recruit minority homes for drug-exposed infants. We are also developing an ad
campaign to run in one of the local African-American newspapers. On 'Brian's
Kids" we are featuring African-American children from Contra Costa County
and are in the process of requesting permission from KPIX to use these tapes
for a local campaign on CCTV. We have a copy of one of these tapes for the
Committee's review.
John Cullen, County Welfare Director, and Danna Fabella, Assistant County
Welfare Director, met with Reverend Timmons on September 28, 1995, to
discuss Reverend Timmons' proposal and to hear his concerns. Reverend
Timmons has expressed great concern that the Department has spent
considerable funds on the reports produced by the Child Welfare Research
Center (CWRC) and for the assistance by Breck and Associates on developing
time lines for the project. He believes that since it is well established that
minorities are overrepresented in the foster care population, especially African
Americans, the Department should contract in the amount of $50,000 to his
agency to do four main things: radio spots; develop a cultural newspaper in
East and Central County; conduct three community forums; and, make 12
appearances in Black churches and print flyers for the community.
Although the Department could not agree to fund this proposal due to recent
information from the State that our recruitment budget has been cut by two-
thirds as well as believing that we need to work specifically with experienced
adoption agencies to recruit and homestudy for specific children, we agreed to
attend an Interfaith Clergy Breakfast meeting on November 4, 1995, to discuss
the social service environment and to hear from the clergy their concerns. We
have informed Reverend Timmons that we desire to learn from a variety of
people from different areas their concerns and to develop a strategy for
response after we have the opportunity to assess the community's needs.
3. The status of the administrative review of children in long-term foster care.
The Children's Services Administrative Team (CSAT) is in the process of
reviewing its third month of cases. We are approximately one month behind
on this review. We had hoped to be reading cases that had August court
reviews in the month of September but are only beginning the process on July
cases. This is due to the workload of the line staff who have not been able to
Family and Human Services Committee
October 5, 1995
Page 3
get the requested cases to CSAT as quickly as we would like and because
CSAT has had so many demands on time that we have had a difficult time
getting to all our priorities. We are, however, committed to the review and are
proceeding even though we are behind schedule.
The computer program designed to capture the data was completed last month
and was installed in a computer in administration. We hired a temporary data
input operator who worked for five days the last week of September but was
unable to complete the input. Unfortunately, she obtained full-time
employment and will not be able to complete the task. We are now trying to
complete this task with our existing clerical staff.
CWRC has completed a random sample review of two months of CSAT's
review. In their'first-month sample review, they disagreed with five (out of the
17) cases they reviewed. CWRC was critical of the Department's early
planning on these cases but agreed that because the children have been in
these placements for extended times, it is not likely we can or should move
them for a more permanent plan because the disruption would outweigh any
benefits to the child of moving to an adoptive home. We are reviewing these
cases to determine if there are any changes that could be made in the case
plans for these children and to evaluate our practice to see how we can
improve the level of services we provide to all children.
We have not seen the results of their second-month random review.
Anecdotedly we have surmised that in many cases the Department has not
made adequate initial placements, often not assessing relatives' appropriateness
for long-term care nor aggressively seeking adoptive planning. We have, it
appears, placed young children in foster homes that cannot adopt (either
because the caregiver cannot pass the adoption homestudy or because they do
not wish to adopt). We believe this issue will be addressed when we develop
our fost-adopt program.
4. The status of the implementation of each of the goals outlined in the paper
entitled "Child Welfare Services Goals Related to Permanency Planning for
Children" consistent with the timeline proposed by Breck and Associates.
Develop a Fost-Adopt Program
• Completed review of San Mateo's system.
• Completed a review of the information from the State of Washington.
• Scheduled visit with San Diego adoption staff in November in conjunction
with the adoption conference in San Diego that month.
• Completed review of Orange County's system.
Family and Human Services Committee
October 5, 1995
Page 4
• CWRC completed a literature search, and we are in the process of reading
the abstracts.
• Additionally, participated on the Statewide planning committee for the
adoption conference titled "California Adoptions Into the Twenty-First
Century: A Policy Planning Seminar"; topics include concurrent planning,
kinship care, post finalization.
• Scheduled concurrent planning forum to include staff and "stakeholders" to
create the dialogue and begin the implementation process.
