Collaboration Counts:Answering the Call

John D. Damon, Ph.D.Chief Operating Officer

Mississippi Children’s Home Servicesjdamon@mchscares.org

Overview

• Introduction to Mississippi Children’s Home Services (MCHS)

• Summit Context

• Summit Preparation

• Summit Activities

• Summit Follow-up

Summit Context

• Federal CFSR and PIP

• Post-Katrina Realities/Images

• PIP revisited for Gulf Cost

• Contributions to MCHS

• Public/Private Partnership

Housing

• Shortage of housing• 134,000 homes were

damaged• Affected all

socioeconomic groups

• Federal and low income housing– 4 lost in Hancock Co.

Transportation

• Traffic• Two major bridges

were destroyed• Street signs missing• Many roads are still

closed• Gasoline prices have

increased

Support Services

• Churches• Nonprofit

organizations• Medical• Dental• Counselors• Shelter closed

Social Issues

• Domestic Violence• Drug and Alcohol • Posttraumatic Stress• Depression• Anxiety• Suicide

Extending Hope

Summit Preparation

• Individuals Drawn from Cross-Section of Public and Private Child Welfare Providers

• Rated Sixteen (16) Focal Areas on a Likert-type Scale:1 – Not at all Critical 10 – Extremely Critical

• Identified Existing Strengths, Current Weaknesses, and Proposed Solutions

• Narrowed to 10 Priority Focus Areas

Overview of Summit Activities

• Day one– Tour of Gulf Coast

• Day two– National consultant to facilitate– Overview presentations by public &

private agency– Pre-defined groups and group

Chairpersons– Chairperson received advanced

data– Narrowed focused to 10 priority

focus areas– Groups networked together– Planning session and group

presentation

Assessment Results

• Participant Demographics

• Summary of Pre-Katrina Ratings

• Summary of Post-Katrina Ratings

• Comparison of Pre- & Post-Katrina Ratings

• Average Ratings

• Summary of Priority Focus Areas

Participants’ States of Origin*

*11 States and DC

MS Cities Represented*

*15 MS Cities

Gulf Coast Communities

Non-Gulf Coast Communities

Recruitin

g, Tria

ning,

Retaining

Sta

ff

Child P

rotec

tion

In-H

ome

Servic

es*

Men

tal H

ealth

/Sub

stanc

e Abu

se S

ervice

s*

Acces

sing

Resource

s

Public

/Priv

ate P

artn

erships

Resource

Familie

s

Out o

f Hom

e Car

e*

Imm

ediate

and

Lon

g-te

rm D

isaste

r Plan

ning

Communic

ation

& L

eade

rship

Youth

Cou

rts/C

ourt

Syste

m

Perm

anen

cy S

ervice

s

Child C

are

Educa

tion

(Loc

al an

d Sta

te)

Recreat

ional A

ctivi

ties

Basic

Living

Issu

es

7.757.43

7.076.89 6.86 6.79 6.73 6.61

6.41 6.34 6.27 6.25 6.23 6.18

5.63

5.14

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

10.00

Ave

rag

e S

core

Focal Areas

Pre-Katrina Ratings

Basic

Living

Issu

es

Imm

ediate

and

Lon

g-te

rm D

isaste

r Plan

ning

Recruitin

g, Tria

ning,

Retaining

Sta

ff

Acces

sing

Resource

s

Resource

Familie

s

Child C

are

Men

tal H

ealth

/Sub

stanc

e Abu

se S

ervice

s*

Public

/Priv

ate P

artn

erships

Child P

rotec

tion

Recreat

ional A

ctivi

ties

In-H

ome

Servic

es*

Perm

anen

cy S

ervice

s

Communic

ation

& L

eade

rship

Out o

f Hom

e Car

e*

Youth

Cou

rts/C

ourt

Syste

m

Educa

tion

(Loc

al an

d Sta

te)

9.46 9.419.11

8.84 8.73 8.71 8.68 8.59 8.55 8.52 8.458.27 8.23 8.18

7.687.55

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

10.00

Ave

rag

e S

core

Focal Areas

Post-Katrina Ratings

Basic

Living

Issu

es

Imm

ediate

and

Lon

g-te

rm D

isaste

r Plan

ning

Recruitin

g, Tria

ning,

Retaining

Sta

ff

Resource

Familie

s

Child C

are

Public

/Priv

ate P

artn

erships

Child P

rotec

tion

Recreat

ional A

ctivi

ties

Family

Sup

port

Servic

es*

Perm

anen

cy S

ervice

s

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

10.00

Average Score

Focal Areas

Pre-Katrina

Post-Katrina

Pre-Katrina and Post-Katrina Ratings

6.87

6.97

7.07

7.26

7.29

7.30

7.39

7.47

7.69

7.73

7.76

7.79

7.85

7.91

7.99

8.43

0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00

Recruiting, Trianing, Retaining StaffChild Protection

Immediate and Long-term Disaster PlanningAccessing Resources

Mental Health/Substance Abuse ServicesIn-Home Services

Resource FamiliesPublic/Private Partnerships

Child CareOut of Home Care

Basic Living IssuesCommunication & Leadership

Permanency ServicesRecreational Activities

Youth Courts/Court SystemEducation (Local and State)

Average Ratings

1. Basic Living Issues

(e.g., housing, safety, displacement, transportation, jobs,

etc.)

