S.O.F.T.T Saving Our Families Together Today Supportive Group Training May 1, 2008 Mount Olive Baptist Church Illinois State University School of Social Work/ Center for Adoption Studies Doris M. Houston, Ph.D. Kathryn Wehrmann, Ph.D. Samuel Smith, M.S.W. 6/1/2019

Goals For Today Review of SOFTT accomplishments Community engagement/decision making Prioritizing issues and needs Connecting strategies with outcomes (Logic Model) Developing Action Plan Tracking and documenting accomplishments 6/1/2019

SOFTT Accomplishments Consistent meetings (Monthly/bi-monthly) 3-14-07 5-16-07 6-20-07 7-11-07 8-22-07 11-14-07 11-28-07 1-16-08 3-19-08 6/1/2019

SOFTT Accomplishments Who’s at the Table… (Always or Most Times) DCFS staff POS staff Service providers Adoptive parents Foster parents 6/1/2019

Who’s at the Table… (Sometimes) SOFTT Accomplishments Who’s at the Table… (Sometimes) School personnel Youth/family advocates Who’s at the Table… (Seldom) Court personnel Law enforcement Faith based reps Medical providers 6/1/2019

SOFTT Accomplishments Who’s at the Table… (Not at all) Birth parents Former DCFS wards Business community University staff Elected officials Media 6/1/2019

Team Structure Parenting Group Brown Bag Family Affair Committee 24 Hour Crisis Intervention 6/1/2019

Target Outcomes Remain Home Overrepresentation of African American Children in Foster Care Target Outcomes 6/1/2019

Goals Activities Educating the community about: -DCFS discipline policies, -DCFS general policy -Corporal punishment vs. abuse -Town Gathering: State of Black Families n Child Welfare - Brown bags 6/1/2019

Goals Activities Addressing domestic violence -Link families to community support at the time of a DV report/investigation Provide culturally competent services - Analyze local services and practices for cult. competence Research best practices Data on Services/ outcomes for AA families Cert. for Eff. Black Parenting Educate Providers Church outreach 6/1/2019

Goals Activities Educate the community about services Brown Bags Family Affair Examine Court and police policies Address Substance abuse Educate families Promote community involvement Family Affair 6/1/2019

Barriers Court Lack of community involvement by states attorney/judges How courts define risk/safety and minimum parenting Public defender caseloads are to high to adequately represent people Class bias Court Racial bias Lack of 3rd party supervision DCFS control of POS decisions Lack of POS recognition Casework being done by court personnel Court is not forgiving 6/1/2019

Barriers Agency Agency Not implementing discretion for visits POS – not meeting with Court Personnel Poor past performance by POS Staff turnover Staff inexperience Agency No reasonable efforts How DCFS assesses risk Bias is outlined in reports Assumptions are made Worker bias 6/1/2019

Barriers Service Provider Service Provider Turnover Bias of provider More money needed Minimal options for clients to choose from/connect with Share information on client satisfaction of services No local control of contracts for DCFS Service Provider Bias of provider Inability to engage Work in the community/work in the home is needed – not office Transportation Lack of training/understanding Greater collaboration needed 6/1/2019

Barriers Community Community Payback of reporting Police intervention Community acceptance of disproportionality Powerlessness Community not aware of the data Family history is used against people Community Police intervention Community denial of disproportionate numbers across all areas Who is being reported for abuse/neglect School bias Lack of public awareness of what needs to be called in 6/1/2019

Team Building 6/1/2019

Champaign Data Review of Existing Data (Handout) Strategic Data Collection to Track Goal Accomplishment 6/1/2019

Data Needed To Track Remain Home Goal Progress (By race) Allegations: # Reports for 2007 by allegation # Total Reports for 2007By Race Allegation Type by Race Investigations Investigation Outcomes by Allegation Investigation Outcomes by Race 6/1/2019

Data Needed To Track Remain Home Goal Progress (By race) Service Referrals: # and type of service referrals per allegation type # and type of service referrals by Race Indicated Reports # remain home (by race) # Court supervised remain home(by race) Number PC (by race) 6/1/2019

Prioritizing Issues Top 3 Barriers Categorize by Domain: Court Agency Community Service Provider Family/youth 6/1/2019

Prioritizing Strategies Policy Practice Behavior Knowledge Attitude/belief/bias Communication 6/1/2019

Connecting Strategies to Logic Modeling Connecting Strategies to Measurable Outcomes 6/1/2019

Documenting Plans and Accomplishments Action Plan Worksheet Meeting Minutes Meeting Attendance Community Partnership Planning 6/1/2019

Contact Us! Doris M. Houston, Ph.D. dmhous2@ilstu.edu Kathy Wehrmann, Ph.D. kcwehrm@ilstu.edu Samuel Smith, M.S. W. smsmith3@uni.uiuc.edu 6/1/2019