A New Vision Of A New Vision Of PermanencyPermanency
April 2006
Jeff Griffin
Will Ortiz
Youth 11-years or Older in PP Service Componentby Placement Facility Type as of Dec., 1, 2005
Valid Frequency Percent
Relative 238 30GH 207 26.1FFA Cert. Home 161 20.3FFH 88 11.1Guardian 69 8.7Court Spec. Home 11 1.4Orangewood Children's Home 15 1.9Small Family Home 5 0.6Total 794 100
Where Are We Now? Agency-Wide:
Group Home
Foster Home
Relative
Creating Family Connections
Orange County Children and Family Services (CFS) joined in partnership with
Canyon Acres Children’s Services to bring the Creating Family Connections (CFC)
program to Orange County. Creating Family Connections was an innovative
project designed to thoroughly seek out any existing family members for youth that
were previously thought to have little or no caring adults in their lives. Catholic
Community Services of Western Washington (CCS) provided training in the areas
of intensive family searching and engagement. CCS trained both CFS and Canyon
Acres staff in the use of Internet search databases to actively search for and locate
family members.
Creating Family Connections(Continued)
A new process of engagement was also taught
regarding how to effectively approach family members
to engage (or re-engage) into the youth’s life. The
Creating Family Connections pilot project launched in
December 2004 and ended in June 2005. The 6-
month (with one more month of support by CCS)
training project involved 27 youth from the Multi-
treatment Transition Services (MTS) division. The
project had tremendous success in locating and
engaging family members for youth that were
previously thought to have no family members
available to them.
Outcomes For Creating Family Connections Pilot Project:
Percentage of youth for which possible family connections were identified during the CFC project: 92%Percentage of youth for which new family connections were achieved during the CFC project: 70%
Of youth for which connections were made:Percentage of youth for which the new family connections that were achieved during the CFC project have remained since the project ended: 88%Percentage of youth for which there is a positive difference in the youth’s functioning now that more family connections have been achieved: 63%Percentage of youth that have transitioned (or are being considered for a transition) to a lower level of care or family as a result of the CFC project: 63%Percentage of social workers who participated in the CFC project that think it is valuable and should be continued: 100%
Creating Family Connections:
1. Number of children served by CFC:41 Youth total have been served, including the pilot phase.
2. Breakout on age, gender, years in dependency:Males - 24; Females - 17; Age range 9-17 years old;Years in dependency range 3-14 years.
3. Number of connections did children have before CFC:20 (approximately)
4. Number of connections post-CFC:199 (and growing)
5. Quantifiable connections: reunifications, visits, connections being maintained:39 connections continue, either telephone calls, or visits.
Totals As Of January 2006:
California Permanency for Youth Project
Dedicated to assuring that no youth will leave the California child welfare system without a permanent lifelong connection
to a caring adult
The California Permanency for Youth Project (CPYP), a project of the Public Health Institute, started in January 2003 as a result of a five-year grant awarded by the Stuart Foundation. This grant has since been extended through 2009. Other funders include the Walter S. Johnson and Zellerback Family Foundations.
Children eleven and older in the foster care system have a poor chance of finding a permanent family. When they do not find permanency before they leave the foster care system at age 18, research shows they often become homeless, unemployed, and disconnected. We believe it is the responsibility of the entire community to make sure that each youth who leaves the foster care system in California has a permanent lifelong connection with a caring adult.
•Pat Reynolds-Harris, MA, MSPH – Director of California Permanency for Youth Project.
-Taken from the California Permanency For Youth Website: http://www.cpyp.org/
California Permanency for Youth Project (CPYP)(continued)
Orange County is partnering with the CaliforniaPermanency for Youth Project.
Program Manager Bob Malmberg is facilitating amonthly multi-program CPYP meeting.
The multi-program group is developing andimplementing a plan to increase permanency resultsfor OC youth in dependency.
California Permanency for Youth Project (CPYP)(continued)
Definition
Permanency is both a process and a result that includes involvement of the youth as a participant or leader in finding a permanent connection with at least one committed adult who provides:
•A safe, stable and secure parenting relationship•Love•Unconditional commitment•Lifelong support in the context of a legal arrangement when possible•The opportunity to maintain family ties and emotional bonds with siblings and important persons who will sustain connections with their culture
Simply stated: Permanency is when a child and an adult have a safe, stable, sustainable and committed relationship across time and circumstance.
