STRENGTHEN FAMILIES LOCALLY

Original Date: 4/7/21

Family Support Programs Division

4/12/21 In attendance: Kimberly Riley, Lisa Lechuga, Ursula Peters, Tamra Ingwaldson, Melissa Lund, Linda Segur, Marlaina Simmons, Julian Padgett, Yolanda Marzest, Victoria Alfors, Melissa Pittenger, Victoria Hilt, Ashley Jensen, Lindsey Phillips, Erinn Havig, Joy Lile

Important documents: SFL onboarding document:

https://dcyf.box.com/s/pirdixemujfr1hw75gj3bp0enhebq1c4

Bremerton Project Overview:

https://dcyf.box.com/s/f6ytycmw2dyrlyw75udyckr9q0o0r4ay Sensemaker FAQ document: (Check here for social media post/email wording)

https://dcyf.box.com/s/mqkjyghhd9x6u7ilsz8n5igg0d57nfey Reminder: Enter stories about the successes and challenges you are seeing in families! New Sensemaker “Share a Story” flyer: https://www.dcyf.wa.gov/sites/default/files/pubs/FS_0057.pdf Next meeting: May 10th, 1-3 pm

Topic: Priority Project Planning 2nd Monday of the month, 1-3 Visual t imeline for 2021-22

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Needs/Opportunity Mapping

Opportunity Matrix - laying out what people have said in conversations and discussion: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IM9BztySqRSnrkzGLWE74E22r43on2qgxKMiY567zJE/edit?usp=sharing

Group made a few tweaks in the matrix, mostly around available resources. Opportunity Map - understanding connections and relationships between needs:

https://miro.com/welcomeonboard/HpS5OiL1TGr60DcTBkgrh1EBnMBZrbw5bKEjkA2Ep3IzoLyKVAbusa3od6e0NKU9

Activity: Interrelationship Diagram https://asq.org/quality-resources/relations-diagram#:~:text=An%20interrelationship%20diagram%20is%20defined,that%20are%20not%20easily%20recognizable

We created the following map to understand relationships between needs in the community:

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For each need, arrows coming in represent things that may influence that need, and arrows going out represent ways that that need may influence others. Arrows are then counted and represented as a ratio (3 arrows in/0 arrows out). “Out” arrows represent a driving factor, while “in” arrows represent a symptom of other needs. This helps us see what the “root causes” are, and the most influential areas to address through our programming. Note, this activity represents the people who were in the room at the time, acknowledging that it was a small group and some voices were missing. The following counts emerged:

• Systems Collaboration: 1 in/8 out. Influencing Equity, Supporting Providers, Social Connections, Resource and Referral, Schools, Parent Education, Youth

o Involving hospitals – can help with parent education for parents of newborns o Youth: Runaway youth have a lack of response from law enforcement, providers, leading to

abandonment o The importance of “upfront” investments for equity, not putting equity on the back burner o Resource and Referral: How to collaborate intakes between providers?

• Public Transportation: 1 in/7 out. Influencing equity, social connections, Meeting Basic Needs, Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault, childcare, legal challenges for residents

o Legal challenges – inability to meet deadlines and requirements due to lack of transportation o Meeting Basic Needs – Workforce development and employment – need transportation to do so o Puget Sound Regional Council is collecting Transpiration data for Kitsap/Bremerton

• Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault: 2 in, 5 out. Influencing Mental Health & Trauma Care, Supporting Providers, Housing, Resource and referral, Schools

o Discrimination and stigmatization against survivors o Need for specialized training for practitioners – social work, law enforcement

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• Equity: 4 in, 4 out. Influencing Supporting Providers, Family Support, Mental Health and Trauma, and Resource and Referral.

o Access to Translators was noted as an equity challenge with Resource and Referral and Provider access. 211 might be able to support this.

o Youth: Access to services is inequitable o Accessing providers can be stigmatizing, especially for certain populations who are already

marginalized. Supports should be provided in a universal way. o Support for direct payments to diverse providers so that more providers can provide DCYF families

with more diverse services. Example: providing therapy support for a Caucasian family with a Black-identified foster child. Also works for connections with law enforcement, family navigators – connecting with someone they are comfortable with to support families better

