DATA REPORT: MCLEAN COUNTY COMMUNITY PERMANENCY ENHANCEMENT ACTION TEAM Jeannie Higdon Jacki Schuster

McLean County Action Team  The McLean County Action team consists of: The Juvenile Court Judge DCFS Supervisor, Jaime Ralph Karen Blum, The Baby Fold McLean County Health Department POS Agencies within the community (Catholic Charities, The Baby Fold, Children’s Home + Aid) Family Community Resource Center Assistant State’s Attorney’s Public Defenders Illinois State University Any interested community members willing to work towards and support the goals of the program.

 Project Goal: As a result of the presented data, the MCAT looked for ways to engage birth parents earlier, thereby decreasing the length of stay a child is in substitute care and increasing the chances for a successful reunification.

Our specific project  Through the Court Improvement Program, our team is in the process of completing a grant request for funds to support a parent mentor.  As students of the program, we sought ways to support the goal of the action team.

 The goal of the mentoring is for a birth parent who has successfully navigated their way through the court and child welfare system to share their experiences and guide the parents through their current case. They will be available to answer questions and offer support when parents most need it. The action team believes that by engaging parents immediately upon case opening that it will increase the family’s chances for a successful reunification in a shorter length of time.

COLLECTED DATA What did we find? The following slides are based on data collected from the Child and Family Research Center The data can be accessed at:

Although African American children consistently make up 9%- 11% of the total population under age of 18, they represent 36%- 48% of the total number of indicated reports from the year 2001 to 2007.

The number of children who have a substantiated report within 12 months of having an open intact family case.

With regards to children entering care following 12 months of intact family, there appears to be no consistent pattern. The numbers vary greatly year to year with the numbers scattered. % of Intact families who had children enter care within 12 months

These numbers would indicate that on average, African American children are moved more frequently while in care. Although the data does represent that the percentage of children has decreased since Percentage of children who moved more than two times within a year of removal

These numbers would indicate that previously fewer African American children were placed with relatives. However the percentage of kinship placements has increased since Number of children placed in kinship care when they first enter placement

Number of kids by placement by ethnic breakdown

 African American children are more consistently placed with kin.  Caucasian children are more likely to be placed in foster care.

 The median length of stay is longer for African American children.  Caucasian children have a shorter median length of stay than the average for all children.

Average of median length of stay by race African American months Hispanic13.2 months Other17.5 months Caucasian15.87 months All Children months

 Children placed with kin are more likely to be within 5 miles of home of origin.  African American children are more likely to be placed with kin, thus are more likely to be within 5 miles of home of origin.

 Caucasian children were consistent with the percentage of all children to attain permanence.  Hispanic children were more likely to achieve permanence.  African American children were less likely to achieve permanence.

 The percentage increased by about 20% over the years.  Hispanic children were less likely to achieve permanence than any other group with the exception of  African American and Caucasian children are consistent with the total children to achieve permanency.

 Children in the “other” category achieved at a much higher rate.  Hispanic children were less likely to achieve permanence than any other group from  African American children are consistent with the average, except in  Caucasian children were less likely to achieve permanence at this time.

U.S. Census Bureau Data The following slides represent the population in McLean County.

Median Income The median income in McLean country for all residents is $51,176. Caucasian residents: Average household income (1999): $48,152 Average family income (1999): $62,164 Income per capita: $22,970 African American residents: Average household income (1999): $30,578 Average family income (1999): $38,221 Income per capita: $15,544 Hispanic residents: Average household income (1999): $37,692 Average family income (1999): $42,868 Income per capita: $12,945

Income by Gender  Population 16 years and older male: $50,950female: $51, 263  Full time year round workers with earnings male: $28,650female: $21,211  Median earnings male: $48,506female: $36,547

Median Income by Household  Households: $47,021  Total: $61,073  Married-couple families: $67,355  Female householder, no husband present: $29,317  Non-family households: $26,416

