A16 - Evidence-Based Implementation with (Almost) No Money (Leadership Track)

Recent budget cuts have left even the most prepared agencies "tightening their fiscal belts," while trying to sustain and expand effective programming. Gains in recognizing the importance of evidence-based research in developing quality services come to a screeching halt when confronted with the high cost of many evidence-based models. This workshop will explore ways to combat the cost of implementing EBP models by assisting agencies in developing programs using the same proven practices. Through relevant examples, participants will have the opportunity to learn how to prioritize expenditures related to evidence-based program development and discuss the steps from concept to outcomes.

Presenters: Susanne Luebke & Stacy Lewis, Lena Pope Home, Inc., Fort Worth, TX

A17 - Bringing Aboriginal Communities Together through CARF Accreditation

Whether you are aboriginal, a tribe member on or off reserve, or an agency serving a diverse population, there is increasing focus on ensuring programs which serve children and families are enhancing their lives in the context of home, family and community. CARF Accreditation provides a framework that demonstrates the clear connection between the needs of children and families and the need for community accountability. This workshop highlights key aspects of CARF accreditation through group participation and uses examples from a recently accredited Canadian Indian Band on a rural/remote reserve and what accreditation has done for their people, staff and community.

Presenters: Daniel Stavert, CARF Canada, Edmonton, AB, Canada; Dexter Kinequon, La Ronge Indian Child and Family Service, La Ronge, SK, Canada; and Leslie Ellis-Lang, CARF International, Tucson, AZ

A18 - Aspiring to Excellence

This workshop provides an overview of the exciting work taking place to create an overarching framework as part of CWLA's updating/rethinking of the current Standards of Excellence for Child Welfare Services. Participants will hear the outcome of CWLA's special Strategic Project on creating a new Standard of Excellence for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. Participants will have opportunity to provide feedback on the developed products and guidance for additional elements. Opportunity will be provided for participants to dialogue with key leadership of CWLA's Prevention, Protection and Family Support Advisory Committee to explore how this might apply to their work/organization.

Presenters: Julie Collins & Andrea Bartolo, CWLA, Washington, DC; and Co-Chairs of CWLA's National Advisory Committee on Protection, Prevention and Family Support

Workshop Sessions B
Monday, February 27
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

B1 - Youth as Advocates

Through the development and engagement of youth advocacy and speak out teams, both youth and systems can realize several positive outcomes. The youth find a normalizing community, experience both validation and empowerment in support of trauma recovery, and gain skills and experiences that support their educational and vocational goals. Systems have the opportunity to learn from the true experts on child welfare exactly what works and what does not. In this workshop, participants will learn how to create and sustain effective youth teams.

Presenter: Kim Stevens, North American Council on Adoptable Children, East Bridgewater, MA

B2 - Leading Change Through Permanency

This workshop highlights interactive activities used to illustrate the concepts of cultural understanding, collaboration and permanency as it relates to children and families in the child welfare system. This workshop gives participants the opportunity to explore their cultural lens, use an imaginary approach to the workings of collaboration and understand the connections that youth in out-of-home care need to have the opportunity to create and maintain family connections. Small workgroups will provide an opportunity to practice the skills acquired using case scenarios.

Presenters: Vergie Burks & Kristie Lund, Casey Family Programs, Seattle, WA

B3 - The ABC Pilot Project: Findings From the Implementation of an Evidence Based Model Into a Diverse Community

In January of 2010, Consuelo Foundation launched a new direct service program in Honolulu called the "ABC (Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up) Pilot Project." This pilot was founded on a successful evidence-based model created by Dr. Mary Dozier at the University of Delaware. The program provides a ten-week, manualized, in-home attachment intervention for young children in the child protective system and their caregivers. This program concluded in July of 2011, with the final outcomes evaluation completed by Johns Hopkins University in August of 2011. A brief overview of the development of the program will be discussed with an emphasis on outcomes and what was learned.

Presenter: Patria Weston-Lee, Consuelo Foundation, Honolulu, HI

B4 - Improving Care for Children in Child Welfare: Results of a Three-Year Quality Improvement Collaborative

This workshop will focus on the impact of a three-year project in which nine participating entities worked to improve access to care, coordinate care, and/or reduce inappropriate use of psychotropic medication use among children and youth involved in the child welfare system in nine states. Both qualitative and quantitative information about the populations of focus, approaches, challenges, and successes will be shared with participants.

