Achieving Improved Child Welfare Outcomes: Implementing a Performance-Based, Consolidated Funding Program Model. Presenters: Christeen Borsheim, Child Welfare Training and Quality Assurance Manager, Child Safety and Permanency Division, Minnesota Department of Human Services Paul Ramcharit, Administrative Planning Coordinator, Minnesota Department of Human Services Workshop Description: Through the 2003 Children and Community Services Act, Minnesota introduced a performance-based, consolidated funding program model for achieving federal outcomes and performance standards. The Minnesota model provides a framework for shared goals, shared strategies and shared accountability for improved performance across the state and county systems. County level biennial planning, setting performance targets and implementing strategies for improvement are aligned with state level activity. Efforts are made to focus on outcomes and performance based on race/ethnicity and providing counties with reports on progress toward meeting their goals. This session will provide an overview of the Minnesota model and examine the impact it has had on achieving improved outcomes. Download Materials Agency, Court, and Youth Collaboration During the Second Round of the CFSRs. Presenters: Will Hornsby, Child Welfare Program Specialist, Children’s Bureau/ACF Bill Stanton, Child Welfare Program Consultant, Children’s Bureau/ACF Jacqueline Smollar, Senior Fellow, ICF International Workshop Description: This plenary session will address the theme of Agency, Court, and Youth collaboration during the second round of the CFSRs. Youth viewpoints gathered during Second Round CFSR stakeholder interviews will be shared reflecting their experience with the child welfare system. Court involvement in Second Round CFSR Statewide Assessments, Onsite Reviews, and Program Improvement Plans will also be explored. Download Materials Assessing The Service Array In Child Welfare And Improving Jurisdictions Capacities To Meet The Needs Of Children And Families. Presenters: Steve Preister, M.S.W., Ph.D., Associate Director, National Resource Center for Organizational Improvement Joe Murray, Consultant, National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology Workshop Description: One of the seven systemic factors in the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) is the Service Array. States are held accountable in the CFSR to ensure that children and families in the child welfare system can get the services they need to achieve safety, permanency, and well being. This Workshop educates participants in a process developed by the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement and the National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology to help States and Tribes assess the current service array and prepare and implement a Capacity Development Plan. Download Materials Beyond the One Day Conference: Developing a Systems Approach to Educating the Legal Community on Child Welfare Matters. Presenters: Anita St. Onge, J.D., Associate Director for Interagency Collaboration. National Resource Center for Organizational Improvement Tara Ackerman, MSW, Children's Justice Project Coordinator, Wyoming Supreme Court Anne Reininger, MSW, JD, Wyoming Children’s Justice Project Workshop Description: This workshop will provide an opportunity for key players from the Training Subcommittee of the Wyoming Court Improvement Program to discuss the strategic planning process they began in 2006 and the impact it has had on their training system. The goal of this ongoing process is to better understand, plan for, and meet the training needs of the community handling child protection cases. In order to do that, members of the subcommittee (including the court, child welfare agency, university and other stakeholders) teamed with the National Resource Center for Organizational Improvement to identify court system training needs, gaps and priorities and whom, and what method of training should be used for each priority/ stakeholder group. Presenters will offer lessons learned and share tools that are helping their program move beyond the delivery of individual workshops toward the development and implementation of a training system focused on system wide outcomes and indicators. Download Materials Collaboration to Achieve Outcomes. Presenters: Jo Ann Lamm, MSW, Deputy Director, North Carolina Division of Social Services Tony Troop, Child and Family Service Teams Program Coordinator, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Joel Rosch, Ph.D., Senior Research Scholar, Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University Workshop Description: North Carolina developed creative strategies during their first Program Improvement Plan. They found that collaborative efforts were most important in this process. This plenary will provide the knowledge they built in the implementation of the PIP and during the most recent CFSR, and how this knowledge has influenced the continued journey to improved outcomes. Download Materials Engaging Providers and Local Agencies to Advance Statewide Systemic Change. Presenters: Susan M. Sorrells, Program Manager, Office of Child Welfare Consultation, Family Services Division, Alabama Department of Human Resources Workshop Description: The State of Alabama has successfully implemented a System of Care model which focuses on engaging the community in determining the individual needs of families and then meeting those needs through diversifying and individualizing the service array. A key feature of the Alabama approach is a broad Quality Assurance strategy that involves both local and state QA teams. These teams serve as quality assurance reviewers, citizen review panels, and stakeholders to the system of care. They provide feedback on individual cases, system issues, and provide community input. In each community, the local juvenile judge is a stakeholder and is interviewed each year