1 G-FORCE MEETING October 23, 2008 ON THE ROAD TO GREATNESS!

2 OFFICE OF FAMILY INDEPENDENCE HIGHLIGHTS Food Stamp Error Rate is 2.13%! Increase in the number of TANF & Food Stamp cases. Work participation rate decreased from 68.3% to 66.7%. All regions meeting Standard of Promptness in TANF, Medicaid and Food Stamp Regular.

3 For May, 2008, Georgia was number FOUR in the nation in Food Stamp lowest amount of food stamp errors! (up from number 7 in April) Our cumulative error rate was 2.13%! We were number ONE for the FOURTH month in a row in most improved error rate, improving by 5.86% over this time last year. Finally, we have FOUR months to go in QC readings for FFY08. Congratulations and Keep Up the Great Work! FOOD STAMP ERROR RATE!

4 LOWEST FOOD STAMP ERROR RATE TOP 3 STATES (CURRENTLY)

5 Continuing to see an increase in Food Stamp households; increased by 10,224 from August to September and an increase of 17% from September 2007.

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7 The number of TANF adult cases have been increasing since July 2008.

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15 CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES HIGHLIGHTS Increase in the number of CPS cases from August to September 2008 (877 more cases). Timeliness of investigation remains at 93% for September; lowest since September Only three regions at 99.5% or above (Regions 6, 9 & 11). Increase in the number of family support cases from July to August. Approximately 53% of all intakes reported were provided with family support services. Rate of substantiations have increased by 13% from a year ago. Recurrence of maltreatment rate is 2.95%; highest since February 2008 but still far below the national standard of 5.40%.

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17 Increase in CPS cases primarily in Investigations.

18 SUMMER TREND FOR INTAKES Consistent pattern of decreasing intakes in June and July and an increase in August. However, the increase for 2008 has not been as steep as in previous years. In 2006, there was a 42% increase and in 2007 there was a 39%; however, in 2008, there was only a 9% increase in the number of cases from July to August.

19 AUTUMN TREND FOR INTAKES The trend for 2006 and 2007 has been that of decreasing intakes from October to November and continuing into December. Next month, we will be able to determine whether this trend continues.

20 TIMELINESS OF INVESTIGATION September 2007 – September 2008 Question: What factors continue to contribute to overdue pending investigations? What strategies need to be implemented to improve timeliness of investigations?

21 TIMELINESS OF INVESTIGATION BY REGION FOR SEPTEMBER 2008 Only three regions had timeliness rates of 99.5% or above for September.

22 Note: Of the 726 cases substantiated and opened, 544 or 75% were opened in Family Preservation and 182 or 25% were opened for permanency (foster care).

23 The purpose of this chart is to show the disposition of substantiated investigations. For reports received in August, 1,076 investigations were substantiated. Of those, 544 or 51% were opened for Family Preservation services, and 182 or 17% were opened for Permanency services (foster care). There are 350 or 32% were closed {further research to determine how many of these may have been opened for permanency services/placement}.

24 DISPOSITION OF REPORTS AUGUST % of the reports received in August were provided with Family Support services; 15% were unsubstantiated/closed; 14% were screened out and 18% were substantiated.

25 FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICES AUGUST 2008 State average=53% Family Support Services ranged from 23% to 65% of dispositions for reports received in August by region.

26 UNSUBSTANTIATED & CLOSED AUGUST 2008 The percentage of investigations that were unsubstantiated and closed ranged from 7% to 30% across the regions. State average=15%

27 FAMILY SUPPORT BY UNSUBSTANTIATED CLOSED Blue line indicates State averages The regions who are above the State average of 53% in Family Support cases tend to be below the State average of 15% for unsubstantiated and closed cases.

28 SUBSTANTIATION TREND August 2006 – August 2008 The percentage of substantiated investigations have risen by 13% over the past two years, how might this percentage be increased over the next six months?

29 REGIONAL SUBSTANTIATION PATTERN August 2008 Blue line indicates State averages Nine regions exceed the state’s rate of substantiated investigations (54%) while several regions have more than 50% unsubstantiated and closed investigations (Regions 1, 5, 13 and 16).

30 SUBSTANTIATION COMPARISON August 2007 & August 2008 State=54% State=47% There has been a 7% increase in the substantiation rate statewide from However, Regions 2, 9, 14 & 15 have seen a 14% or higher increase in their substantiation rates for August 2008.

