Welcome!
Streaming audio is available through your
computer. If you are not able to listen via
your computer, you can call in by phone.
Phone number (toll-free): 866-740-1260
Conference ID: 9236072
Welcome and introductions
Jill Marshall May, director
National Resource Center for Diligent Recruitment at
AdoptUSKids (NRCDR)
#NRCDR
Housekeeping
– This webinar is 90 minutes long, including time at the end for
questions and answers.
– We will record this webinar and have it available on the NRCDR
website.
– Your lines will be muted during the presentation.
– This webinar is interactive—you can ask questions by using the
chat function and respond to questions through the polls.
– If you’re on Twitter, use the hashtag #NRCDR to tweet about the
webinar.
– We want your feedback—there will be an evaluation at the end
of the webinar.
#NRCDR
Agenda
– Welcome and introductions – Jill Marshall May, NRCDR director
– Key qualities of an effective response system – Marie
Youngpeter, NRCDR consultant
– Response system panel
• New Jersey – Gilbert Soto
• New Mexico – Renee Fitts
• Cherokee Nation – Hettie Charboneau
• Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange – Heidi Raubenolt
#NRCDR
Agenda
– Ideas from the field
– Key takeaways
– Resources
– Questions and answers
– Closing remarks
#NRCDR
What do we mean by response system?
Recruitment Initial Inquiry Orientation Application
Pre-service
Training
Mutual
Assessment/
Home StudyPlacement
Licensing /
Approval
#NRCDR
Key qualities of a response system
– Engaging and accessible
– Data-driven
– Consistent messaging
– Develops and supports families
#NRCDR
Engaging and accessible
– Response is welcoming and supportive.
– Communication is consistent, respectful, and informative,
strengthening understanding of role and process.
– Orientation and training are convenient in time/location.
– Agency provides good customer service.
#NRCDR
Consistent messaging
– Communicate with families about agency goals, needs, and
values.
– Use data to inform messaging.
– Ensure that messaging and practice are consistent.
– Provide accurate, clear, and consistent messaging at each stage
of the process from all parties.
#NRCDR
Data-driven response
– Collect data on children, youth, and families.
– Track data on the process.
– Analyze data to understand the story it tells about the strengths
and challenges of your system.
– Use data to inform changes to your response system.
#NRCDR
Development and support
– Remember that development and support are needed
continuously throughout the process.
– Develop and support families and staff (parallel process).
– Use data to learn about the development and support needs of
families and staff.
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: New Jersey
– Gilbert Soto, supervising program support specialist, Office of
Resource Families, New Jersey Division of Child Protection and
Permanency
– New Jersey child welfare system and response system overview
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: New Jersey
– Standards for time frames for response and licensing
– http://nrcdr.org/_assets/files/NRCDR-org/NJ-150-DAY-
TIMELINE-11-09.pdf
DAY 1 - 7
The resource family (RF) supervisor reviews and
approves the cleared, completed application, sends a
copy to the Office of Licensing (OOL), and has an initial
conference with the assigned resource family support
worker (RFSW).
The RFSW contacts the applicant(s) to schedule an
appointment to review the home study process.
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: New Jersey
– Strengths and challenges of this structure and approach
– Strategies for addressing challenges
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: New Jersey
– Connecting recruitment, response, development, and support of
families
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: New Jersey
– Collecting and using data and feedback to inform and improve
response system
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: New Mexico
– Renee Fitts, foster care program manager, New Mexico
Children, Youth and Families Department
– New Mexico child welfare system and response system overview
– Changes to New Mexico’s response system: reasons and results
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: Cherokee Nation
– Hettie Charboneau, foster care program manager, Cherokee
Nation Indian Child Welfare
– Cherokee Nation child welfare system overview
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: Cherokee Nation
– Inquiries from prospective resource families
– Role of technology
– Cherokee Nation Children, Youth & Family Services
http://www.cherokee.org/Services/HumanServices/Children,Yout
hFamilyServices.aspx
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: Cherokee Nation
– Partnering with the State of Oklahoma
– Working with Cherokee families in other states
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: MARE
– Heidi Raubenolt, program manager, Michigan Adoption
Resource Exchange (MARE)
– Overview of MARE’s role and response system
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: MARE
– Strengths and challenges of MARE’s approach
– Adoption Navigators:
http://www.mare.org/ForFamilies/AdoptionNavigators.aspx
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: MARE
– Partnering with the State of Michigan
– Partnering with private agencies
#NRCDR
Presenter panel: MARE
– Collecting and using inquiry and response system data:
considerations for systems
#NRCDR
Ideas from the field
#NRCDR
– Use your response system as a tool to work toward addressing
your system’s challenges.
– Example:
• Helping families support reunification
http://www.nrcdr.org/develop-and-support-families/ideas-
from-the-field/supporting-reunification
Ideas from the field
#NRCDR
– Explore new ways to be more responsive to the needs of diverse
communities.
– Example:
• Engaging the deaf community in Washington State
http://www.nrcdr.org/diverse-populations/ideas-from-the-
field/recruiting-in-the-deaf-community
• Engaging Latino families
http://www.latinola.com/story.php?story=3184
Key takeaways
#NRCDR
– Connect efforts to recruit, respond to, develop, and support
families.
– Consider strategies for strengthening your system’s current
response system within your existing structure.
– Be creative in thinking about how you collect data.
Resources to strengthen response systems
– Nuestra Familia, Nuestra Cultura (Our Family, Our Culture):
Promoting and Supporting Latino Families in Adoption and
Foster Care
http://www.nrcdr.org/_assets/files/NRCRRFAP/resources/nuestra
-familia-nuestra-cultura.pdf
– LA County / Five Acres video: Recruitment in the deaf and hard-
of-hearing community
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXV9ygOhfBs
#NRCDR
Resources to strengthen response systems
#NRCDR
– Using Customer Service Concepts to Enhance Recruitment and
Retention Practices
http://www.nrcdr.org/_assets/files/using-customer-service-
concepts-to-enhance-recuitment-and-retention-practices.pdf
– Data-Driven Recruitment: Key Data Elements on Foster and
Adoptive Families
http://www.nrcdr.org/_assets/files/NRCDR-org/data-driven-
recruitment-110514.pdf