Home Studv
• Reviewed sample formats of homestudies from other counties, private
adoption agencies and from the State.
• Decided to develop a separate format for the relative homestudy focusing on
the issues that are relevant for people who have a familial relationship to a
child.
• Developing a draft homestudy format to be ready in November for review by
CSAT and the Caregiver Committee.
Juvenile Court
• Received Court statistics from County Counsel.
• Requested statistics from other counties. When we receive these, we will
proceed with the analysis.
• Data not analyzed as it has not been received.
• Established Social Worker/Attorney/Judge Planning Committee.
• Planned and scheduled Concurrent Planning forum.
• Scheduled meeting to discuss legal delays with district staff.
• Obtained approval from Region IX of the Administration on Children and
Families for consultation from three child welfare resource centers to work
on ways to improve the court process in order to expedite permanency
planning.
• Collaborated with Youth Law Center on a grant application to work on
court issues.
• Served on the planning committee for Beyond the Bench, a conference to be
held in Oakland for the Judiciary and Social Services statewide.
• Developed a workshop for Beyond the Bench to focus on how to work with
represented clients; it will be presented by Judy Maynard, Social Work
Supervisor and Carole Shauffer, Executive Director, Youth Law Center.
• Obtained a research student to study the effectiveness of voluntary family
maintenance and mediation.
Training
• Hired training coordinator.
• In process of developing a comprehensive training program. (See
Attachment B, memo from Mary Jensen, Training Coordinator).
Family and Human Services Committee
October 5, 1995
Page 5
• Training Manual; we are behind schedule as we intend to create as each
module is developed.
Improve Relationships
• Completed two modules of Foster Pride Adopt Pride curriculum.
• Began inclusion of line staff and supervisors in training with caregivers in
the Foster Pride Adopt Pride training.
• Mailed newsletter out for the Foster Parent Association.
• Developing a foster parent bulletin with foster parents on the editorial
board.
• Establishing the Social Worker/Caregiver Committee with first meeting on
October 24, 1995; tasks this committee will work on are the common
conceptualization of the role of caregiver, the report format to allow foster
parent input in Court Reports, identification of issues and recommendations
for resolution.
Organizational Structure
• Behind schedule; have not decided on how our concurrent planning process
will look and thus cannot develop an organizational structure to
accommodate the process.
The following is specific information for the foster and adoptive parents who had
questions regarding SSI revenue:
1. Where in the County budget (in which revenue line item) is revenue from the
Federal Government in the form of SSI payments on behalf of foster children
reflected?
There is no revenue line item in the County budget to reflect Federal
Government revenue for SSI payments because the revenue goes to the specific
child's case. There is an entry on the aid claim,that shows recoveries of aid
specific to Social Security and SSI payments.
When the Social Security check is received, it reads "Pay to the Order of CCC
Social Service Department for (child's name)." 'The check also indicates the
child's Social Security number (Attachment Q.
The Government Benefits Clerks (GBC) post receipt of the checks and set up
distribution on the Domestic Relations (DR) system through DA Family
Support. Using the "Case File Entry" screen, the GBC verifies the amount of
the check received and the distribution of the amount to welfare and trust as
appropriate. If the amount of the check is different or the cost of care has
changed, the "Case File Entry" screen is updated by the GBC (Attachment D).
Family and Human Services Committee
October 5, 1995
Page 6
The GBC then reviews the 'Received Payments Inquiry" screen to assure there
are no prepayments (which would be caused by distribution error).
(Attachment E.)
The GBC runs batch control tapes using the actual checks for reconciliation.
Finally, the GBC prepares a Governmental Benefits #8311 Deposit
Transmittal' listing all the checks received by name, DR number, source (SSI,
SSA, etc.), date, check number, amount. (Attachment F.)
Using the batch control tapes from the actual checks, the totals are reconciled
against the deposit transmittal. This deposit transmittal is sent to the DA
Family Support Unit at 50 Douglas Drive, Martinez, along with the checks for
posting and deposit.
2. Does the Department or the Auditor-Controller have available a printout of
some type which shows the receipt of SSI revenue on behalf of foster children,
a copy of which (or copy of a portion of which) could be made available to
interested individuals without violating confidentiality to demonstrate how the
revenue is received and credited to the County?
