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

2. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital  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.

3. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital Data Sources  Survey of child placing agencies  DFPS child level data (Sept. 2015 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

4. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital March 2016 Total children in non-kinship substitute care: 561 Average number of placements: 2.3 Max: 27 Min: 1 Median: 3.5

5. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital 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

6. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital 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)

7. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital Finding #3: The hardest to place children are higher needs youth…

8. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital … And teens Average age : 8.4 Median age: 7.2 Average age : 10.7 Median age: 12.6

9. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital 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+)

10. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital 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.

11. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital …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

12. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital 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.

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

14. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital 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

15. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital 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

16. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital 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

17. MissionCapital.org @Mission_Capital Questions?