Illinois Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting Families Program

1
Illinois Pathways to Strengthening and Supporting
Families Program

• Executive Staff - Control Group DR Training

1
2
The National Quality Improvement Center on
Differential Response in Child Protective
Services (QIC-DR), following a competitive
process selected three national demonstration
sites to implement and rigorously evaluate
DR.The sites selected are1) 5 counties in
Colorado2) 6 counties in Ohio3) The State of
Illinois
3
What is the QIC-DR?

• The National Quality Improvement Center on
  Differential Response in Child Protective
  Services (QIC-DR) is funded by the federal
  government to
• Improve child welfare outcomes by implementing DR
  and build cutting edge, innovative and replicable
  knowledge about DR
• Enhance capacity at the local level to improve
  outcomes for children and families identified for
  suspected abuse and neglect
• Provide guidance on best practices in DR
• American Humane Association operates the QIC-DR
• Walter R. McDonald Associates is responsible
  for overseeing the national evaluation
• The American Bar Association, the National
  Conference of State Legislatures and the
  Institute of Applied Research are partners

4
What does the QIC-DR expect to learn from this?

• This project has three fundamental questions
• Are children whose families participate in
  Differential Response (DR) as safe as or safer
  then children whose families receive a
  traditional investigation?
• What are the differences between DR and the
  traditional investigation pathways in terms of
  family engagement, caseworker practice, services
  provided, and other factors that may affect child
  and family outcomes?
• What are the cost and funding implications for
  child protection agencies that implement and
  maintain a differential response approach that
  includes both DR and traditional investigations?

5
Background in Illinois

• Majority of reports to the hotline are
  unfounded
• Low to moderate risk families better served using
  strength-based, family-centered assessment
• Illinois enacted the Differential Response
  Program Act (Public Act 096-0760) into law on
  August 25, 2009

6
Why did Illinois want to be a Differential
Response national demonstration site?

• The most recent child protective system reform in
  Illinois occurred over 15 years ago with the
  implementation of the Child Endangerment Risk
  Assessment Protocol (CERAP)
• The DR approach is consistent with the goals of
  the Illinois child welfare system because it is
  family centered and strengths-based
• Despite significant drops in both short term (60
  days) and 6 month maltreatment recurrence rates
  since 1995, the most recent federal Child and
  Family Service Review (CFSR) results show some
  disturbing trends

7
Outcomes/Items Substantially Achieved 2003 2009 Trend
Safety 1 Children protected from abuse/neglect Item 2 Repeat maltreatment 91 93 86 82 Down Down
Permanency 2 Continuity of family relationships Item 14 Preserving connections Item 16 Relationship of child in care with parents 76 92 77 55 73 39 Down Down Down
Well-Being 1 Families have enhanced capacity Item 18 Family involvement in case plan Item 20 Caseworker visits with parents 52 57 55 45 47 44 Down Down Down
8
Who is responsible for evaluating DR in Illinois?

• The Children and Family Research Center (CFRC)
  has been in existence since 1996 and is located
  at the School of Social Work, University of
  Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• CFRC is an independent research organization
  dedicated conducting research that contributes to
  keeping children safe, assuring permanent homes
  for them, and supporting child and family
  well-being
• CFRC is responsible for reporting annually to the
  federal court on the status of children in foster
  care or at risk of foster care
• The Center conducts the annual CERAP evaluation
  and evaluates the other Illinois QIC project on
  performance based contracting

9
What does Illinois want to learn from this?

• In addition to the QIC-DR research questions, the
  CFRC evaluation will look at contextual factors
  which could impact DR implementation and outcomes
  such as differences in
• The culture and climate of agencies implementing
  DR (e.g. norms, values, expectations and
  attitudes)
• The organizational structure or agencies
  implementing DR (e.g. staff selection,
  supervision, internal resources and supports)
• Worker characteristics (e.g. educational
  background, experience)
• Worker resources and conditions (e.g. job
  satisfaction, burnout)
• The CFRC is also looking more closely at the
  interaction between caseworkers and families in
  both the DR and the traditional investigation
  pathways to identify specific factors or
  strategies which lead to family engagement

