Notes from November 13, 2007

Child Welfare Network – Smaller Group Meeting
November 13, 2007
Meeting Notes

Welcome & Introductions:

The following people attended the Child Welfare Network meeting on November 13, 2007 at the Las Vegas Country Club.  Gard Jameson welcomed everyone and asked everyone to introduce themselves.

Jennifer Bevacqua, Olive Crest Homes
Lienn Bragg, Department of Family Services
Susan Gerhard, Assemblywoman
Gard Jameson, Children’s Advocacy Alliance
Ken Lange, Olive Crest Homes
Fran Marshall, F.A.C.T.
Tom Morton, Department of Family Services
Julianne Ormsby, Consultant
Scott Reynolds, Clark County School District
Barbara Straight, Nevada Women’s League
Cynthia Dianne Steel, District Judge
Denise Tanata Ashby, Nevada Institute for Children's Research & Policy
Karen Taycher, Nevada P.E.P.
Tom Waite, Girls & Boys Town
Susan Westbrook, Nevada Community Foundation
Hilary Westrom, Ritter Charitable Trust
Rose Yuhos, Area Health Education Center of Southern Nevada

As part of the introductions, attendees indicated their areas of concern for the welfare of children in Nevada and what they felt was important as the Network moves forward:

• There are more mental health needs than services and many children not receiving services
• There is a lack of wrap-around services for families – to protect children, we must serve families
• Direct mental health services were not addressed at the 2005 legislature
• There is a need for collaboration between all agencies (incl. all areas of Nevada, private & public)
• There is a need for a unified voice to communicate with legislators
• The DFS Citizens Advisory Committee findings need to be reviewed
• Problems in providing visitation to children in foster care
• Information, statistics and data are required to “build a case”.
• A vision or position must be developed as soon as possible
• 1/3 of children in the foster care system are there because of behavioral health needs
• Current funding is not flexible
• There is a lack of a cohesive vision statewide
• What is the legislative authority behind task forces?
• Problems have been tackled based on funding rather than basing a system on needs assessment or effective program design
• Nevada is behind many states when it comes to focusing on prevention

Gard summed up the discussion by agreeing that things seem to be getting worse and not better.  There was quite a lot of discussion about the infrastructure and accountability.  It was also pointed out that there is no legislative committee focusing on families. 

Barbara Straight encouraged the group to get a vision and get that vision into the community – to voters, seniors, etc.  Even though some people may not be touched by the system, they are voters and can understand the system and the needs of children and families.

It was pointed out that there are many legislators who would support the group’s efforts and we need to make sure they are also educated.

Review of 2007 Legislative Session

Denise Tanata Ashby overviewed some of the bills and provided an update on a couple of them: