Child Welfare in AZ is at an All-Time Low Point and We Must Hold People Accountable For Change

This past month has been an interesting one for me.  I have come across a lot of different situations with different folks in different roles that touch the Arizona foster care system.  I have met with our new case manager, our licensing agency, been to court for a hearing for our current child, met with folks from the Department of Child Safety, including volunteering at the new intake center, talked with a couple different media outlets who are reporting on the current crisis and even tried to get the attention of legislators who are writing the very rules that are supposed to improve our system.

Being a foster parent for more than 14 years I have always had an optimistic view that things have to get better.  I have always tried to be optimistic but the tide has turned for me and I am not sure any if I can be optimistic any longer.  My daughter and her husband also became licensed foster parents in this last month and I am honestly not sure they have a positive situation to look forward to.  Arizona’s child welfare system is at an all-time low and there is no clear path for turning it around.

Here is why I am concerned:

1. Our new case manager is a very nice lady who has been with the department for two months, and while she is very nice young lady, she is hardly prepared to handle any sort of a complicated case. We have a new case manager because the previous one, who had been with the department for less than a year, quit because she felt that she couldn’t help kids in the way the department was run. How sad is that? Turnover is rampant, caseloads continue to exceed recommended national standards and the Department of Child Safety has yet to hire the authorized number of case managers that our legislators have authorized. 
2. We are caring for a three year old child who has been with us for nearly a year and nothing is moving forward. This is young child who has already had a birthday party while in our care and there is no clear path to permanency for her.  We were recently told that the earliest they could schedule a severance hearing would be in February 2016! If this is the earliest, she will have been in foster care for more than 18 months at that point … more half of her life!   That is just wrong. So In court this month I pleaded with the judge to do something and referenced the 1997 Adoptions and Safe Family Act that is supposed to shorten the time-frame for a child’s first permanency hearing, No surprise, but I was ignored by the judge (technically, I have no standing so not surprising). No lawyer, no case manager, no one pushed for permanency in this hearing. That is also just wrong.
3. We continue to recommend a concurrent case plan for this little girl, which means the state will identify a potential adoptive family at the same time they are working to reunify her with her biological parents, but no progress has been made. It is all lip service, with no sense of urgency, so the plan for this little girl seems to be that she linger in foster care at a time when her brain is developing and she needs permanent relationships in order to thrive. If case managers had more support, more understanding of the rules and laws, and of course, more experience they would be the champions of children, not the paper pushers of bureaucracy.
4. In my visit to the DCS intake center I met some amazing people that work there, but even more amazing young kids who are in a really bad situation. Volunteering there reminds me that every kid is special and they just need a hand from someone who cares for them. Unfortunately, they are in a situation they cannot control. This intake center however, is not a permanent answer. While it is certainly a better situation than a dry, cold and unfriendly office environment it is not a good long term solution. As a volunteer I have no idea what the situations for these kids are, , but I can’t help but think that with an intensive intervention of home and family services, many of these children don’t have to be there. DCS needs to expend as much effort preventing kids from coming in to care as they do taking them in to care.

With all that said about challenges throughout the foster care system, there is the one thing that has pushed me over the edge and the beginning of my total loss of faith in our system to care for our most vulnerable children.  I have reviewed the most recent Department of Child Safety strategy document.  There are some very good activities listed in that document and I sincerely hope they can implement many of them.  While I was reviewing the document, I had a call with a legislative staff person about it.  She noted that if they do all these things she “hopes” that things would get better.  Really?  We “hope” things get better?  How about some accountability here!

There is nothing in the DCS document that directly says WHAT they are going to accomplish.  In other words, the department did not commit to any meaningful change in outcomes and maybe worse, no one out there is holding the department accountable for any specific improvements.

Here are some simple goals that I believe DCS should add to its plan and then align their activities to achieve them.  If they do, they we will see meaningful improvement in outcomes.  All the measures here appear in the DCS Legislative Oversight Committee Dashboard and are requirements for Arizona to qualify for the Title IVE waiver from the Federal government so they can and are being measured today.

