CSG Government Solutions’ Post

Linkages is the term used by participating California counties to describe the working partnership between CalWORKs and Child Welfare when families are receiving both services at the same time. Linkages practice allows county agencies to work together with families via coordinated case planning to develop a single case plan and reduce barriers for accessing services and resolving challenges. It also leverages resources from both CalWORKs and Child Welfare to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families. Linkages case coordination has the goal of helping families build financial self-sufficiency and economic mobility while promoting child safety, permanency, and well-being. Currently there are 36 counties that identify themselves as Linkages counties - including Imperial, LA, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Ventura counties in the Southern Region. There is a current emphasis in Linkages on "upstream" prevention - How can CalWORKS and Child Welfare (along with community partners) work together to prevent child abuse and neglect. Jenna Nevett, a Consultant on my team had the opportunity to participate in the 2024 Linkages Upstream Convening  The theme for the statewide convening was Applying the Prevention Framework. RTA representatives from the SOP Backbone committee - CWDS (Jenna Nevitt), Northern Training Academy (Tami McCalip and Dawn Carini), and CCTA (Anita Sanchez) - provided a workshop presentation on SOP, ICPM, Congrats on the cross collaboration between Regional Training Academies and Linkages.

Our Family made it through another day/night without a child welfare organization or law enforcement showing up. July 11th: [First communication from anyone since Jun 27th email from judges assistant stating court is not necessary " If Embrace Families can confirm that information, receive updated contact information and update their report to the Court a status hearing is not needed."] "Good evening, I am writing to provide you with the court order resulting from today's hearing, which is attached to this email for your reference. According to the court's decision, it is imperative that you appear on July 27, 2023, at 9am (Courtroom 6) as mandated by the court order. Furthermore, the court has ruled in favor of reinstating supervision for.......... Consequently, the case will be reopened with One Hope United assuming the role of the Case Management Organization. Should you have any questions or require additional information, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Kind regards, Julia Eusebio Clinical UM Manager" Ironically on June 11th, I was in Pensacola, Florida launching an app to support Child Welfare Professional's Well-Being. Florida Office of State Courts Administrator Why do courts/judges have the power to disregard the schedule of parents and caregivers? Embrace Families how are you holding your professionals accountable to fulfill job functions and responsibilities? How do you hold your professionals accountable when inaccurate information is documented and/or reported to the court? How does this demonstrate the "Spirit of Partnership", the foundation Motivational Interiviewing? Picture: Departing Pensacola, Fl June 11th approx 12:30pm #DueProcess #Platform #Position #Power #ParentRights #CaregiverRights #Accountability CNN ABC News NBC News CBC News Fox News Media VICE News PBS Florida House of Representatives The Florida Senate

Lyssn partners with child welfare and human services organizations to demonstrate fidelity to evidence-based practice as required by the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA). We also share our partners’ belief that it’s important to look at FFPSA implementation through a racial equity lens. This article, from the Children’s Defense Fund in Ohio, addresses important ways we call work to address racial bias and inequity in child welfare. https://lnkd.in/gFiu3VZQ #FFPSA #childwelfare #equity #inclusion

The United Coalition For US Child Welfare Reform (UCUCWR) consists of experts on the effects of childhood trauma and the US Child Welfare System. Through thoughtful discussion and credible research, the ultimate goal of UCUCWR is to be a catalyst for enacting federal, state, county, and community reforms to make the US Child Welfare System safer and to help system-impacted youth thrive. If you have lived experience, are a physician experienced with mandated reporting, a children's rights lawyer, a child welfare judge, a child-trafficking investigator, an advocate for LGBTQIA2S+ youth, an advocate for homeless youth, an advocate for justice system-involved youth, a mental health or behavioral health practitioner, a social service worker, a caseworker, a case manager, a researcher, a policy expert, a journalist, a data analyst, a filmmaker, a podcaster, or anyone with relevant experience with the US Child Welfare System, then please join our group. We are open to all perspectives and productive conversations. Please keep the conversations diplomatic and bear in mind when composing your messages that members may have trauma triggers to avoid. It is time to reform the US Child Welfare System. Let us work together and discuss the vital legislation that is necessary to keep children and youth in care safe and thriving. https://lnkd.in/e7pfyQ5u #FosterCare #ChildWelfare #LivedExperience #ChildrensRights #Advocates #Allies #MentalHealthMatters #Traums #JuvenileJustice #Homelessness #TeenPregnancy #LGBTQIA2S+ #Change #Reform #HHS #FCAM2024 #MHAM2024

