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. 2

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. 3

Children in the Custody of or Committed to the Cabinet July 2015 – July 2020 12,000 10,000 9,797 7,856 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 4

Number of DCBS and PCP Foster Homes July 2015 – July 2020 6,000 5,466 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 5

Quality Services in Care  DCBS continues to focus on recruitment and retention of 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. 6

Average CPS Caseloads CY2017 – *CY2020 CPS Current CPS w/ Past Dues CPS Not at Full Capacity CPS Not at Full Capacity w/ Past Dues 35 31 30 29 30 27 26 24 24 24 25 23 23 22 20 20 19 20 18 17 15 10 5 0 2017 2018 2019 2020 *CY2020 year to date Jan-Jul 7

8 % w/ 2 or Fewer Placements 100 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 0 Jul-15 Aug-15 Sep-15 Placement Stability – % w/ 2 or Fewer Placements <12 mo. Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15 Jan-16 Feb-16 Mar-16 Apr-16 <12 - 75th percentile May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16 Sep-16 Oct-16 Nov-16 July 2015 – April 2020 Dec-16 Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 12-24 mo. Apr-17 May-17 Jun-17 Jul-17 Aug-17 Sep-17 Oct-17 12-24 - 75th percentile Nov-17 Dec-17 Jan-18 Feb-18 Mar-18 Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18 Aug-18 Sep-18 Oct-18 24+ mo. Nov-18 Dec-18 Jan-19 Feb-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 May-19 24+ - 75th percentile Jun-19 Jul-19 Aug-19 Sep-19 Oct-19 Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20

Months to Permanency - Reunifications SFY2015 – SFY2020 Mean (Avg.) Median Linear (Mean (Avg.)) Linear (Median) 12 10.3 9.6 10 9.4 9.2 9.0 8.9 8.3 8 7.1 7.0 6.9 6.7 # of Months 6.6 6 4 2 0 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 9

Months to Permanency - Adoptions SFY2015 – SFY2020 Mean (Avg.) Median Linear (Mean (Avg.)) Linear (Median) 40 37.9 37.5 37.0 37.0 36.9 35.7 35.6 35.2 34.2 35 33.5 32.9 32.5 30 25 # of Months 20 15 10 5 0 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 10

Adoption Data SFY2015 – SFY2020 1,400 1293 1257 1,200 1086 1053 1026 1,000 914 800 600 400 200 0 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 11

Months to Permanency – All Exit Reasons SFY2015 – SFY2020 Mean (Avg.) Median Linear (Mean (Avg.)) Linear (Median) 20 17.9 18 16.6 16.1 15.9 15.5 15.3 16 14 12.0 12 # of Months 10 9.0 8.7 8.5 8.3 8.0 8 6 4 2 0 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 12

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. 13

Youth Exiting to Emancipation SFY2015 – SFY2020 # % Linear (#) Linear (%) 800 100 709 90 700 669 665 649 638 623 80 600 70 % of Youth Exiting # of Youth Exiting 500 60 400 50 40 300 30 200 20 100 12.4 12.0 11.9 12.0 10.7 10 9.7 0 0 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 14

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. 15

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. 16

Intakes w/ Allegations of Child Abuse and/or Neglect January – June 2019 vs. 2020 2019 2020 Linear (2019) Linear (2020) 12,000 10,926 10,906 10,803 10,637 10,410 10,284 9,826 10,000 8,815 7,721 8,000 7,180 # of Months 6,562 5,868 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun 17

Conditions Present at Removal (Removal Reasons) by Entry Cohort, 2018 – *2020 2018 2019 *2020 Neglect 52.9 Drug Abuse Parent 40.4 Child's Behavior Problem 15.7 Caretaker's Inability to Cope 13.1 Inadequate Housing 11.2 Incarceration of Parent(s) 8.1 Physical Abuse 7.4 Alcohol Abuse Parent 3.7 Reliquishment 3.6 Drug Abuse Child 3.2 Sexual Abuse 3 Abandonment 2.6 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 % of Entry Cohort *Jan. – Jun. 2020. Conditions Present at Removal are not mutually exclusive. 18

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 over 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. 19

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. 20

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. 21

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. 22

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 outcomes for youth, such as placement stability.  Youth with lived experience wish their foster parents had more or better training. 23

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 online 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. 24

Other Supports for Foster Families  Resource Parent Mentor Program  Adoption Support for Kentucky  Foster/Adoptive Training Support Network  Local and regional foster parent associations 25

Questions? 26