Median earnings by educational attainment  Less than high school graduate male: $26,500female: $16,133  High school graduate male: $34,806female: $21,703  Some college or associate’s degree male: $40,672female: $26,653  Bachelor’s degree male: $50,037female: $36,221  Graduate or professional degree male: $65,533female: $44,177

Educational Attainment in McLean County  Less than 9 th grade: 2,631 (3.0%)  9 th to 12 th grade, no diploma: 5,464 (6.3%)  High school graduate: 24,622 (28.2%)  Some college, no degree: 17,897 (20.5%)  Associate degree: 5,060 (5.8%)  Bachelor’s degree: 21,986 (25.2%)  Graduate or professional degree: 9,560 (11.0%)

Educational Attainment by Ethnicity  Caucasian statistics: High school diploma: 72,544 Bachelor’s Degree or higher: 28,541  African American statistics: High school diploma: 3,366 Bachelor’s degree or higher: 1,279  Hispanic/Latino statistics: High school diploma: 1,188 Bachelor’s degree or higher: 382

Household Composition  Caucasian: Average household size: 2 Average family size: 3  African American: Average household size: 3 Average family size: 3  Hispanic/Latino: Average household size: 3 Average family size: 4

Poverty Line  Caucasian: Families living below the poverty line: 1,001 Individuals living below the poverty line: 10,565  African American: Families living below the poverty line: 377 Individuals living below the poverty line: 1,924  Hispanic/Latino: Families living below the poverty line: 102 Individuals living below the poverty line: 727

Kay Brown/ GAO study According to the GAO results, there were several key factors contributing to the proportion of African American Children in foster care. These included: 1. Higher rate of poverty 2. Challenges in Accessing support services (Parent Mentor) 3. Racial bias and distrust 4. Difficulties in finding appropriate adoptive homes (Kay Brown/ Government Accountability Office 2008)

 Most states surveyed reported using various strategies intended to address these issues. Some of the various strategies included; 1. Building community supports 2. Cultral competency training for caseworkers 3. Diligence with kinship care placements Significantly for this particular Government Accountability Study, it was emphasized the importance of “analyzing the data to address the proportion of African American children in care in order to better understand the issue and devise strategies to address it.” (Kay Brown/ Government Accountability Office 2008 pg 2)

What do we do with this information?  How do we meet the needs identified in the previously mentioned data?  What populations seem to have the highest representation with the lowest access to services?  How does the action team intend to address these concerns?

McLean County Project Description  Develop and submit a grant in attempts to obtain financial support for the project.  Planning for implementation of a biological parent support group  Help plan job responsibilities for parent mentor position  Write the job description  Write the preliminary application for the admittance to the support group  Help plan basic guidelines for participation

Why a support group?  The parent mentor leading the group will be a person that has been successful in reunification with their children. This mentor will then be in the position to provide support and assistance to families that are entering the juvenile court system. By having support, it is intended to help reduce the stress on the parent(s) and allow for a more timely reunification if possible.

Mentor Position  The parent mentor will be a paid position with about 10 hours a week of work.  The expectation is for the mentor to run a bi-weekly support group meeting, and allow for phone contact or meet by appointment with parents in the group.

The Next Step  The community action team is looking for more participation from community members, including inviting other involved agencies to participate on the team.  Continue to notify community members of when and where the meetings will happen. Continue to invite these members in hopes that they will become involved in the future.  The action team will continue to move forward with the grant in attempts to best serve the needs of the families within our communities.

Project Drawbacks Due to the time constraint of the fall semester, we were only able to participate in the initial planning of this support group. We were only able to attend two MCAT meetings aside from our individual meetings for interviews and project status meetings. Group members will have to move forward with the materials presented to them and finalize the grant process.

Final Summary In closing, we would like to thank not only our action team members, but those in the surrounding communities. Through this project we have learned that each action team is attempting to address the issue of minority overrepresentation within their communities served. Also that it is not a one person commitment, but that it takes a community to bring about change.

References  Government Accountability Office (2008, July). African American Children in Foster Care HHS and Congressional Actions Could Help Reduce Proportion in Care, Retrieved from