African American Family Support
Conference
Voices That Count:
Improving Communication Between
the Child Welfare System, Parents and Youth
Legislative Support of Change
79th Legislative Session
80th Legislative Session
81st Legislative Session
For more information on the legislative session:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us
For more information on CPS:
http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Protection/About_Child_Protective_Services/
Family Focus Purpose
Family Focus Program
To enhance safety, permanency and well being for children and youth through the provision of direct and
support services to their caretakers, whether biological or through affinity
Family Focus Goals
To increase parent participation
To increase youth involvement
To increase extended family
involvement
To keep families together, safe and
healthy
Core Values and Beliefs
Respect
Ownership
Collaboration and Teamwork
Empowerment
Strength-based
Core Values and Beliefs
Flexibility
Support
Cultural Competence
Uniqueness
Family Focus Division
Key Factors to Sustaining Goals of this Work
•Continue to provide forums/opportunities to families and obtain youth input
•Infusion of family and youth voice in our practice and policy
•Continuation of cultural shift within CPS
•Continue to build community involvement
Family Focus Program Areas
Family Group Decision Making (FGDM)
Kinship
Parent Involvement
Fatherhood
Family Based Safety Services (FBSS)
Family Group Decision Making
Drives agency philosophical shift
Began as a pilot in 2003 in 5 areas across the state
Offered statewide at 4 primary points of CPS involvement
Supported & funded by Texas Legislature
Family Group Decision Making
FGDM Models
Family Team Meetings•Offered to families prior to removal when immediate safety concerns have been identified.•Also used to address placement concerns after home removal.
Family Group Conferences•Offered to families upon removal and increasingly during Family Based Safety Services (in-home) cases.
Circles of Support•Youth-focused and driven meetings•Used to develop transition plans for older youth moving from foster care to adulthood
Kinship Program
Expand Kinship Program
Financial Support
Daycare
Kinship Caregiver Manual
Kinship Development Worker
Fostering Connections
Caregiver Resources Form
Permanency Care Assistance
Parent Involvement
Hired Parent Specialist
Parent Voice
Policy Review
Parent Collaboration Group (PCG)
Regional PSGs
Fatherhood
• The Importance and Value of Fathers
• Children tend to perform better at all levels
• Children are able to deal with trauma
• Children are less likely to live in poverty
• Fathers have the ability to influence the trajectory of his children’s world
• (Four State Grant) Seventy-three percent of homes with children removed = NO FATHER
• System Biases of Fathers
Family Based Safety Services
Family driven process
Preventing removals
Decrease time in care
Maintain child safety
Relieve family stress
Enhance family strengths and functioning
Principles of Partnership
Recognize that everyone desires respect
Everyone needs to be heard
Families have many strengths
Judgments can wait
Embrace the idea that partners share power
Creating partnerships with clients is a process
Engagement
Engagement of Family Members
√ Listening√ Supporting√ Sensitivity/Empathy√ Seeking to Understand√ Sharing Information√ Empowering √ Respect and Genuineness √ Self reflection and self-
correction
Disproportionality in Child Welfare
Texas: FY 2010 Comparison of Stages
0.0%5.0%
10.0%15.0%20.0%25.0%30.0%35.0%40.0%45.0%50.0%
Population AllegedVictims
ConfirmedVictims
ChildrenRemoved
ChildrenAwaiting
Adoption atthe End ofthe Year
African American
Anglo
Hispanic
Other
Native American
John Fluke and Barbara Jones Harden, 2011
Explanatory Framework
John Fluke and Barbara Jones Harden, 2011
Explanatory Framework – Racism Impacts All
We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a
big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can
make which, over time, add up to big differences that we
often cannot foresee.
~ Marian Wright Edelman ~
Founder of the Children’s Defense Fund
Family Focus Staff
DeShaun EalomsParent Program Specialist
Kenneth ThompsonFatherhood Specialist
Lori Lewis-ConerlyFamily Based Safety Services Program
Specialist
Ellen LettsFamily Group Decision Making Program
Specialist
Tanya RollinsDisproportionality Manager