Presenters: Kamala D. Allen, Center for Health Care Strategies, Hamilton, NJ; Jacki Hoover, Allegheny County Department of Human Services, Office of Children, Youth & Families, Pittsburgh, PA; and Lindsay Moore, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health Plan, Pittsburgh, PA

B5 - Tired of Hiring the Wrong Person? Introducing an Evidence-Based Hiring Tool

If you are tired and have been burned because you've hired too many people who turned out to be wrong for the job, this workshop can help you turn that around. It will provide a real-life example of how using the Workplace Big 5 Profile (TM) 4.0 enabled a more-objective and successful hiring decision of a CFO. This tool has been legally-vetted for hiring and given to over 70,000 people; it has been demonstrated to be valid and reliable across ethnic, gender, age and geographic lines. This workshop will be a window into how this tool can enhance hiring practices.

Presenters: Joe Costa, Hillsides, Pasadena, CA, and Judy Nelson, Executive Coaching, Redondo Beach, CA

B6 - Federal Budget Battle and Child Welfare Services

The federal budget has been the subject of intense scrutiny, debate and brinkmanship in the past two years. Participants will hear from a panel of budget experts about the opportunities and challenges within the federal budget for the child welfare system. The President's recently released budget proposal will be explored in depth and compared to the year-end omnibus appropriations bill finalized in December. Panelists will discuss recent budget trends and will explain how they are expected to effect specific programs serving vulnerable children and families going forward.

Presenters: Indivar Dutta-Gupta, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, DC; John Sciamanna, American Humane Association, Washington, DC; and Sean Hughes, CWLA, Washington, DC

B7 - It's All About Relationships

This workshop is entitled It's All About Relationships because it is created by youth to teach adults in the field how they should be treated. As adults, sometimes we forget how to work with or relate to youth. This worksop will talk about confidentiality, not bringing your problems to work with you, and remembering that as workers we get to go home at the end of the day. Not so , for the youth in our care--this is their life and they can't leave the programs at night. It also teaches us how to have mutual respect for one another and that all youth need to be treated the same by all staff. This workshop is an eye opener for new staff and a helpful reminder to those that have been in the field for a long time.

Presenters: Howard F. Wingard, Julia Leftwich, Famitta Durham & Dashawn Freeman, Community Access Unlimited, Elizabeth, NJ

B8 - Rising to the Challenge: Helping States to Improve Outcomes and Use Limited Resources Effectively 

This workshop will provide information and examples about how states can achieve better results at a lower cost by serving youth in their own homes. Intensive in-home services is a proven alternative treatment for children and youth who would otherwise be placed in foster care, residential treatment, detention centers, hospitals or other out-of-home placement settings. In some instances to achieve these better results at a lower cost, system reforms are needed. As a result, the workshop will also highlight how providers can partner with state and federal leaders to advocate for these needed reforms.

Presenter: Nicole Truhe, Youth Villages, Arlington, VA and Bret Stockton, Youth Villages, Memphis, TN

B9 - Out of the Closet Into the Mire: Traumatic Layering in Gay/Lesbian Foster Youth

This workshop and paper explores the complex stigma and trauma with gay and lesbian foster youth. Video excerpts from interviews with gay and lesbian youth illustrate the challenges experienced in the system. Case-based exercises will be used to develop capacities for assessing and responding to the traumatic layers common to many gay and lesbian youth. Participants will learn to identify how traumatic layers interfere with youth adaptation. Techniques for responding the the trauma are shared from the caseworker, foster parent and clinician's perspective.

Presenters: D. Mark Ragg, Debbie Pond & Elvia Krajewski-Jamie, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI

B10 - Maximizing Resources During An Economic Crisis: Not Business As Usual

With fewer dollars available, the Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB), Children Services Council of Pinellas County and community leaders have embraced a vision of creating a new service delivery system. The elements of this system include the engagement of traditional and non-traditional partners, increased access to quality services for families, and maximization of available community resources. Integration of these system's elements has led our community JWB to changing its role from banker to collaborative partner, resulting in positive and innovative changes.

Presenters: Dr. Marcie Biddleman, Trenia L. Cox & Yaridis L. Garcia, Juvenile Welfare Board, Children's Services Council of Pinellas County, Clearwater, FL

B11 - Special Reviews Without Blaming and Shaming

From 2004 - 2009, CWLA and the Connecticut Department of Children and Families partnered to develop a best practice model for conducting Special Reviews of child fatalities and critical incidents. Using the lens of current high profile cases in the headlines, presenters will engage participants in discussion of how Special Reviews of critical incidents can emphasize instruction and learning rather than accusation and finding fault. The model uses group process, worker support to minimize secondary trauma, and open dialogue to gather the facts and determine what happened. The team will share lessons learned from the post-review vantage point.