1. Number of kids in care (e.g.:  no more than 15,000 kids in care by 2017).    Another option:  Reduce the number of children entering out-of-home care to a maximum of 5 per 1,000 population (this would get your same result and/or achieve letter C below)
2. Number of children/percent of total in congregate care (no more than 15% of total children in congregate care/2,200 children and less than 5% of children under 10 years of age).
3. Reduce the length of stay of children in care by achieving a ratio of no more 6.5 kids in care per 1,000 population   (this aligns with DCS’s 3^rd goal in the DCS document and supports letter A above as well but assigns a targeted outcome, not just activity)
4. Increase permanency for children in care without increase reentry  (there are two measures in the Oversight Committee Dashboard that can be used here). 
5. Increase placement stability to achieve no more than 2 moves per 1,000 days in care (Again, this relates back to the DCS plan but assigns a measureable outcome)

So here we are at a time in Arizona’s history where the foster care system has never been more dysfunctional.  I find it hard to believe that anyone who lives in our great state finds this situation to be an acceptable state of affairs; either citizens or those in government.  So it is time for the leadership in our government who is responsible for this to realize that we must change outcomes as listed above and that it will require a renewed effort to improve processes, communication, increased understanding and outreach and most important, hold those who are managing our system accountable for improvements.

It is admirable that DCS has a strategic plan in place.  But a strategic plan without accountability and measureable outcomes is nothing more than a “to do” list with no requirements to meet a deadline.

Stop Talking and Pointing Fingers … It’s Time to Just Care

This past week the Arizona Child Welfare community was abuzz with the newly published report on the status of the Arizona Department of Child Welfare by Chapin Hall. In my 14 years as a foster parent the exact same things could have been said about CPS or now DCS every one of those years. Nothing has changed a bit, except the fact that because of a recession and growth in our state the numbers have grown and perhaps gotten even worse.

The recommendations in the report were vague and ambiguous. There is nothing in the report that provides a clear path for DCS leadership to act upon. There are not specific, implementable action items to draw upon nor clear metrics to measure their progress against.

What would have been helpful would have been a recommendation that included key steps, metrics to account for progress and a timeframe from which if followed, these steps would product favorable outcomes. Even something as simple as “follow these three steps and you will have 3,000 less children in care in 18 months”. Where is that report?

Instead, we got another report from bureaucrats who specialize in pontificating and not doing the hard work of building, executing, measuring and being accountable for their actions.

The report is accurate and they did a commendable job of interviewing and gathering feedback, but there is nothing new. We need a roadmap to future success, not a story we can tell about our past failings.

So why does this keep happening? I think it is simple, because no one with the authority to do so cares enough to make it happen.

Last night I volunteered at the new DCS intake center. This is the place where kids that have just been removed go before they are placed with another of their family members or with a foster family or in a group home. To start, I fed and changed a two day old baby, changed a three day old baby and handed her off for another volunteer to feed and then held a two month old drug exposed baby who wouldn’t stop crying.   It was sad.

Then, older kids started showing up so I moved down the hall to help with them (which I was probably better suited for anyway!). That started by helping towel off a two year old who had to get a quick bath because he threw up on himself due to the anxiety of the ride over to the center. Then I made a bunch of macaroni and cheese dinners, crackers and soups with a few juice boxes. We played a little. And then …. My heart melted.

It was bedtime and I was asked to help my new buddy “E” get his pajamas on to get ready for bed. He looked at me with big scared eyes and nervousness and asked why he needed pajamas. I told “E” so he could go to sleep. He then sheepishly asked me why he was going to be sleeping there. I couldn’t tell him why …. and my heart than sank.

I’ve always said that what makes for a great parent is the willingness to put the child’s best interests ahead of their own. This ensures that a child always gets the best of their parents.

That doesn’t happen in foster care. First of all, the children’s parents have already dropped the ball. Then they come in to care and sadly, no one puts their best interests at the front of the line. The real reason why “E” needs to sleep at the intake center is that we don’t have enough people in Arizona who care enough to make sure he never has to have that experience, or if he does, that it would be less of an intrusion in his life and hopefully, less stressful.

We need politicians and a community that care more about children than their own self interests. Until then, we will get more bureaucratic analysis and no substantive changes.

Arizona Politicians Don’t Love Kids

OK, maybe I am paraphrasing Rudy Giuliani here, but after a great deal of consternation and lost hope, I have come to a new conclusion that as a whole, politicians in Arizona just don’t care about kids. It might be better said that it is obvious that kids are just not a priority for Arizona politicians.

