HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06181991 - IO.2 I .O. -2
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS �?�" ...... Contra
FROM: INTERNAL OPERATIONS COMMITTEE Costa
n. s
County
DATE: June 10, 1991 `°s>q Coi T cAti
SUBJECT:
STATUS .REPORT ON THE RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF FOSTER PARENTS
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Acknowledge receipt of the attached report from the Social
Services Director outlining the status of the recruitment
and retention of foster parents.
2. Request the Social Services Director to make an additional
status report to our Committee on Monday, December 9, 1991
at 10 : 30 A.M.
BACKGROUND:
For the past two years, the Internal Operations Committee has
been providing oversight to the recruitment and retention of
foster parents. During this time we have addressed a number of
problems and have seen ,.the Social. Services Department intensify
its efforts to recruit foster homes. This is the latest -of these
reports.
On June 10, 1991 our Committee met with Rose Manning, Linda
Waddington and Nancy Carey from the Social Services Department
and reviewed the attached report in some detail.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR ENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S): I. SCHRODER SUNNE WRIGHT MC PEAK
ACTION OF BOARD ON June 18, 1991 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT I, III ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS N THE DATE SHOWN.
CC: County AdminiStrator ATTESTED /8 X99/
Social Services Director pH ATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
BY DEPUTY
M382 (10/86)
I.O. -2
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The attached report is self-explanatory and we will not attempt
to duplicate its content. We would, however, highlight a few
points which are made in the report:
1. Between November 1, 1990 and April 30, 1991, the Social
Services Department has increased the total of its licensed
foster homes by about 3%. There has also been about a 3%
increase in licensed bed capacity during this same period of
time.
2. There is no evidence to suggest that foster parents are
failing to renew their licenses because of: dissatisfaction
with the Department or because of the level of payment they
receive. On the contrary, it appears that all of the losses
in foster homes (those that did not renew their license or
otherwise withdrew from being foster parents) have. .
understandable explanations such as having been licensed for
a specific child who is now an adult, moving out of the
area, a divorce or death in the family.
3 . We are very gratified at the . substantial reduction the
Department has been able to achieve in the backlog of
applications for license as a foster home. The number of
pending applications has been reduced from 155 in October,
1990 to 71 at the end of April, 1991, a reduction of more
than 500.
4. About 600 of the newly licensed homes can be directly
attributed to the recruitment efforts of the Social Services
Department staff and current foster parents. Therefore, if
the Department were unable to continue the current
relatively low level of recruitment activity, it is likely
that we would see a gradual but consistent degradation in
the total number of available foster care beds.
5 . The ability of the Social Services Department to recruit and
retain high quality foster homes will become a significant
financial issue if the current "realignment" plans being
discussed in Sacramento result in a significant increase in
the County' s responsibility for the cost of. foster care
placements If this occurs, the Department will
increasingly have to review and attempt to limit the use of
group homes, some of which now cost upwards of $4, 000 a
month .and instead attempt to find qualified foster parents
willing to work with some rather disturbed children.
Regardless of how much we pay a foster home for the care of
a child, it is substantially less than the cost of caring
for the same child in a group home. The use of such group
homes must be limited to those children who cannot be cared
for appropriately in a foster home.
Our Committee was very impressed with the progress which has been
made in the area of foster care in the past few months. We are
encouraged by the statistics and by the feelings from the
Department staff that despite large caseloads and changes in the
organization of ' the licensing .function the staff appear to be
pleased with the progress they are making.
We would commend the attached report to each of the Board members
and are recommending that the Social Services Department make an
additional report to our Committee in December, 1991.
SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
TO: Claude Van Marter, DATE: May 28, 1991
Asst. County Administrator
FROM: James Rydingsword, �
Director
SUBJECT: FOSTER PARENT RECRUITMENT AND
RETENTION PROJECT UPDATE
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. Attached please find the. report to be presented to the Internal
Operations Committee at 10: 30 a.m. on Monday, June 10, 1991.
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 December, the Department was
asked to report back in June 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 covers these areas. We have also added an
update . on retention as well as comments on areas covered in the
last report and future recruitment plans.
JR/NC:vcp
Att.
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Foster Parent Recruitment and Retention Project Update
May 20, 1991
Prior reports submitted in April, 1989, October, 1989, June, 1990
and December, 1990 provide background information on Foster Parent
Recruitment and Retention 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 number of families licensed to
care for a specific child.
We have added a report on retention as well as comments on areas
mentioned in the December, 1990 report. We have also provided
information on our future recruitment plans.
Number of Foster Homes Licensed Since November 1, 1990
The attached December, 1990 report provided data from May, 1990
through October, 1990. The updated material and attached charts
project that data through April, 1991.
We have issued 95 new licenses between November, 1990 and April,
1991. During this same period of time, we have lost 79 homes for
a net increase of 16 homes. This equates to an approximate 3%
increase (Attachment A) .
