Notes from August 17, 2006 Foster Care Convening

Attendees

The following individuals attended the foster care convening on August 17th at the Las Vegas Country Club:

• Kevin Smedley – Program Director – Assistance League of So. California
• Karen Taycher – Executive Director - Nevada P.E.P.
• Nicia Aiyetoro – Writer and Motivational Speaker – former Foster Care Youth
• Marsha Simms – President – Foster Care & Adoption Association of Nevada
• Virginia Valentine – Asst. County Manager – office of the County Manager
• Joan L. Kramer – Adoption Resource Coordinator – The Adoption Exchange
• Jay Hiner – CRA & Community Development – Nevada State Bank
• Scott G. Reynolds – Executive Director – Clark County School District
• Wanda Scott, LSW – Program Specialist III – Division of Child & Family Services
• Ann Polakowski – Division of Child & Family Services
• Debbie Barter – AHEC of Southern Nevada
• Sherry Brock – Child Focus
• Mike Fletcher – Family Development Specialist – Specialized Alternatives for Families& Youth of Nevada
• Toby Hyman – SSPS – State of Nevada, Family Resource Center
• Sandy Kreml – Assist Manager of Juvenile Probation – Dept of Juvenile Justice
• Masa Warden – NV Partnership for Homeless Youth
• Krystal Campagua – NV Partnership for Homeless Youth
• Pauline Kennedy
• Tom Morton – Director – Clark County Dept of Family Services
• Rebecca Gowing  – Girls and Boys Town of  Nevada
• Marlies Mathews – Girls and Boys Town of Nevada
• Jennifer Bretzlaff – Program Director – Olive Crest
• Erin Cornelius – CEO – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nevada
• Daniele Dreitzer – Executive Director – Henderson Allied Community Advoacates
• TJ Rosenberg – Nevada P.E.P.
• Cherie Townsend – Director – Dept  of  Juvenile Justice Services
• Eryn Rice – Vice President – St. Jude Ranch for Children
• Cyndy Ortiz – Consultant
• Stacey Wedding – Consultant – Stacey Wedding & Associates
• Jessica Bretzlaff – Associate Executive Director – Communities in Schools
• Merlinda Gallegos – Director of Corporate Philanthropy – MGM Mirge
• Judge Gerald Hardcastle – Clark County Family Court
• Chris Sutherland – Consultant
• Hilary Westrom – Mental Health Consortium
• Jennifer Karuhn – Philanthropic Services Officer - Nevada Community Foundation
• Susan Westbrook – Director of Philanthropic Services - Nevada Community Foundation

(If we missed you we apologize. Please send an e-mail to tracy@nevada.org)

Things that are working well

Communications

• Communications with community regarding need for foster parents
• Communication about the need for foster families
• Improved communication with placement team
• Increased communication between all parties involved with a child and family

PR/Media Coverage

• Amped up PR/Marketing for foster parent recruitment
• More positive image of kids in foster care in these messages
• Increased public awareness of current crises
• Media coverage to increase awareness that Foster Parents are needed

Foster parent training

• Foster parent recruitment fairs
• Getting the word out to the community about becoming a foster parent, announcing trainings
• Stronger pre-service training
• Increased recruitment

Community Response

• Active engagement of faith and other communities to expand the number of foster families
• Attention by a “larger” number of people about the foster care system
• Attention from the community on foster care needs
• Community response to need for homes for children

Willingness to Change

• Discussing the problems and asking the right questions (ex. How can we fix this?)
• The amount of caring people who come to the table to discuss change
• A lot of energy in our community around addressing these issues & change

County/Provider Collaboration

• In theory, streamlining of processes rather than bifurcated state/county system – In practice, increased community awareness on system issues
• Focus towards working on solution
• Lot of concerned agencies who are willing to help
• Increased collaboration BLT, DFS & Providers in an effort to better meet the needs of our children and families

Focus on Youth

• Increased effort to support older foster care youth
• Life skills book
• The Life Book

County Leadership Change

• New Leadership at Clark Co.
• Juvenile Justice & Family Services (Cherie & Tom)
• The hiring of Tom Morton into the DFS organization

Better System Assessment

• Focus on more thorough assessment of system and providers (environmental scan) before investing donor dollars into programs
• Strategic philanthropy with system focus

Court’s Discretion

• Judge Hardcastle allowing or granting hearings to foster adoptive parents when
• Children in their care are removed after 6 months even though there is no state statute authorizing said action