by the local QA Committee and every three years by the Office of Quality Assurance during on-site reviews. All judges are trained but the Administrative Office of Courts and DHR to acquaint them with DHR and SOC. County Directors are also trained and encouraged to visit with their judges at least once per quarter to discuss any issues and to keep communication open and positive to improve outcomes for families. This example of systemic change will highlight the ways in which the State has worked to engage the local agencies and providers to adopt new practices and ways of doing business with the goal of improving child and family outcomes. Download Materials Fostering Hope: Improving Health Care Delivery To Foster Children Through Collaboration. Presenters: Deborah Shropshire, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Linda Smith, MSW, Director, Child and Family Services Division, Oklahoma Department of Human Services Debra Clour, M.A., Area III Director. Oklahoma Department of Human Services Workshop Description: Foster children are children with special health care needs, and as a population have more medical needs than homeless children. Despite this, there are many barriers to receiving high quality health care, including lack of past medical history information, access to providers, frequent moves, and lack of case worker knowledge about medical needs. The Fostering Hope workgroup was formed in 2005 to address some of these issues. One project, the Fostering Hope Clinic, has been particularly successful at improving health care access and delivery to foster children. The clinic provides health care, development and mental health screening, and social support, while at the same time communicating medical information directly to case workers via access to the childs DHS case file and case worker email system. The model has been popular among workers and foster parents. The clinics success is a direct result of the partnerships that have developed between the members of the workgroup. Download Materials Generating Commitment to Act - Data as Change Agent. Presenters: Marie Jamieson, MSW, ICF Consultant, Children's Bureau Region 10 Christine Robinson, MSW, Clinical Director, Washington State Department of Social and Human Services, Children’s Administration Workshop Description: Learn practical ways to be an effective data broker and motivate stakeholders to take action. This experience-based presentation/discussion uses case examples to illustrate strategies to maximize the use of data to engage stakeholders and improve practice. These experiences with judges, attorneys, policymakers and child welfare field staff describe successful use of localized, meaningful data to create urgency for action and generate commitment for change. Examples incorporate data related to time to adoption, experience of infants entering care and disproportionality of children of color in the child welfare system. Download Materials Hawaii's Differential Response System: Practical Implementation Strategies That Led to Successful Outcomes. Presenters: John Walters, MSW, Program Development Administrator, Hawaii Department of Human Services, Child Welfare Services Branch Darlene Beatty, MABS, LSW, Division Administrator, Catholic Charities Hawaii Arlena Howell Livingston, Executive Director, EPIC, Inc. Wally Lau, Executive Director, Neighborhood Place of Kona Workshop Description: A panel of key stakeholders that successfully designed and implemented Hawaiis Differential Response System will present a workshop on the development of the model and resources, implementation, strategies and solutions to problems, outcomes and next steps for Hawaiis DRS. Panel members will also include a representative from the NRC for Child Maltreatment, a CWS intake supervisor, a Family Strengthening Services Director, a Voluntary Case Management Services Director and the Executive Officer of EPIC Ohana Conferencing. Download Materials Keeping Focus – Building Relationships. Presenters: Sharlynn E. Bobo, Ph.D., Director, DC Child and Family Services Agency Hon. Anita Josey-Herring, Presiding Judge, Family Court, Superior Court of the District of Columbia Workshop Description: This session will address how the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency and the Family Court worked together to build a strong and lasting collaborative relationship. The presenters will highlight seven critical steps to building and sustaining a positive rapport between the Court and the Agency, as well as address the challenges they faced along the way. The session will conclude with a brief discussion regarding District’s next steps in the journey towards positive partnership. Download Materials Maximizing the Workforce Potential: Effective Recruitment and Retention Strategies. Presenters: Cathryn Potter, MSW, Ph.D., Executive Director and Professor, Butler Institute for Families, University of Denver Charmaine Brittain, MSW, Ph.D., Program Manager, Butler Institute for Families, University of Denver Mary Berg, MSW, Director, Child Welfare Services, Jefferson County Department of Human Services Workshop Description: The workforce is at the heart of child welfare practice. But finding and keeping an effective workforce continues to plague our field. This workshop represents the efforts and results of a federally funded, five year project to develop models of effective child welfare staff recruitment and retention so that the workforce potential can be maximized. The workshop, facilitated by a multi-disciplinary panel, will address the challenges and opportunities of the child welfare workforce in a hands-on, practical, and usable way by: - Presenting a framework to create and sustain a culture that supports recruitment and retention. - Sharing data and research findings of organizational assessments conducted at five sites. - Offering specific tools and resources that can be used to improve recruitment and retention. - Providing