Commission on Children in Foster CareMay 20, 2013
Members present: Justice Bobbe Bridge (ret.), Washington State Supreme Court, Commission Co-Chair
Asst. Secretary Jennifer Strus, DSHS Children’s Administration, Commission Co-Chair
Mr. Jim Bamberger, Office of Civil Legal Aid
Mr. Mike Canfield, Co-Chair, Foster Parents Association of Washington State
Mr. Ken Emmil, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
Ms. Chorisia Folkman, NW Intertribal Court System Representative
Ms. Joanne Moore, Washington State Office of Public Defense
Ms. Tonia Morrison, Parent Advocate Representative
Rep. Mary Helen Roberts, Washington State House of Representatives
Judge Kitty-Ann van Doorninck, Superior Court Judges’ Association
Ms. Carrie Wayno, Attorney General’s Office
Members not present:
Ms. Beth Canfield; Senator Mike Carrell; Mr. Ryan Cummings; Rep. Ruth Kagi; Ms. Jeannie Kee;
Executive Director at Washington State Casa Guests:
Ms. Cindy Bricker, Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC); Ms. Helen Lakeru, Many Lights Foundation; Ms. Brooklyn Jones, The Mockingbird Society; Ms. Laurie Lippold, Partners for Our Children; Ms. Lorrie Thompson, AOC; Ms. Mandy Urwiler, The Mockingbird Society.
Staff present:
Ms. Alyson McLean, CCFC Intern, Center for Children & Youth Justice (CCYJ)
Staff not present:
Mr. Michael Curtis, Executive Director; Ms. Susan Peterson, AOC.
Call to Order
Asst. Secretary Jennifer Strus called the meeting to order.
Welcome and Introductions
Asst. Secretary Jennifer Strus welcomed Commission members and guests. A special welcome was given to Tonia Morrison, newly appointed Parent Advocate Member. Ms. Morrison introduced herself and expressed her passion for helping parents who are going through dependency proceedings.
Approval of March 20, 2013 Meeting Minutes
Asst. Secretary Jennifer Strus presented the meeting minutes from March 11, 2013. Judge Kitty-Ann van Doorninck suggested a change. Motion to approve the minutes with the change was made by Judge van Doorninck. The motion was seconded by Ms. Joanne Moore. The March 11, 2013 meeting minutes were unanimously approved with the changes.
DSHS/Children’s Administration Updates
Family Assessment Response (FAR) Program
Asst. Secretary Strus reported that the Family Assessment Response (FAR) implementation has been delayed due to the budget uncertainties. Twelve offices have been through the readiness assessment process to determine if they are ready for FAR. A few of the offices are not ready due to the offices not having enough space for implementation. Offices that are ready will be chosen on May 24, 2013.
Asst. Secretary Strus said she met with Eric Fenner who ran the Franklin County Department of Social Services in Columbus, Ohio, which implemented an alternative response system on a county level. The meeting allowed her to gain insight on how to engage the community in the FAR process.
Washington State Adoption
Asst. Secretary Strus reported that adoptions are down 40 percent. Asst. Secretary Strus said she thinks the drop is a management issue, specifically a result of the unified home study process being transferred from the Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to the Division of Licensed Resources (DLR). When DCFS was responsible for the home studies they were completing 3.5 to 4 home studies per FTE per month; however, under DLR’s charge 1 to 1.5 per FTE per month are completed. To mediate this, an AA from Region 3 has been brought in to supervise and manage the adoption studies. Children’s Administration (CA) is also looking at other potential causes for the decrease.
Justice Bridge brought up a previous year where there was an adoption rate decrease which was caused by a backlog of termination cases at the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), which was fixed by hiring more staff. Asst. Secretary Strus said that in previous years private agencies have been hired to help with the adoption home studies but the unions have often stalled these efforts, and that she did not believe that the delay was because of the AGO.
Representative Mary Helen Roberts asked if it the adoption rate reduction could be a result of the budget cuts to adoption support subsidies. Asst. Secretary Strus said that although she has heard many complaints from foster parents in regards to the cuts, she is unsure if it is causing a reduction in adoption rates.