Number of Beds Available
During the period of November 1, 1990 through April 30, 1991, the
available bed count has increased from 1220 to 1243 for a net
increase of 23 beds, an approximate 3% increase (see Attachments B,
C & D) .
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) as explained in our October, 1989 report.
We have cross-checked this data manually within the Licensing Unit.
The information is very accurate and very specific. Of the newly
licensed 95 foster homes, 52 were licensed as regular foster homes,
35 were licensed for a specific child, and 8 were licensed for a
specific child, but were available for other placements. This
breaks down to an approximate 60-40 split with about 60% of the new
homes licensed as a direct result .of our :recruitment activities as
well as the outstanding continuing recruitment efforts of our
current foster families.
Retention
As previously stated, 79 homes were closed from November 1, 1990
through April 31, 1991. We have kept accurate statistics on these
closures in an effort to improve our retention factor, and in order
to obtain a clear picture of why these homes have opted to close.
Of these 79 homes closed, 35 (44%) were those foster homes that
were licensed for a specific child. As these children turned 18 or
left the home for various reasons, the foster family indicated that
they were no longer interested in foster care. Another 14 families
(18%) moved out of the county, while about 15 homes (20%) closed
due to normal changes within the family unit (divorce, death,
etc. ) . Approximately 18 percent (14 families), -left to work with
Families First, an agency with whom we have a working placement
agreement focused on drug-exposed infants. This is a decrease from
the 28% who left for private agencies during the last report
period.
Staff Activities
There have been further changes within the Foster Care Licensing
staff since the last report in December.
1) One recruiter/developer position was lost due to budget
cuts within the Social Service Department. The remaining
recruiter/developer continues to maintain quality
orientation meetings throughout the county. These
sessions were expanded from one to two sessions in order
to incorporate more training into the. program. This
training was delineated in detail in our last report.
However, we were able to obtain contracts for a number of
our current foster families to assist us with our
orientation presentations. This foster parent
participation has proved to be an invaluable resource and
an excellent opportunity for prospective applicants to
learn first-hand about foster care!
Our orientation efforts have particularly focused on the
West County area where two orientation sessions are held
per month. One session is held in East County monthly
and one in Central County monthly.
During the period from November .1, 1990 through April 31,
1991, approximately 285 people attended orientation
meetings, with 175 from West County, 34 from Central and
76 from East County. These meetings are advertised
weekly in local newspapers and on Public Service TV
stations. Approximately 36 percent of those attending
orientation were in attendance due to media
advertisement. The remainder were there due to referrals
by Social Service or as a result of networking within the
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foster parent community.
2) Our toll-free recruitment line continues to receive many
calls as a result of ongoing publicity in our local
newspapers. From November, 1990 through publicity in our
local newspapers. From November, 1990 through April,
1991, approximately 314 calls were received countywide.
These calls _ were handled individually by our
recruiter/developer. There was a decrease in the number
of calls since our last report. However, some of this
decrease is due to staff reductions resulting in
decreased response time, since each call is returned
personally, and a packet of foster care information is
mailed out to the caller within a few working days. The
majority f these calls were received from the West County
area (58%) with the remaining 42% from the Central/East
areas of the county.
3) In March, 1991, our recruiter/developer participated in
a Career Day at Contra Costa College. Lots of
prospective applicants stopped by our foster care booth
to obtain 'brochures and ask questions about foster
parenting. It was a successful as well as entertaining
event!
4) Our Recruiter/Developer continues to publish quarterly
newsletters to our foster families. The most recent
issue Spring 1991 (see attached) was of special
importance as it contained a special note of recognition
from our Director as well as pertinent information from
Division Managers on new regulations affecting foster
care, and an update on our HIV Protocol.
5) Our clerical staff was reduced from two to one position
in February, 1991, in response to State budget cuts.
This change has created some slow down in the clerical
,,processing of applications. This problem has been
somewhat alleviated through the use of the newly created
clerical pool and the reinstatement of a part-time
clerical position to the unit.
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Accomplished Goals
1) The most significant accomplishment, during this report
period was the reduction of pending licenses from 155 at
the end of October, 1990 to 71 at the end of April, 1991!
This reduction can be attributed to the centralization of
the Licensing Unit, which has enabled the staff to work
together in a more productive manner. Another
significant factor is that this was accomplished during
a period when 2 of the 4.5 licensing workers were new to
the program. They have, indeed, brought a positive,
enthusiastic approach to licensing, which has invigorated
the entire licensing staff!
2) We are continuing to target the African-American
community in' our recruitment efforts by doubling the
orientation sessions offered in the West end of the
county. These efforts appear to be paying off since 61%
of the number of prospective applicants were from the
West County area.
3) Contracts to include foster families in our recruitment
activities were completed during January, 1991. These
contracts enable us to pay our foster families for their
participation in our recruitment efforts. These
contracts have led to increased participation by our
foster families who can now be reimbursed for their
travel and child care expenses.
4) The "Waiting Child" program continues to be well-received
throughout the county. As described in our June report,
this program is a consortium of five Bay Area counties
and KPIX, Channel 5. Under the direction of Brian
Sussman, one Bay Area county foster child is highlighted
each week and calls are funneled through the United Way.
The aim of the program is to find a permanent home for
featured children, but, more importantly, to recruit more
foster care and adoptive homes throughout the Bay Area.
Contra Costa County has had three children aired during
this last report period. The results were exceptional!
Our last child, who was aired in early March received
over 150 calls! It was the biggest response given to any
child in the program. The total number of calls received
due to the Waiting Child Program in the last six months
was approximately 298 calls! Many of these were from
working professionals interested in long-term foster care
and/or adoption. A significant number of these calls
were from minority families and has provided us with a
new resource for minority recruitment.
_4_
5) In December, 1991, our staff participated in the "Cherish
the Child" event sponsored by Emporium Capwell' s and KPIX
Channel 5. As a result, our Department received $35, 000
from KPIX, the Examiner and Emporium stores to be used to
meet the needs of children who are in Foster Care or on
AFDC. What are we doing with this money? These funds
are being used by our Volunteer Services to provide
clothing and toys for our foster children.
6) We have been working with Family Support Services of the
Bay Area (FSSBA) to provide some limited foster care
respite to families working with medically fragile
children. In March, 1991, this grant was awarded. Our
County was able to identify seventeen long-term foster
families and three emergency foster families who were
eligible for services under this grant. Three criteria
were used to identify eligibility:
1) The foster children required medically intrusive
devices.
2) The foster children in the home were
technologically dependent.
3) The foster children required a special medication
regimen.
4) Families had two or more medically fragile children
in the severe range of Difficulty of Care (see
attached) .
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Future Plans for 1991
Once again, we will need to continue to improve our efforts to
increase the number of homes countywide with an emphasis on
minority recruitment. Though our backlog of pending applications
has decreased significantly, we will have to continue pursuing new
and creative ideas to deal with staff reductions. Our own existing
foster families are undoubtedly our strongest asset in recruiting
new foster families.
In our efforts to increase the number of foster homes:
1) We will continue our two-part orientations countywide
with an emphasis on West County minority homes.
2) We will continue our participation in the "Waiting Child"
Program, along with five Bay Area counties, as well as
KPIX Channel 5 and the Community Task Force.
3) We will maintain our commitment to continue our foster
families ' involvement and participation in
orientation/recruitment activities.
4). We are in the process of developing a fost-adopt program
in our county. By integrating components of our foster
care and adoption programs, we will be able to provide a
permanent home quickly to a child without numerous
placement changes. This exciting and challenging program
should be in place within the next six months.
In summation, we are hopeful that through our positive and creative
efforts, we will be able to meet the challenge of staff reductions,
and remain competitive with private foster family agencies.
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ATTACHMENT A
NOVEMBER 1990 - APRIL 1991
Number of Number of
New Licenses Issued Licenses Terminated
1,1/90 14 9
12/90 11 11
1/91 17 15
2/91 16 20
3/91 21 10
4/91 16 14
ATTACHMENT B
NOVEMBER, 1990-- APRIL, 1991
Number of Number of Beds
Licensed Homes
11/90 511 1220
12/90 511 1224
1/91 513 1229
2/91 509 1224
3/91 520 1243
4/91 522 . 1243
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Social ,Service Department Contra J ;\�J Please reply to:
2401 Stanwell Drive,#200
James A. Rydingsw6rd COSta P.O.Dox 5488
Director Concord,California 94524
County (415) 646-5611
March 8, 1991
Mr. Jose Olagues, President
Contra Costa County Foster Parent Association
4112 Tulare Ct
Concord CA 94521
Dear Jose,
I wanted to let you know where we are in the respite care for medically fragile
children project. As you know, we have been working with Family Support Services
of the Bay Area (FSSBA) to provide some limited respite care to foster families
under a federal grant which FSSBA was awarded.
i
At this time, we have identified seventeen long term foster families and three f
emergency foster homes eligible for services under the grant. FSSBA expects to
be able to provide up to 10 hours per month of in-home respite- as well as some
out-of-home respite to identified families who are interested in participating
in the project.
Basically, three criteria were used to identify foster families eligible for
services. Foster children in the home had to either 1) require medically
intrusive devices; 2) be technologically dependent; or 3) need a special
medication regimen. In addition, we included families that had two or more
medically fragile children in the severe range of Difficulty of Care.
We will begin contacting eligible families to explain the services of the project
next week. If have question about the project or suggestions to ensure the
success of this project, please let me know. You may also call Sheri Ferguson
at 646-5154 for more information. Sheri has been working with FSSBA on this
project.
Best personal regards,
ose Man
A istant Director,
Social Services Bureau
medifrag.fpa