A Roadmap to Permanency for Children The Child

A Roadmap to Permanency for Children The Child Protection Law requires MDHHS to use structured decision making (SDM) tools to determine safety of children, risk of future harm to a child, and the needs of the family. SDM promotes consistent, reliable, valid decisions from worker to worker and office to office.

Why Are We Here? • Foster Care case reads were completed between September of 2017 and December of 2017 in three small counties, two medium and one urban. • Cases were reviewed that had an active goal of reunification in both DHHS and PAFC. • Areas reviewed included FANS, Service Provision, Visitation Plan, Reunification and Safety assessments • Overall, each area that was assessed, regardless of the county size, showed room for significant improvement. • Some of the case reads found that there was no compliance in the area assessed in both DHHS and PAFC cases. • Recommendations from this review indicate a need for training with both supervision and first line staff.

Providing the Roadmap Through: Mi. TEAM Structured Decision Making Case Conferences Pit Crews

Mi. TEAM is Michigan’s Child Welfare Case Practice Model

The Mi. TEAM practices guides the structured decision making process by: Teaming – The ability to assemble, become a participant of, or lead a group or groups that provide needed support, services and resources to children or families and that help resolve critical child and family welfare related issues. Engagement – The ability to successfully establish a relationship with children, parents, and individuals that work together to help meet a child or family’s needs to resolve child welfare related issues. Assessment – The ability to acquire information about significant events and underlying causes that trigger a child and family’s need for child welfare related services. This discovery process helps children and families to identify issues that affect the safety, permanency, or well being of the child. Mentoring – The ability to develop a partnership through which one person shares knowledge, skills, information and perspective to foster the personal and professional growth of someone else. Assuring active engagement in the process including assessment. Voice Choice Inclusion

Child and Family Services Review Michigan’s Cross-Cutting Issues • • Engagement Service Delivery and Quality Assessment Quality Legal Representation Workforce Development

Structured Decision Making (It’s not just a cool tree to look at! ) • Consists of 4 specific areas: • FANS • PATP/Services • Parenting Time • Reunification/Safety Assessment • Consistently and accurately utilizing these tools will help staff from feeling as though they have to make life changing decisions on their own, thus reducing secondary trauma and helping the parent have voice and choice! • Even though it feels like another thing to do, these are critical areas that need to be covered to help maintain safety and permanency for children. • Provides the court with all of the information possible to make thorough and informed decisions. • Removes Worker bias

Family Assessment of Needs and Strengths Requirements (FOM 722 -08 A) Foster care workers must engage the parents and the child(ren), if age appropriate, in discussion of the family’s needs and strengths. By completing the family assessment/reassessment, foster care workers are able to systematically identify critical family needs that are barriers to reunification and design effective service interven tions. When scoring, answers need to be factually based, either through learned information in a case file or self disclosure. The scoring must be consistent with the definition provided for each domain Workers and supervisors should frequently review these definitions to avoid making common assumptions with clients. For example, noting the client is literate but not how we are aware that this is accurate. Generic answers should not be common place for these domains. Even though we have the ability to copy and paste assessments, the answers should be updated and reviewed each reporting period or as needed prior.

• How can we structure our conversations with parents to draw out these answers? • How can we do a better job of recording only factual information? • How can we lead our staff into greater success in this area? Let’s Brainstorm! • How can we better identify only the actual barriers to reunification?

Strengths and Needs • Upon completion of the assessment, the system will generate three greatest needs. This provides guidance to staff and assists them in deciding what services will be best utilized for each caregiver. • Let’s think about using STRENGTHS to help overcome their needs! • Changing our approach to engagement from directives helps caregivers to assist in recognizing and solving their problems. • Our treatment plans should be individual and unique to each caregiver and their needs. Avoid using a one size fits all approach. • Use quarterly FTMs to reassess, review progress provide voice/choice.

Foster Care Parent/Agency Treatment Plan & Service Agreement (FOM 722 -08 C) The treatment plan and services agreement should be specific to the individual needs of the family and child(ren), express their view points and be written in a manner easily understood by the family with expected outcomes clearly defined. The completed PATP should blend required formal services with family centered deci sions.