• Telehealth connections: 0 in, 4 out. Influencing Mental health and Trauma care, Substance Use Disorder, Schools, Childcare

o Raised as a possibility for supports o Is a mixed bag – can cause additional challenge and trauma for survivors of trauma and sexual

violence. But, can also be a life line for people who don’t feel comfortable in-person • Housing: 2 in, 3 out. Influencing Equity, Family Support, Youth.

o City of Bremerton is partnering to make rental assistance available for middle-income families o FAR staff have challenges finding housing for special needs children and families o Youth – lack of safe housing, known abusers/traffickers are housing youth

• Resource and Referral: 3 in, 2 out. Influencing Systems Collaboration, Parent Education o Parent Education: Lack of information for parents of school-aged children – the elementary school

cliff o Systems Collaboration: How to target services without self-identification, need to reduce stigma in

accessing services like mental health, trauma support • Meeting Basic Needs: 1 in, 2 out. Influencing Public Transportation, Family Support

o Family Support: “Business” hours may be hard to access – accessibility on evenings/weekends for providers

o Public Transportation is seen as strongly linked to Meeting Basic Needs • Parent Education: 2 in/2 out. Influencing Youth and Social Connections.

o Youth transitioning out of foster care lack support, creating cycles of trauma and young families back in CPS

• Supporting Providers: 2 in, 1 out. Influencing equity through connections with diverse providers. • Data: 1 out. Linking to Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault – lack of data on need and target audience • Mental Health & Trauma Care: 3 in, 1 out

o Equity – supporting diverse providers to connect with families with diverse identities o Specialized trauma care is hard to access – sexual exploitation, children witnessing DV o Basic mental healthcare is hard to access

• Social connections: 3 in, 0 out • Schools: 3 in, 0 out • Youth: 3 in, 0 out • Childcare: 2 in, 0 out • Substance use disorder: 1 in, 0 out

Other comments about needs (shared in Chat):

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- Lack of support for parents of abuse survivors (sexual abuse/exploitation) leading to neglect of admitting that it is happening at all.

- Lack of screening amidst service providers broadly that speaks the language of the survivors (coming from a Polyvictimization approach to care) around human trafficking/sexual exploitation to which prevents earlier identification

- There is a history of doing to communities instead of doing with and figuring out exactly what the community needs

- Book recommendation: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent https://www.google.com/books/edition/Caste/_er2DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover

- If [teens] are running away multiple times, wouldn't that indicate an issue that needs to be investigated? - United Way - "ALICE" families

Comments about resources (shared in Chat) - under Housing - resource = Housing Solutions Center (they do initial intake & assist with coordinating with

housing providers). - Resource for as many areas as you think is appropriate is 2-1-1 - Under Equity, Kitsap County Council for Human Rights as a resource? - Scarlet Road - trainings for foster parents (and prospective foster parents) to build more confidence in

what it means to be a foster parent for a survivor of exploitation as well as screening tools for providers (substance use, broad trauma, housing, etc). All are free. Also provides full agency trainings around this issue and how to use these tools

- Mental/Behavioral Health needs/support has been a big topic in the Legislature this year - Another resource for parents with infants; https://www.clickforbabies.org/ - Kitsap Legal Services is screening families for legal services if they are facing eviction when the moratorium

is lifted - How can what are being shared as needs/challenges issues be part of the next Community Health Survey

that KPHD leads? -

Additional supports that were brought up during the meeting (added to the “Opportunity Matrix): - Telehealth connections (can be support or challenge – adds to flexibility and meeting people where they

are) - Intentionality around collaboration and connection/networking - Services and supports for families on the “edge” of poverty – the benefits cliff - Parent-peer mentoring – universal opportunities for mentorship/connection (through Hospital/primary

care?) - Providing DCYF payments to diverse providers to serve families better

Emerging Opportunities:

These are the opportunities which have emerged from conversations and discussion. Some of them are more specific than others, and some may group together. This is for review for next month.

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