It’s not that politicians don’t love children; as many seem to be very good parents, pay attention their kids and I am sure, love their children immensely, it is however, becoming more and more obvious that caring for our most vulnerable children beyond those in their own household is just not a priority.

In my 14 years of being a foster parent, I always tried to be optimistic and believed that it would get better and have been involved in many ways trying to be part of the solution. The time may have come to where I have “jumped the shark” and no longer believe that it can or will get better.

In most cases, our system continues to only become worse. There are more kids in care, more kids not receiving basic services they need to thrive in their younger years and there is really very little being done about it via our politicians. Our system is broken and there is no sense of urgency to do anything.

It has become so bad that last month that New York-based Children’s Rights organization came to town and filed a lawsuit on behalf of all the kids in care. This not some frivolous lawsuit to make a point, they want to hold the Department of Child Safety accountable for providing basic services to kids in care. Seriously? It is so bad that folks from outside our own state believe there is grounds for a lawsuit? This is bad news folks! Not only does is say how poorly we are caring for our children, we have to spend valuable resources defending against it when we should be focusing on world class child welfare that would be the envy of other states!

So why am I so frustrated?

Nearly a year and a half ago, after discovering how poorly we were managing cases coming in to Child Protective Services, our former governor and leaders decided that forming a new cabinet level department and department separate from the unwieldy Department of Economic Security would be the best move. And where are we today? More kids in foster care in Arizona than any time before, they are staying longer in care, receiving fewer services while in care and there is not one single bright spot that can be identified anywhere in this system as a result of these changes. Outcomes remain shameful and kids are suffering because of it.

So in the last month, our new governor decides to bring in a new director to lead the charge. I suggested to him on the campaign trail and then again through his organizing committee that he look across the country and find a person who has a proven track record of success in this area, that we needed a person with a long history of leading change, turnarounds and was fully engaged in other successful child welfare programs somewhere else. Distressed companies do this often and search for CEO’s who have experience and a successful track record for running similar businesses so I believed it was a thoughtful recommendation.

Instead, he decided that the right person was a former police officer who was the person who identified the problem investigations in the first place. Greg McKay, the new director is a wonderful guy. He has a heart the size of the Grand Canyon when it comes for caring for kids. He is tough, gets things done and works hard. Director McKay will work his tail off to be successful at DCS and he will put his heart and soul in to the effort. However, he has to learn on the job. He has to learn on the job at a place that is severely broken and which historically has not enjoyed the support and resources that it needs to do the job that needs to be done. Every morning I wake up and pray that the new team is successful. But let’s be honest, if you are a child in foster care, and the state that put you there doesn’t see you as a priority, then what are the chances of your life improving in the state’s care? My guess is that we are talking slim odds for the 17,000 kids in foster care.

I will continue to do my little part the best I know how and try to provide input when asked. However, I believe it will have to be more like going to a baseball game where I sit in the stands, cheer on my team and just hope that we win. The sad part is that thousands of kids strike out in Arizona because of the lack of priority politicians have for them. In baseball, the millionaires just go home to their hot tubs. The difference is just sad. Very sad.

Hey DCS … Show Us The Plan!

It’s been a few months since all the politicians and bureaucrats got together for their photo op with the governor to tell us all that they have solved the problem of foster care for Arizona. They patted each other on the back for creating the Division of Child Safety (DCS) and claiming that they were going to finally create the funds for taking care of Arizona’s most vulnerable children. So where are we today? From every account I have heard, not very far. I thought we were promised transparency in this process. Where is the promised transparency? More important, where is the plan?

Children are still sleeping in offices, families being torn apart and dozens of new children entering the foster care system every day. I have talked with the DCS Director and he shared with a group of us the progress he has made in the call center. Good stuff from what I can tell. But where is the actual plan for creating a functional agency? Where is the accountability? And more important, where are the changes that will turnaround our broken system?

I can’t find an answer.

We are in the midst of elections for all the statewide offices. Our next governor will inherit this quagmire. No one governor or legislature specifically owns this problem for lack of action because they all have done so.   Our leaders have let the lack of planning and accountability of all those folks. put us in this situation. It is years in the making and can’t be fixed by “hoping” it changes. If someone doesn’t step in front of this fast moving freight train, it is going to overrun our state and will become one of the most costly, unplanned line items in future budgets.