When actions are taken in the Domestic Relations computer system (DR
system), a report numbered BK 1016.1 called "Central Collections - Domestic
Relations Distribution Register Trust - Contra Costa [date]" is generated.
(Attachment G.)
The report lists the amount and the person.for whom the check was issued.
Because the report shows the name of the individual, that part of the report
has been blocked off to protect confidentiality.
At the beginning of the following month, the BC3790 Report CCC1004 "CCC
Monthly Collections Report" is generated. This report lists all non-child
support welfare collections for the prior month by case number, case name,
type SI (VA, SSA and other benefits) and type S3 (SSI). (Attachment H.)
3. Can the Department or the Auditor-Controller describe in writing or
demonstrate what is meant,by the "trust fund" which is maintained for each
foster child who is receiving SSI revenue and which shows credits to the "trust
fund", withdrawals from the "trust fund" and the balance in the "trust fund"
without violating confidentiality?
A "trust fund" is monies held in an individual's name to be utilized for that
individual. We have included an example of a trust fund ledger. (Attachment
I.)
Family and Human Services Committee
October 5, 1995
Page 7
4. Is it possible to provide the Family and Human Services Committee with a
copy of a "trust fund" ledger showing the activity on a child's account while
protecting the identity of the child in order to demonstrate what the county
means when it says that it has a "trust fund" on each of these children?
See Attachment I mentioned in number three.
5. A copy of the report from the Social Security Administration.on the results of
its audit of the County's maintenance of SSI accounts should be forwarded to
the Family and Human Services Committee upon receipt by the Department.
As appropriate, the Department should comment on any findings, conclusions
or recommendations which reflect the need for improvement in the County's
procedures, policies or practices.
Pat Daley, Social Security Administration, Region IX who lead the audit
recently completed on our SSI cases, informed the Department that an Exit
Interview outlining their findings would take place in September. This meeting
has not occurred. A final report will follow this Exit Interview approximately
30 to 60 days later. We will forward a copy to the Family and Human Services
Committee upon receipt.
The following is in response to Jim Fallis' questions raised at the July 5. 1995.
Family and Human Services Committee
1. Which counties are "pilot counties" for the CWS/CMS project?
The counties selected by the California Department of Social Services are
Santa Clara, Los Angeles and Glenn Counties.
2. The Family and Children Services Advisory Committee submitted a report to
Supervisor Powers in April, 1990, on the "Retention of Foster Parents in
Contra Costa County." In the section titled "Suggested Improvements," there
are a number of recommendations for action by the County. What actions
have been taken to respond to or implement those recommendations?
In that particular section three major categories are mentioned: towards better
serving the interest of foster children; support the foster parent; and, respect
foster parents as professional partners. The first area focuses on moving a
child more rapidly through to permanency planning. We believe that our plans
to create a fost-adopt program will address this issue. It also mentions
transracial placements.. Prior to the Federal statutory changes which are going
into effect in California in January, 1996, State law required certain stringent
criteria be met prior to transracial placements. The Metzenbaum bill has
radically changed this policy. Our Department is serving on the committee to
Family and Human Services Committee
October 5, 1995
Page 8
develop guidelines for implementation of this law and will adjust our policies
accordingly.
The other two areas, supporting foster parents and treating foster parents as
part of the professional team, will be an outgrowth of our Social
Worker/Caregiver Committee. We hope to define the needs through this
collaborative effort and implement the ideas from this group.
We annually honor our foster parents at a luncheon. The luncheon will be
held this year on November 4, 1995, in El Cerrito. Members of the Grand Jury
and the Board of Supervisors will be sent invitations. John Cullen, County
Welfare Director, will address the foster parents at this event.
3. On page C-19 of Attachment C to the Department's report to the Family and
Human Services Committee, it appears that 91% of the children for whom the
case plan goal is long-term foster care with non relatives have been in
placement in excess of 24 months. Why is this the case, and what steps are
being taken to reduce this time period?
We will start by attempting to briefly outline the process to a permanency
planning hearing.
The emergency response and dependency investigation phase lasts, on average,
three to four months due to contested hearings.