Orange County CPYP ProjectCPYP Project Goals
1. Increase connections for youth2. Increase the number and engagement of supportive
family members to enhance service provision3. Increase the ability of youth to successfully emancipate
from dependency4. Expand the success of family finding and engagement
strategies into other areas of CFS and expand the agency’s definition of permanency.
5. Assess models of family finding and engagement to determine their usefulness in CFS.
Orange County CPYP ProjectWhat is our target group of youth?
A total of 45 youth will be involved in the County of Orange CPYP project:
♦CFC will work with 25 youth in MTS, ICS I,
ICS II
♦ICS I Senior Social Worker Tawny Crane and
Melanie McCallum will work with 20 selected
cases in ICS I and implement family finding
and engagement strategies for each case with
support of the CPYP committee.
Youth selected for program (CFC project):
- Youth has expressed interest in knowing about or having
contact with family members.
- Youth is preparing to emancipate with no known family
connection.
- Youth is at risk of entering LTFC with minimal or no
appropriate family connection.
- Youth is a dependent placed in out of home care who needs
family connection in order to foster stability and avoid “aging
out” of system care.
- CFC referred youth are not limited by age or legal status to be
included in the project.
Orange County CPYP ProjectWhat is our target group of youth?
Youth selected for program (SSW Crane/McCallum):
- Youth must be in Long Term Foster Care.
- No relative placements or courtesy supervision.
- Youth who are at risk of being placed at a higher level of care, and/or who are already
receiving specialized foster care placement rates (due to their higher services needs).
- Youth ages 11 and over, with priority to those closest to emancipation.
- Youth who have little or no connections to important adults in their lives.
Orange County CPYP ProjectWhat is our target group of youth?
(continued)
Orange County CPYP ProjectWhat will be done in the CPYP project to obtain the
goals?(Projected plan)
CPYP committee leadership is coordinating with Social
Services Agency Training and Career Development (TCD) to
develop the ability to present agency-wide training on family
finding and engagement and permanency.
CPYP has committed to providing technical assistance and
training from Kevin Campbell one day per month for 6
months. This process will begin when, in consultation with
Pat Reynolds-Harris, training is ready to begin.
Kick-Off Presentation of CPYP project in Orange County
occurred on April 6, 2006.
`̀ We should never raise a child in the public system who all along had a familywho we didn't call.'' – Kevin Campbell, EMQ
Every youth has healthy family members that love and support them.
Youth have the right to know about their family members; Familymembers have the right to know about their youth in our care.
The single most identified variable contributing to positive outcomes foryouth involves meaningful connections and lifelong relationships withfamily members and other caring adults.
Family connections and relationships are as important as mental healthservices and other services available to the youth from CFS.
We need to work for youth to have an “expectation of normalcy” that isseverely lacking in their lives.
Long-Term Foster Care is no longer an acceptable permanent plan. Thereis nothing permanent about it.
The goal towards permanency drives every decision made on a case.
Youth and PermanencyA New Vision For What Is Possible For CFS Youth
“There are only two lasting bequests we cangive our children, one is roots, the otherwings.” – Hodding Carter
REFERENCES
Lighting the Fire of Urgency: Families Lost and Found in America’s Child Welfare System. Kevin Campbell. Catholic Community Services of Western WashingtonResource Documents, January 2005.
The National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning at the Hunter College School of Social Work http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/about-us.html
Who Am I? Why Family Really Matters. Barbara Boisvert, Gina Brimner, Kevin Campbell, Don Koenig, Mary Stone-Smith. Catholic Community Services of Western Washington. www.ccsww.org/preservation/articles/article6.php.
F.A.S.T. Family Assessment and Stabilization Team. Catholic Community Services of Western Washington. - www.ccsww.org
California Permanency For Youth Project. http://www.cpyp.org/
Permanence for Young People: Framework. National Resource Center for Foster Care and Permanency Planning at the Hunter College School of Social Work.