Concern in System Exists

• Commitment to care of children exists throughout the system

Support for relatives/caregivers

• Some relative caregivers are being referred for peer support

Siblings being kept together

• That Youth family are no longer separated when in group home/foster care

Culture change in Community

• System of care principles are beginning to be implemented

Foster Parents Working Hard

Things that trouble you most about what isn’t working in Clark County foster care

Lack of good resources, training for foster parents

• Lack of funding to cover the real needs of children in foster care
• Lack of services available for families
• Recruitment and retention process of families
• Increase collaboration between foster, social and department works – foster training
• Insufficient training for foster parents (post-placement) about pertinent targeted issues in caring for children, lack of services to keep children in home, post-adoption support, better assessments
• More training/support for foster parents is needed (esp. on child development, medical needs
• Lack of resources
• Lack of support, continuing training/education and networking opportunities for foster parents
• Would like to see more training
• Training for foster parents
• Foster parents need specialized training
• No booklet on the foster care system to advise foster parents how the system works – foster parents are a temporary placement
• Foster parents not sufficiently trained on issues related to foster children – developmental issues, attachment issues, academic issues, etc.
• Additional support/placement services for children in care to facilitate their safety & stability

Weak Prevention

• Early intervention prevention
• Additional prevention services at front end of CWS to support/sustain families needed
• No or little front end attempt to help families keep children in their homes
• Prevention system in place to reduce number of children entering foster care
• Families are left on their own to get things accomplished in a system that has little available and then the children and families fail.
• Helping keep families and children together
• Not enough emphasis on prevention – children entering the “system” in the first place
• Weak prevention system that does not place enough resources on causes of need for system (drug treatment, parent ed., basic needs)
• Not enough prevention interventive services to prevent abuse/neglect in the first place
• Background checks of families more frequently
• Access to services – getting services to families before it gets to crises level or children are removed + after reunification/adoptions/during foster placements
• Need more sex education with emphasis on waiting to have children, birth control – too many foster youth get pregnant too early

Ineffective/poor collaboration

• More RFP’s, contracts, etc. opportunities for community providers to be able to help by establishing more services/programs to fill gaps and meet needs)
• Good coordination of services is lacking for foster children.  Agencies working together to target these children with the most challenges.
• Would like to see foster parents being allowed to interact with each other
• A lot of miscommunication with all providers – youth not getting the information or money owed to them
• Need improved communication/collaboration between all providers, state, county and public
• Lack of communication/support – involvement from DFS with foster parents creating isolation with providers
• Lack of meaningful/effective collaboration with community, state and other county programs – “turf”, finger pointing, lack of sharing info.
• Lack of communication among organizations working with foster care system
• Need to coordinate delivery of services (system of care philosophy expanded to support foster families
• Lack of a coordinated “system of care”

Caseloads

• Caseworker loads are increasing.  Need more caseworkers so children are monitored better
• Contact and communication between caseworkers & their youth
• Caseloads are too high for workers
• Lack of case managers, caseloads too high
• Need more case managers to do follow up after children are placed in care
• Not enough time spent with individual client to work on their case
• Insufficient case worker staff to adequately serve children and families given number & complexity of cases
• Need decreased caseloads

Lack of mental health assessment services

• Losing the most vulnerable members of our community who are entrusted to our care.
• Need for enhanced role of HHR to provide mental health services
• Lack of effective mental health services and planning for foster children
• Lack of quality assessment & mental health services to support children & families
• Need more training in mental health for foster parents

Lack of after care structure in foster homes

• Not enough aftercare investment (until 25?)
• A hotline, social worker, etc. like Boystown
• Understanding of costs associated with letting these youth fail upon exiting system
• No exit strategy in place for foster youth who plan on living on their own
• Lack of structure in foster homes – duration of youth’s stay in foster home)

Services for families

• Life skills classes, independent living support
• Not enough mentors, no fun, education
• Need more emphasis on and encouragement to read non-fiction, self-help, how-to books.  Put kids in mindset of empowerment.
• Lack of services for families – relative caregivers – when they enter the system

Not enough homes

• Foster families for sibling groups and medically fragile children
• Foster families willing and prepared to work directly with birth families
• Need more foster care homes
• Lack of $ - not enough homes for foster children