Federal and State statute provide that family reunification services may be
ordered by the court for from 12 to 18 months. At the point the child has been
out of home for 18 months, the law requires the court to hold a "permanency
planning hearing." This hearing may be at the 12-month point if the permanent
plan, such as reunification, can be established at that time. In certain instances
the court may order guardianship or adoption earlier than 12 months if it can
be strongly established that the minor cannot be returned home. We have
found that this has been difficult to establish.However, at 18 months we must
"declare" a permanent plan. In many cases we find ourselves having to
continue to provide reunification services even after the 18 month time limit
because the Court has ordered continued reunification against our
recommendations. In some instances, we also believe that a few more months
just might get the minor reunified. In any case, we are required to code those
cases as PP (for Permanent Placement). We cannot code the cases as FR (for
Family Reunification) because the State will not "pay" for FR services beyond
the 18 months.
r ,
Family and Human Services Committee
October 5, 1995
Page 9
When the FR time period ends, we must establish a permanent plan, and the
law requires us to assess in the following order: Reunification, Adoption,
Guardianship and Long-Term Foster Care (LTFC). We are required to report
and make recommendations to the Court and obtain the Court's approval for
the permanent plan.
The Department believes that the increase in the number of contested hearings
both at the beginning of the case (jurisdictional and dispositional) where we
are gathering evidence to support the abuse allegation and determine where
the child should be placed, as well as at later hearings, especially the
permanency planning hearings, has resulted in an increase in the amount of
time children remain in out-of-home care. We are piloting a mediation process
at the jurisdictional phase as an option for parents, but it is still too early to
tell if this will decrease the number of contested jurisdictional hearings.
As noted in our Child Welfare Services goals regarding the juvenile court, we
are working with Region IX and the Youth Law Center. The juvenile court
process is clearly an area that we are hoping the technical assistance from
Region IX and the Youth Law Center will assist us in. We also plan to use the
Social Worker/Attorney/Judge Planning Committee as an avenue to resolving
some of these issues and helping develop a better process.
As you also know, part of our Administrative Review process includes an
evaluation of our policies and practices to determine which have led to
prolonging foster care and to develop more appropriate practices.
4. On page C-22 of the Department's report to the Family and Human Services
Committee, it appears that a significant number of the children have been in
five or more placements. Given that the Department and our Committee agree
that this is a troubling statistic, what steps are being taken or can be taken by
the Department to reduce the need to replace children so many times?
To put the data in perspective, we would like to begin by noting that according
to that same report, only 265 out of 2307 children have been in five or more
placements. This is approximately 11% of all foster children. Although this is
of concern, it is still important to note that the majority, 89% of these children,
have four or less placements.
Some of the reasons for replacements are:
. Children enter the emergency foster placement with little time for advance
preparation due to the very emergent nature of Children' Protective
Services. This emergency placement is not intended to be a "long-term"
placement for reunification purposes only to serve as a safe place for the
Family and Human Services Committee
October 5, 1995
Page 10
child to stay during the Emergency Response/Dependency Investigation
phase. A child might have two placements while in emergency foster care
because we have not had the opportunity to "match" a child to his or her
home.
• A child's special needs may require a "higher level of care" such as a
treatment foster home or group home. A child's placement in that higher
level of care might last one year or more with the goal of having the child
return to a more home-like setting. Therefore, this would result in two
replacements.
• A foster parent may request removal of a child because they cannot handle
the child's behavior or because of some personal issue in their own family.
As a result of this concern regarding the number of placements of children in
foster care, the Child Welfare Research Center (CWRC) reviewed data on
Contra Costa County which they gather as part of their ongoing data collection
to study trends in foster care. They looked at the number of placements for
two different groups of children; 1) all children who entered foster care
between 1/1/88 and 12/31/93 and.2) those children who entered foster care
during 1990 and were still in foster care in 1994. They separated the latter
group into two categories based on the child's primary caregiver.
When they looked at all children who entered foster care in Contra Costa
County between 1/1/88 and 12/31/93, the data showed that:
• 4,440 children entered foster care during that six-year period; of that only
5.7% had four or more placements.
• 2,540 children were six years of age or younger at the time of their entry; of
that only 4.2% had four or more placements.
