California Child Welfare Core

Practice Model Design Workshop:

Refining Elements & Building Consensus

MARCH 6 & 7 2014THE WESTIN

LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA

Welcome

Kelly Woodard Director

Madera County Department of Social Services

CWDA Vice President for Services

California Child Welfare Core Practice Model: Past, Present and Future

Diana Boyer, Senior Policy AnalystCounty Welfare Directors Association of California

Sylvia Deporto, Deputy DirectorSan Francisco County Department of Human Services

Background California child welfare reforms have been

implemented by counties since before 2000Most counties have adopted multiple promising

initiatives A number of common elements have transformed

the nature of child welfare work across California Recent efforts have emerged to integrate the

various initiatives into more comprehensive practice modelsKatie A.California Partners for Permanency (CAPP)County-specific practice models

Towards a Statewide Practice Model Beginning in 2012 the CWDA Children’s

Committee has been working to develop a statewide practice model

Monthly subcommittee planning meetings Statewide Workshop in July 2013 Goal:

To define California’s Child Welfare Services as a profession grounded in theory, with a set of core values, common elements and identified behaviors

Stakeholder Engagement Statewide and County-level initiatives have been

informed by broad stakeholder engagementYouth, Parents, Caregivers, Tribes, Communities

Results of that engagement have informed the work of the statewide Practice Model development

Further engagement in inviting partners to today’s workshop

Additional engagement will an essential goal of next steps in the evolution of the Practice Model

Guiding VisionCalifornia’s 58 counties embrace one

practice model that guides their individual Child Welfare Services programs by integrating successful practices into a framework that supports the achievement of safety, permanency and well-being for children and their families in the Child Welfare Services system.

Workshop Objectives ACHIEVE CONSENSUS ON THEORETICAL

FRAMEWORK, VALUES AND COMPONENTS/ELEMENTS OF THE PRACTICE MODEL

ACHIEVE CONSENSUS ON THE PROCESS FOR DEVELOPING PRACTICE BEHAVIORS AND AGREEING ON THE LEVEL OF STANDARDIZATION

DEVELOP A COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR ADDITIONAL INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT OF STAFF AND STAKEHOLDERS

FUTURE WORK

This workshop is one step in moving forward that will help us realize our Guiding Vision

Next steps include:Working with county partners to define

Practice Behaviors, Developing Organizational System Standards, Engagement of internal and external

stakeholders in understanding and embracing the Practice Model

Opening Plenary: One State’s Journey to a Statewide Practice ModelCarole Wilcox, Interim Manager

Child Safety and Permanency Division

Children and Family Services Administration

Minnesota Department of Human Services

Development of California’s Theoretical Framework

Anita Barbee, ProfessorKent School of Social Work, University of Louisville, KY

Practice Model Elements

Theoretical

framework

Values and

principles

Casework componen

ts

Practice elements

Practice behaviors

Overview of Today’s Work

Regional Breakout Conversations to review work to date on Theoretical FrameworkValues and PrinciplesPractice Elements

Input will be recorded and reported back at morning Plenary tomorrow morning

A few words on consensus. . . Your facilitators will take you through a

consensus process Consensus ≠ Unanimity The Design Team has worked very hard

to integrate all of the work that has gone on around the state.

In other words, we don’t necessarily need this:

Breakout GroupsRoom assignments (Map in your packet):

Southern Region 3rd Floor Melbourne Room

Bay Area Region 3rd Floor Naples Rom

Mtn. Valley/North Regions 3rd Floor Casablanca Room

Central Region 4th Floor Palos Verdes Room

County stakeholders, please go with your county group

Statewide stakeholders, please divide yourselves among the regions

Day 2: Welcome Back

Review work from Regional Breakouts All recorded comments will be

forwarded to the Design TeamEveryone’s input will be consideredSome overall themes emerged We will highlight some specific

comments from each group

Overall Themes

“Evidence Based Practice” is too limiting—need to clarify language

Need to explicitly include After-18 services

Need to clarify language about partners, stakeholders, etc; be explicit about public agency partners(including internal partners)

Overall Themes (cont’d)

Simplify language/make it more family-friendly throughout

Apply Values, Principles, Elements inside the agency as well as externally

Make more explicit the importance of organizational culture and climate

Theoretical Framework Overall Response—High Consensus/Enthusiastic

Support across all Regions Bay Area Feedback

More clarity about role of relationships and engagement in the Framewok

Need more synthesizing statements Southern

Competing Values Theory needs more clarification and narrative

Important to drill down from leadership to direct practice—balance between skillful use of authority and engagement

Theoretical Framework (cont’d)

CentralConcern about representing all 4 quadrants of the

Competing Values Theory Northern

Need to be explicit about how to support youth into adulthood

Want to see something more explicit about disease model of addiction

Need to be more explicit about the child and youth in the family

Would like to see more about parent and youth leadership in the Organizational theories

Want to see more about Prevention and Early Intervention

Values Overall Response—High Consensus/Enthusiastic

Support across all Regions Southern

Make sure that there is overall language in the introductory statement about the interplay of the values—that they should be understood as working together

Use “we strive for” vs. “we do” Would like to use Minnesota model of using a word or two to

summarize each Value Potential for Change might be split into two values Healthy and Competent Workforce needs to include

responsibility for oneself Concern about use of word “legal” in referring to family

permanence

Values

NorthernNeed Value about Prevention and Early

InterventionTribes need to be recognized for their

Sovereignty in addition to being partnersNeed to balance transparency and family’s

right to privacyNeed to be more explicit about accepting

youth for who they are

Values (cont’d) Central

Concerned about the word “transparent”—need a better explanation of what it means