No citizen wants to see taxes increased or wasteful spending on the part of our government. The only way to avoid either of these is with sound planning. It is how successful businesses move forward. They set goals, they develop detailed plans, communicate those plans to all their constituencies (employees, suppliers, partners, etc.), create metrics for measuring their progress and then hold everyone involved accountable for their part of delivering that plan. It happens every day, around the world in businesses, governments and non-government agencies. Let’s see the plan for DCS on how they will turn this around now!

No plan is perfect and seldom have perfect execution. But DCS has embarked on an important journey. It is a journey that will affect thousands of families and vulnerable children. It will affect millions of tax payers. If you were heading on a journey, don’t you think it would be wise to have a roadmap to get there? If you don’t, it will take longer cost more and perhaps you won’t even reach your destination.

So DCS, show us the plan for your journey!

Arizonan’s deserve to see the plan and know the metrics and hold you accountable. No more closed door meetings. No more veils of secrecy. Just show us the plan. Then Arizona can stop being one of the worst places in America for a child to grow up and instead, focus on growing our economy and making this the greatest place to be in America.

If the taxpayer is the boss, I don’t believe this is too much to ask.

I Want To See The Transparency!

This past spring when Governor Brewer signed in to law the abolishment of the old CPS and created the new Department of Child Safety, there was a promise of increased transparency and more involvement from the community in developing the new agency. One could argue that the development of the laws had all the input of a mushroom farm … folks tucked away high in the Executive Building talking to themselves. We accepted that they would get enough input to make the right decisions on the promise that as they started work, the overall community and specifically, foster and adoptive parents, would be involved in how the new agency operated.

So here we are in the midst of election time. Our politicians are spending time telling their constituents about how terrible their opponents are and why they can govern better than another and all the while, someone is hiring, staffing and putting in new processes for the Department of Child Safety. But who is watching their work? Who is ensuring that this work is driving meaningful change and not just pushing the rock along the road?

The previously established CPS Oversight Committee has not met since the lawmakers met to create this new law. There has not been another Town Hall since the process begun. The one caveat is that I have seen or heard of the new Director, Charles Flanagan, attending some meetings with foster and adoptive parents.

So at the end of the day, where is this promised transparency?

When I think of “transparency” I think of words like; clarity, clearness, openness, accountability and candor.

No matter your political persuasion, have you heard any of these types of things from the new Department of Child Safety? What has changed? What will change? What will not change? What assurances do any tax paying Arizonans have that the added funding that has been allocated to this new department will generate a return on that investment?

Taking care of our most vulnerable children is too important to wait and wait and hope that something is going to change. We must demand change and we need to see what the path to creating that change will be.

This is important work. It’s too important to allow the Dog Days of Summer get in the way of communicating what has been learned, what progress has been made and some indication of what steps will be taken in the next 60, 90, 120 and 365 days to re-make our child welfare system.

All I am asking for is the transparency that was promised. Simple communication will go a long way. Articulating a solid plan will go even further!

Your politicians want your vote in the coming weeks. Tell them you want transparency for the new Department of Child Safety in return. It’s only fair!

A New Law … But The Real Work Starts Now

On May 29th Governor Brewer signed in to law the establishment of the new Division of Child Safety (DCS) to replace the broken Child Protective Services (CPS). There is good cause to celebrate this work as it is an important time for Arizona as we look to reinvent how we care for our most vulnerable children going forward. But despite all the well-deserved accolades, high fives and pats on the back for the hard work that was accomplished by those involved, let us never forget that the real work starts now!

It is more important than ever that the foster and adoptive community continues to push for changes in how we investigate, care for and support these children and to hold the new DCS accountable for real change.  DCS is just getting started and while the new legislation does a good job of explain “what” the new DCS should be doing, it does not actually set out to define any specific outcomes to define what keeping children safe actually means. More specifically, there are no performance metrics included (and frankly, maybe that is not the place) that will enable the people of Arizona understand what actual progress has been made. For example, should the number of kids in care increase or decrease; should Arizona be spending more or less per child in care; should we have specific educational, health (medical or behavioral) goals from this new process, and what is the role of foster parents in meeting the specific needs of the children in their care? At the end of the day this department is becoming one of the most costly programs in our state’s annual budget and I believe that if we can make it more effective and align the investment with outcomes we can eradicate the need to go through this process ever again. But we have to be diligent and keep the issues top of mind as DCS is being formed.

