INSTITU TE INSI GHT S Issue 20 | May 2022
GROW CENTER UPDATES
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
GROW CENTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE
We hope that each of you are well and enjoying Springtime! We just concluded our Annual Research Symposium and are so glad so many of our state and nationwide colleagues were able to join us.
The Institute is pleased to announce the inaugural GROW Center Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee will serve to provide informed guidance, professional expertise, stakeholder experience, and advice to GROW Center staff. GROW Center Advisory Committee members will bridge the gap between organizations, child welfare professionals, and advocate for GROW Center initiatives. The Institute welcomes you to meet our advisory committee members!
We spent two days together learning about Dr. Jessica Pryce, director how we can continue to promote workforce resilience in child welfare. At the end of the Symposium, it is always my goal that each of our attendees have gained motivation and momentum to truly engage in systemic change efforts for their communities. Our Institute is currently working on the recording for Season Five of our podcast. Stay tuned for announcements for its release date, but in the meantime, Season Four is streaming wherever you listen to your podcasts. We welcome podcast ideas and collaborations, so if you have interest in our podcast project, please reach out. We are committed to co-creating our content so that it is as useful and accessible as possible. This summer there will be great opportunities for engaging with field professionals. Our Institute will be attending the Florida Coalition for Children’s conference in Orlando in July where we are looking forward to presenting on GROW Center activities. We continue to work with the Department of Children and Families Leon County Service Center, on the Alliance for Workforce Enhancement Initiative. A newly appointed GROW Center Advisory Committee is set to begin working with us to strategize and implement our workforce innovations, trainings, and leadership development opportunities. As an Institute, we are poised to transform so many aspects of our workforce that have seemed intractable, but we still need engagement and feedback from you. Stay connected to us! Follow us on social media (@FSUChildWelfare) and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 850-644-7201
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Angie Abbot: Safe Children Coalition Barbara Byrne, LCSW: Evidence Based Associates Ryan Capone: Department of Children and Families Lisa Coy: The Center for Child Welfare, University of South Florida Devin D. Coleman: Devin D. Coleman & Associates Natalia Giordano, LCSW: School of Social Work, Florida International University Amy Hines: Department of Children and Families Kenneth J. Kilian, PhD: Pasco Scheriff’s Office Erin A. King, PhD, LCSW: Department of Social Work, University of West Florida Bethany Lacey: Boys Town South Florida René N. Ledford, MSW, LCSW, BCBA: Children’s Home Society of Florida Elizabeth McMullen: Child Welfare Advocate Patricia Nellius-Guthrie: Florida Coalition for Children Nathan Lee Scott III: Florida Department of Health John Sheetz: College of Medicine, Florida State University Nicola Smith: Communities Connected for Kids Karen D. Turcotte, MPA: Children’s Network of Southwest Florida Tia Walton-Walker, PhD: Florida State University Autism Institute Dina Wilke, PhD: College of Social Work, Florida State University Click here to learn more about the GROW Center Advisory Committee. Questions about the Advisory Committee can be addressed to Kristina Finch, Program Director of Professional Development, at kfinch@fsu.edu.
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RESEARCH LOOKING UPDATES: BACK... 2021 A YEAR IN REVIEW ONGOING AND NEW PROJECTS SUPPORTING YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS
HOPE COURT: AN EXPLANATORY CASE STUDY OF RESTORATIVE PRACTICES IN CHILD WELFARE
FOLLOW THE LOVE PILOT PROJECT – STRENGTHENING RELATIONAL PERMANENCY FOR FOSTER YOUTH IN FLORIDA CHILD WELFARE SYSTEMS
Melissa Green, Esq., FLITE Center
Annette Semanchin-Jones, Ph.D., University of Buffalo
Quiera Jackson, Esq., FLITE Center
Lisa Schelbe, Ph.D., Florida State University
Marcelo Castro, Ph.D., Nova Southeastern University
Elizabeth Wynter, Ed.D., Selfless Love Foundation
Angela Yehl, Psy.D., Nova Southeastern University James Pann, Ph.D., Nova Southeastern University Tammy Kushner, Psy.D., Nova Southeastern University Initiated in Broward County in 2020, HOPE Court is a new and restorative approach to the dependency system for youth aging out of foster care without an intact family. HOPE Court is a problem-solving court that ensures youth can be heard and empowered to co-create their futures. HOPE Court hearings and support circles are youth-led and facilitated to promote relationship building and positive community connections that aid youths’ successful transition to independent living (TIL). Through HOPE Court’s programmatic activities, youth develop personal goals, individualized action plans, and TIL life skills; and identify community supports and resources to better support a successful transition to becoming self-sufficient adults. This evaluation aims to increase the validation of HOPE Court and disseminate findings and inform both HOPE Court and Florida’s child welfare system. Moreover, evaluation could provide an evidence-informed model for replication with anticipated low costs and high benefits to enhance the effectiveness of the state’s current approach to preparing youth for self-sufficiency.
The Selfless Love Foundation with a team of collaborative partners launched the Follow the Love – Youth Relational Permanency initiative (FTL) to address current gaps in the understanding of relational permanency and decision-making around support connections for older youth in foster care. The FTL initiative aims to 1) enhance Florida child welfare systems’ understanding and prioritizing of relational permanency; 2) improve the number and strength of youth’s supportive adult connections; and 3) increase the engagement of transitioning youth in permanency planning and decision-making. The FTL initiative is currently being piloted in three community-based care agencies: 1) Family Support Services of North Florida, 2) Community Partnership for Children, and 3) Heartland for Children in Florida. This initiative includes engagement with youth ages 16 to 17, who are in non-kin out-of-home placements and strengths-based training to participating child welfare agency direct service providers. Youth engagement utilizes the Youth Connections Scale and Permanency Pact to support strengths-based conversations about past and current relationships. This pilot aims to develop a sustainable and replicable model to promote relational permanency for youth in foster care, through pilot testing, outcome tracking, and ongoing evaluation.
