permanency enhancement project peoria, illinois
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Permanency Enhancement Project Peoria, Illinois. Jennifer La Fever Elizabeth Morgan Amy Roman 12-03-08. Peoria Action Team Project. Action Team Meeting Action Team Project Data Collection Interviews of Community Leaders Development of an Informational Brochure - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Permanency Enhancement
ProjectPeoria, Illinois
Jennifer La Fever
Elizabeth Morgan
Amy Roman
12-03-08
Peoria Action Team Project
Action Team Meeting Action Team Project
Data Collection Interviews of Community Leaders Development of an Informational Brochure Identification of Community Stakeholders
Peoria County DataPeoria County Population by Age
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
160000
Num
ber o
f Res
iden
ts Under 18 years18 to 64 years65 years and over
Peoria County Population by Race
76.90%
17.40%
2.70%
0.10%
2.60%
0.10%
1.30%
1.60%
0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00% 100.00%
Two or more racesOtherPacific IslanderAsianAmerican IndianHispanicAfrican AmericanCaucasian
Research and statistical data from across the state are indicating that there are discrepancies in indicated child abuse and neglect reports that clients of different ethnicities are receiving
Peoria County (2007) Children Under 18
28311
12561
Caucasian African American
Peoria County (2007) Indicated Cases
279
339
Caucasian African American
African Americans: have had more substantiated reports within 12 months; experienced more substitute care placements within a year; entered and stayed in care longer; more were placed in a group home or institution; and more were placed in kinship care.
Peoria County (2007) Children in Care
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Traditional FosterCare
Specialized FosterCare
Kinship Care Institutional/GroupCare
Type of Placement
Nu
mb
er o
f C
hil
dre
n
Caucasian African American
Why are African American children so grossly over-represented? Pope and Feyerherm’s (1995) research
Racism lays at all levels of the system and begins from the first encounter that a family has with an authority figure (police or DCFS investigator)
At every single decision check point that a youth makes through the juvenile justices system, African Americans are over-represented
Pope, C. E. & Feyerherm, W. (1995). Minorities and the juvenile justice system: Research summary. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Department of Justice, Washington, DC. 1-26.
What can be done to address the over-representation?
National Center for Cultural Competence (2007) has several suggestions:
develop program initiatives to address these differences, which should include educating local communities and agencies on the prevalence of the problem
agencies should conduct self assessments to check where they stand in their attitudes, procedures, policies, and staff towards cultural competence
programs should be tailored to meet the needs of a diverse array of families and clients (later hours, etc)
above all, ongoing assessment and training are critical in identifying discrepancies and correcting them
Goode, T. & Jones, W. (2007). A guide for advancing family-centered and culturally and linguistically competent care. Washington, DC: National Center for Cultural Competence,
Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development.
Central Region Permanency Enhancement Project
From Robert Blackwell, Central Region Administrator for Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, March 14, 2007:
The Central Region Permanency Enhancement Symposium was held in 2007 and represents the culmination of a six year process to address the over representation of African American children in foster care that began with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services African American Advisory Council. During this period, representatives from the Council met with several directors of the Department to discuss the role, philosophy and practice of staff that affected the safety, permanency and well-being of African American children in care. The issues presented focused on examining our current practices and how to engage birth parents, community stakeholders, and child welfare professionals to provide better results . . . with the goal of reducing over representation of African American children in care.”
Goals of the CRPEP Team
1.Reduce overrepresentation of African American youth in foster care2.Improve Return Home permanency outcomes3.Maintain children in the home4.Improve Adoption/Guardianship permanency outcomes
The overall goal of DCFS is to provide quicker reunification and to prevent entry into the system. It is of high priority to move clients through the system as quickly as possible to gain permanent outcomes in a timely fashion.
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Next Meeting:
Peoria County Courthouse 324 Main St. Peoria, IL
January 8, 2009 11:30 a.m.
CRPEP December 2008
Number of Children2004 Peoria County Caucasian African AmericanPermanency at 12 months 14 8Permanency at 24 months 28 28Permanency at 36 months 58 52
Median Length of Stay (months) 33 31*University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
2007 Peoria County StatisticsCaucasians under 18 28,311
African American under 18 12,561
Caucasian child abuse reports 279
African American child abuse 339
*U.S. Census Bureau
Number of Children
2007 in Peoria County Caucasian African American
Traditional Foster 68 133Specialized Foster 52 103Kinship Care 83 177Institutional/Group 10 22*U.S. Census Bureau
Current Participants
CASA
DCFS
GAL
State’s Attorney
Children’s Home
Lutheran Social Services
Catholic Social Services
Judges
Family to Family
ISU School of Social Work
South Side Mission
Current Participants
CASA
DCFS
GAL
State’s Attorney
Children’s Home
Lutheran Social Services
Catholic Social Services
Judges
Family to Family
ISU School of Social Work
South Side Mission
Current CRPEP
Team Projects
-Recruitment of foster homes in specific areas and populations
-Reducing time in care and addressing the issues and barriers that exist
-Improving staff training as there appears to be inadequate foundations training as staff are unprepared for court
-Continue to the next step regarding a cross-training needs assessment that has been completed
-Standardization of counseling and treatment reports to make charts easier to understand
-Utilize in-service trainings to train staff with outside speakers
-Addressing communication breakdown between DCFS and private agencies, case workers, supervisors, and management regarding court report problems
Web Links of
Interest
DCFS
http://www.state.il.us/dcfs/index.shtml
CASA
http://www.nationalcasa.org/