The legislation specifically requires an external review including the development of accountability mechanisms. However, who will decide that those are the mechanisms are the ones that measure real change and not just activity which has historically been the issue with CPS? At the end of the day, there is still a lot of important work to be done and we cannot rest on the fact that there is a new department with a new name and therefore all will get better. Director Flanagan himself has said that it is likely that things will get worse before they get better with all this change. With this in mind, we need to track the progress being made at DCS and make sure they build in the accountability and metrics for all of us to track that progress.

There are more than 16,000 kids in Arizona in the foster are system. Is that not enough reason for us to reform this system? If there is any kid in Arizona that is not getting an opportunity to be successful, to grow into a healthy, happy and productive member of our community and to live in a safe environment, then we all have the responsibility to step up. Don’t rest on the laurels of the good work that has been done with the new legislation. Perhaps you can volunteer for the new Community Advisory Committee? If nothing else, please read Director Flanagan’s letter about expectations for DCS staff and hold them accountable (if you need a copy, just email me or post your thoughts here).

The opportunity to improve child welfare and more important, to take better care of the children of Arizona, has never been better.  Together, let’s hold the new Department of Child Safety accountable for meaningful change by helping to set the expectations, measuring them against those expectations and ensuring that our children can thrive!

 

 

Hey Politicians … Be Sure to Get This One Right!!

As you may have heard, Governor Brewer has called legislators back in to special session this week to work on the establishment of the “new” CPS. I think we can all agree that this is an important time for children in Arizona as they talk about starting anew in how we care for these most vulnerable children.

However, I think it is important to remind these folks involved in this process that it is not just about money. Of course, they are politicians so this is what they will fight about and this is what we will hear about. But as a foster parent I know that it is as much about rebuilding the process that they use to help these children as it is to fund what it takes to be successful.

Here’s my take. It has finally come to the attention of the “powers that be” that CPS is broken. Of course, those of us who operate within the system have known this for years. So if they think that throwing more money at the problem and then patting themselves on the back is all it takes, shame on them.

I have turned around businesses as a career. One thing that I have learned is that it is never just about money.   Oh, money helps and it will be needed. But the real answer is that the process must change. CPS has historically gone about their business without consistency, without a focus, and most important, worried about CYA and not necessarily is what is in the best interest of the child(ren) they are supporting.

Hey politicians … that has got to change! Write your laws and rules so that the new leadership has specific goals and outcomes that you want them to accomplish and then ask for regular reporting on how they make progress against that. Just use the basic metrics: 1. Length of time in care; 2. Ability to have basic healthcare, mental health care and education needs met every month not just when it is convenient to case workers; 3. Ability to keep families together rather than taking them away.   I could go on and on, but if you hold them accountable to these it will improve!

It’s high time we change how CPS does business. Period.

I have great faith in Charles Flanagan as the new Director. His recent letter to agencies and his staff on how to treat foster families and how to help them help the kids they invite in to their home was outstanding (if you have not seen this and would like a copy, email me). I also believe that Director Flanagan’s heart is in the right place. But eventually he will be engulfed in the myriad of CPS’ issues and will struggle to see the forest through the trees of this massive bureaucracy.

The only way to avoid falling backwards is by dramatically changing the process on how they do things and measure them every month on the progress they make. The only folks that can help them do this are the ones that work in the system on behalf of the kids … you and me … every foster parent, adoptive parent, caregiver and family that gets impacted with the lack of progress in our great state.

Support the efforts to increase funding. But PLEASE don’t let it stop there. We must stick together and demand they overhaul their process and how they operate.

May is Foster Care Awareness Month. There is no place in the entire US that it is more important that we make lawmakers aware of the need for changes than right here in Arizona. Please let your voice be heard … share this blog, write notes to friends, lawmakers and relatives, write Facebook posts and Tweet. It’s time for change. Let’s hold them accountable to make it broad sweeping!

