EDUCATION STABILITY MATTERS OREGON

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PRESENTED BY: Catherine Stelzer, MSW

Oregon Team: A.J. Goins (Project Manager), Julie York, Sarah Walker, Annie Woo, Cherisse Loop, & Catherine Stelzer

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EDUCATION STABILITY MATTERS - OREGON

Oregon Department of Human Services, Child Welfare Program (DHS) & Oregon Department of Education (ODE) in partnership with the Oregon Judicial Department (OJD).• Oregon is a state administered child welfare

system, regionally divided into 16 districts.• Department of Education includes 19

Educational Service Districts which encompass 196 school districts. • Oregon Judicial Department is a unified state

court system which includes 27 Judicial Districts, most of which are divided by county.

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION - GOALS

INCREASE * Collaboration * Educational Stability * Accurate & Timely Data Transfer * Permanency Outcomes * Youth Exiting Foster Care with High School Diploma * Youth using Tuition Waivers

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION – TARGET POPULATION

Statewide MOU between

DHS & ODE

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION – TARGET POPULATION CONTINUED…

Collaborative Multi-Disciplinary Educational Teams:

• Children in Foster Care ages 12 – 20 years old• 4 Counties (Multnomah, Marion, Lane, & Washington)• These counties comprise 57% of target population and

have the largest population in Oregon• Each county will select (1) High School and any feeder

Middle Schools to that High School

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION – KEY PARTNERS

• Oregon Department of Human Services, Child Welfare• Oregon Department of Education• Oregon Judicial Department• Local, community directed / school district

collaboration teams which may also include:School Nurses; Juvenile Justice; DV

Advocates; Training Partners; Foster Parents; CASA; Child Attorneys; Youth; Parents; Homeless Liaisons; Mental health/ School Counselors

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION - PROPOSED SERVICES/ ACTIVITIES/ PROCESSES/ OUTPUTS

Work Currently In Progress:• (2) Education Coordinators Hired• AAG has begun work reviewing MOU’s• Grant Steering Committee has been identified

and conducted first meeting• Assessment is occurring of Multnomah County

Program• Baseline Data Collection is completed• High School recruitment process developed

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION - PROPOSED SERVICES/ ACTIVITIES/ PROCESSES/ OUTPUTS

Work To Be Done• Recruit and Select High School and feeder Middle

Schools in the four counties• Develop & Train Staff on Multi-Disciplinary Team

Protocols• Formalize Protocols in customizable packets for

Remaining Counties• Assist Multi-Disciplinary Teams in partner

identification, education, and invitation• Finalize statewide MOU• Ongoing Data Collection

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION – EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Short Term• Statewide MOU for Information Sharing• Between DHS Child Welfare & Dept. of Ed• Customizable for local entities (DHS and School Districts)

• Infrastructure for collaborative, multi-disciplinary educational teams that coordinate foster children’s educational services and supports.• Identify and Convene Multi-Disciplinary Steering

Committee

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION – EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Medium/Long Term Goals• DHS, ODE, local school districts, and OJD in the four

target counties will have infrastructure needed to have robust and timely data exchange system.

• Collection and monitoring of education stability data and outcomes.

• Local school districts will have timely data that identifies students in foster care and specific information necessary for tracking education outcomes.

• Long range planning for possible Information System to Information System automated data exchange.

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EVALUATION APPROACH

Qualitative Methods: • Record Review• Meeting minutes• Structured interview techniques and/or

focus groups with stakeholders Quantitative Methods:• Department of Human Services, Oregon

Judicial Department, and Oregon Department of Education databases

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EVALUATION QUESTIONSPROCESS EVALUATION

• What are the lessons learned from Multnomah County Each Day Counts program?

• How have the collaborating partnerships been established in the four counties in which the largest numbers of the Target Population reside (Multnomah, Marion, Lane, and Washington Counties)?

• What are the factors that promote the development of the collaborative partnership and influence the achievement of these collaborating partnerships?

• What are the barriers that limit the development of the collaborative partnership and influence the achievement of these collaborating partnerships?

• What are the next steps in promoting Child Welfare and Education System to increase educational stability?

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EVALUATION QUESTIONSOUTCOME EVALUATION

Organizational/Systemic Implementation Outcomes

• To what extent do the data-sharing agreements allow for both the local-level data exchange and a systemic level data exchange?• To what extent does each data-sharing

agreement put in place go towards supporting an automated data exchange among Department of Human Services (DHS), Oregon Justice Department (OJD), and Oregon Department of Education (ODE)?

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EVALUATION QUESTIONSOUTCOME EVALUATION

Staff Level Outcomes

• To what extent do the data sharing processes increase the use of data from new database systems by staff in improving their services?

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EVALUATION QUESTIONSCHILD LEVEL OUTCOMES

• How has the project increased the number of foster children remaining in the same school?

• How has the project increased the number of foster children remaining in same placement?

• How has the project increased the number of foster youth attaining permanency?

• How has the project increased graduation rates for foster youth?

• How has the project Increased the number of promotions to next grade for foster youth?

• How has the project increased number of foster youth applying for post-secondary education?

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EXPECTED OPPORTUNITIES

• Current Political Will - Governor’s priority is Education with a goal of 100% of Oregonians receiving HS Diplomas by 2025.• Increased collaboration and Data Sharing

between Child Welfare, Schools, and Juvenile Courts.• Develop a statewide MOU for Data Sharing.• Both Agencies are refining/improving

Information Systems.• Multnomah County has built a similar program

in Elementary Schools, so there is a working model.

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EXPECTED CHALLENGES

• Transformation currently occurring in both state agencies.

• High Workload for Caseworkers and School Employees.

• Oregon’s Child Welfare Information System currently lacks and/or has inaccurate education data.

• Lack of Birth Parent and Foster Parent Involvement.• Cross-Training CW and School personnel in Trauma

Informed Care Practices.

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DISSEMINATION PLAN

DHS, ODE, OJD Outcome Data

Steering Committee

Quarterly Reports

Agency Specific Dissemination

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SUSTAINABILITY PLAN

Expand Statewide MOU Data Sharing

Embed Practices in Policy/Procedure

Continue Implementation UsingCollaborative Relationships

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QUESTIONS FOR FELLOW CWED GRANTEES?

• Do any grantees have experience with statewide MOU’s and multiple organizational structures?

• Do any grantees have a seamless Information System to Information System data exchange?

• Did the data agreements make an impact in previous cohorts?• Which states have court involvement and how was that achieved?• Who were your key partners for successful implementation?