an opportunity for participants to engage in action planning to incorporate ideas, knowledge, and strategies into their own workplace. Download Materials Making it Count: Collaborative Strategies that Improve Outcomes for Families at the Intersection of Multiple Systems Presenters: Nancy Young, Ph.D., Director, National Center for Substance Abuse and Child Welfare Carole Johnson, MSW, LISW, Children’s Justice Initiative Project Specialist, Court Services Division, State Court Administrators Office Minnesota Judicial Branch Christine Sabino Kiesel, JD, Statewide Court Improvement Project Manager, Office of Court Administration Robert Long, B.B.A, M.S., L.C.P.C., L.A.D.C., Administrator for Access and Outpatient Services, Kennebec Behavioral Health Workshop Description: Dr. Young will facilitate a dialogue with attendees using a 3-person multi-state, multi-system panel of sites that have had significant accomplishments via their involvement in the in-depth technical assistance program of NCSACW. Key questions to guide the discussion include: 1. How can multiple systems collaboratively establish priorities for achieving better outcomes for the families they mutually serve? 2. How do you sustain cross-system collaboration in the face of political climate change, budget cuts, and other factors that are outside your control? 3. What are the most important lessons you've learned to help you make the best uses of your time, energy, money and stakeholders to accomplish your goals? 4. What should jurisdictions that are seeking to develop collaborative relationships avoid in order to be successful? Download Materials Regional Collaboration and Resource Sharing Among Child Welfare Training Systems. Presenters: Christopher Sieck, M.S., State Child Welfare Training Coordinator, Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Division of Children and Family Services M. B. Lippold, M.A., MBA, Deputy Director of Staff Development, Indiana Department of Child Services Susan Kanak, MBA, Project Director, National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement Workshop Description: In October 2007, there will be a two day roundtable discussion among the State Child Welfare Training Systems in ACF Region V. This discussion will address some of the following issues: opportunities for collaboration in the development of Distance Learning a discussion of training in rural areas training ideas for an urban workforce (how to effectively train large groups in a short period of time) diversification of funding for training a discussion of coaching and mentoring information sharing around models of pre-service training opportunities for collaboration in curriculum development and training delivery models of collaboration between training partnerships and stipend programs the relationship between Quality Assurance and policy development Leadership development and succession planning Evaluation of training A discussion of the level of training system involvement in foster parent training. Download Materials The State Legislative Role in Promoting Collaboration Between Courts and Child Welfare Agencies. Presenters: Nina Williams-Mbengue, Program Principal, National Conference of State Legislatures John Zalenski, Ph.D., Organizational Development Specialist, JBS International, Inc. Judy Nord, Court Improvement Program Manager, Minnesota Judicial Branch Workshop Description: Courts play a major role in ensuring the safety, permanency, and well-being of children. State legislatures, in turn, can support the courts through policy, budgetary, and oversight activities to ensure that courts are able to fulfill their responsibilities to children and families. This session will highlight State efforts to promote collaboration between legislatures, courts, and child welfare agencies. These efforts include development of pilot programs to test innovative specialized courts, passage of legislation to clarify relationships between State and tribal courts and encourage collaboration between tribal courts and tribal child welfare agencies, use of court performance data to inform policymaking, removal of barriers to court-agency performance measurement, and creation of State multidisciplinary commissions to promote collaboration. Download Materials Solutions for Impacting Workforce Development. Presenters: Cathryn C. Potter, MSW, Ph.D, Executive Director and Professor, Butler Institute for Families, Graduate School of Social Work, University of Denver Workshop Description: Representatives from the eight federal recruitment and retention grantees will highlight solutions to primary, systemic, workforce problems. The nature of the workforce issues will be discussed, including orientation to relevant data on national trends. Through a multi-media presentation, specific strategies developed and tested through the recruitment and retention grants will be presented from the perspective of those on the frontlines of child welfare workforce development. Freda Bernotavicz, M.S., Senior Research Associate, Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine Download Materials Video_1 Video_2 Video_3 Video_4 Video_5 Video_6 Video_7 Video_8 Strengthening Case Review Systems. Presenters: Valerie Douglas, Quality Improvement Administrator, DC Child and Family Services Agency Leslie Gross, Section Chief, DC Office of the Attorney General Despina Belle-Isle, Attorney Advisor, Family Court, Superior Court of the District of Columbia Workshop Description: The District of Columbia’s case review system was determined to be in substantial conformity during the 2007 Child and Family Services Review, which was in sharp contrast to the 2001 CFSR when the Agency was not consistently establishing case plans, cases were not being consistently reviewed, and permanency hearings were not held being held in a timely manner. This workshop will discuss how partnerships between the Family Court, the Child and Family Services Agency, and the