Why was SB 1062 A Higher Priority Than Our Kids?

The last two weeks brought another embarrassing situation about Arizona and our politicians to the forefront of America’s consciousness. Business people, sports organizations and various political and social groups and even comedians brought unwanted negative attention to our state and demonstrated another poor performance by our legislators.

To our governor’s credit, in her remarks announcing that she was going to veto SB 1062, she gave somewhat of a tongue lashing to other politicians for making this the first bill of the session to hit her desk, when she has clearly pointed out that legislation for reforming CPS was a significantly higher priority. Good for her for reminding everyone that we have a distressing situation here in Arizona and it must be a priority to get fixed.

Why would any politician push aside an important and critical issue like the protection of our state’s most vulnerable children for an issue that was so polarizing? It defies logic.

The whole event was a great example of why we have issues with CPS in the first place. Children are not a priority for our lawmakers. They clearly do not understand that caring for vulnerable children has a lasting and long-term effect on our state. Instead, they look at short-term issues that may help bridge them to their next election. How sad is that and what does that say about the people we elect to represent us?

From high school civics classes years ago, I still remember our teacher telling us how the role of government was to serve the people of its community. Maybe it’s time our legislator’s went back and took another civics lesson on what their role should be before the next election!

This past week I also sat in another CPS Oversight Committee meeting. The new director of the new CPS (now named Child Safety and Family Services), Charles Flanagan gave an overview of the work done by the C.A.R.E. team which he was also appointed to lead. Director Flanagan is working hard to learn about the issues facing the agency and clearly understands from his work with the C.A.R.E. team that the agency is broken. Processes are ineffective, turnover is rampant because processes have failed or don’t exist and leadership has built a poor culture around this dysfunction.

While optimistic that Director Flanagan will bring the same effectiveness to the new CPS (CSFS) that he had in the juvenile probation system, I am still extremely frustrated that no one on the committee is holding anyone in any agency accountable for what is happening today.

While I understand that Director Flanagan is new and folks want to give him time to find his way around, I have also seen what happens to children who spend too much time in care and don’t get the services they need in a timely fashion, if at all.  Likewise, I know many frustrated foster parents who can’t reach a case manager to discuss an important issue.  Often, CPS case workers don’t show up for FCRB meetings and are unprepared in court hearings. We must hold CPS/CFSF accountable for what is happening today. Kids should not have to wait when their short lives depend on us for their care.

Enough is enough. Start measuring outcomes today and evaluating where we stand and the problems at hand! Much of the information we need to hold the agency accountable is available in Foster Care Review Board data.  Just ask for them to provide reporting while Director Flanagan does his work. As Director Flanagan likes to say, transparency is key to high performance. Let’s start that transparency today.

Call your representatives, write letters and emails to Director Flanagan, get involved in foster parent issues and let the rest of Arizona (and maybe even the rest of the US) know that there are more important issues for our legislators than SB 1062. Our state deserves better. Our kids deserve better. Make your voice heard!

Hey CPS … How about a little R.E.S.P.E.C.T.?

If Aretha Franklin were a foster or adoptive parent, this might have been her theme song for this part of her career as well.  Funny thing about respect, for it to work it has to be a two way street.

In many meetings of foster and adoptive parents and even recently in a CPS Oversight Committee meeting, the word respect is used often when talking about the lack thereof for foster and adoptive parents by CPS workers.  I often wonder why this happens.  It doesn’t seem logical.

Many foster and adoptive parents are highly skilled at what they do.  May of us have or are successfully raising our own bio kids.  Many of us have welcomed dozens of children in to our homes resulting all kinds of real-life experiences we can draw from.  Most important, we have been through training and continue to have on-going training very year.  So why is it that so many foster and adoptive parents say that CPS workers do not respect what they have to say about the well-being of the child(ren) they are caring for?

I think it is pretty simple.  Foster and adoptive parents and CPS workers are often just not on the same page.  I believe that is driven by CPS and its own process and culture.  Let me share an example … a couple of weeks ago a friend was asked to sit in a meeting with CPS because they were going to develop a training class to teach case workers how to have more respect for foster parents.  When I heard this, my first reaction was my best Amy Poehler imitation from Saturday Night Live … “REALLY”??