Healthy and Competent Workforce Value---needs a principle that translates into an understanding of systems supports and how to make this become a reality

Would like more specificity to ensure inclusion of faith communities, proximal placements

Bay Agency transparency is important within and outside the agency “Grounded in Cultural Responsiveness” needs to be more explicit about

addressing disparities “Services and Supports to meet family needs” needs to be more explicit

about promoting community based early intervention and prevention Add a principle about organizational culture and climate that addresses

Value #8 on Workforce Need to emphasize shared accountability throughout the organization

Practice Elements

Overall Response—High Consensus/Enthusiastic Support across all Regions

SouthernSafety, Permanence, Well-Being doesn’t look like the other elements—it is an outcome

We might adopt Minnesota’s example of “listening” for engagement

Ensure service linkage is included vs. just “advocacting” for services

Shared Commitment and Accountability---one or 2 Elements? Is it an Element?

Trauma informed system parallels—what does it mean? Clarify or eliminate

Elements Central

Safety, Permanency, Well-Being should be more aligned with the Value of Safety, Permanency and Well Being; it is very permanency-skewed; needs to be more about well-being; needs to include screening, should eliminate words “to adulthood” to focus on more transitions

Workforce Support---link more to learning organization, need to be more transparent in communication with workforce

Reword last sentence

Elements

NorthernLast bullet in S,P,WB needs to refer to all

transitions (not just to adulthood)S,P, WB--ratther than talk about recovery,

talk about growth, building parent/family capacity, achieving goals

Cross-walk elements and valuesSelf-Advocacy should be part of

EngagementClarify scope of Advocacy

Elements

Bay AreaOverarching themes: the language “we will

work to…..” is not powerful enough“Child, youth, young adults and family”

should be consistent throughoutInquiry and Exploration—use “strategies” vs.

“tools”Trauma Informed system---more than

“trauma informed” needs to be included

Practice Model Elements

Theoretical

framework

Values and

principles

Casework componen

ts

Practice elements

Practice behaviors

Practice Behaviors

Proposal for identifying Practice Behaviors

Table talk exercise Report back

Practice Behaviors• Define

expected practice so agency and community partners can create coordinated supports.

• Support evaluation of model fidelity and outcomes.

• Provide a framework for training.

Practice Behaviors

• Provide direction to practitioners about how they will practice social work using the practice model.

Getting to Practice Behaviors

Casework components and practice elements provide the scaffolding for practice behaviors

Theories, values and principles guide the selection and development of the behaviors

Our Goal

Identify a set of practice behaviors that areSpecific enough to be observable and

recognizable to all parties involved.Flexible enough to allow for customization to

incorporate county level differences in procedures, tools, and supports.

Analogous to existing practice behaviors already in use.

Informed by our key stakeholders, who know what good practice looks like.

Sample Practice Behaviors Katie A.

Be diligent in reaching out to children and families in ways that are welcoming, appropriate and comfortable for them.

CAPP Assesses with the family and their team the need for

interactive, experiential coaching during visitation and at other times of natural parent/child interaction to improve parenting skills; follows through with identifying, arranging or advocating for this when needed.

SOP Actively engages safety network members to critically

evaluate their group process. Specifically focuses on ways to increase understanding, agreement and collaboration going forward.

Share Findings(feedback loop to stakeholders, communities, counties)

Continue Discussion(convening to share the finalized practice behaviors)

Recommended Process

Table Activity Work as table groups for the next 20

minutes Review the recommended process using

the handouts on your tables Choose someone to speak for your table in

the report out Answer the discussion questions on the

back of the blue copy of the handout Give your YELLOW handout to Barry or

Melissa after the report out

Day 2 Regional Breakouts Overview Outreach and Engagement of both

Internal and External Stakeholders

Overview of Communications Materials and Use for Alignment of materials with engagement strategies

Friday Breakout RoomsSouthern Region Lobby Level

Ocean Ballroom

Bay Area Region 3rd Floor

Tokyo/Vancover Room

Mtn. Valley/North Regions 3rd Floor

Barcelona Room

Central Region 4th Floor

Palos Verdes Room

Recap of Our Work

Objective:○ ACHIEVE CONSENSUS ON THEORETICAL

FRAMEWORK, VALUES AND ELEMENTS OF THE PRACTICE MODEL Largely AccomplishedExcellent Input to Improve the work that we brought

to the WorkshopAdditional work for the Design Team to meld input

into the final Framework, Values and Elements

Recap of Our Work

Objective:○ ACHIEVE CONSENSUS ON THE PROCESS

FOR DEVELOPING PRACTICE BEHAVIORS AND AGREEING ON THE LEVEL OF STANDARDIZATION Excellent input that will help refine the draft

development plan that we provided todayDesign Team will rework the plan to develop a process

that is doable for counties and engaging for partnersAdditional communications materials and technical

assistance/facilitation will be developed to assist in the implementation of this process

Recap of Our Work

Objectives:○ DEVELOP A COMMUNICATION PLAN FOR

ADDITIONAL INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT OF STAFF AND STAKEHOLDERS

Brief Report out from the Regional Groups

Next StepsDesign Team reviews today’s work to incorporate

input on the Framework, Values, and ElementsDefine what we mean by “Practice Behaviors”Develop communication tools and materials and

technical assistance to support the engagement of staff and partners

Engage staff and partners in understanding and embracing the Practice Model

Work with county staff and partners to develop Practice Behaviors,

Develop Organizational System Standards,

What Does the Future Look Like?