When they looked at those children who entered foster care during 1990 and
were still in foster care as of mid 1994, the data showed that:
• 25% of the children placed with foster parents had only one placement; 50%
had no more than two placements; less than 10% had more than four
placements; and no child had more than eight placements. (See Attachment
J.)
• 50% of the children placed with relatives had only one placement; 80% had
no more than two placements; less than 4% had more than four placements;
and no child had more than nine placements. (See Attachment K.)
Family and Human Services Committee
October 5, 1995
Page 11
Strategies we are developing in an effort to reduce replacement are:
• An emergency foster care system that stresses early assessment of children
for placement purposes.
• A fost-adopt,program for earlier identification of children needing adoptive
homes.
• Identification of services necessary to work with foster parents to prevent
disruption of the placement.
5. On page 5 of the report (dated July 5, 1995) from the Department, in the
second paragraph reference is made to "data elements." What are those data
elements?
In that report the Department discussed the Administrative Review and the
computer program being developed to capture some data to help us and
CWRC analyze some of the information we are gathering. Some of the "data
elements" we are gathering are:
• Basic identifying information: name, age, ethnicity.
• Is the child part of a sibling group; is child placed with a relative, in a foster
home, group home; and, is the child with his/her sibling?
• The time since detention and the time in current placement.
• Results of the Review, major reason for non adoption and whether we agree
with the social worker's plan.
To conclude our report to the Family and Human Services Committee, the
Department has been working diligently on the numerous recommendations that
came from the CWRC review of our child welfare programs as it relates to
adoption and permanency planning. We regret that we have not met all our
timelines as we have intended to do. However, I wish to remind this Committee of
comments by Breck and Associates at the last meeting. They stated that in a
perfect world where nothing went wrong, we could meet our timelines. As you
know, we continue to meet the demands of the daily task of protective services,
supervision of the nearly 3,000 children in foster care and in family maintenance,
and the other program responsibilities.
Our vision for child welfare services is to develop a model program where there is
strong emphasis on family maintenance services with removal of the child only
when deemed absolutely necessary. We will also place a strong emphasis on doing
Family and Human Services Committee
October 5, 1995
Page 12
voluntary services and avoid the adversarial Court process. Further, when a child
is removed from home, that we move aggressively to permanency planning through
family reunification, adoption, guardianship and long-term foster care (in that
order).
At the same time we continue to develop our early intervention and prevention
strategies by continuing to outstation staff at the Services Integration Team sites
and through our Family Support and Family Preservation strategies.
JC:DF:ceb
Attachments
b:adptrept.fhs
f-disk 2
Attachment B
SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
TO: Danna Fabella DATE: September 25, 1995
Assistant Director
FROM: Mary Jensen M. Linda Canan
Social Work Supervisor II
SUBJ: Training for Children's Services Workers
We are in the beginning stages of developing a comprehensive training program for
Children's Services workers. Three broad areas of training needs have been identified: on-
going training for experienced workers, induction training for new workers, and a training
manual. Three training goals have been established for the balance of the fiscal year:
training workers regarding foster and adoption issues including concurrent planning,building
improved working relationships with attorneys and the Courts through training, and
maintaining a focus on cultural competence and diversity issues through training.
A survey is currently underway to identify specific topics about which the workers,
supervisors, and managers would like to have more information and be trained. Results of
this survey should be available by mid-November, 1995.
More formally, we have been in contact with personnel from the University, of California at
Davis who have offered assistance with reviewing specific social work competencies. Several
competency packages are available for our use in developing training programs for new and
experienced workers.
Progress has been made in the following training-need areas:
1. On-going training for experienced workers. Survey results so far indicate that
experienced workers want training on a wide variety of subjects but that they
feel guilty and frustrated about going to training when they have so many
clients to see and when training seems to take too much time from clients.
In response to these conflicting priorities, a three tiered program has been
developed that will address a variety of subjects, be regularly on-site in the
offices, and be often of short duration.
The three tiers of training for experienced workers will include:
a. Monthly training in each of the three offices, for 1'/2 to two hours,
beginning in October, 1995. Subjects covered will range from SB 1125
Gen 9c (New 3/86)
Danna Fabella
September 25, 1995 _
Page two
to evaluating for suicide. Legal matters will be addressed briefly in
most training with input from County Counsel.
b. Training every six to eight weeks will be by trainers from the University
of California in Davis and the California State University in Fresno.
