+ The Centre County Office of Children and Youth Services Lauren - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

+

The Centre County Office of Children and Youth Services

Lauren Grimes, Molly Horn, and Amber Bosland

+Background Information

! Provide social services to Centre county ! Currently 80 children in either homes, group homes,

rehabilitation, or out of county services

! Foster care process for children ! Foster care process for parents ! State supervision ! Ethel Beaver Fund

+Problem

! Only a small percentage of Centre County

residents enroll in the CYS foster care system and are aware of the need and benefits of foster care, with most adults opting for a more traditional family unit, resulting in one –third of CYS children left without residential placement and only 55% of CYS foster parents enrolled for long-term (12 to 18 months) care.

+Situation Analysis

! Internal Factors ! External Factors

! Demographics ! Foster parent attitudes ! Foster children attitudes

+Research

! Primary

! Interviews

16% 42% 42%

Interviewed Parents' Age Demographics

20-29 40-49 50-59

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+Research

! Secondary

! AdoptUsKids ! Open Your Heart, Open Your Home

+Goals & Objectives

! To have 60% of Centre County adults ages 25 to 45 view

foster care as a viable alternative to traditional family units or adoption by December 1, 2010 with Children and Youth Services as the main resource for education, increasing long- term foster parent enrollment and retainment by 30%.

! Informational ! Predisposition ! Behavioral

+Target Audience

! Primary ! Secondary ! Moderating & Intervening

+Strategy

! Address negative misconceptions via sharing of information

and positive images

! Take a grassroots approach ! Improve foster care friendly activities to enroll new foster

parents and retain current parents

+Tactics & Rationale

! Postcard distribution ! Feature stories in local and national press ! Brochure informing about need for and process of becoming foster parents

in Centre County

! Advertising in newspapers ! PSAs on radio and television ! Blue-Ribbon Events ! Summer Series social events for foster families and prospective new parents

(Spikes Games, basketball, bowling, DelGrosso’s Amusement Park)

! Social events designed for foster family support and interaction (house

parties, book club meetings, support group meetings)

+Social Media Plan

! Twitter ! YouTube viral PSA video campaign ! Revamping CYS Web site

+Messages & Slogan

! Becoming a foster parent means offering a warm and loving

• home. Becoming a foster parent means opening your heart

to the love of a child. Becoming a foster parent means making a difference in the life of a child.

! Be their second chance. Be their foster parent.

+Evaluation

! Preparation

! Content Analysis

! Implementation

! TA message exposure

! Impact

! Changed attitudes & behavior

+

The End