1. 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

2. 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

3. SOFTT Accomplishments
Consistent meetings (Monthly/bi-monthly)
6/1/2019

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

5. 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

6. 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

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

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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Team Building
6/1/2019

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

18. 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

19. 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

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

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

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

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

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