Justice Bobbe Bridge (ret.), Washington State Supreme Court, Commission Co-Chair

Mr. Jim Bamberger, Director, Office of Civil Legal Aid

Mr. Julio V. A. Carranza, Foster Youth Alumnus

Mr. Ron Hertel (for Dr. Terry Bergeson, Superintendent of Public Instruction)

Ms. Sheila Huber (for Attorney General Rob McKenna)

Rep. Ruth Kagi, WA State House of Representatives

Judge Richard McDermott, President, SCJA

Ms. Joanne Moore, Office of Public Defense

Ms. Deborah Purce (for Cheryl Stephani, Children’s Administration, Commission Co-Chair)

Ms. Kelly Stockman-Reid, Director, WA CASA

 

Mr. Mike Canfield, FPAWS Co-chair

Ms. Beth Canfield, FPAWS Co-chair

Sen. James Hargrove, WA State Senate

Ms. Sassi Jarvela, Foster Youth

 

Mr. Michael Curtis, CCYJ

Ms. Karen Castillo, AOC

 

Ms. Alexia Everett, College Success Foundation

Ms. Marna Miller, WA State Institute of Public Policy

Judge Kathryn Nelson, SCJA

Ms. Deborah Reed, Children’s Administration

Rep. Mary Helen Roberts, WA State House of Representatives

Judge Michael Trickey, King County Superior Court

Ms. Kate Vaughn, Perkins Coie Fellow, CCYJ

 

The meeting was called to order by Justice Bridge, who welcomed those present and asked everyone to introduce themselves.

 

Approval of Minutes
Justice Bridge entertained a motion for approval of the June 9, 2008 meeting minutes. Rep. Kagi moved that the minutes be approved; Mr. Jim Bamberger seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.

 

As a follow-up to her comments at the June meeting, Justice Bridge informed the Commission that the Supreme Court had approved the revised order, but that she had not yet received the signed copy of it. The order adds Mr. Jim Bamberger from the Office of Civil Legal Aid as a member of the Commission. Justice Bridge said that she is very happy to have Mr. Bamberger come aboard, particularly because the Commission has been engaged in issues pertaining to legal representation of youth in the dependency system. She added that the revised order also amends a few other terms having to do with titles and committee names.

 

In the absence of Ms. Cheryl Stephani, Ms. Deborah Purce provided the update. She reported that the Children’s Administration is going into the second round of the Children and Family Services Review by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and that Ms. Deborah Reed is here to give a follow-up report on the planning and logistics.

 

Ms. Reed provided copies of an outline entitled “The Reviews at a Glance” and proceeded to go through that information with the members. She also provided copies of an outline entitled “Child and Family Services Review Timeline” and went through that information as well, answering questions as they arose. She informed the Commission that the new data system, FamLink, goes online in December and that the statewide assessment will begin in February, 2009. She reported that half the data profile that they provide to the HHS will come from the old system (CAMAS) and half from the new system.  

 

Ms. Reed also reported that the Children’s Administration is implementing a new clinical practice model, which will carry through the entire state and will likely serve them in the Program Improvement Plan. It is hoped that it will help in answering some of the ongoing questions about what kinds of improvements they need to make. 

 

Referencing the CFSR Timeline, Ms. Reed noted the various dates during which data will be collected the data.  She reported that in March, 2010 the statewide assessment will be presented to the HHS for approval, and an on-site review will be done by the HHS during the week of September 13, 2010.  Following that will be a 90-day period during which the agency will be required to address any problems identified by the HHS. 

 

Ms. Reed provided her business card and her email address: Dere300@dshs.wa.gov and invited members to contact her if they have additional questions.

 

Child Welfare Racial Disproportionality Advisory Committee Report:

Justice Bridge introduced Ms. Marna Miller of the WA State Institute of Public Policy (WSIPP). Ms. Miller provided information about the WSIPP and its mission. Ms. Miller then gave a Power Point Presentation on the outcomes of the study on Racial Disproportionality in the Child Welfare System. She also provided printed copies of the presentation. 