Sessions will be both half and full days. Subjects covered will range
from Effects of Abuse and Neglect on Child Development to Preparing
and Presenting Effective Testimony.
C. Training every three to four months on a forum basis bringing outside
speakers in to introduce new ideas, trends, and ways of thinking. The
forums will set the stage for the other training and be specifically
aimed at meeting our goals of training regarding foster care, adoption,
working with attorneys, and diversity. The forums will last all day,
include lunch, and be open to selected community members.
2. Induction training for new workers. We have just begun to look at this
training. Decisions have been made that new workers will not formally be in
a separate training unit but will instead be pulled out of their regular units
once or twice a week for training. Training will be done primarily by on-line
supervisors and experienced workers. The California State University in
Fresno offers basic-training packages which will likely be used for new
workers.
3. Training manual. This training need will be addressed when the actual
training sessions are up and running. In general, we are committed to the
production of a basic training manual outlining steps to take for each service
module we perform.
MJ:ww
emrain.df
disMother
KEY TO CALENDAR COLORS
= OFFICE TRAINING
` = U.C. DAVIS TRAINING
= C. S .U. FRESNO TRAINING
= FORUMS
= OUTSIDE CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS
_ MONTH- I9� MONTH S`""`^ 19�� V
OUHDwv U[a0•r WaDN[D NUPa• PDD•r
fp
gift
J
.L
W
� Z
,fir �a ktsorwl i �
_ MONTH�L7LLJL.La'1J06�19_lti� t� _ MONTH 1 1915— V
uao.v rno No•r rucao•r waoNaso.v rNUDaow Pao.r evNo.v oHowY ru csnwv waoeesowr mo.r
T '
f 1 OmuF& ,
!an
3 i
- ivti� Han h
L 24 3 2
J
_ MONTH 19 MONTH-
suNo.r rnoND.Y T-0— INaso. uNo.r N.oNo.r TUaso.v wao Pio.+ s•TusD.v
14
mP' -2 2 —39
f , z
to htsidurt . Role
_ MONTH v`^ 19 U MONTH4gn
ND.V OND•V Ula w WIDNtSD•Y TNU ao•V awrUPD•Y eUHDIV OHD•Y n•r UaDD•V
OC W RICA P+� .,; -r.1,:1
• �?r�6ri,�rJ
Z
From : MULTI-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ASSN_ 510-753-1830 Oct.08. 1995 12:52 RM P01
THE MULTI-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION, INCORPORATED
(A California Non-Profit Public Benefit 501-(C)(3) Corp. )
THE REV. CURTIS A. TIMMONS, BA. ,TH.D., EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
301-WEST TENTH STREET, SUITE SIX
ANTIOCH, CALIFORNIA 94509
(510) 753-1830
OCTOBER 8, 1995
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
651-PINE STREET
MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA 94553
ATTENTION: SUPERVISOR GAYLE BISHOP, CHAIR & MEMBERS OF
THE CONTRA COSTA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
TETE FAMILY AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE,
JOHN CULLEN, COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICE DIRECTOR
AMIRO AROSEMENA, 1995-96 COUNTY GRAND JURY
PHIL BATCHELOR, COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
RR: THE STATUS REPORT ON THE REVIEW OF THE ADOPTIONS PROGRAM
SIGNATURES t , r
THE REVEREND CURTIS ONS,8A.,TH.D. , EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
DEAR SUPERVISOR GAYLE BISHOP AND CONCERNED PARTIES,
I AM WRITING IN RESPONSE TO THE OCTOBER 5, 1995 CONTRA COSTA
COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT STATUS REPORT ON THE REVIEW
OF THE ADOPTIONS PROGRAM IN CONTRA COSTA COUNTY.
ON PAGE 2, SECTION 2 OF THE REPORT, THE COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES,
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, DANNA FABELLA RESPONSE? TO THE AUGUST 3, 1995
LETTER FROM THE MULTI-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION, INC.
NO RESPONSE COURTESY LETTER TO MCRA,INC. AUGUST 3RD LETTER HAVE
BEEN RECIEVED BY THE MULTI-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION, INC.