Presenters: Andrea Bartolo, CWLA, Acton, MA; Etta Lappen Davis, Etsky Consulting, Bolton, MA; and Michael J. Schultz, Connecticut Department of Children and Families, Hartford, CT

B12 - The Indian Child Welfare Act: ICWA, NPR, US and You

This interactive workshop will focus on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978 and it's implementation in the United States. The intent of ICWA is to provide services to the family that may prevent the removal of an Indian child from their parents or Indian custodian and/or reunify the family as soon as is safely possible if they have been removed. The State must follow ICWA requirements any time there is reason to believe a child may be Indian, pending verification of the child's Indian status. Best practice for agencies working with American Indian children is to activerly seek involvement of the tribe and/or American Indian community services agency. Even with the regulations, American Indian children continue to be over-represented in child welfare across the nation, often resulting in a lack of adequate services to American Indian families and children.  Through the sharing of promising practices and developing accessible tools we hope to change the tide and help improve child welfare outcomes for children across the nation, and reduce the number of children who enter into the child welfare system as a whole.

Presenters: Rachelle Pavao Goldenberg, CWLA, Martinez, CA; and others TBD

B13 - Both Sides of the Gate: Meeting the Needs of Military Children and Their Families in Civilian Courts

This workshop describes the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judge's initiative to increase organizational and community capacity to address new challenges and meet the needs of military children and families in the Courts systems. NCJFCJ adopted a Resolution Regarding Judicial Education on Military Families in July 2011 and launched a study to identify successful responses and unmet needs facing this underserved population. Information on special challenges faced "inside the gates" and "outside" in civilian child welfare and Courts system, as well as findings from the study survey will be shared with immediate practice action items and policy recommendations.

Presenters: Kathleen West, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Santa Monica, CA, and Judge Jason Shea Fleming, Kentucky Court of Justice, Hopkinsville, KY

B14 - Moving from Child Welfare to Building Safe Communities One Child at a Time

UCAN's Chicago Institute for Transforming Youth (CITY) is an innovative approach to service delivery. It's centered around "building a community, one child at a time." This approach capitalizes on the premise that if at-risk youth are healthier, our communities will also be healthier. CITY will establish programs in 10 of the highest impact communities of Chicago within a five-year period, provide direct service to over 10,000 at-risk youth and impact the lives of over 100,000 more youth. The program will strive to decrease the youth murder rate and reduce shootings; double the graduation rate for all participants; and annually increase the number of youth leaders by 1,000. The main goal of the program is to provide opportunities for youth and build their potential, while also making communities safer for all citizens.

Presenters: Thomas C. Vanden Berk & Claude Robison, UCAN, Chicago, IL

B15 - Collaborations that Support Kinship Caring (Part 2)

Kinship care provides unusual challenges which, according to research, involve nine major issues of concern: legal status, financial support, health/mental health, school, child behavior, family relationships, support services, fair and equal treatment, and satisfaction & recommendations. This workshop provides an opportunity to address three of the most compelling of these issues: nurturing family relationships, helping children succeed in school, and providing supports. Kinship care requires collaboration between and among kinship caregiver, agencies, organizations and communities. This double session models collaboration by bringing together members of CWLA National Kinship Care Advisory Committee and organizations with kinship care expertise.

Presenters: Jacci Graham, Children's Services Society of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Madelyn Gordon & Sylvie deToledo, Grandparents as Parents, Canoga Park, CA; Zelma S. Smith, ZS Smith & Associates, LLC, Stone Mountain, GA; Linda Pangalos & Jimeka Rivers, The Children's Home Society of New Jersey, Trenton, NJ; Dr. Anne Strozier, The Florida Kinship Center, Tampa, FL; Dr. Kerry Littlewood, Lucille W. Gorham Intergenerational Community Center & East Carolina University, Greenveille, NC; Dr. Ramona Denby-Brinson, School of Social Work, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV; Dr. Keith A. Alford, Syracuse University, School of Social Work, Syracuse, NY; and Eileen Mayers Pasztor, School of Social Work, California State University at Long Beach & CWLA, Manhattan Beach, CA.  Moderator: Donna D. Petras, CWLA, Lincolnshire, IL

B16 - The New England Youth Coalition: A Model for Regional Youth-Led Advocacy

The New England Youth Coalition (NEYC) consists of current and alumni foster youth and adult allies from the six New England states' public child welfare agencies working together to better the quality of life for youth involved with the foster care system through education, advocacy, and improvement of policy and practice. This workshop will give an overview of how this regional youth-adult partnership was created, how its work has progressed (including their groundbreaking work on the Siblings Bill of Rights), and where it's headed next. There will be time for small group discussion, Q&A, and mini-consultations from NEYC members.