Mr. Mike Canfield said there has been an increased effort to educate parents to make sure they are ready for adoption to ensure successful adoptions.
Child Fatalities
Asst. Secretary Strus stated that there has been an increased rate of fatalities of children ages 0-3 for whom CA has no record or history. There have been five fatalities in the last four months all of which were due to abuse. Asst. Secretary Strus said that often people do not make referrals when they are concerned for a child’s well-being because they do not want to get involved, and CA cannot get involved unless there is a report. Asst. Secretary Strus stated that it is hoped that the FAR will help with getting people to make reports, because it allows for people to make reports without feeling like they are denouncing families. It is framed as a tool to support families.
Representative Roberts asked why DSHS was getting involved if the children were not in the system, and Asst. Secretary Strus responded that it is because there are other kids in the home. There have been instances where, after fatalities, when DSHS wants to get involved, the police have asked DSHS to not step in yet because they feel it will impede the criminal investigation. Assistant Secretary Strus stated that nonetheless the children’s safety is the primary concern of the Department.
Ms. Morrison noted that community education should be increased. She explained that there is still a bias against Child Protective Services (CPS) and that it is important to highlight that the Department, the courts, and the police are working together for the same cause, protecting the children.
New Visions
Ms. Carrie Wayno briefed the Commission on New Vision Programs. New Vision operates under contract with the State. Last year there were concerns that the facilities were not in compliance with their contract agreements. The Department did a comprehensive review and found several incidents where incident reports and medicine records were changed. After these findings the Department began removing the foster care youth and is considering licensing action. New Visions sued the Department for breach of contract, asking that youth not be removed and that the ones who were removed be returned. The court denied New Visions’ motion for a temporary restraining order against the Department and found that the contract did not grant the remedy they requested.
Hope Lights Community Presentation
Ms. Helen Lakeru presented on the work of the Many Lights Foundation and their efforts to build the Hope Lights Community. Ms Lakeru described the community which they hope to construct in the Puget Sound area to support families adopting children from foster care, at-risk kinship families, and elders who desire connection and purpose. The Many Lights Community will provide parents and foster care parents the support they need to raise their children and will include a community center, library, tutoring, computer rooms, and gardens. The preliminary project budget is 11 million dollars with an annual operational budget of $500,000 per year. Projected opening date is 2017. Ms Lakeru then discussed the Hope Meadows community in Illinois on which the Hope Lights Community is based. The community has been able to support the youth and their families and has been very successful. Ms. Lakeru is asking for letters of support. No Commission action was taken.
Dependency and Timeliness Report
Ms. Cindy Bricker presented on the Dependent Children in Washington: Case Timeliness and Outcomes Report. Ms. Bricker highlighted that on page 17 there is a new section on the racial and ethnic disparity in dependency cases. The report is available online at www.courts.wa.gov/wsccr. Justice Bridge noted how user-friendly and useful the report is as a management tool. Mr. Bamberger commented that the report shows that the courts will not be quantifying disproportionality as what comes into the system, only comparing at benchmark points once a case has been filed; this unfortunately only tells us a piece of the story. Mr. Bamberger suggested that it would be useful to include the underlying demographic break down to continue to enhance and make the disproportionality data more comprehensive. Representative Roberts discussed racial disproportionality in the adult justice system and how that may affect racial disproportionality for youth in the court system.
Justice Bridge asked how the Dependency and Timeliness Report Committee was doing and if they have been able to adapt to collect different and new data that can be more useful. Judge van Doorninck mentioned that the committee is looking at adding qualitative measures.
Foster Youth and Alumni Leadership Summit and Youth Advocacy Day Update
Ms. Mandy Urwiler gave an update on the status of the Mockingbird Society’s legislative priorities:
· 72 hour notification was signed into law on Feb 27, 2013.
· The Extended Foster Care bill and Sibling Visits bill are slated to be signed on May 21st.
· The Youth Opportunities Act was not passed.
