1. GOT PERMANENCE? DIVISION OF FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES G-FORCE MEETING
THE URGENCY OF PERMANENCY FOR CHILDREN IN GEORGIA
DIVISION OF FAMILY & CHILDREN SERVICES
G-FORCE MEETING
January 22, 2009

2. AGENDA Permanency Outcomes Safety & Well-Being
Office of Family Independence

4. NUMBER OF INVESTIGATIONS, FAMILY PRESERVATIONS CASES & NUMBER OF CHILDREN IN THE LEGAL CUSTODY OF DFCS June 2008 – December 2008

5. CHILDREN ENTERING DFCS CUSTODY: HOW MANY WERE RESULT OF INVESTIGATION VS FAMILY PRESERVATION CASE June 2008 – December 2008

6. CHILDREN ENTERING DFCS CUSTODY: HOW MANY WERE RESULT OF INVESTIGATION VS FAMILY PRESERVATION CASE June 2008 – December 2008
What hypothesis can be derived from this? What are the implications?

7. NUMBER OF CHILDREN ENTERING & EXITING CARE December 2006 – December 2007

8. NUMBER OF CHILDREN ENTERING & EXITING CARE December 2007 – December 2008

9. RATIO OF CHILDREN ENTERING CARE TO CHILDREN EXITING CARE January 2007 to December 2008
Note: Chart read as “for every child that entered care in each month, how many children exited care?”

10. COMPARISON OF ENTRIES, EXITS & RE-ENTRIES January – December 2008
As the number of children exiting foster care has increased, the rate of children re-entering care continues to decrease.

11. NA met standard at point of CFSR
Permanency Composite 1
Permanency Outcome 1: Timeliness and Permanency of Reunification
National
Standard
FFY 2005
FFY 2006
FFY 2007
Negotiated
Improvement Goal
Current Performance
122.6
129.0
126.4
119.4
NA met standard at point of CFSR
Items considered:
Of the children exiting to reunification, % reunified in less than 12 months from the date of latest removal from home
Of the children exiting to reunification, median number of months in foster care
Of the children entering foster care for the first time in the 6 months prior to the year shown, % exiting to reunification in less than 12 months from the latest removal from home
Of children exiting to reunification in the previous year, % reentering foster care in less than 12months from discharge

12. LENGTH OF TIME TO ACHIEVE REUNIFICATION January 2008 – December 2008
National standard: > or equal to 76.20%
Definition: Of all the children who exited foster care to reunification, the percent that were reunified in less than 12 months from their last removal from the home.

13. LENGTH OF TIME TO ACHIEVE REUNIFICATION BY REGION THREE-MONTH AVERAGE (September-December 2008)
National standard: > or equal to 76.20%

14. FOSTER CARE RE-ENTRY January 2007 – December 2008
National standard: less than or equal to 8.60%
Definition: Of all the children who entered, the percentage that were discharged from a previous placement within 12 months of the current placement..

15. STRENGTHS INDICATED IN THE PEAS REVIEW
The state achieved substantial conformity in the following areas:
foster care re-entries;
proximity of children’s placement to their parents, or supporting documentation that placement away from their parents was necessary to meet children’s needs;
recurrence of repeat maltreatment.
Improvements were indicated in the following areas:
placement with siblings (93%);
meeting educational needs of children in foster care (90%);
reduced the number of pending and past due investigations;
more effective use and documentation of Family Team Meetings;
stability of foster care placements (86%).

16. AREAS INDICATED AS NEEDING IMPROVEMENT IN THE PEAS REVIEW
Concurrent planning seldom utilized in permanency cases.
TPR petitions not filed timely on a regular basis.
Lack of documentation of appropriate compelling reasons for not filing for TPR.
Permanency goals not always timely or appropriately identified.

17. AREAS INDICATED AS NEEDING IMPROVEMENT IN THE PEAS REVIEW, CONT’D
Achievement of adoptions in a timely manner (within 24 months of the child’s entry into foster care).
Documentation did not support efforts being made to maintain the parent-child relationship.
Frequency and/or quality of contacts not sufficient to meet the needs of children. (There was a lack of documented interaction with children alone and in their home setting).
Frequency and quality of contacts with parents not sufficient to ensure achievement of case plan goals.

18. PLACEMENT SETTINGS FOR THOSE WHO EXITED CARE AND THOSE WHO REMAINED IN CARE IN SFY 2008

19. ADOPTION FINALIZATIONS
SFY 2007 = 1,270
SFY 2008 = 1,252
SFY 2009 = 579
Note: Data for SFY 2009, as of December 31, 2008.

20. NUMBER OF FINALIZED ADOPTIONS SFY 2008, SFY 2008 & SFY 2009

21. NUMBER OF FINALIZED ADOPTIONS SFY 2008, SFY 2009 EXPECTED & SFY 2009 ACTUAL
Note: Expected based on finalizing at least half of total adoptions done in SFY 2008.

22. ADOPTION INFORMATION BY NUMBER OF MONTHS SFY 2007, SFY 2008 & SFY 2009
Note: Data for SFY 2009, as of December 31, 2008.

23. AVERAGE NUMBER OF MONTHS FROM ENTRY TO FIRST TPR SFY 2007 – SFY 2009

24. AVERAGE NUMBER OF MONTHS FROM ENTRY TO ADOPTION SFY 2007 – SFY 2009

25. PERMANENCY PLEDGE I am dedicated to children;
I want to succeed on their behalf.
I will strive, strain, stretch and succeed for them.
I face this challenge with my team and
all that is good in this universe!

26. NA met standard at point of CFSR
Safety 1
Safety Data: Absence of recurrence of maltreatment
National
Standard
FFY 2005
FFY 2006
FFY 2007
Negotiated
Improvement Goal
Current Performance
94.6
93.0
95.6
96.56
NA met standard at point of CFSR

27. RECURRENCE OF MALTREATMENT December 2007 – December 2008
National standard: less than or equal to 5.40%
Definition: Of all the children who were victims of substantiated maltreatment, the percentage that had a substantiated report of maltreatment during the previous 6 months..

28. SAFETY 2 Safety Data: Absence of child abuse/neglect in foster care
National
Standard
FFY 2005
FFY 2006
FFY 2007
Negotiated
Improvement Goal
Current Performance
99.68
99.19
99.22
98.85
99.32

30. TIMELINESS BY REGION FOR DECEMBER 200865 70 75 80 85 90 95 96 97 98 99
100 8 6 1 7 3 9 14 2 5 4 10 16 12 13 11 15 17
Score on January 22, 2009: 93% Timely

37. OFFICE OF FAMILY INDEPENDENCE

38. FOOD STAMP NEWS!!