Presenters: Anthony Barrows, New England Association of Child Welfare Commissioners & Directors, Boston, MA and others TBD

B17 - Go Deep or Go Home: Creating Organizational Change (Leadership Track)

Organizational change is never easy, but when the stakes include impacting the lives of children in need of permanency, change must be embraced. Boys & Girls Aid is a 126 year old, multi-dimensional child welfare agency that recently embarked on an aggressive quest to ensure that 100% of the youth served exit to permanency. Learn how we have achieved transactional change through narrowing our focus and deepening our commitment to permanency, and how that is dramatically improving our services to children and families. You will laugh, you will cry, you will learn to go narrow & deep.

Presenters: Vera Stoulil & Sally Guyer, Boys & Girls Aid, Portland, OR

Workshop Sessions C
Tuesday, February 28
10:30 am - 12:00 pm

C1 - Opportunities in Times of Shrinking Budgets - Building Coalitions Between Corrections and Child Welfare

This workshop will provide 1) an overview of relevant research on the intersection of child welfare and incarceration, highlighting unique challenges and needs of this population of children in the child welfare system, and 2) a presentation and discussions from two jurisdictions generally considered national leaders in reform efforts for children of incarcerated parents - Washington State and California. The presenters will discuss how they were able to create collaboration between corrections and child welfare leading to creative policy and program reforms.

Presenters: Susan Phillips, Sentencing Project, Washington, DC; Kathleen Z. Russell, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA; and Yali Lincroft, First Focus, Washington, DC

C2 - Preventing Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma: The Safe Mothers, Safe Children Project

This workshop will describe a New York City-based project, "Safe Mothers, Safe Children," that is adapting an evidence-based trauma treatment for mothers receiving child welfare preventive services, and improving the capacity of caseworkers to identify and mitigate trauma among their clients through training and on-site technical assistance. Examples from the treatment model and caseworker training will be provided, and client outcomes to-date will be shared.

Presenters: Erika Tullberg & Roni Avinadav, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY

C3 - Family Team/Group Conferencing - Engagement, Management & Direction

Family Team Conferencing is a family-focused intervention in child welfare services and is unlike many other social work interventions. It brings together the family group and agency personnel to create and carry out a plan to safeguard children. It allows families to take ownership of "their plan." Presenters will outline successful stategies for engagement and management as developed at The Children's Aid Society in New York, provide highlights of efforts by Florida's Fifth Judicial Circuit to divert families from the dependency system, and feature the work being done in The Netherlands by Eigen Kracht Centrale (the Dutch name for Family Group Conference).

Presenters: Michael W. Wagner, The Children's Aid Society, Bronx, NY; Tewabech Genet Stewart, Kids Central, Inc., Ocala, FL; Malveria Cox-Carter, Devereux Kids, Bushnell, FL; and Rob van Pagee, Eigen Kracht Centrale, The Netherlands

C4 - Academic and Community Partnerships: A Mechanism to Improve Services and Resources

This workshop illustrates the importance of collaboration between community-based organizations and universities to better-assess the needs of underserved families and children in the community. Using their experience studying the expressed needs and concerns of immigrant youth, and people with lupus, the presenters will share information about what worked and what did not when conducting their collaborative research projects. Participants will have opportunities for discussion and interaction, as they design their own community-based participatory research project. The participants will also explore how academic and community partnerships can promote advocacy, educational and service networks to improve child well-being.

Presenters: Dr. Elissa D. Giffords & Dr. Orly Calderon C.W. Post Campus - Long Island University, Brookville, NY

C5 - Innovative Initiatives Through Youth-Adult Partnerships

This interactive workshop will be led primarily by current NYC Youth Advocates who have been participating in the design and role out of Administration for Children's Services' One Year Home Campaign as it relates to older adolescents and Family Team Conferences. The workshop will help participants think through creating the right environment for such a program including a discussion on the role of key stake holders and their influence in sustaining the program. The workship leaders will share the history, challenges and most importantly the success of the program to date.