· Legal counsel for all youth in care. Though it has not been one of Mockingbirds lead priorities they have been a large supporter of it. It does not look like it will be signed this year, but they hope that it will come up next year.
Ms. Brooklyn Jones presented on the legislative efforts and gave a Foster Youth and Alumni Leadership Summit preview. Ms. Jones said that on May 18th Mockingbird hosted their Quarter 2 Student Leadership Council (SLC) meeting which marks the beginning of their legislative calendar. Two chapter leaders from each region throughout the state brought forth the possible issues they would like presented during the legislative cycle. The following topics were discussed: alternatives for psychotropic medicine; full implementation of extended foster care; permanency pact; school continuity; protecting and encouraging normal childhood experiences.
The Youth Summit will be held June 24, 25, and 26 at Seattle University. This year the Summit will return to the core priorities of Mockingbird, including learning leadership and advocacy skills and how to build relationships. Youth from all over the state will join together to build relationships and share their experiences, allowing youth to understand the power of their voice and that they are not alone. The Summit will help the youth make a difference by articulating their needs effectively. There will be workshops that will focus on voice development practices, and there will be time to help them perfect their presentation, receive feedback to present their needs most effectively, and to be leaders. This year the Youth and Alumni Summit received the biggest level of interest to date: the Mockingbird Society received 93 applications and will accept 60.
National Adoption Day
Ms. Lorrie Thompson presented on the 8th Annual National Adoption Day which was held on November 16th. Ms. Thompson said the day was a big success. There were 19 events held involving 21 county courts including two new courts. This year 172 kids were adopted bringing the total number of children adopted since Washington began celebrating National Adoption Day to 1,302. The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) asked Warm 106.9 radio station to become an annual sponsor along with DSHS. Further, Dan Wilson with the Mariners has expressed interested in getting more involved. More information is available on National Adoption Day at: http:///www.wcourts.wa.gov/newsinfo/adoptionday. Justice Bridge thanked Lorrie for her hard work on the events to make them successful.
2013 Legislative Update
Representative Roberts discussed the passing of the Sibling Visitation Bill (HB 1204, SB 5389) and the Extended Foster Care Bill (HB 1302, SB 5405) which will both be signed into law on May 21, 2013. Representative Roberts stated that out of budget concerns the employment category was removed from the bill to ensure that more vulnerable children were able to receive support. Representative Roberts expressed that it is clear that the pathway out of childhood into adulthood is through more education or work training, and it is hoped that extended foster care will help that transition.
Ms. Laurie Lippold, Partners for Our Children, discussed HB 1566, relating to the education outcomes of youth in out-of-home care, which was signed into law on May 8, 2013. The bill includes the creation of an educational liaison that will be in charge of tracking youth in care’s academic progress. In the House budget there is funding for a pilot for some school districts to consider what can improve graduation rates for foster care kids.
Other bills that were discussed include:
· HB 1774 – Relating to measuring performance of the child welfare system; signed into law on
May 10, 2013. · HB 1821 – Relating to good cause exceptions during permanency hearings; signed into law on
May 10, 2013. · HB 1424 – Relating to dropout prevention.
· HB 1284 – Relating to the rights of parents who are incarcerated or in residential substance abuse treatment. This bill tries to keep children who have a parent incarcerated more connected.
· SB 5565 – Relating to background checks; signed into law May 8, 2013.
Normalcy Workgroup
Ms. Jeannie Kee was unable to attend the meeting.
WA-QIC Update
Justice Bridge presented the WA-QIC update. Data is being collected. Hopefully there will be some preliminary data by next spring. They currently have a response rate of 95 percent from the attorneys involved (both experimental and control groups). Eight new attorneys were trained in March. There are now 115 trained lawyers involved in the study in Washington State.