1. Basic Living Issues• Existing Strengths (14 responses)

– People who want to put their lives back together. – There is an abundance of jobs right now. – None.

• Current Weaknesses (21 responses)– No affordable housing, transportation is limited. There are some jobs

available. Safety is an issue in the FEMA trailer parks. – Affordable housing is nonexistent. Current rates are raising while

incomes are remaining the same. Limited choices so people must deal with issues that were not there before storm.

– Many....too many to talk about....what a mess.• Proposed Solutions (14 responses)

– Monitor apartment complexes more closely regarding rent increases, look at building affordable housing for people who are already here instead of condos to bring more people in.

– Rebuilding of the infrastructure.

10. Permanency Services

(e.g., family reunification, family preservation, adoption,

independent living, etc.)

Basic

Living

Issu

es

Imm

ediate

and

Lon

g-te

rm D

isaste

r Plan

ning

Recruitin

g, Tria

ning,

Retaining

Sta

ff

Resource

Familie

s

Child C

are

Public

/Priv

ate P

artn

erships

Child P

rotec

tion

Recreat

ional A

ctivi

ties

Family

Sup

port

Servic

es*

Perm

anen

cy S

ervice

s

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

10.00

Average Score

Focal Areas

Pre-Katrina

Post-Katrina

Pre-Katrina and Post-Katrina Ratings

Charge to Answer the Call

• Define Group Roles– Recorder, Presenter, Time Keeper, etc.

• Develop Action Plan– Goals (Example Follows)

• Objectives– Strategies

• Lunch• Present Action Plans• Plan Next Steps

Permanency Services

(e.g., family reunification, family preservation, adoption,

independent living, etc.)

Permanency Services

• Achieve timely permanency by protecting and supporting the resource families who care for children who can not live with their families because they have been removed due to abuse and neglect. This includes protection, information, training, practical necessities, financial and other supports and networking.

• Permanency also includes strengthening families so they can safely be together.

Goals

• Resource Family Support

• Court Improvement

• Family Centered Practice

• Adolescent Permanency and Independent Living

Goal 1: (Resource Family Support)

• Practical Support

• Local resources for basic needs (clothes, beds). Seek additional grants, philanthropy and state funding

• Foster parent association -- strengthening• Disaster shelter and supplies for resource families

(partner with churches) • Explore additional resources and supports for

kinship care and rules/statutes for kinship

Goal 1: (Resource Families)

• Protection• Q&A with resource parents and courts, DHS about

abuse allegations and other DHS procedures and what happens

• Training on the above as well for both DHS workers and resource families

• Protecting families from sexual predators – advocate for changes in FEMA regulations

Goal 1: (Resource Families)

• Information

• Explore 211 and resource guides from communities, build onto United Way efforts

• ID Cards for children with social security numbers and Medicaid and emergency numbers

Goal 2: (Court Improvement)

• Timely TPR and Adoption• Statewide Parent Locator Service – send materials to right

place• DHS, Court (GAL) and AG resources for locating parents• Process map the TPR process through DCIP and identify

best practices• Ensure that DHS and other staff are trained on the federal

timelines• DHS should send package to AG and state at the time TPR

is ordered• More avenues of user-friendly information (web) and places

to follow up regarding questions on topics such as adoption subsidy, etc. For those in court as well as citizens in general.

Goal 2: (Court Improvement)

• DCIP• Explore possibility of federal DCIP funding • Roundtables/meetings with foster parents and

court (as done by Judge Sigalas)

Goal 2: (Court Improvement)

• GAL Strengthening and Attorneys for Parents

• Look at full time GALS• Juvenile Justice Reform Act – GALS and public

defenders must have annual training• Attorneys for parents – look for methods to find

money for this • For relatives that are seeking guardianship – seek

to get attorneys that will do this work pro bono or funding

Goal 3: (Adolescent Permanency)

• Detention and IL are not acceptable permanency options

• Building mentoring models so teens have a mentoring family if not a resource family

• Require children over age of 13 to come to court in person for permanency planning and hearings

• Training in adolescence and issues of adolescence• Recruiting families who will take teens

Goal 4: (Family Centered Practice)

• Maintaining children in their homes safely

• Family team conferencing model• Concurrent planning – training – use assistance of

Resource Center for state and Court

Summary Comments

• Every child deserves a permanent solution and we all have to help arrive their

Continuing to Answer the Call through Sustained Partnerships

Full Report: www.mchscares.org/summit