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Statewide Parent Collaboration Group and Local Parent Support Group

May 23, 2012

Presented by:Kathryn Sibley, Family Based Safety Services Program

SpecialistSandra Haire, Program Administrator/CPS Liaison

Leshia Fisher, Program Director/CPS LiaisonMichelle Hansford, Parent Liaison Region 6

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Learning Objectives

• Learn about the statewide Parent Collaboration Group (PCG) and the local Parent Support Groups (PSG)

• Role of parent volunteers

• Hear about the importance of

partnering with parents

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What is the Statewide Parent Collaboration Group?

• A partnership between the Texas Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS) and parents who have been recipients of CPS services.

• A venue for gathering and incorporating parental feedback to enhance CPS policy and practice.

• Provides:– information to staff regarding what

parents experience as recipients of CPS services; and

– recommendations for improvement.

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What is the Local Parent Support

Group (PSG)?

• An informational support group led by parents who have successfully gone through the CPS system.

• Parents co-facilitate with the CPS. • Meetings occur at least once a month in every region –

not in every county.• Parent facilitator shares their personal story.• Important information is provided about the CPS process• There is a short question and answer session

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Parent Volunteers

• Parent volunteers are not paid to co-facilitate PSG meetings and are not CPS employees

• This is not a contracted service; it is a support group where one parent offers hope and support to other parents; and

• Parents do not receive formal training from CPS.

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Benefits of partnering with parents

Parents understand CPS process and their role in it:

– With some hope and support– Feeling empowered and

encouraged– Not feeling so alone, strength in numbers– With some information about

various community resources.

As a result, permanency can be achieved sooner!

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Benefits of partnering with parents

(Cond’t.) • There is value in shared experiences because they’ve

“been there.”

• Communication is often accessible, plain talk, absent jargon.

• Support includes: emotional, informational, and development of self-reliance.

• Offers hope, encouragement and trust – “if I can do it, you can do it, too.”

• Exchange of strategies can occur for parenting, growth in confidence and personal development

• Engaging families promotes better outcomes for children.

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Results of Studies

• Contra Costa, California results indicate that “reunification may be more likely for children whose parents were served by Parent Partners. Specifically, approximately 60% of children with a Parent Partner reunified with their parents within 12 months of removal, compared to 26% of children whose parents were not served.”

• Iowa Partnering with Parents for System Change - MCWIC Midwest Child Welfare Implementation Center – A Service of the Children’s Bureau currently conducting the research evaluation on Parent Partners.

6/13/2011 Baseline Data Brief on Family Centered Attitudes and Situational Decision Making – Iowa DHS Case Managers

Overall, the at this time the baseline data is showing all positive attitudes for Parent Partners.

• The Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Parent Advocate Program Evaluation: Jefferson County, Kentucky June 2007 – results indicate advocates reported gains in strength, improved communication skills and increased self-sufficiency in most families they served. Had higher percentages of reunification with their parents, similar instances of permanent placement with a relative, and fewer exits to adoption and emancipation.

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Other states who have Parent Partners

• Iowa Department of Human Services Parent Partners (mentor) families who are currently navigating through DHS.

• The Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Department for Community Based Services – Parent Advocacy Program.

• Contra Costa County, California – Parents Helping Parents – where parents who have been involved in the child welfare system now serve as mentors and resource guides to other parents currently receiving child welfare services.

• New York City, New York – Child Welfare Organizing Project - continues to provide training and other tools needed for parents to communicate effectively about the on-the-ground experience of child welfare and helps provide a voice for those so rarely heard.

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What you can do?

• Ask if there is a parent support group

• Contact state or regional representative

• Have Parent Partners in your court

• Create Parent Navigators within your systems

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Resources

• Department of Family and Protective Services- Web site: www.dfps.state.tx.us

• CPS Liaison- E-mail: sandra.haire@dfps.state.tx.us- Telephone: (409) 944-4948

• CPS Liaison-E-mail: leshia.fisher@dfps.state.tx.us-Telephone: (936) 525-2170

• Parent Liaison- E-mail: michelle_Hansford@yahoo.com-Telephone: (832) 891-1363

• Parent Program Specialist- E-mail: deshaun.ealoms@dfps.state.tx.us- Telephone: (512) 438-2224

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References

Publication

• Iowa Partnering with Parents for System Change MCWIC Midwest Child Welfare Implementation Center – A Service of the Children’s Bureau 6/13/2011

• Partnering with Parents Promising Approaches to Improve Reunification Outcomes for Children in Foster Care Executive Summary, July 2009,

http://ccyp.berkeley.edu/pdfs/parenting_with_partners_exec_summary.doc

• The Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Department for Community Based Services – Parent Advocacy Program Evaluation June 11, 2007

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Questions?