1 Child Protective Services in Harris County Stakeholder Forum December 12, 2013

2 Assisting Harris County DFPS and Casey Family Programs are partnering to safely reduce the total number of children in state custody. To accomplish this, we are implementing a targeted approach to reduce the amount of time children spend in state custody. Because of the number of children in care in Harris County, we will begin there. Casey Family Programs will assist DFPS in conducting an assessment of Region 6 – Harris County CPS. The assessment is the first step to the identify issues that impact permanency and make recommendations to address these issues.

3 County Characteristics Harris County is Big More than 1 million children – 17% of Texas child population. More than 7,000 children annually in DFPS custody – 16% of all children in DFPS custody. Geographically, Harris County is the size of Dallas and Tarrant Counties combined.

4 Permanency Outcomes in Harris County Children in Harris County Remain Longer in DFPS Custody Average Time to Exit in Months

5 County Characteristics Harris County Has a Lower than Average Removal Rate Removal Rate per 1,000 Children in Population

6 HarrisState African American52%23% Hispanic27%42% Anglo15%28% Other5%6% HarrisState 0-225% 3-521% 6-920%19% % %19% HarrisState Male47%48% Female53%52% Characteristics of Children in Substitute Care on August 31, 2012 Gender: Age: Race: County Characteristics

7 HarrisState Medical5% Drug/Alcohol8%9% Emotional14%16% Learning16%17% Sibling22%23% Teen Parent1%0% No Difference in Special Needs of Child Population in Harris County Special Needs Characteristics of Children in Substitute Care on August 31, 2012 County Characteristics

8 HarrisState Basic63% Moderate19% Specialized16% Intense/ Psychiatric 2% No Difference in Levels of Care Distribution Children in Foster Care on August 31, 2012 County Characteristics

9 HarrisState Children in Substitute Care Placed with Relatives40% Children in Foster Care Placed in County65%42% Children from Harris County Are Equally Likely to Live with Relatives and More Likely to Live in County Children in Foster Care on August 31, 2012 County Characteristics

10 HarrisState CVS Turnover22.2%22.9% CVS Average Caseload2832 Conservatorship (CVS) Staff Caseload and Turnover Measures County Characteristics

11 Recent Changes in Harris County CPS restructured Region 6 to have two regional directors – –One director for Harris County and one for other counties in region. The Legislature created an associate judge position to concentrate on CPS-related cases.

12 Assessment Plan By April 1, 2014, Casey Family Programs, will conduct an assessment of CPS in Region 6 – Harris County and provide a report to DFPS that: Informs the agency about issues that impact permanency; Provides recommendations; Provides action steps that DFPS may implement to reduce the length of time children are in care.

13 Assessment Plan The assessment will be designed to answer the following questions: 1.What are internal and external factors that lead to greater lengths of stay in foster care for children from Harris County than in other regions? 2.How can CPS improve permanency outcomes for children in Harris County? 3.How does organizational leadership, management, and culture affect achievement of outcomes in Harris County? 4.What have other large urban jurisdictions (Chicago, LA, New York) done to improve permanency outcomes? 5.Who are the potential community catalysts for change? 6.What community-based changes need to be made to support and sustain systemic change to improve permanency outcomes for Harris County children and youth?

14 EntityRoles DFPS  Provide data, staff, points of contact, liaisons  Act as lead communicator (internal and external audiences)  Lead the scope of work Casey Family Programs  Gather qualitative data (focus groups, surveys, etc.)  Review data and reports  Write the assessment report  Provide ongoing consultation to the process Harris County Protective Services  Provide observations about the system  Provide data and information Children’s Commission  Facilitate court involvement  Advise on how to improve relations with the courts  Commit a Jurist in Residence to assist  Address court reform Assessment Plan Roles and Responsibilities

15 Assessment Plan Stakeholder Involvement Stakeholder involvement will be a very important aspect of this assessment. Some of the groups expected to be involved include: Harris County judges Harris County Commissioner’s Court Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) District Attorney’s Office Texas Appleseed One Voice Texas Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) CASA Community providers State legislators Office of Court Administration Medical community

16 Thank you! Thank you for your collaboration with the Department of Family and Protective Services in our mission to keep children protected and connected.