Out of Home Care in the Commonwealth Child Welfare Oversight and - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Out of Home Care in the Commonwealth

Child Welfare Oversight and Advisory Committee Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) July 22, 2020

DCBS Priorities for Youth in Out of Home Care

• Ensure that children are maintained safely in the least

restrictive setting whenever possible.

• Children in out of home care receive quality services

and achieve permanency timely.

• Improve services and outcomes for youth who

transition from cabinet custody upon turning 18 or 21.

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How are children kept in the least restrictive setting?

• Expansion of in-home services to prevent entry into

care.

• Improved relative service array.
• Availability of quality foster homes that allow children

to remain in their schools and communities.

• Increased placement stability.
• Reduced use of congregate care.

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Children in the Custody of or Committed to the Cabinet July 2015 – July 2020

7,856 9,797 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000

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Number of DCBS and PCP Foster Homes July 2015 – July 2020

5,466 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

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Quality Services in Care

• DCBS continues to focus on recruitment and retention
• f qualified staff to maintain manageable caseloads.
• Continued exploration of performance based

contracting with providers.

• Focus on placement stability.
• Ensuring children in care achieve permanency timely.

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Average CPS Caseloads CY2017 – *CY2020

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18 19 20 17 23 24 26 24 23 24 22 20 30 31 29 27 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 2017 2018 2019 2020 CPS Current CPS w/ Past Dues CPS Not at Full Capacity CPS Not at Full Capacity w/ Past Dues

*CY2020 year to date Jan-Jul

Placement Stability – % w/ 2 or Fewer Placements July 2015 – April 2020

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10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Jul-15 Aug-15 Sep-15 Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15 Jan-16 Feb-16 Mar-16 Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16 Sep-16 Oct-16 Nov-16 Dec-16 Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17 Nov-17 Dec-17 Jan-18 Feb-18 Mar-18 Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug-18 Sep-18 Oct-18 Nov-18 Dec-18 Jan-19 Feb-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 May-19 Jun-19 Jul-19 Aug-19 Sep-19 Oct-19 Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20

% w/ 2 or Fewer Placements

<12 mo. <12 - 75th percentile 12-24 mo. 12-24 - 75th percentile 24+ mo. 24+ - 75th percentile

Months to Permanency - Reunifications SFY2015 – SFY2020

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8.9 9.6 9.0 9.2 9.4 10.3 6.7 6.9 6.6 7.0 7.1 8.3 2 4 6 8 10 12 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

# of Months

Mean (Avg.) Median Linear (Mean (Avg.)) Linear (Median)

Months to Permanency - Adoptions SFY2015 – SFY2020

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36.9 37.9 37.0 37.0 37.5 35.6 32.5 35.7 33.5 35.2 34.2 32.9 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

# of Months

Mean (Avg.) Median Linear (Mean (Avg.)) Linear (Median)

Adoption Data SFY2015 – SFY2020

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914 1053 1086 1026 1257 1293 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Months to Permanency – All Exit Reasons SFY2015 – SFY2020

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15.9 16.6 16.1 15.5 15.3 17.9 8.7 9.0 8.5 8.3 8.0 12.0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

# of Months

Mean (Avg.) Median Linear (Mean (Avg.)) Linear (Median)

Transition Age Youth

• DCBS is focused on reducing the number of youth who leave

cabinet custody without achieving permanency.

• Transition planning for older youth in care to ensure needs are

met.

• DCBS staff identify committed lifelong supports for youth who

leave care.

• Implementation of Lifeset in Kentucky July 1, 2020.
• Youth Engagement Summit.

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Youth Exiting to Emancipation SFY2015 – SFY2020

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649 638 669 623 665 709 12.0 11.9 12.0 10.7 9.7 12.4 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

% of Youth Exiting # of Youth Exiting

# % Linear (#) Linear (%)

Impacts of COVID-19

• Monthly caseworker visits conducted via videoconferencing

platforms.

