1. Engaging Community Stakeholders and Building Community Partnerships
The National Child Welfare
Resource Center for Organizational Improvement

2. Why Stakeholder Involvement is Critical
The child welfare system is much larger than the public child welfare agency.
No single agency can fulfill the responsibility of keeping children safe, in permanent homes, and achieving well-being.
The goal is to empower stakeholders so that the entire community takes child protection as its responsibility.

3. Why Stakeholder Involvement is Critical (continued)
Partnering with community stakeholders helps create a constituency for child welfare, so that when the agency needs support it gets it (for example, legislation, finances, respect even in the fact of a child injury or death).
Partnerships also strengthen community stakeholders.

4. Successful Stakeholder Involvement
Means:
Collaboration and partnerships as a way of life for the public child welfare agency, not just for the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) and the IV-B Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP).

5. Stakeholder Involvement in
CAPTA
Chafee
Title IV-B
CFSR

6. Successful Stakeholder Involvement is Achieved by:
Gathering input from stakeholders
Including stakeholders in decision making
Giving feedback to stakeholders
Continuous communication
Making stakeholder involvement an integral part of agency operations
Practicing true “collaboration”, not “cloberation”

7. Who are Potential Stakeholders?
Internal to the child welfare agency
External

8. Levels of Community Partnerships
Basic, effective referrals of families for other services (case level).
Joint case planning with other service providers, the family, and the family’s network (case level).
Joint program development to create needed new programs and services (intermediate level).

9. Levels of Community Partnerships (continued)
Shared organizational infrastructure—written agreements for information sharing, joint management information systems, staff liaison positions, locating staff in another agency, etc. (intermediate level).
Creating a Stakeholder Collaborative for Child Protection in a jurisdiction, with its own governance.
Creating a State-Level Stakeholder Collaborative, or Cabinet for Children, Youth, and Family Services.

10. Culture Shift: The State Public Child Welfare Agency
Not the sole provider of child welfare services
Leadership: catalyst and organizer for a community-based system
Retains legal responsibilities for protection of specific children

11. Culture Shift: Community Partners
More collaboration among previously autonomous funders and agencies
Renegotiation of roles and responsibilities

12. Promising Practices in Community Partnerships
Mental Health Systems of Care
Child Welfare Systems of Care
Quality Review Processes (CQI/Case Reviews)
LAN 29

13. Mental Health Systems of Care
Comprehensive service array
Coordinated
Community based
Child centered
Individualized for the family
Culturally competent
Family driven
Early identification and intervention

14. Child Welfare Systems of Care
Tbd in Dec.

15. LAN 29
Collaborative integrates traditional and non- traditional services/supports
Membership open to all
Governance structure elected by members
Implements Wraparound approach
QUEST – serving DCFS families
Strong outcomes

16. Child Welfare Quality Improvement Peer Network (sponsored by the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement)
QI roles include:
Review cases (read, interview, discuss, assess)
Review systems level data and reports
Make recommendations
Contribute to written reports
Dissemination of findings, e.g., presentations to other stakeholders

17. QI Peer Network (cont1) Examples of ongoing issues and strategies
Ongoing structures for meaningful participation
QI, foster parent and youth councils (Illinois, Kentucky)
Citizen Review Panels involved in case reviews (Idaho, New Hampshire)
Preparation and support
Training (Idaho trains semi-annually due to turnover )
Whose meeting: making QI relevant to stakeholders by focusing on their issues, perspectives and involve them in setting agendas and problem solving, not just listening to information (Illinois)

18. QI Peer Network (cont2) Other methods for input
Child welfare attends specific audience councils (foster parents and youth) and gathers information to bring to CQI councils (Hawaii)
Targeted surveys - to specific stakeholder groups on specific issues. E.g., Kentucky has surveyed regarding:
CW/Court partnerships
Service array assessment
Youth services
Fatherhood services
Family team meetings

19. QI Methods to Share Information: Wisconsin’s PEP website
Stakeholders access website for the four program enhancement plan (PEP) work groups (adoption, case process, QI, and Out-of-Home Care) to review policy initiatives, ask questions, comment and read others’ comments, questions and answers