 

Ms. Miller said that SHB 1472 of the 2007 Legislature created the Racial Disproportionality Advisory Committee to analyze and make recommendations on the disproportionate representation of children of color in Washington’s Child Welfare System.   She said that the study was released in June, 2008, and that, since then, there has been work done by the Advisory Committee to provide recommendations to the Legislature.

 

When asked if the study did a breakout by economic levels, Ms. Miller replied that they did do analysis that included information about income among other things. Receipt of food stamps, she said, was an indicator, regardless of race. They were able to identify those children with a referral who also were receiving food stamps and found that receipt of food stamps showed the likelihood that the child will move deeper into the system. She noted that children in foster care & kinship care were included in that data, but that those in foster care & guardianship were not. She added that the study controlled for risk factors in the larger analysis, but did not break it down by those factors, and did not control for prior placements. However, it did control for previous CPS referrals and if the child had been removed from the home in the past, that would have been captured.

 

Ms. Miller said that the study answers “Yes” to the question:  Does racial disproportionality exist in the child welfare system?   She added that racial disproportionality increases for Indian and black children at the point of placement of care, and Hispanic children are more likely to be referred, but there is no evidence of disproportionality after referral. With respect to permanency, Indian and black children are less likely to achieve permanency.

 

Ms. Miller added that, because much of the disproportionality occurs at the point of reporting, they wondered if the type of reporter (mandated vs. non-mandated) might be a reason. She noted that mandated reporters include medical professionals, school personnel, law enforcement, child care workers, etc., and that non-mandated reporters might include relatives, friends and neighbors. When they calculated the disproportionality that could be attribute to mandated reporters, they found that there is slightly more disproportionality from mandated reporters.  What they couldn’t know from the data was whether there was domestic violence, parental illness, or mental illness in the home and what kinds of initial services the family had received prior to the referral and placement.  

 

Justice Bridge asked Ms. Purce to update the members on the work of the Racial Disproportionality Advisory Committee. Ms. Purce reported that the Advisory Committee has taken the approach of focusing on three causes affecting the decision to refer, the decision to remove, and racial bias within the system itself. She said that the Advisory Committee has gone to various venues across the state and met with community groups, tribes, etc. to discuss it. They consider three basic areas: 1) community factors such as high unemployment, crime; 2) Individual factors such as alcoholism, domestic violence, etc.; 3) The child welfare system itself (i.e. bias in the programs, policies, or workers). They then look at remediation in terms of what can be done. They ask the question, “What point in the decision process should be the focus?” She said that, as Ms. Miller pointed out, in the initial referral, children of color are being referred at disproportionate rates. Because the data they have shows that families of color don’t neglect or abuse their children more than white families, it’s possible that the reason is that families of color are more visible and more likely to come in contact with mandated reporters. They are looking at the decision to refer and the decision to remove and they have a report due to the Legislature on December 1. 

 

Mr. Carranza asked what information was left out regarding disparate treatment once children have entered the system. He also asked if the bias that exists while children are in care is examined.

 

Ms. Purce responded that the charge that the committee was given was to determine whether disproportionality exists. Once that is determined, she said, we start asking the question “Why?” She added that issues about disparities once children are placed is why the committee chose that as one of the areas they want to look at, whether it’s the workers, a lack of cultural competence, or lack of competency on the part of the workers, etc. 

 

Rep. Kagi noted that Indian children have the greatest number of disparities and that it’s a chance to move into a difference phase of caring for Indian children in the child welfare system. Ms. Purce replied that the report should clarify that it’s not Indian children per se, but urban Indian children specifically. Many of the children who show up in the population are not affiliated with any tribe, she added.

 

Justice Bridge noted that the next Commission meeting is December 15 and she hopes to get a report on the recommendations. At that time, she said, it might be useful for the commission members to coalesce their thoughts and decide what else they might want to learn.

 

Judge Michael Trickey gave a brief history about the Family and Juvenile Court Improvement Act (2SHB 2822) and what has taken place with regard to its implementation. He also provided a hand-out to members that included the timeline for implementation and a breakdown of the courts selected for the funding.

