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Kids Are Worth It Eric T. Clark, DCBS Commissioner September 10, 2019 CHILD WELFARE #BelongsToAllOfUs
Kids Are Worth ItEric T. Clark, DCBS Commissioner
September 10, 2019
CHILD WELFARE #BelongsToAllOfUs
Redefining the System: What is Child Welfare?
Family and child
Prevention Services
Kinship and Relative
Placements
Foster Care (Public and
Private)
Reunification)
Adoption
Post Adoption Supports
Schools Courts
DJJ
Treatment and
Recovery Programs
Public Health
Mental and
Behavioral Health
Faith Based Community
“WE’VE GOT REAL CHALLENGES. IF YOU’RE NOT CONCERNED AND BOTHERED BY WHAT YOU’RE SEEING, I’M CONCERNED THAT YOU’RE NOT CONCERNED. WE’VE GOT A LOT OF WORK TO DO…” ~ ERIC T. CLARK, DCBS COMMISSIONER
KENTUCKY LEADS THE NATION IN CHILD ABUSE
…….AND WE HAVE TO DO BETTER
DATA-INFORMED
“The greatest value of a picture is when it forces us to notice what we never expected to see.” ~ John W. Tukey
Child Abuse DataSFY2016 – SFY2019
52,44755,799
58,435
52,628
15,274 16,298 17,01015,182
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
2016 2017 2018 2019
Reports that Met Acceptance Criteria Reports w/ a Substantiated or Services Needed Finding
Child Abuse Data: Types of MaltreatmentReports with a Substantiated or Services Needed Finding of Child Abuse and/or Neglect by SFY by Type of Maltreatment
State Fiscal Year
Total2016 2017 2018 2019
Risk of Harm Neglect 30.9% 34.2% 37.6% 35.0% 34.5%
Basic Neglect 27.0% 28.1% 23.6% 19.1% 24.5%
Physical - Assault/Injury 16.4% 15.5% 14.6% 14.6% 15.3%
Environment 6.7% 7.0% 8.0% 7.7% 7.3%
Supervision 9.3% 5.9% 4.9% 6.9% 6.7%
Sexual Abuse 6.0% 6.0% 6.1% 6.4% 6.1%
Medical Neglect 2.9% 2.5% 2.9% 2.9% 2.8%
Risk of Harm Neg.-Substance Affected Infant* 1.7% 6.7% 2.0%
Emotional Injury .8% .5% .6% .5% .6%
Exploitation .2% .2% .1% .2% .2%
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
*ROH Neg. Substance Affected Infant added during SFY 2018
Number of Youth in Out of Home Care
9,9169,721
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10,000
11,000
9,7399,777
9,875
9,772
9,6609,721
9,500
9,600
9,700
9,800
9,900
Apr-19 May-19 Jun-19 Jul-19 Aug-19 Sep-19
4 Year Trend
6 Month Trend
Total DCBS and PCP Foster HomesSeptember 2014 – September 2019
5,443
4,000
4,200
4,400
4,600
4,800
5,000
5,200
5,400
Months to Permanency by SFY
37.937.0 37.0
37.5
35.7
33.5
35.2
34.2
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
2016 2017 2018 2019
# o
f M
on
ths
Mean (Avg.) MedianAdoptions
9.6 9.0 9.2 9.4
6.9 6.6 7.0 7.1
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
2016 2017 2018 2019
# o
f M
on
ths
Mean (Avg.) MedianReunifications
Number of Children Reunifiedby SFY
2,0931,919 1,914
2,124
2,418
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
914
1053 10861026
1257
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Number of Children Adoptedby SFY
Average CPS CaseloadsCY2017 – CY2019*
*CY2019 is partial year including January, February and March
18.3 19.0 19.0
23.3 24.0
27.0
23.3 24.022.0
29.831.0
30.0
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
2017 2018 2019
CPS Current CPS with Past Dues
CPS Not at Full Capacity Current CPS Not at Full Capacity with Past Dues
Child Welfare TransformationOutcomes Driven
3 Primary Goals
Reduce case loads
Improve timeliness to appropriate permanency
Safely reduce the number of children
entering OOHC
Being Good Stewards of an
Unprecedented Opportunity
The Family First Prevention Services Act: A Key Lever in Kentucky’s Child Welfare Transformation
You can tell a lot about people, businesses,
organizations, etc in how they spend their
money. Where are our priorities?$476M on OOHC $18M on prevention services
Of the $18M spent on family preservation and
prevention services, 96% of those families remained
together and did not result in a child being removed
from the home.
Why does it take a traumatic event thatleads to the child being removed fromtheir home in order for us to respond?
We’re Listening to the Voices: • “I share my story to reach people like you so we can make life better for
other kids. My family needed more support, people who cared to fix potential problems like the neglect in my family. There wasn’t a day in care that I didn’t miss my mother…each day I lost a little more of myself. My time in the system is over. I am who I am because of what I’ve been through. I am just like you, here today to build a new system.” ~Chris Hagan, former foster youth and member of the Voices of the Commonwealth
• “I can still see the fear in her eyes. I wonder about the effects on her. There is a significant impact when we remove a child….on them and on the worker. No one ever talks about the trauma of being a worker charged with making the decision whether a child is safe or not, and being onsite to witness the trauma of separating a child from their parent.” ~Jessica Brown, FFPSA Lead for DCBS speaking on behalf of social workers
• Relatives who need supports as they step up and take care of a children within their own family.
• Foster parents, providers, and community leaders who desperately want to be part of the solution, and just want us to allow them to be at the table.
And now, we’re responding..
The narrative is changing..
Government alone isn’t child welfare..
We are all child welfare.
#ChildWelfareBelongsToAllOfUs
Follow DCBS on social media:o Twitter: @KyDCBSo Facebook: Kentucky Department for Community Based Services https://www.facebook.com/kydcbs/