Decision Makers Summit Review and Group Discussion
Ms. Alyson McLean, CCYJ Evans School Intern, gave an update on her “sunset review” of the Decision Makers Summit Report. She reported that despite success during the last four years, four commitments have seen little progress or have been stalled and deserve to be readdressed:
· Providing funding for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) (Commitment 56);
· Seeking funding to initiate a pilot project appointing attorneys for youth in dependency proceedings (Commitments 7, 8, and 10);
· Reviewing the legal definition of “parent” (Commitment 53);
· Improving the transition from the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration (JRA) care to stable post-release placement for youth requiring out of home placement (Commitment 43).
With regard to the commitment on the definition of the legal definition of “parent,” Representative Roberts stated that this is a very political issue which is not very simple to address. The Commission decided that this commitment is best left unaddressed at this time.
For the commitment regarding CASA funding, Judge van Doorninck discussed that the Senate budget takes a huge bite out of the AOC which then has no choice but to cut funding for CASA. Mr. Bamberger stated that one problem is that CASA is not a line item in the AOC budget.
For the commitment regarding an attorney appointment pilot project, Judge van Doorninck noted that there is a pilot program for attorney appointment in Spokane. Justice Bridge said that they would still need money for the study though it is possible that some data may be collected.
Representative Roberts discussed that the JRA commitment is being addressed in several ways. The JRA has a committee which considers housing for youth who have left the JRA system, and the extended foster care bill includes a requirement to have a report done on how to best meet the needs of youth who have entered into JRA care. Ms. Wayno stated that there is also a workgroup with CA and JRA.
Justice Bridge noted that it would be desirable to undertake a study of best practices regarding youth leaving a state facility and returning to a community and how to best support them, including educational programs, mental health treatment and need for housing. Assistant Secretary Strus said she could report on the JRA project at the next meeting.
Justice Bridge thanked Ms. McLean for her work on the condensed Decision Makers Progress report.
Report to the Supreme Court
Justice Bridge, Ms. McLean, and Ms. Hathaway Burden presented the Commission on Children in Foster Care’s Report on the Commission’s activities in 2012 to the Washington State Supreme Court on May 1, 2013. Justice Bridge noted that the report session went very well, and that the Supreme Court wanted to deliver to the Commission their congratulations and thanks for the impressive work they are doing.
Old Business
Child Maltreatment and Domestic Violence Proposal
During the report to the Washington State Supreme Court on May 1, 2013, Justice Bridge highlighted three possible proposals for projects that the Commission could work towards together with the Gender and Justice Commission, including:
1) Reconvening the Domestic Violence-Child Maltreatment Coordinated Response Protocol project to assess effectiveness of the protocol and to incorporate the counties who have utilized the protocol (King, Whatcom and Thurston);
2) Gathering data on the extent of co-occurrence of youth in both the dependency and offender systems with domestic violence as presenting issue and exploring best practices for responding to these cases; and
3) Implementing a pilot project focusing on specialized family domestic violence risk assessments in dependency cases.
The Supreme Court thought all the options were good candidates. Justice Bridge said the first is the simplest and likely the cheapest. Justice Bridge proposed providing summaries and cost projections for each proposal at the next meeting for members to review. The Gender and Justice Commission has expressed interest in funding the project as they will be receiving funding through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Ms. Joanne Moore said she would be greatly interested in the study by Roy Herrington; Justice Bridge said she would get it distributed to the Commission. The Commission agreed that they would wait for Justice Bridge’s presentation on the proposals at the next meeting.
Foster Care Transitions Workgroup
There is nothing new to report at this time though the Commission recognized that there is a need to look into special needs youth who are transitioning out of foster care.
Tribal Consortium
Ms. Bricker and Ms. Chorisia Folkman provided an update on the tribal consortium. The consortium met at Tulalip, and they are beginning to work with the Tulalip tribe on a pilot project on truancy in dependent tribal youth. Justice Bridge asked the Tribal Consortium to report at the next meeting.
New Business
There was no additional new business.
Next Meetings
The Foster Youth and Alumni Leadership Summit Commission meeting is June 26, 2013, at Seattle University. The next quarterly meeting is on September 16, 2013, at the Temple of Justice, Chief Justice’s Reception Room.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Alyson McLean, CCYJ
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