Weak or not bold leadership

• Stuck on a model of care?  Are foster families the solution?  Particularly in our community considering time it takes to create an effective foster home & the transiency of our population.
• Lack of effective leadership & direction – what is the plan to make our commitment to children better?
• Placement process too slow, not enough DFS staff, not trained well enough, caseloads too high, lack of info provided in timely fashion
• Sole focus on foster care as “the answer”  Need for comprehensive plan & community/gov’t leadership to implement

Permanency

• Loss/change of home placement for entire sibling group due to needs/behaviors of one child
• Longer permanency in home & then in placement
• Kids move too much
• Multiple number of homes/placements for young children & needs for communication & support for homes to support these children

Lack of Awareness of Services

• Staff working with families turn over often, don’t have clear understanding of community resources and ways to assist families in providing the best home for the children
• Lack of knowledge of community based services
• facilities/staffing which can be brought to scale

Youth lack support network

• Lack of social support systems for youth
• Working with foster children 14-15 who are on the independent living track to front load them with skills, knowledge, resources, etc. in order to succeed
• Need more community involvement with both kids & community

Better assessment & appropriate services

• Need more appropriate placements/support
• Wrap around services for the foster family (includes the foster children/other members/parents/foster parents)
• Overcrowding at child haven – can’t get children into placements in timely manner

Very young children at Child Haven

• Overcrowding at Child Haven with providers who have open beds
• Length of time young children spend in Child Haven/shelter care before transitioning into a foster home
• Children under the age of 6 in Child Haven – esp. length of time they spend there

Poor follow up

• After case has been reviewed and placed, there is not enough follow up/care plans for their future
• Consistancy of follow up on families
• Lack of follow up on runaways “missing children”

“It’s not our problem” in the community

• Inability to keep up with growth or number of children entering foster care is community problem as well as DFS
• Constant negative media attention “it’s the system’s fault”
• Blaming DFS for overcrowding, too many kids in foster care

Youth pushed to juvenile justice

• Foster parents reluctance to take youth back when commits a delinquent act and work with DJJs staff
• The rush to criminalize foster youth because of placement issues in foster care

No health info on children provided to foster parents

• Need more info on health and background on children coming into our homes (hospital records)
• Allowing UNLV students to pick up babies from hospital and placing the medical records in a file at Child Haven.  Foster/shelter parents don’t have access to these documents creating a medical hazard – records previously released

Lack of outcome data as a driver

• Data management-use of hard copy files vs. electronic – services often delayed or duplicated
• Not enough focus on behavioral outcomes as the driver for placement rather than moving children out of good placements to pay a lower rate

Crisis Intervention

• Once children placed, families dramatically lacking support and services to address needs of the children
• Parents that fail to provide and protect teenagers

DFS turnover

• Large turn-over in DFS social works – if always in state of training, how do children benefit

Turnover

• Can only imagine the “fear” factor within the system among case-workers, etc. – must have negative effect on how they work with our kids

Awareness of Abuse in Homes

• Awareness of abuse/negligence occurring in foster homes

Need for a fully developed neighborhood family service center model –
Metro Doing Child Removals

Lack of funding to support agencies

Comments made at end of meeting

• There is an RFP going out in the fall for a youth service asset map. Results should be available April 2007
• Can the Nevada Community Foundation gather information on all of the collaborative efforts currently underway and share it through Nevada Gives website? It is important that the Task Force share ideas and information with other community coalitions
• Can the Task Force can serve as the moral voice on bigger picture issues related to child welfare; can it also leverage existing vehicles and coalitions
• We need a community voice to help address the issues
• A master plan is needed rather than the organization with the loudest voice receiving what is needed
• Legislature – what happened to this committee? Is this the safe place to talk about what can be done differently? Can we work together to pressure legislative change?
• Can this group with Nevada Community Foundation be the umbrella organization looking at the continuum of care? A directory of Youth Services would be helpful as people don’t know what services are available/where.
• How can we put the “pressure on” to get data on what does a healthy child coming out of the system look like? Then, can we create a plan based on solid data?
• What is the data from other communities?
• Can a white paper and recommendations be provided to DFS
• Agencies and people are so busy. What can we do immediately to prevent a death?
• What is maltreatment? Should it be looked at in a social way rather than a legal way?
• Foster parent voiced strong concern about needing answers rather than more committees
• We need to amplify the voice of foster parents

Many community groups, coalitions, agencies were mentioned.  It is our intention to develop a list based on issues to be shared with the group

Future Direction

The group indicated they do not want to break into committees because there are already committees and coalitions dealing with most of the issues discussed.