Presenters: Angelique Wilson, Ronni Fuchs & Shavonne Jackson, NYC Administration for Children's Services, New York, NY; Kevin McKee, Graham Windham Services, New York, NY; and Giselle John, Consultant

C6 - Improving Birth Outcomes and Social Services for Pregnant Hispanic and African American Women

The workshop will be divided into three segments. 1) Program staff will discuss the objectives of the CUNA (for Latinas) and Body and Soul (for African American women) programs, describe the target population, the program strategies utilized, and give examples of the curriculum and activities used in these multi-faceted programs. 2) Evaluation staff will describe the results of a three-year evaluation of CUNA. 3) Program staff will describe the lessons learned in carrying out the programs, how to succeed with community partnerships, and outline a strategy for using a tool kit to succeefully replicate these programs.

Presenters: Leonard H. Feldman & Maritza I. Raimundi-Petroski, The Children's Home Society of New Jersey, Trenton, NJ

C7 - The Place of Language, Symbol, and Story in Avancing Child and Adolescent Development

This workshop will feature Professor Mazza's multidimensional R.E.S. model as a framework for practice and research in the treatment of trauma and advancement of child well-being will be examined and demonstrated across therapeutic modalities (individual, couple/family, and group). A brief overview of the research supporting the three dimensions of the R.E.S. model will be presented. Specific practice and research methods/techniques for each dimension will presented and demonstrated in this largely experiential workshop.

Presenter: Nicholas Mazza, College of Social Work, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

C8 - What Works in Child Welfare

This workshop will present findings from What Works in Child Welfare, published by CWLA early in 2012. The presenters will summarize the latest research in evidence-based practices (EBP) in child welfare, discuss the future of EBP in child welfare, and provide ample opportunity for questions and discussion. The workshop will appeal to many stakeholders such as administrators and policy makers, program planners and implementers, direct service practitioners, students, and researchers.

Presenters: Patrick A. Curtis & Carolyn Lichtenstein, Walter R. McDonald & Associates, Rockville, MD; and Gina Alexander, The Villages, Bloomington, IN

C9 - Using Longitudinal Data to Further Understand the Foster Care Experience

This workshop demonstrates the use of longitudinal administrative data to follow foster children through multiple foster care entries and exits, including post-adoption entries, in an effort to gain an understanding of the child's experience over time and the consistency of that experience with the broad intent of assuring permanency. This analysis suggests that almost all infants achieve permanency, that considering single placement spells is inadequate, that some forms of permanency provides greater stability and that the foster care experience of neonates is different from that of other children, including other infants.

Presenter: Joseph Magruder, University of California, Berkeley, Center for Social Services Research, Berkeley, CA

C10 - Responding to and Managing Suicide Risk for Youth in Foster Care and Mental Health Settings

Workshop presenters will provide a brief introduction including data on suicidal behavior in youth in foster care and risk and protective factors; key research-based resources and practices to build suicide prevention capacity of organizations; and clinical program highlights implemented by a children's mental health services agency to manage the risk of suicidal behavior in their clients and effectively respond to suicidal events. Participants will have the opportunity to share their experiences and explore how these approaches can be integrated into their programs and clinical practices to better respond to suicidal risk for youth in foster care and mental health settings.

Presenters: Effie Malley, American Association of Suicidology, Washington, DC, and Mark Hierholzer, ChildSavers, Richmond, VA

C11 - Revaluing Residential Treatment: A Research and Investigation Informed Perspective on Residential Care and Treatment for Children in Contemporary Systems of Care

This workshop will address the role of residential treatment in helping children achieve rapid and sustainable gains by 1) defining "quality residential treatment" in contemporary terms; 2) identifying the contribution that quality residential care and treatment makes in the lives of children for whom it is appropriate; 3) identifying the needs and circumstances that make residential care and treatment an option of choice as opposed to a default option for "hard to place" children; and 4) identifying and comparing short and long term outcomes with those achieved by and with children in other forms of out-of-home placements.

Presenters: James McComb, CWLA, Washington, DC and Lloyd Bullard, LB International Consulting, LLC, Burke, VA 

C12 - What's New in the World of Child Welfare Reform

This workshop will highlight new efforts to reform and reauthorize child welfare programs, including finance reform. Panelists will provide an up to date report on what's happening in Washington and how advocates are attempting to influence policy and funding decisions.