THE 1994-95 GRAND JURY IN ITS REPORT #9505 ACCUSED THE COUNTY
FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTIONS SYSTEM OF ETHNIC INSENSITIVITY.
ONE CAN CLEARLY UNDERSTAND AFTER REVIEWING THE OCTOBER 5, 1995
STATUS REPORT ON THE REVIEW OF THE COUNTY'S ADOPTIONS PROGRAM HOW
THE 1994-95 GRAND JURY CAME TO ITS CONCLUSION. THE GRAND JURY
SHOULD BE COMMENDED FOR ADDRESSING THE SYSTEM'S ETHNIC
INSENSITIVITY.
From : MJLTI-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ASSN. 5510-753-18310 Oct.08. 1995 12:52 AM P02
I `
PAGE TWO
IN 1994 THE COUNTY FOSTER CARE SYSTEM HAD 2,307 CHILDREN, [584 OF
WHICH WERE AFRICAN AMERICAN) . THE COUNTY RECENTLY INVESTED
APPROXIMATELY S1O0,000. TO DOCUMENT AND IDENTIFY THE STATUS AND
VARIOUS PROBLEMS WITHIN THE FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTIONS SYSTEM.
IT CLEARLY IDENTIFIED A SEVERE DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF AFRICAN
AMERICAN CHILDREN WERE IN THE FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION SYSTEM.
THE SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT'S NSWLY FOUND INTEREST IN RUNNING
ADS IN LOCAL AFRICAN-AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS (SUCH AS THE POST, THE
SUN & METRO) IS TRULY A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BUT SUCH
CULTURAL NEWSPAPERS DO NOT PRESENTLY EXIST IN EAST AND CENTRAL
COUNTY, NOR CAN EAST COUNTY RESIDENTS (WITHOUT CABLE) PICK UP
XPYX-TV NOR ANY OF THE BAY AREA TV ,STATIONS BECAUSE THE MOUNTAINS
BLOCK THE -SIGNALS. STEREO AM 990 tCATD RADIO IS LICENSED TO
PITTSBURG & IS LOCATED IN CONCORD. KATrD IS THE ONLY RADIO STATION
IN CONTRA COSTA •THAT PRESENTLY BROADCAST CULTURAL PROGRAMS SUCH
AS (THE VERY POPULAR URBAN GOSPEL MUSIC EXPERIENCE) GEARED
TOWARDS THF EAST & CENTRAL COUNTY AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITIES.
MCDA, INC. IS AGAIN PRESENTING A PROPOSAL TO THE SOCIAL SERVICES
DEPARTMENT TO FUND THE SET UP COST OF ESTABLISHING AN AFRICAN-
AMERICAN CULTURAL NEWSPAPER WHICH WOULD PROVIDE A MUCH NEEDED
SERVICE TO EAST AND CENTRAL COUNTY. ADDITIONALLY THE' PROPOSAL
PROVIDES FOR REGULAR WEEKLY SPOT ANNOUNCEMENTS (FROM THE SOCIAL
SERVICE DEPARTMENT) TO BE AIRED ON THE VERY POPULAR "URBAN
GOSPEL MUSIC EXPERIENCE" HEARD WEEKLY BY THOUSANDS, SUNDAYS ON
STEREO AM 990 KATD RADIO FROM . BPM TO 12-MIDNIGHT. IT IS
IMPORTANT THAT THE EAST &CENTRAL COUNTY CULTURAL COMMUNITIES
NOT BE NEGLECTED AS THE DEPARTMENT SEEKS TO REACH OUT TO THE
COUNTY'S AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITIRS.
