DSHS Children’s Administration Foster Parent Recruitment & Retention House Early Learning & Human Services Rep. Ruth Kagi, Chair January 12, 2016 1 Children’s Administration • Providing for child safety is part of Children’s Administration’s core mission. • Child safety is the primary and essential focus that informs and guides all decisions made from Intake through case closure. This includes removal and reunification decisions. • Child safety is monitored when children are placed out of the home. 2 Foster Family Recruitment • CA works to continuously strengthen, improve and diversify recruitment efforts to seek potential foster and adoptive families. • CA seeks a diverse pool of safe, quality, prospective families who reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of children in care. • CA seeks families that are interested in caring for children of varying age, gender, large sibling groups and children with special developmental, behavioral or medical needs. 3 Recruitment Efforts • Change from one statewide recruitment contract to 3 locally based recruitment contracts – RFP released on March 9, 2015. • Region 1: Eastern Washington University (Fostering Washington) • Region 2: Olive Crest (Fostering Together) • Region 3: Olive Crest (Fostering Together) • Recruitment efforts are framed by three types of recruitment strategies: • General Recruitment • Targeted Recruitment • Child Specific Recruitment 4 Recruitment Efforts • Recruitment outreach activities on a statewide level, regionally and in local communities include speaking engagements and the provision of information at events including: – Local fairs, conferences, sporting events, ethnic & culturally diverse events, churches, schools, local businesses and through media outlets. • Support & Recognition for Foster Parents include: – Governor Inslee proclamation declaring May as Foster Care Month recognizing caregivers of children who live in out-of-home care. – All three CA regions celebrated Foster Care Month hosting various events such as foster parent appreciation and dinners to honor & recognize foster parents. 5 Licensed Foster Homes 7,000 6,000 5,000 Licensed Foster Homes Children in Licensed Foster Care 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 2010.0 2011.0 2012.0 2013.0 2014.0 2015.0 7 Relative Foster Care Placements 5,000 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 2010.0 2011.0 2012.0 2013.0 2014.0 2015.0 8 Of the 1,100 homes licensed in 2005, only 102 were still licensed in 2015 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 Only 40 percent of foster homes will still be licensed three years after initial licensing 9 The top three reasons for foster home closure: Did not respond to renewal requests; 376; 28% Family and personal issues; 499; 37% Completed adoptions; 457; 34% Represents data collected from August 2013 to July 2015 10 Foster care is a continuum CA needs top quality care options across the continuum: • Receiving care beds to take children on an emergent basis regardless of needs • A range of specialized settings to handle youth with more extreme behavioral needs (facilities, group homes, treatment foster homes) • Partnerships with other systems such as mental health, developmental disabilities, and juvenile rehabilitation 11 Addressing Issues • CA Key Strategies to address recruitment and retention issues include: • Improve communication, response and support to foster parents. • Increased and enhanced foster parent training through the Alliance for Child Welfare Excellence, including trauma informed training. • Enhanced support through recruitment & retention contract providers. • Quarterly statewide 1624 foster parent meetings and annual foster parent survey results. • Improved home study process. 12 Addressing Issues • Improve and streamline background and fingerprint check process. CA background check staff have been meeting with CPAs (Child Placing Agencies) on a monthly basis to address background check issues. • CA has plans in place to centralize background checks to ensure a uniform practice and minimize delays in the background check process. CA is awaiting the union’s decision to bargain the shifting of this work to a centralized unit. • CA’s DLR is working on the development and validation of reports from FamLink. This will help ensure consistent tracking and monitoring of performance. 13 CA Workload Reduction Taskforce • The Children’s Administration Assistant Secretary requested the convening of a CA workload study task force in May 2015. • The purpose of the task force was to identify ways to streamline work for caseworkers and supervisors. • The task force was primarily comprised and driven by field office staff (82%) with representatives from CPS, FAR, and CFWS. The task force also included IT and Alliance (training) staff, with consultation with the Attorney Generals Office. 14 Foster Care Maintenance Payment • CA settled a lawsuit with the Foster Parent Association of Washington (FPAWS) resulting in an increase in the maintenance payments paid to licensed foster parents. These payments are now based on economic data regarding the cost of raising a child. The amount foster parent’s receive for all children: (children with special needs receive additional Age Food Clothing Personal Shelte New Increase Old payments) Incidental r s Rate Rate 0-5 $180 $53 $57 $272 $56 2 $424 $138 6-11 $285 $49 $77 $272 $68 3 $501 $182 1220 $313 $50 $50 $272 $70 3 $575 $128 15 CA Staff Recruitment & Retention • Single most common complaint from foster parents; frustration with the child welfare system and a lack of support from social workers. • Recruiting and retaining good social workers and having reasonable caseloads are critical in providing consistent support to foster families. • Budget reductions during FYs 2009-2011 eliminated 312.2 CA staff. 16 CA Staff Recruitment & Retention 30% 20% 19.9% Social Service Specialists Turnover Rate Fiscal Year 2015 14.0% 11.7% 11.5% 10% 8.0% 4.1% 0% CA ALTSA Social Service Specialists 1-3 ESA Social Service Specialists 4 17 ?Region1 ?Region2 ?Region3 ?State 18 121] 18G - 16.0 - 14G - 240 221] - 20D - Jan?11 Mar?11 - May?11 - Jul?11 - Sep?ll - Nov?11 - Jan?12 - Mar?12 - May?12 - Jul?12 - Sept?12 - Nov?12 - Jan?13 - Mar?13 - May?13 - Jul?13 - Sop?13 - Nov?13 - Jan?14 - Mar?14 - May?14 - Jul?14 - Sop?14 - Nov?14 - Jan?15 - Mar?15 - May?15 - Jul?15 - Sop?15 - Nov?15 - v.2. CFWS Total Workload Ratio by Region and Month Washington State Department of Social and Health Services Summary • Enhance communication & support for Foster Parents. • Enhance & target Foster Parent recruitment and retention efforts. • Improve background & fingerprint check process; enhance recruitment & retention of skilled social workers to support Foster Parents 19 Thank You Questions? For more information: Jennifer Strus, Assistant Secretary, Children’s Administration strusj@dshs.wa.gov (360) 902-7820 20