SERVICES ARE WHERE IT’S AT TO CREATE CHANGE! • Changing our approach to engagement from directives helps caregivers to assist in recognizing and solving their problems. • Our treatment plans should be individual and unique to each caregiver and their needs. Avoid using a one size fits all approach. • What do we do when there is no provider for a need? • Uploading and documenting in Mi. SACWIS

Let’s Brainstorm! S. M. A. R. T. Goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Limited

Parenting Time Identify the parenting time plan for all parents/caretakers and non parent adults, if applicable. Useful Resources: http: //www. sociallearning. com/catalog/items/CD 7011 PC. html https: //courts. michigan. gov/Administration/SCAO/Resources/Documents/ Publications/Reports/fcrb_ar 09. pdf https: //onlinelibrary. wiley. com/doi/abs/10. 1111/j. 1755 6988. 2007. tb 00136. x

Parenting Time • We must develop mentoring/coaching opportunities during parenting time It is much more than showing up and using generic descriptions for what they need to demonstrate. • Lay out the expectations clearly and provide the parent(s) a copy of everything • Location, location be fair and family friendly • Provide feedback to include positive things that were observed • Outline what needs to happen for parenting time to evolve • If parenting time is limited by the court or the parent, document the reason why and what needs to change to expand the parenting time • Only link parenting time contacts in this assessment area

Reunification Assessment (FOM 722 -09 A) The reunification assessment measures two factors: • Parenting time compliance during the review period. • Progress in resolving the primary barriers identified in the needs and strengths assessment.

A determination of the child’s safety…. Using the SDM PERMANENCY PLANNING DECISION TREE • Correctly assessing the current period gives direction as to whether we are working on a return home, maintaining placement or changing the permanency planning goal. • This helps keep the parent in the driver’s seat of how case decisions are made! • Review during quarterly FTM using Mi. TEAM principles • Case Discussion

Safety Assessment FOM 722 -09 B • Complete the safety assessment following any reunification assessment in the USP, where parenting time compliance and barrier reduction are at least partial. • Prior to any placement in a household with a legal right to reunification at any time, regardless of when the last safety assessment was completed. If there is more than one household involved in the case that has a legal right to the child that are being considered for return of the child to the home, complete one assessment for each household, as required by the reunification assessment. • If the child(ren) is placed in the parental home, complete the safety assessment with each USP until case closure, regardless of progress in barrier reduction or participation in services during the report period. • Complete at any time circumstances have changed in the case where a threat of imminent danger exists.

Safety Assessment FOM 722 -09 B • Outcome of the safety assessment drives the reunification recommendation. • If DHHS is not in agreement with the proposed change in goal, an override must be completed. • Review of the barrier reductions answers should be thorough and explain whether or not the override is necessary, e. g. , delayed court dispositions, services not available or other appropriate discretionary reason. • Are we completing overrides unnecessarily? Can services be put in place to return home rather than override the goal change?

Supervisor Responsibility Signing off on reports indicates that you are in agreement with case information, decisions and assessments. Compliance in all areas of our service plans will assure that we are maintaining child safety while meeting ISEP requirements. Taking an active role to create a healthy and supportive work environment will spill over into staff and families.

Mi. TEAM Fidelity • Engage staff through case conferences, one on one meetings and using the Fidelity tool • Assist staff in collaborating with other agencies and services • CPS and FC must work together and share information for successful outcomes cases belong to everyone!

Case Conferencing in Children’s Foster Care • Case conferencing is a proactive, coaching method between the supervisor and worker to assure Mi. TEAM principles, goals/action steps and policy/law are followed throughout the duration of a children’s foster care case. Case conferences are completed monthly to review various case management activities and follow up on previously discussed activities to reach the permanency goal for the child.

• The DHS 1155 - Foster Care Supervisory Tool is useful in recording case management activities using the Mi. TEAM model, including: Foster Care Supervisory Case Conference Tool – DHS 1155 • Prior to beginning, the supervisor reviews the book of business, reviewing key elements unique to each case, notating action steps needed and comprising a list of action steps with time frames.

Foster Care Worker to Worker Checklist • Foster Care Worker to Worker Checklist From the CFSR Consistency in the child welfare workforce in Michigan was cited. This results in negative impact on families and children and poorer outcomes in CFSR measures, including permanency. • The Michigan Supreme Court Foster Care Review Board 2014 Annual Report cites an analysis of issues related to high rates of caseworker turnover within the child welfare system. A study done in Wisconsin found that foster children who only had one caseworker achieved timely permanency in 74. 5 percent of the cases. https: //courts. michigan. gov/Administration/ SCAO/Resources/Documents/Publications/R eports/fcrb/FCRB_AR 14. pdf

“Pit Crews” A group style case conference

The possibilities are ENDLESS…