• Face to face visits required if any safety concerns or in crisis.
• Parent/child visitation via videoconferencing for several

months.

• Face to face visitation resumed in phased approach at end of

May.

• Additional health and safety measures in place.

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Impacts of COVID-19

• Reduced entries into out of home care.
• Reduced exits from out of home care.
• Reopening of courts and increased use of virtual hearings has

increased achievement of permanency.

• Kentucky requested and received federal waiver for

fingerprinting in order to continue approval of foster families.

• Foster parent training conducted via videoconferencing

platforms.

• Efforts to ensure no youth has to leave care at age 18 or 21

during the state of emergency.

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Intakes w/ Allegations of Child Abuse and/or Neglect January – June 2019 vs. 2020

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10,803 10,410 10,926 10,906 10,637 7,721 10,284 9,826 8,815 5,868 6,562 7,180 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

# of Months

2019 2020 Linear (2019) Linear (2020)

Conditions Present at Removal (Removal Reasons) by Entry Cohort, 2018 – *2020

2.6 3 3.2 3.6 3.7 7.4 8.1 11.2 13.1 15.7 40.4 52.9 10 20 30 40 50 60 Abandonment Sexual Abuse Drug Abuse Child Reliquishment Alcohol Abuse Parent Physical Abuse Incarceration of Parent(s) Inadequate Housing Caretaker's Inability to Cope Child's Behavior Problem Drug Abuse Parent Neglect

% of Entry Cohort

2018 2019 *2020

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*Jan. – Jun. 2020. Conditions Present at Removal are not mutually exclusive.

Maltreatment in Foster Care

• Recent programming changes will allow more accurate

reporting of maltreatment in care to federal level and legislature.

• Incidents of maltreatment in out of home care have decreased
• ver past two years utilizing federal formula for calculation.
• Department staff monitor reports of maltreatment and

substantiations among DCBS homes, private child placing (PCP), and private child caring (PCC) providers.

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Reports of Maltreatment in PCP/PCC Placements

• In state fiscal year 2020, 310 reports were accepted for

investigation for youth in a PCP/PCC placement.

• Of these, 27 were substantiated and 38 are still open

investigations.

• 245 were unsubstantiated.

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Prevention of Maltreatment in Care

• Background checks, which will be expanded as a result of SB40.
• Assessment of ability to meet the needs of children through

home studies that go beyond a friendly biography.

• High quality preservice training that adequately prepares

foster parents.

• Provision of other training and information that supports a

family’s ability to meet the needs of a child who has experienced complex trauma.

• Supportive services to foster families.

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Assessment of Foster Parents

• Private agencies now have ability to receive FBI rap sheet.
• Model foster home standards and HB1 (2018 RS) have

improved home study quality.

• Foster parent registry, expanded by HB312 (2020 RS), helps

prevent approval of homes where concerns have been identified.

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Foster Parent Training

• Training in trauma-informed care and caring for a sexually

abused child is mandatory for all foster parents.

• Professional development/training for foster parents can be

tailored to the specific needs of the family and children in the home.

• Relationship between high quality foster parent training and
• utcomes for youth, such as placement stability.
• Youth with lived experience wish their foster parents had more
• r better training.

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Just In Time

• Kentucky's Just in Time training is a web based service program

designed to connect foster parents and kinship or other caregivers with

• nline training, peer experts, and other resources.
• The website launched March 16, 2020.
• The website has been an excellent support for foster parents.
• Since launch 2,210 training certificates have been issued to foster

parents (both DCBS and private agency).

• There have been 12,984 page views to the site in just three months.
• There have been 10,480 unique page views to the site.
• Currently there are 137 trainings available for foster parent training

credit on Just in Time Kentucky.

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Other Supports for Foster Families

• Resource Parent Mentor Program
• Adoption Support for Kentucky
• Foster/Adoptive Training Support Network
• Local and regional foster parent associations

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Questions?