31 40,896 cases received Family Support Services from October 2007 to September 2008.

32 Of the cases that received Family Support services from August 2007 to July 2008, 2.32% have become substantiated CPS cases.

33 105,371 cases have received Family Support Services since its implementation in July 2004; 30% of these cases have been in Regions 17, 5 and 2.

34 Of the 105,371 cases that have received Family Support services since its implementation, 5.93% of them have become substantiated CPS cases.

35 FAMILY SUPPORT CASES THAT BECAME SUBSTANTIATED CPS CASES (July 2004 – June 2008) This graph reflects the percentage of family support cases that have become substantiated CPS cases during the past year. Currently, there is no national standard associated with this measure. Should state establish its own target?

36 INCREASING FAMILY SUPPORT SERVICES & DECREASING UNSUBSTANTIATED/CLOSED CASES Ability to devote and invest resources where it is needed most. Investigating only those cases that truly require this response. Several regions are reviewing their unsubstantiated/closed cases to determine whether appropriate decision was made or if case could have received a family support response and then training staff as necessary. Increasing knowledge of staff who are responsible for intakes so they can obtain information necessary to determine the most appropriate response to reports of abuse/neglect. Overall, staff are developing a sense of confidence in their skills regarding assessing the most appropriate needs of our families. Regions developed Wildly Important Goals related to front door practices and have seen improvements in their outcomes.

37 SAFETY 1 Safety Data: Absence of recurrence of maltreatment National StandardFFY 2005FFY 2006FFY 2007 Negotiated Improvement Goal Current Performance NA met standard at point of CFSR September: 97.05%

38 RECURRENCE OF MALTREATMENT August 2007 – September 2008 National Standard = less than or equal to 5.40% CAUTION DANGER! THIN ICE!

39 FOCUS ON PERMANENCY FOR CHILDREN

40 PERMANENCY SERVICES FOR CHILDREN HIGHLIGHTS The number of children in DFCS custody continue to decrease (11,463 in September). Foster care re-entry rate increased slightly to 5.79%; still below the national standard of 8.60%. The percent of children reunified in less than 12 months is at 61.2%; below the national standard of 76.2%. The number of substantiated cases of maltreatment in care decreased since last month.

41 PERMANENCY FOR CHILDREN The belief and value that every child and young person deserves a permanent family relationship is paramount. Permanence is about locating and supporting a lifetime family. Permanency is not a philosophical process, nor is it intended to last only until the child turns 18. Permanency means we are establishing strong, committed, and lasting ties of affection for children.

42 PLANNING FOR PERMANENCY Should begin at entry into care Be youth-driven Family-focused Culturally competent Continuous Approached with urgency PERMANENCY

43 Slight decrease in the number of cases in DFCS custody from August to September. However, there has been an 11% decrease from September 2007 and a 16% decrease from September 2006.

44 FOSTER CARE RE-ENTRIES August 2007 – September 2008 National Standard = less than or equal to 8.60% CAUTION DANGER! THIN ICE!

45 PERMANENCY COMPOSITE 1 Permanency Outcome 1: Timeliness and Permanency of Reunification National Standard FFY 2005FFY 2006FFY 2007 Negotiated Improvement Goal Current Performance NA met standard at point of CFSR Items considered: Of the children exiting to reunification, % reunified in less than 12 months from the date of latest removal from home Of the children exiting to reunification, median number of months in foster care Of the children entering foster care for the first time in the 6 months prior to the year shown, % exiting to reunification in less than 12 months from the latest removal from home Of children exiting to reunification in the previous year, % reentering foster care in less than 12 months from discharge

46 State is below the national standard of 76.2% or greater on this measure. In September, of all the children who exited foster care by reunification with their family, only 61.19% were reunified in less than 12 months from their removal date.

47 NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN DFCS CUSTODY SFY 2008 The number of children in DFCS custody decreased by 1,411 during State Fiscal Year 2008.

48 FOSTER CARE ENTRIES & EXITS SFY 2008 During SFY2008, more children exited care than entered.

49 PERCENT OF CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE BY AGE IN SFY2008

50 DISCHARGE REASONS FOR CHILDREN WHO EXITED CARE IN SFY2008 Note. An additional 2% of children were on runaway or were transferred to another agency (RYDC) at the time of their 18 th birthday. In the future, we will compare this to national measures for the rate of discharge from care by reason to obtain a point of comparison to measure how we are doing.