10
Is Differential Response an Evidenced-Based
Practice?

• A recent review of the literature shows that 17
  states or jurisdictions have completed or are
  conducting formal evaluations of their DR
  programs
• Only 2 of these jurisdictions used an
  experimental design with random assignment to
  different pathways (Minnesota Ohio)
• The California Evidence Based Clearinghouse for
  Child Welfare gave DR a scientific rating of 3
  (promising research evidence) on a scale of 1
  (well supported research evidence) to 5
  (concerning practice)

11
What is a randomized control trial (RTC)?

• It is a planned field experiment based on
  well-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria, that
• Has a treatment group (the people who receive
  the new service/treatment/intervention) and a
  control group (the people who either receive
  the existing service/treatment/ no treatment or
  nothing)
• Randomly assigns participants to either the
  treatment or control groups and
• Takes relevant measurements of both groups when
  the service/treatment/intervention is complete

12
(No Transcript)
13
What is the criteria to qualify for DR?

1. The identifying information for the family
   including their current address, has to be known
   at the time of the report and
2. The alleged perpetrators must be parents, birth
   or adoptive, legal guardians or responsible
   relatives and
3. The family must have no prior indicated reports
   of abuse and/or neglect or

14
What is the criteria to qualify for DR?

• Prior indicated reports have been expunged
  within the timeframe established by the
  Department for the indicated allegation(s) and
• The alleged victims, or other siblings or
  household members, are not currently in the care
  and custody of the Department or wards of the
  court and
• Protective custody of the children has not been
  taken or required in the current or any previous
  case

15
DR Allegations

• The report allegations shall only include
• Mental and Emotional Impairment (neglect only)
• Inadequate Supervision
• Inadequate Food
• Inadequate Shelter
• Inadequate Clothing
• Medical Neglect
• Environmental Neglect
• Lockout

Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
15
16
Practice Shift
Present Practice DR Practice
Safety Assessment Determination Safety Assessment Determination
Indicate or Unfound
Service Assessment (based on CA/N) No referrals and linkages (worker is agent of change)
Involuntary Voluntary
Longer Term Up to 90 Days
Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
16
17
DR is not

• A Child Protection investigation
• No investigation
• A Child Welfare Intake report
• Report has been accepted by SCR
• An Intact Families case
• No I/U finding

Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
17
18
Who are the families meeting the criteria for
differential response?

• Identified from current case information families
  that met criteria for Differential Response
• Mapped these as cases per mile
• Identified potential high volume areas
• Added a layer to maps for existing community
  provider locations

Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
18
19
Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
19
20
Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
20
21
Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
21
22
Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
22
23
Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
23
24
Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
24
25
Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
25
26
50 Cases Per Square Mile
Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
26
27
What are the implications of the Pathways Program
for practice?

• How is this different from traditional Child
  Welfare/Child Protection practice?

Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
27
28
Core Practices of the Illinois DR Program

• Family Centered
• Time Limited Services
• Trauma-informed Practice
• Strength-based
• Application of the Protective Factors
• Voluntary Services that are based on the
  assessment of the family needs to strengthen and
  support their protective capacity and
• Solution-focused Services that the family has
  defined to solve their immediate problems.

Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
28
29
DR Core Principles Example

• Mr. And Mrs. Smith volunteer to receive DR
  services for a report of Inadequate Food. Mr.
  Smith was recently laid off his job. Mrs. Smith
  has been in and out of the hospital lately. They
  have a network of friends and relatives. All are
  willing to help them and their children.

Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
29
30
Example of a track change from DR to Traditional
Investigation

• Mr. And Mrs. Smith are receiving DR services for
  a report of Inadequate Food. They have a network
  of friends and relatives. All are willing to
  help them and their children.
• The SSF Worker observed loop marks on 8 year old,
  Armand Smith during his home visit today. The
  child stated he was whooped last night.

Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
30
31
Sending a DR Case Back to Investigations
Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
31
32
Sending a DR Case Back to Investigations (Contd)
Division of Service Support, Office of Training
and Professional Development
March 15, 2010
32
33

• What types of information and data will be
  collected and analyzed for the DR evaluation?

34
34
35
Evaluation Data Sources

• These data collection methods will be used for
  both the DR and the traditional investigation
  pathways
• Differential Response Case Specific Report on
  each case
• Surveys and Focus Groups of Investigators, DCFS
  DR Specialists, and PSSF Caseworkers and
  Supervisors
• Surveys of Family Caregivers at the close of the
  investigation or DR services
• Individual Interviews with Family Caregivers
  after the close of the investigation or DR
  services
• Naturalistic Observation by evaluation team
• Administrative Data from SACWIS

36

• What is my role in collecting or providing data
  for the evaluation?

37
You play a critical and essential role!

• Frontline staff who have cases in the Randomized
  Control Trial in either the control group or the
  experimental group have the responsibility for
  the following
• Filling out the Case Specific Report on each case
• Proving the family caregiver with the Family Exit
  Survey and information about it
• Telling us about your own experiences and
  opinions in filling out a caseworker voluntary
  survey

38
Differential Response Case Specific Report

• Required by the QIC-DR Cross Site evaluation team
• The same type of data and information is being
  collected in Ohio and Colorado
• Designed to gather detailed information about the
  families, your involvement with them and the
  services (if any) needed and provided
• Will be filled out by you at the time the
  investigation (for Control Group) or the case
  (for Experimental Group) is closed

39
DR Case Specific Report

• At case closure you will be prompted to fill it
  out as part of your closure protocol in SACWIS
• The data recorded by you will be given to the
  Children Family Research Center as critical
  administrative data for their analysis
• It is vitally important to accurately record your
  answers to the items on the Case Specific Report
• The time needed to fill out the report will be
  dependent upon what occurred during the case, but
  it will not take you long to fill out

40

• How will the evaluators get information from
  families?

41
The Family Exit Survey

• What is this survey about? It will collect
  information from families about their engagement
  and satisfaction with child protection
• Who gets this survey? The primary caregiver
  should be given a survey packet for every case in
  the RTC in both the Control and Experimental
  groups.
• Who gives the survey to caregivers? Investigators
  (for Control Group) and DR Caseworkers (for
  Experimental Group) give a survey packet directly
  to the primary caregiver.
• When do they get this survey? The packet should
  be handed to the primary caregiver at the last
  face-to-face contact before case closure

42
The Family Exit Survey

• What is in the packet? A cover letter explaining
  the survey, an informed consent form, the survey,
  and the return envelope
• How do I get these packets? A large supply of
  survey packets will be provided to a designated
  person at each DCFS field office and DR agency.
  You should have some with you at all times.
• Ive got a packet. Now what? Before your last
  face-to-face contact with the family, take the
  survey from a packet and fill in the family SCR
  or CYCIS number in the space provided on the
  first page, and put survey back in envelop. Hand
  the packet to caregiver.

43

• Will data be collected from me about my
  experience and opinion?

44
All Investigators/Supervisors and all DR
Caseworkers/Supervisors will be offered the
opportunity to complete a survey. The survey
will be offered immediately following training
and again in approximately 12-18 months.
45
How do I get the survey?

• You will receive an e-mail telling you about the
  survey and asking if you want to participate
  after you complete training.
• If you do, you can click on the link included in
  the e-mail and it will take you directly to the
  CFRC server.
• Only the CFRC evaluators will have access to this
  server and the data pertaining to the survey.

46
Who do I contact if I have questions about the
evaluation or want to learn more about it?

• Dr. Tamara Fuller, Director
• Children and Family Research Center
• t-fuller_at_illinois.edu
• [phone]

47
Who do I contact if I have questions about the
implementation or want to learn more about it?

• Womazetta Jones
• Project Director, Differential Response
• Illinois Department of Children Family
  Services
• 312-814-6800 Womazetta.Jones_at_illinois.gov

48

• Thank you
• Keep the focus on protecting children by
• strengthening and supporting families