FOSTER FAMILY GAP ANALYSIS Katy Bourgeois | Senior Consultant SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

 Challenges in placing Travis County children with foster families in Travis County  Characteristics of children that are hard to place within the county  Qualities of foster families needed  Existing marketing/recruitment initiatives  Additional capacity needed to handle and make use of additional inquiries To define the needs and challenges of placing foster children in Central Texas including: Purpose of the Analysis Information collected will ultimately inform the development of a recruitment plan for Central Texas, with components that are replicable/scalable across the state.

Data Sources  Survey of child placing agencies  DFPS child level data (Sept and March 2016)  Court record review (3 months ending June 2016)  Interviews with key stakeholders  Focus Group with CPS caseworkers  CPS Region 7, Collaborative Recruitment Initiative – CPA and foster family discussion  Literature/research review

March 2016 Total children in non-kinship substitute care: 561 Average number of placements: 2.3 Max: 27 Min: 1 Median: 3.5

Key finding #1: There are not enough foster families  Almost 30% of children in foster care are placed beyond the boundaries of Travis and the contiguous counties  Only 52% of licensed beds actually accept placements  Children placed in Travis County from other parts of the state are adding to the capacity issues

Finding #2: Emergency placements are particularly challenging  50% of children in an emergency shelter were placed outside of Travis and the contiguous counties (DFPS data)  68% of children placed in an emergency shelter stayed longer than 60 days (Court record review)  37% of children in an emergency shelter had multiple placements in emergency shelters (Court record review)  Children needing a basic level of care were equally represented in the shelters as those needing intense level of care (Court record review)  On average, approximately 5 children spend the night in a DFPS office or supervised hotel room each night (CPS case managers)

Finding #3: The hardest to place children are higher needs youth…

… And teens Average age : 8.4 Median age: 7.2 Average age : 10.7 Median age: 12.6

From the Child Placing Agency survey Some child placing agencies report they do not accept:  Primary medical needs (as defined by the state)  Development delays/low IQ  Previous major incidents (e.g. fire-setting; felony charges; sexual perpetration)  History of drug use And families tend to not accept:  Previous major incidents (e.g. fire-setting, sexual perpetration)  Primary medical needs  Pregnant or parenting youth  Previous psychiatric hospitalization  Older youth (13+)

Finding #4: Placement proximity is correlated with time in care  11% of children in care have been in care 3 or more years. Of these, 42% were placed outside of Travis and the contiguous counties.  Of the children who have been in care six years or more, over half were placed outside of the contiguous counties.

…And number of placements March 2016 Placement in County2.0 Placement in Contiguous County1.9 Placement out of Contiguous County 3.2  Children placed out of the contiguous county area experienced 60% - 79% more disruptions on average than children placed in Travis and the contiguous counties

Finding # 5: There are indicators of successful foster families  Families who can commit to fostering “hard-to-place” children  Families who can commit to long-term care if needed  Families who are interested in foster-only placements  Families who are motivated to make an impact  Families who understand the reality of fostering  Families who meet kids where they are  Families who are trauma-informed  Families who will accept emergency-placements  Families who have community supports to help with transportation assistance, respite care and other services that relieve what could become an undue burden.

Finding # 6: Building communities of support is as important as finding foster families  Transportation  Respite care  Support Network/Mentors  Child Care  Donations

Next steps: Creating an effective recruitment strategy  Educate & engage the community using data and stories of impact  Engage with families of color and faith communities  Specifically recruit for hard-to-place children  Communicate clear expectations  Take advantage of word of mouth recruitment

Next steps: Investing to build capacity  Improve responsiveness to prospective foster parent inquiries  Streamline and ease the application processes  Increase capacity for home studies and case management  Expand mental health services  Training

Next steps: Leveraging existing initiatives  Partnerships for Children - Orientation Sessions  Fostering Hope Austin  The Center for Prevention of Child Maltreatment - Recruitment Using Consumer Analytics  Our Community Our Kids - Palo Pinto Recruitment Initiative  CarePortal  Region 7 Placement Recruitment Collaborative  Wendy’s Wonderful Kids Recruiter

Questions?