 

Judge Trickey said that AOC developed the application process and that the aim was to find at least one court system in each DSHS region. The deadline to submit applications for Phase I was July 15.  Each local jurisdiction was required to identify a chief judge for FJCIP to oversee the development of the program in their courts. Nineteen courts submitted applications; sixteen were selected. Judge Trickey said that $800,000 was appropriated by the Legislature for Phase I and that the Supreme Court will be requesting an additional $2 million for phase II. Applications for Phase II are due to AOC by December 1, 2008.

 

Judge McDermott commented that one of the components was the judicial education part. He said that the SCJA has a spring conference and that, at that conference, judges can get all the educational requirements for the entire year – 15 minimum. He said that he met with Tim Jaasko-Fisher and Judge Craighead, who are putting together a day-long program to supplement the educational needs. The program will include all the educational requirements mandated by the legislation.   He noted that one of the positive aspects is that many judges around the state already have those credits.

 

Rep. Kagi asked if there is a delineation of the types of training judges have had. Judge Trickey responded that a part of what each case coordinator is going to do is to look at each individual court’s set-up and find out what they need. They will then specialize the training according to each court’s needs. 

 

Justice Bridge referenced an AOC survey that she said both the BJA workgroup and the Commission’s workgroup used as a foundation of baseline data. She noted that, in that survey, there was a very long list of training needs indicated by judges in the areas of substance abuse, the cycle of domestic violence, etc.  She added that Mr. Tim Jaasko-Fisher is looking at long distance training through online resources, etc. to accommodate those rural communities where judges just can’t get off the bench. 

 

Rep. Kagi remarked that the session she attended to kick off the implementation of this bill was one of the most gratifying she’d ever attended. She said that it was a great response from AOC in getting the bill implemented. She added that data collection is one of the problems that have arisen. AOC developed a pattern form, she noted, but they got some push back from the courts.

 

There was additional discussion about pattern forms. Judge Nelson commented that, as the designated chief judge for Pierce County, she feels that 2822 will make a huge difference. She opined that pattern forms are an excellent idea, along with coding, but that it also has to be a pattern form that can be used when you’re doing the case; it should have all the timelines incorporated and should be coded so the data can be retrieved.  She said that they had stakeholders from across the board trying to make these forms effective. Hopefully, they will come up with a process, she said, but if they don’t, legislation would be helpful.

 

Judge Trickey opined that, although the idea of pattern forms is a good one, it doesn’t always work because counties operate differently. Mr. Bamberger commented that, with respect to studying existing practices, nobody is keeping data in ways that are useful, obtainable, or uniformly understandable. Ms. Moore agreed, saying that they don’t have any way county-to-county to find out what the outcomes of these cases are and that everyone needs to get on board with uniform forms.

 

Braam Oversight  

Ms. Carrie Whitaker provided a 30-minute Power Point presentation to review recent activities on the Braam Oversight Panel and the Outcomes related to the 2007 benchmarks. She also provided a copy of the Braam Settlement Monitoring Report #5, which covers the performance period ending June 30, 2008, and a four-page hand-out entitled “Braam Outcomes.” Ms Whitaker reported that some of the data used was from the surveys published in September, 2008 by Dr. Tarnai’s research group, the Social & Economic Sciences Research Center (SESRC) at WSU.   Additional information is available at www.braampanel.org

 

Justice Bridge welcomed Ms. Alexia Everett to the Commission. Ms. Everett replaces Mary Herrick as the representative of the College Success Foundation. 

 

Mr. Ron Hertel provided his update from OSPI, saying that the data exchange has been completed, but DSHS is struggling with the analysis. He noted that this is a correction that needs to be made to the June meeting minutes where it says that they had completed their analysis.  