Office of the Attorney General led to significant, positive practice change, and how the lessons learned in the District may apply to other states. Download Materials Tackling the Elephant in the Room: Identifying and Implementing State Strategies for Effective Workload Management. Presenters: Pamela Day, MSW, Associate Director, Child Welfare Information Gateway Linda Smith, MSW, Director, Child and Family Services Division, Oklahoma Department of Human Services Frank Sesek, MSW, MBA, Deputy Director, Family and Community Services Division, Idaho Dept of Health and Welfare Workshop Description: This workshop will describe State strategies for assessing and improving the workloads of frontline child welfare workers and supervisors to ensure that they have the time needed for effective practice with children and families. Presenters will discuss: the design, implementation, and optimal use of a statewide workload study the development and use of a State automated information system to generate workload reports and support workload management In addition, a new information resource, the State Child Welfare Workload Compendium, will be previewed. Participants will have an opportunity to share their own successes and lessons learned in developing and implementing workload management strategies and to provide feedback on the Workload Compendium as a resource for State workload efforts. Download Materials Training Managers, HR Directors, and University Partners Affinity Group. Presenters: Susan Kanak Download Materials Tribal/State Partnership to Address Disproportionate Number of Alaska Native Children in State Custody. Presenters: James LaBelle , Child Welfare Liaison, Cook Inlet Tribal Council/Alaska Native Indian Child Welfare Association Travis Erickson, Children's Services Manager, Alaska, Office of Children's Services Workshop Description: Collaboration & Advocacy Promising practices in building alliances between Tribes, Tribal Service Organizations and State Child Protective Services on behalf of Tribal children and families in the State Office of Childrens Services. Hear and learn about Anchorages Collaborative and Proactive approach to implementing a systems change within the child welfare system with partnering agencies the Tribe, Tribal Service Organization and the State Child Protective Services Agency, the Office of Children’s Services. Will further hear how the State and Tribes are partnering on a new Safety Assessment Initiative as well as the broader vision of our Tribal/State Disproportionality Plan. Download Materials Understanding and Developing Child Welfare Practice Models. Presenters: Angie Herrick Bordeaux, Research Analyst, National Resource Center for Organizational Improvement Roque Gerald, Psy.D., Deputy Director, District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency Midge Delavan, Ph.D., Training Director, Utah Division of Child and Family Services Workshop Description: With support from the Children’s Bureau, the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement and the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning have partnered to create the Child Welfare Practice Model Framework. This session will focus on the lessons learned and information shared from child welfare agencies that have developed, implemented, and evaluated practice models. Panelists from the District of Columbia and Utah will discuss their experiences with practice models and provide advice to attendees looking to begin the practice model implementation process. This interactive session will allow for questions from the audience and welcomes others with agency practice models to share their experiences. Download Materials Using Data. Presenters: Gail Barber, Iowa Children’s Justice Krystine Lange, CFSR State Coordinator Iowa Department of Human Services Workshop Description: Representatives from Iowa will discuss the agency’s and court’s joint efforts in using data to enhance decision making. Highlighted will be Iowa’s efforts in addressing the disproportinality of Native American children in out of home care and the involvement of the courts in this issue. Other efforts include sharing of agency data, development of reports for the courts, how data are being used, and how the courts and agency are partnering to improve outcomes for children and families. Both successes and challenges will be discussed. Download Materials Working with Parents with Disabilities: A New Paradigm Based on Workers Achieving Competency. Presenters: Traci LaLiberte, PhD, LISW, Director of the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare, University of Minnesota, School of Social Work Bernadette Irwin, M.S., Assistant Department Director for Family Support Services and Program, Director for the Growing Together Supported Parenting Program, Kennedy Krieger Institute/PACT: Helping Children with Special Needs Quan Harris-Thornton, Parent, Kennedy Krieger Institute/PACT: Helping Children with Special Needs Workshop Description: At increasing rates, child welfare professionals, agencies and courts are providing services to parents with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). Child welfare systems and the workers within those systems are frequently ill-equipped to provide competent and cost effective services to parents with IDD. This session aims to assist participants in building their capacity. We will identify innovative practice and policies, strategies for providing reasonable accommodations to parents with disabilities, alternate views of parenting (e.g. interdependent parenting), and approaches to interdisciplinary, interagency collaboration in cases with and without legal involvement. A set of child welfare worker competencies related to working with parents with IDD will be used in an interactive activity and a mother with IDD will discuss the challenges, barriers, and discrimination she has faced while receiving child welfare services. Download Materials