20. CFSR: Collaboration with Community Stakeholders
Principles
Partners
Processes
State examples

21. CFSR Collaboration Principles
Shared responsibility
Partnerships
Family centered and community based
Purposes, goals, time and effort

22. CFSR Partners Children’s Bureau Resource Guide, p 2
Court
Tribal
Youth
Child welfare agency staff
External partners
Diversity-of-state representatives
Other

23. CFSR Collaborative Processes Children’s Bureau Resource Guide, p 2
Common goal
Benefit to all parties
Vehicle for collaborating
Ability to come to consensus
Strong leadership
Meaningful involvement
Shared success
Engage new partners
Shared vision for the future
Ongoing evaluation

24. Engaging Collaborative Partners Children’s Bureau Resource Guide, p 5
Continually promoting CFSR
Match specific stakeholders to processes
Statewide assessment
Onsite review
PIP development
PIP implementation
Targeted outreach through effective channels
With each stakeholder:
Review advantages of CFSR and PIP collaboration
Jointly assess contributions, time commitment and resources
Explore how to sustain involvement
With stakeholder group
Establish “rules of engagement”
Communicate timelines for all activities and products

25. Using the CFSR to Build Partnerships Children’s Bureau Resource Guide, p 6
Existing collaborations
Volunteers
Allocate child welfare resources and time
Communication vehicles

26. Finding Evidence of Strong Collaboration: Nine Elements Children’s Bureau Resource Guide, p 8
Engagement of Other Partners
Communication
Needs assessment
Joint strategic planning
Sharing of resources and structural changes
Sustainability
Policies, laws, regulations
Research/data/evaluation
Leadership

27. Finding Evidence of Strong Collaboration: An Exercise Children’s Bureau Resource Guide, pp 8 - 10
You are in one of four “element” groups:
Engagement of other partners
Communication
Needs assessment
Sustainability
Read your element from the CB Guide
Discuss examples from your state
Brainstorm other examples
List best examples so your group can report out

28. Critiquing Collaborative Efforts
Read your Case Study (1, 2 or 3)
Select people to
Take notes on Hand Out #9
Report a synopsis of your case during plenary
Report your answers from HO 9 during plenary
In group, discuss each question and take notes
In plenary, report out
Synopsis of case
Answers to questions on Hand Out #9

29. Your State’s Previous CFSR: Involving Stakeholders
Identifying and recruiting
Preparing them for and sustaining involvement
+ and – of the processes
According to stakeholders
Your assessment
Ongoing involvement?
Same groups?
Stakeholders involved in other child welfare agency work?

30. Agency Partners Eco-map
What additional partners should be added?

31. Stakeholder Engagement Plan: How, Who, When
Greens – Keeping positive involvement
Yellows – Improving relationships and enhancing involvement
Reds – Healing and re-involving
No Dot – Developing relationship and beginning involvement

32. Overall Strategy: Reflection and Planning
What was the overall process for the previous CFSR?
What should be the overall strategy for the second CFSR?

33. Planning Stakeholder Involvement at Each Phase of The CFSR
Statewide Assessment
Onsite Review
Program Improvement Planning
PIP Implementation
PIP Monitoring / Revisions

34. Planning Stakeholder Involvement for CFSR Outcomes and Systemic Factors
Safety (2), Permanency (2), Well-being (3)
Systemic Factors
Statewide Information System
Case Review System
Quality Assurance System
Staff and Provider Training
Service Array
Agency Responsiveness to the Community
Foster and Adoptive Parent Licensing, Recruitment, and Retention

35. Plans to Monitor Stakeholder Involvement and for Continuous Communication
Overall stakeholders involvement
Stakeholder involvement re the seven outcomes and seven systemic factors
Preparing for the Next Review
Reviewing drafts of Statewide Assessment and PIP

36. Wrap Up
No single agency, including the public child welfare system, can fulfill the responsibility of keeping children safe, in permanent homes, and achieving well-being.
Community collaboration of a full range of involved and committed stakeholders is the best hope and strategy for this.