51 SUBSTANTIATED MALTREATMENT IN CARE March – September 2008 The trend for substantiated maltreatment in care had been inconsistent; however, numbers were decreasing for August and September How do we ensure this decreasing trend continues?

52 SUBSTANTIATED MALTREATMENT IN CARE PLACEMENT TYPE March – September 2008 The number of substantiated maltreatment cases have decreased for non-DFCS homes during this period, while there had been an increase for DFCS homes in May and July.

53 SUBSTANTIATED MALTREATMENT IN CARE PERCENTAGES BY PLACEMENT TYPE March – September 2008 These percentages reflect the rate of substantiated maltreatment in care for March – September 2008 by placement type. There were at total of 101 substantiated maltreatment cases during this period; 30% of them were in DFCS homes, 28% in non-DFCS homes, and 24% in Group Homes.

54 PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES: ADOPTION Number of finalized adoptions Number of months Entry to finalized adoption Entry to First TPR Entry to Second TPR First TPR to Second TPR Second TPR to Exit

55 NUMBER OF FINALIZED ADOPTIONS There were a total of 1,270 finalized adoptions in SFY2007 and 1,252 in SFY Only six regions reflect an increase in the number of finalized adoptions in 2008.

56 STATEWIDE COMPARISON FOR ADOPTION MEASURES (TIME IN MONTHS) While most of the measures remained the same from 2007 to 2008, there was a one- month drop in the time from first to second TPR; however a one-month increase in the time from second TPR to exit.

57 AVERAGE TIME TO FINALIZED ADOPTION (TIME IN MONTHS) State average= 38 months Eleven regions decreased the average number of months for finalized adoptions (ideally, the red line should be lower than the blue one if we have done better in 2008 than in 2007).

58 AVERAGE TIME FROM ENTRY TO FIRST TPR (TIME IN MONTHS) State average= 22 months Only 9 regions decreased the average number of months from entry to first TPR.

59 AVERAGE TIME FROM 1 ST TPR – 2 ND TPR (TIME IN MONTHS) State average: 3 months in 2007 & 2 months in 2008 Only 9 regions decreased the average number of months between first to second TPR (the red line should be lower than the blue one).

60 AVERAGE TIME FROM 2 ND TPR – FINALIZED ADOPTION (TIME IN MONTHS) State average: 13 months in 2007 & 14 months in Only 6 regions decreased the average number of months from second TPR to a finalized adoption (the red line should be lower than the blue one). QUESTION: WHY HAVE SOME REGIONS DONE A MUCH BETTER JOB OF THIS THAN OTHERS?

61 PERMANENCY STRATEGIES Those regions who have made considerable progress in moving children to permanency attribute: Early and continuous diligent searches for parents and relatives, particularly absent fathers and paternal relatives. Concurrence planning Staffing cases at regular intervals. In order to move children to permanency within 12 months, staffings were done after the child had been in care 3 months, 6 months and 9 months. Fast and effective judicial systems as well as aggressive work by the SAAGs. Ability to provide aftercare services sooner tended to encourage the timely reunification of children. Consolidating TPRs (both parents) whenever possible instead of separate ones. Coordination between Regional Adoption staff and Field Program Specialists led to finalizing adoptions sooner.

62 FINALIZATION OF ADOPTION STEPS NEEDED POST TPR Completion of the Child's Life History Completion of a Special Needs Determination Determination of the Adoptive Assistance Rate A Foster Home Conversion is required when children are being adopted by their foster parents (60 % of Georgia children are adopted by their foster parents). 20% of our children are adopted by the Foster/Adopt family they've been in placement with. Presentation of the Child Life History to the Prospective Adoptive Parents Once all the above steps are completed, a foster or foster/adopt family can move directly to signing the Adoptive Placement Agreement, have further supervision of the placement waived and DFCS can allow the family to hire an attorney to finalize the adoption. For children placed in a newly selected adoptive home additional steps are required which include a placement staffing, a series of pre-placement visits, signing of the adoptive placement agreement and 2-6 months of supervisory visits to ensure the child's adjustment in the home (varies depending on age of child).

63 NEXT G-FORCE MEETING NOVEMBER 20, 2008