SERVING FAMILIES
A MIXED METHODS EVALUATION OF THE AUTHENTIC FAMILY ENGAGEMENT AND STRENGTHENING APPROACH Morgan Cooley, PhD, LCSW, Florida Atlantic University Marianna Colvin, PhD, Florida Atlantic University Vaughn Crichlow, PhD, Florida Atlantic University Corey Best, Mining for Gold, LLC This mixed-methods study examines child welfare workers’ perceptions of a) the presence of systemic and racial discrimination in the child welfare system; b) the presence of workers’ racial justice values and the impact of these values on workers’ interactions with families involved in child welfare services; and c) the impact of racial justice and family engagement training on workers’ interactions with families involved in child welfare services. The secondary purpose of this research is to examine the perceived effectiveness of targeted racial justice and authentic family engagement training and coaching with a small group of child welfare workers in a) promoting self-reflection and awareness of racial discrimination and systemic racism; b) reducing racial discrimination when working with families; c) prioritizing relationships over services when working with families impacted by the child welfare system; and d) empowering Black families who are involved in the child welfare system. This study was developed from work on the Authentic Family Engagement and Strengthening approach, a flexible, multi-faceted child welfare approach developed to address the needs of Black families impacted by child welfare services and reduce removals of Black children from their homes following a maltreatment investigation. Piloted in Broward County, results indicated a significantly lower number of removals when compared to a group of child maltreatment investigators who received racial justice and family engagement training and coaching compared to units who did not. The current study includes child welfare workers from Palm Beach, Duval, and Alachua Counties, and a retrospective evaluation of investigators from Broward County to provide a robust multisite sample. This study will consist of three phases, including developmental research (Phase 1), training curriculum development (Phase 2), and coaching guide development (Phase 3).
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RESEARCH LOOKING UPDATES: BACK... 2021 A YEAR IN REVIEW ONGOING AND NEW PROJECTS SERVING FAMILIES KINSHIP NAVIGATOR PROGRAMS Anna Yelick, PhD, Florida Institute for Child Welfare As the Institute continues its collaboration with the Department of Children and Families on kinship navigator programs, three objectives were identified for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. First, the principal investigator continues to contribute to the Children’s Home Network efforts to achieve a best practice rating from the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse through review of prior evaluation efforts to provide assistance and recommendations. Second, process and outcome evaluations of Kids Central, Inc.’s kinship navigator program is tentatively slated to continue through March 2023. This outcome evaluation will focus on program functioning and will address the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse’s priority outcomes, including child safety, child permanency, adult well-being, referrals, and access to services. Finally, the principal investigator is awaiting receipt of deidentified administrative data from the Department, which will be used to assess the relationship between availability of kinship services and outcomes related to child safety, permanency, and well-being among children with initial kinship care placements.
CHANGING SYSTEMS TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH OF FORT LAUDERDALE INDEPENDENCE TRAINING & EDUCATION CENTER IN BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA Fabio Naranjo, Ph.D., MSW, Barry University, Institute Affiliate Stephen Ferrante, Ph.D., MSW, Group Victory, LLC The Fort Lauderdale Independence, Training & Education (FLITE) Center, founded in 2009, works to comprehensively and simultaneously address the multiple needs of youth aging out of the foster care system who are struggling to transition to independent living. Annually they serve approximately 1,500 youth with a target population of youth aged 13 and older who have experienced multiple years in dependency, several placements, and those who have worked with numerous child welfare workers. The FLITE Center also specializes in serving vulnerable or marginalized groups of youth, including those experiencing homelessness; victimized by human trafficking; or identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+). The FLITE Center chairs Broward County’s Transition to Independent Living (TIL) System of Care which encompasses approximately 20 agencies and the TIL Life Coach Initiative while leading provider collaboration and measuring client and system outcomes. In an approach to serving youth transitioning from care, Drs. Fabio Naranjo and Stephen Ferrante will complete a mixed methods evaluation of the FLITE Center’s programming to identify promising practices that could be considered for policy and practice recommendations statewide.
INSTITUTE UPDATES: PASSION & PATIENCE: STORIES FROM THE FRONTLINES OF CHILD WELFARE In March, the Institute sent a documentary crew to interview child welfare professionals across Florida. We spoke with child protective investigators and specialists about their firsthand experiences in the field. We are excited to share this short documentary film as an exploration of the commitment and perspectives of child welfare frontline professionals. Watch the teaser video and join us on June 10 to watch the premier of Passion & Patience: Stories from the Frontlines of Child Welfare on our Youtube.
WATCH THE TEASER
SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE
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WEBINAR OPPORTUNITY:
2022 SYMPOSIUM: The Institute’s annual symposium was held in Tallahassee, Florida Monday, May 9 and Tuesday May 10. This year’s symposium focused on Promoting Workforce Resilience. The symposium explored how to promote workforce resilience for child welfare professionals in the time of the great resignation. Keynote lectures and workshops covered topics related to preparation, recruitment, and onboarding; holistic well-being of workers; workforce support; and organizational efforts. If you were unable to join, symposium presentations and resources will be available through the Institute’s website. Stay tuned for the release of symposium documents in the weeks following the conclusion of the event.
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The Florida Institute for Child Welfare in partnership with the Center for the Study and Promotion of Communities, Families, and Children at FSU is pleased to announce a free professional development opportunity for Child Welfare Professionals. Join us June 17 at 10:00 am EST for Parent Engagement and Motivation to Change: New Tips for Practice.
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REGISTER HERE
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