What logical person really believes that a 3-hour training class will change the hearts and minds of any case workers?  In 1964 the US Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. Does anyone really believe that once that legislation passed everything changed overnight in the hearts and minds of every US citizen?  Of course, not.  People pushed for years and still push back even knowing that it is about equal rights, period.  If major legislation can’t change hearts and minds, how will a 3-hour class do that?

A more logical step might be as simple as to require case workers to attend PSMAPP training.  This is a requirement of all foster parents.  Don’t you think that if we all had the same training it would help us communicate better. In time, if we change the culture of how to communicate and do so based on the same ideas from PSMAPP,

But don’t think this is just CPS or they are alone in this.  Governor Brewer has assembled a task force that I believe is led by her Chief of Staff.  This task force is making recommendations on how to structure CPS as a separate agency from DES.  And do you think there is a foster or adoptive parent who is not working in government on that committee?  No there is not.  REALLY!

Come on people of Arizona, respect comes by sharing ideas, aligning the needs of all constituencies  and inviting all to the table to find ideal solutions.  Until the people in the people leading our state government and the agencies that serve the most vulnerable children realize that there are foster and adoptive parents who are equally or even more qualified than they are to help figure out the future, we will continue to flounder.

Raising children is not an easy thing.  But a little R.E.S.P.E.C.T. for foster and adoptive parents by treating them as an equal in the process via common training, inviting them to the table and including them in every process, we can make this better.

Foster and adoptive parents, please add your thoughts to this as well!

6,600 Cases Have Been Assigned, Now What?

Over the holidays I had a chance to sit in on a weekly status meeting of the Governor’s C.A.R.E. committee and checked out their “Command Center”.  It was an impressive group of folks from law enforcement, attorney’s, legislators, former legislators, other government agencies and of course, the Director assigned by the governor.  There was a lot of energy and passion in the room for the task at hand and their commitment was obvious. It was a positive meeting.

But I also noticed that something was missing.  There was no representation from the foster and adoption community around the table.  I am constantly amazed that all these folks believe they can create meaningful reform with the folks that actually work on the front lines every day taking daily care of the State’s most vulnerable children.

To me, it’s akin to Proctor & Gamble, who makes Tide detergent never asking Walmart what they think about selling more detergent.  Of course, Proctor and Gamble knows that the consumer buys and consumes their products but do you think they don’t ever talk to Walmart how to do a better job at doing so?  Of course they do, it’s the right thing to do.  In fact, a few years ago when Walmart went to Proctor inquiring about how to make more space on the shelf and together they came up with the idea of concentrated detergents.  That is the product we buy today and proof that collaboration can mean improved outcomes!

Sure, The C.A.R.E. committee did a survey of current foster parents but they learned the same things they already knew from previous surveys that AZAFAP had done, including one with ASU, and had provided to them.  When policy and decisions are being made in coming months, CPS, legislators and everyone involved in policy and changes need to have foster and adoptive parents at the table.

This is exemplified when I was touring the Command Center.  It was an impressive tracking of every case, the status and where it was assigned.  When we went to the work area for the command center, folks were working hard on the phones making sure people had the information they needed to follow up on cases.  This was during the holidays when it would be understandable that they were slowing down.  They were not.  It was intense and I could feel it.

But then I asked the question about the disposition on each of the cases.  The team pointed out that the goal was to get “eyes on the child” for safety.  While I appreciated the focus, I asked how they were tracking the outcome for each case.  At the end of the day, foster and adoptive parents know that  it’s not just about safety.  It’s about caring for the whole child and that includes, health, behavior health, education and much more.  But this was not the role of the C.A.R.E. committee.  But should it not be?  Why let these kids fall back in the cracks of the ineffective system we have today?  If they were important when they numbered 6,600, they should be important enough to close the loop on caring for them.

Arizona needs to have a child welfare system that looks at the best interest of the child.  It can’t be about numbers on a wall or the adults who work in the system.  Until everyone in the system starts to think like a foster or adoptive parent (or any parent for that matter) and thinks about how each and every child can thrive, we will fall short.  Kids deserve a system that thinks that way.

So foster and adoptive parents, make your opinions known!  Write to your legislator, write letters to the editor at the newspaper or even add your comments to this blog.  Get involved. We have a small window to change the system!  Let’s do this!