 

Mr. Hertel said that the OSPI is in a good place to give DSHS the information they need in the time frame they need it. He said that the first meeting of an executive committee formed pursuant to HB 1058 will be held this month on the 15th. With respect to a new law – 2679 – passed this year, memos are ready to go out that will inform everyone about the information exchange requirements. He reported that he has worked with Janis Avery from Treehouse for the protocol on the agreement between the local school districts and DCFS.  A portion of the OSPI website has been dedicated to Foster Care Youth. 

 

Mr. Hertel said that there are two pieces they are working on: early intervention, a pilot project with the Shelton School District, to develop an early warning system regarding who might need additional support. He reported that they are currently focusing on grades 8 - 12, but that they’d like to see it moved down to the lower grades, noting that  the 4^th grade WASL is the greatest indicator of whether or not a child is going to have trouble in school. 

 

He reported that, in terms of the Mental Health Transformation Grant, the other piece is on foster care – “Compassionate Schools” – to help educators set a classroom climate that is more conducive to learning, and advising educators to be sensitive to the fact that not all students are able to tell their family origins, etc. He said they’ve been very surprised with the amount of interest there has been in this. They began with materials created by the Massachusetts Advocates for Children and have trained about 1500 people. He said that they are partnering with WWU to draft their own handbook to help schools. Hopefully, the handbook will be available next summer. They are hoping for a third grant from the Mental Health Transformation Grant to give this training. 

 

Ms. Huber reported that, with respect to the data exchange, there were some problems initially, but that’s been corrected and the legal problems have been worked out. New people coming in don’t want to share the info, so it’s a question of training. The legal advice has been given. A memo was sent to the school records departments and now that piece is moving forward.   There may still be some struggles regarding some social workers, which will require ongoing training.

 

Rep. Kagi remarked that the Institute is due to give the House C&FS Committee a report on Independent Living Programs. There was a proviso in the budget to look at the Independent Living programs – how effective they are and how the funds should be allocated. She remarked that she had visited an ILP in Tacoma and found it to be very fragmented, and wondered how it could possibly be effective.   Justice Bridge agreed that it seems to be the pattern across the state and apparently other states too. She noted that a Midwest study done on Independent Living Programs showed that they don’t work.  

 

Justice Bridge reminded members about the Foster Youth/alumni Leadership Summit, where there will be a Commission meeting on October 26 at 1:00 p.m. She asked members to inform Karen if they change their mind about whether or not they can attend or send someone in their place.   

 

Justice Bridge reported that Children’s Representation will be on the December 15 agenda. Lisa Kelly will be in attendance and the Work Group will want more direction from the Commission on what they are to do. There will also be more information provided about the work that OCLA has been doing on the issue of legal representation among children in foster care. There will also be a report from AOC, which has been working on the issue of children in care being present in proceedings – the pilots in the four county courts (Benton-Franklin, King, Spokane, and Thurston counties).  AOC has been working all summer in consultation with Rep. Dickerson with folks from WSBA who have offered material on how to insure that it is meaningful representation. Justice Bridge said that, at this point, she wants the Commission to be prepared to give direction to the Work Group.

 

Justice Bridge reported that the rule that had been reviewed and recommended by the Commission’s work group has, at long last, been adopted by the Supreme Court. It will be effective upon publication, with the publication date being October 21. There was a brief discussion about the benefits of the changes to the rule. 

 

Ms. Lorrie Thompson gave a report about the planning for National Adoption Day, which is November 14, 2008. She said that preparations have kicked into high gear. All the courts that celebrated last year will do so this year, and Whatcom County is also joining. The Steering Committee has created a new tool kit, which Ms. Thompson presented to the group. She said that they intend to send it out to all those participating and some that aren’t.  It includes talking points, original proclamation, certificates, brochures, donation letters and various other promotional items. She said that they are seeking more funding to purchase teddy bears. A few radio stations said they might donate some money, etc.   Justice Bridge thanked Ms. Thompson and commended her for doing a great job.

 

Justice Bridge asked all the members to please attend the next CCFC meeting on December 15^th. She noted that it will include several briefings, but will also require a great deal of input from Commission members. She added that there will also be discussion about what impact there may be from the federal foster care legislation recently signed by President Bush. 

 

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.