⭐Dorset's Innovative Family Justice Pilot Promises Positive Change⭐ This weeks article from Social Work Today, highlights a promising pilot scheme being trialled by Dorset council, which aims to create the conditions for families to get the help they and their children need at an earlier stage in an attempt to avert the need for care proceedings. Pilot aims:💭 🔷 Empowering Families: The pilot's goal is to allow families to understand and address social workers' concerns, ensuring their voices are heard in the decision-making process. 🔷 Effective Partnership: Practitioners will be better equipped to work effectively with families, enhancing the overall efficiency of the child welfare and family justice system. 🔷 Inclusive Discussions: The pilot starts with inclusive discussions involving families with experience in the child welfare system, social workers, senior managers, judges, and other professionals to identify successful practices in the current system, and areas for improvement.   Theresa Leavy, Executive Director for People – Children at Dorset Council UK, said they are “delighted” to be the pilot area, at a time where record numbers of children are currently in the care system. The Dorset pilot is part of a wider ‘Reimagining pre-proceedings’ project, which aims to create system change by implementing, and embedding in pre-proceedings work with children and families, learning from the Care Crisis Review and other key reports. It's great to see families being involved in the decision making process in order to try and implement positive change in pre-proceedings. I'm sure many, like myself will be keeping a close eye on the positive impact the pilot has on families in Dorset in the near future.😁 #socialwork #careproceedings #familiesfirst

I was investigated for child ab*se in 2013 after having been a Child Protective Services social worker for ten years. The mistakes made on my case were devastating to my life, but my work experience gave me insight into how poor decision making happens. Hold an image of yourself in your early 20’s, and then imagine that version of yourself being responsible for making decisions about which children have been ab*sed and which haven’t, which children should remain in their homes and which shouldn’t, and which children can return home to their families. Demanding jobs that require higher levels of skill are usually reserved for those with more experience and are rewarded with increased financial compensation, improved benefits, and greater esteem. The opposite is true in child welfare. CPS and foster care are regarded as entry level positions, and so we routinely pair the least experienced professionals with the highest needs children and families. In all the discussions we have about how to improve the child welfare system we have to be aware of this key issue: the lives of our most vulnerable children and families are often in the hands of individuals who don’t quite know what they’re doing yet. We have to take care of the caretakers if we want them to take care of our most vulnerable citizens. And we have to value the families they serve. I’ve written a book about my experience that I hope to publish in late 2024. Memoir-adjacent essays are on my website (link in bio). #childwelfaresystem #childprotection #childprotectiveservices #cps #kansas #socialworker #socialwork