PRSENTLY ONLY TWO OF THE THREE CLASSES OF COUNTY SOCIAL WORKERS
(ONLY OF WHICH A SMALL PERCENTAGE ARE BLACK, ACCORDINQ TO THE
COUNTY 'WORK FORCE CENSUS REPORT NUMBER (MSS-52), PERIOD ENDING
6/30/95) DETERMINES THE PLACEMENT OF THE COUNTY'$ FOSTER CARE
CHILDREN.. LICENSED AFRICAN AMSRICAN OWNED GROUP HOMES IN CONTRA
COSTA COUNTY ARE BEING FORCED OUT OF BUSINESS & INTO BANKRUPTCY
BECAUSE COUNTY SOCIAL WORKERS ARE NOT PROPORTIONATELY & FAIRLY
PLACING CHILDREN WITHIN AFRICAN AMERICAN OWNED GROUP HOMES*
THE SHORTAGE OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN & OTHER MINORITY SOCIAL WORKERS
IN CONTRA COSTA GIVES 'GREATER CREDENCE FOR THE NEED OF A NEW
COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICE FAMILY & HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION WHICH
COULD BE EMPOWERED TO ADDRESS THIS & OTHER PROBLEMS WITHIN THE
FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION SYSTEM AS WELL AS OTHER ISSUES INVOLVING
FAMILY AND HUMAN SERVICES.- THEW NEW COMMISSION CONSISTING OF
CITIZENS & SOCIAL SERVICES STAFF COULD SERVE AS AN ADVISORY PANEL
TO THE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES AND THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
From : MULTI-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ASS!_ 510-753-1830 Oct.08. 1995 12:52 AM P03
PAGE THREE
IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF AFRICAN
AMERICAN CHILDREN WITHIN THE COUNTY FOSTER CARE SYSTEM, IT IS
CRITICAL AND MOST URGENT! THAT GREATER NUMBERS OF BLACK$ IN
CONTRA COSTA BECOME MORE INFORMED, EDUCATED & DIRECTLY INVOLVED
IN CARING FOR THE LARGE NUMBERS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN IN
THE COUNTY FOSTER CARE SYSTEM & THAT THEY BE MORE FULLY INFORMED
OF THE PRESENT FOSTER CARS CRISIS AND HOW TO BETTER PREVENT THE
CONTINUAL GROWTH CYCLE.
THE MULTI—CULTURAL D3VELOPMENT' ASSOCIATION, INC. AGAIN STRONGLY
URGES THE COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT TO FUND THE MCDA,INC.
PROPOSAL IN FULL OR IN PART, WHICH WILL HELP EMPOWER THE BLACK
COMMUNITY TO SAVE ITS CHILDREN. THE BLACK COMMUNITY IS IN CRISIS,
BUT IS NOT WITHOUT HOPS!
Al
�••taoa4� r�
:o CQAPURAIE '•' �':
ai�.•� SEAL
y_ p
vt LUN1Ci'�
*%*•"a 1979 a�
0*09alas.,.. `
DATE:
'
REguEsT To SPEAK
FORM
(THREE (3) MINUTE UMTT) I
Complete this form and place it in the box near the speakers` rostrum before
addressing° e Bo d�---=-r
f
NA.�tir: _.� PHONE:
-
ADDRESS: CITY:
I am speaking formyself OR organization:
(NAME of ORc,Anrrz.%mood
'Check one:
I wish to speak on Agenda Item #
My comments will be: general for �. against
I wish to speak on the subject of
I do not wish to speak but leave these comments for the Board to sid�r.
f
O
t� UAV
r127.3
h�
NOW
-
�'�� �<,',� 5661`NNVB 3'JVWI 3Wl®•hHdVli�JOIOHd
GO O
M .00
�j�.•'r' yam.., Q � x f� �
•= o (►' �, $:4Q tj
v Sy H ,.L" U -Z
'L", C$ y '•'""' eti.. _ a.'a V '$.'.. ,Z
z bo
bo rz
rt
kj Ln
L
CE
o .v Q Q Q y0 Q vN
bb
J.
tlo
St
O. C$
Ln
O
o) .
too) t
to
�, �. � �. � � .' � "� •�,' � � "Obi_ C5 S]+" �:. v +.., O � � f
V O O C3 ^
O i ,
N
MAW
N
Ism
G o o 4- U �
.0.;
1--� H
c
NMI
MY
�-
s�,..d
r
-'_-'" -
N���4,�F.,1'1+��h:tr,:�td,r�.-Y�.r �R.t���A .��xwi� �1• ���,��1{-. ,-#,iti��'� is._S�"� �...�'�ifa�����aa �ltv- I%�.t.�ls�r�$e�n�t.: ,.s .�.�kJ, .,�i.�.� at , n. `�ara� i ��.�,