Children and Families Administration Notices (1/2) Publication Date: 10/13/2023 Comments due within 30 days of publication. Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposals, Submissions, and Approvals: (1/2) Evaluation of Resources to Support the Identification and Care of Children with Prenatal Substance or Alcohol Exposure in the Child Welfare System FRDoc#:2023-22676 FRDoc@88 FR 70992 (2 pgs) ACTION: Request for public comments. SUMMARY: The Children's Bureau (CB), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is proposing to collect data for an evaluation of a set of resources that are being developed to support the identification & care of children with prenatal substance or alcohol exposure in the child welfare system. ... This information collection complies with the statutory requirement to carry out research designed to provide information needed to improve the well-being of victims of child abuse or neglect. Specifically, this information collection complies with the requirement for evaluation of practices & programs to improve activities such as identification, screening, medical diagnosis, forensic diagnosis, health evaluations, & services, including activities that promote collaboration between (1) the child protective service system; & (2) (i) the medical community, including providers of mental health & developmental disability services; & (ii) providers of early childhood intervention services & special education for children who have been victims of child abuse or neglect. Respondents: Child welfare professionals, including state and/or county-level directors of child welfare agencies; supervisors; program staff (e.g., investigation/intake, case management, foster care/adoption/permanency, etc.); staff working in specialist roles that align with toolkit resources (e.g., data/quality improvement specialists); local or state agency managers involved in determining agency strategic plans and practice guidance (e.g., substance-exposed newborn program manager); training system lead staff. https://lnkd.in/gvzdxQ-t

New Data: Child welfare impacts in every NYC neighborhood FPP’s neighborhood data pages are designed to help local groups, institutions, organizers and elected officials understand how families in their community are being impacted by the child welfare system and to support community-led planning and advocacy to improve conditions for families. * Find your zip code: https://lnkd.in/gHTbJGJb * Learn more about how to use neighborhood data: https://lnkd.in/ggYerttV Research shows that poverty and economic setbacks put families at risk of investigation and separation, and that economic policies like access to cash assistance and childcare can reduce child welfare involvement. Neighborhood conditions are another factor in family health. Access to supermarkets, safe places to play, parks, libraries, jobs and transportation are protective of families. Neighborhood data pages include information on investigations and foster care entries, hotline calls and allegations, and the demographics of families impacted in every populated zip code in NYC.

Ensuring that children and youth in care are engaged authentically, particularly in relation to permanency, requires a paradigm shift in how the child welfare system understands engagement and views their involvement in decision-making. Children and youth need to be seen as competent, knowledgeable experts who are partners in decisions about their lives, especially those related to legal, cultural and relational permanency. To accomplish its goals, the Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Youth in Finding Permanency (QIC-EY) is partnering with the following sites: - Hawaii 🌺 - Missouri  - Michigan 🎣 - Montana - Oklahoma Southern Plains (CPT) Consortium - Rhode Island 🌊  - Yakama Nation These sites will receive support and resources from the QIC to make changes in how they authentically engage children and youth. The information gained through evaluation of the work being done in the pilot sites will help to transform how children and youth are engaged authentically in child welfare systems throughout the nation. Pilot sites will advance the authentic engagement of children and youth by working in partnership with the QIC-EY over the next four years to: - Identify, implement and evaluate an authentic, child and youth engagement program model; - 🏋️ Implement a child welfare training and coaching curriculum; - Identify and implement systemic changes, and - 🤝 Partner with the courts to implement a training for court professionals and staff #youthengagement #permanency #childwelfare #qicey #socialwork #professionaldevelopment #Hawaii #RhodeIsland #YakamaNation #OklahomaSouthernPlainsConsortium #Montana #Michigan #Missouri Jennifer Rhodes Lanz Christian Bañes Sierra Wollenhall, MSW Penny Putnam Collins, MPA Phoenix Santiago, MSW Yaridania Betancourt Shannon Saxby, LMSW ESTELLA SWAIN Nathan Ross, LMSW Julie Hames LBSW, LCPAA Maci Kean Rita Hart Maria Gagnon Angelique Day Stephanie Hodge Wolfe, MSW, LSW, SFW, LSFW Maria Batista Anna Brown Joshua Christian Oswald Cindy Reed Brittney Barros Faith Alexandria Sharp Miranda Maxson April Dinwoodie Leslie Cohen

I'm excited to share this recent blog developed with colleagues here at AIR that talks about why taking a public health approach to building capacity and advancing equity is essential for preventing child abuse and neglect and improving youth and family well-being...Included are several recommendations to consider. Also included are a variety of resources...I hope you find these helpful. Would love to know your thoughts and please feel free to share!