Presenters: Stephanie Sprow, Children's Defense Fund, Washington, DC; Beth Davis-Pratt, Center for Law and Social Policy, Washington, DC; Tim Briceland-Betts, CWLA, Washington, DC; and Ryan Martin, House Ways and Means Committee (Majority Staff), Washington, DC 

C13 - Post Care Services - Considerations for Public Agencies and the Use of Implementation Science

This workshop will highlight key considerations in implementing post-care services, as developed by Catawba County Social Services in partnership with The Duke Endowment, including capacity building within a public agency, implementing evidence-based practices with fidelity, staff engagement and linkages, use of data in decision-making, and integration of post-care services with existing child welfare continuum. The workshop will also feature the Child Wellbeing Project, a partnership between theses organizations and the National Implementation Research Network. The project's goals are to determine if post-care supportive services improve the long-term well-being of children leaving foster care and if post-care services are cost-effective and can be replicated. Outcomes of this initiative will have significant policy and practice implications.

Presenters: Dawn W. Wilson & Beth Brandes, Catawba County Social Services, Newton, NC; and Alison Metz, The National Implementation Research Network, FPG Child Development Institute, UNC, Chapel Hill, NC

C14 - How Many Families Does It Take To Make An Adoption?

The family constellation that is an adoptive family is wide reaching. This workshop will take a look at the extended family of adoption and how we can honor it, and in doing so build the self esteem and connectedness of adopted children.

Presenter: Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao, Center For Family Connections, Cambridge, MA

C15 - Getting Your "Faith in Motion"

Learn how to establish, maintain, and strengthen relationships within the faith community in order to recruit resource families and support children and families in the foster care system. Hear from county child welfare and faith community professionals who are actively collaborating in a successful program called Faith in Motion in Orange County, California. Find out how Faith in Motion is engaging all sizes of faith based organizations by offering different levels of commitment and on-going communication. Become empowered as you listen to the success stories and get equipped to implement your own Faith in Motion program.

Presenters: Cheryl Alexander, Orange County Social Services Agency, Orange, CA, and Lynn Young, Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA

C16 - National Kinship Summit's Next Steps: Developing a Unified Federal Policy on Informal Kinship Care

On March 27th, 2011, CWLA and the the National Committee of Grandparents for Children's Rights co-sponsored a "National Kinship Summit" at the CWLA annual conference. Attended by over 100 professionals and caregivers, participants heard from the Administration for Childrnne & Families Acting Secretary David Hansell and Commisser Bryan Samuels and then met in special breakouts to discuss 1) engagement of kin by child welfare agencies, 2) accessing general services, and 3) best practices in kinship services. Participants prioritized recommendations that will be published this year and already formed the policy position for the 2011 GrandRally. This workshop will review the recommendations and advocacy, provide participants with the opportunity to comment and advise, and work with the Kinship Advisory Committee to further the policy agenda.

Presenters: Gerard Wallace, National Committee of Grandparents for Children's Rights, Cohoes, NY, and Donna D. Petras, CWLA, Lincolnshire, IL

C17 - Moving Evidence-Informed Practices Into Agencies: Organizational Assessment and Leadership Strategies (Leadership Track)

Child welfare leaders increasingly face demands for accountability and positive outcomes and the push toward providing services that use "proven" interventions. Drawing from implementation and dissemination science and real world experiences, this Research to Practice Committee session will provide resource information to participants on finding and assessing evidence-based practices. It will identify planning processes, leadership strategies, organizational assessments, workforce development and evaluation tools that can be used to effectively find evidence-informed practices and adopt and adapt them to agency settings. The session will focus on the strategies leaders can use to assess organizational readiness and manage the change process.

Presenters: Joan Levy Zlotnik, NASW Social Work Policy Institute, Washington, DC; Wendy Whiting Blome, Catholic University National Catholic School of Social Service, Washington, DC; and Tracy Whitaker, NASW Center for Workforce Studies & Social Work Practice, Washington, DC

C18 - Improving the Management of Private Foster Care Providers: Improvements in Technology and Science

Chapin Hall's Multistate Foster Care Data Archive now includes the ability to monitor permanency outcomes for children at the provider agency level. This level of detail offers an important new resource to states, particularly those that contract foster care services to private agencies. Provider-level data allow these contract agencies to monitor outcomes for the children and families they serve, and they give public agencies a necessary tool for tracking contractor performance, identifying successful providers, and targeting support to those that need improvement. This presentation covers collaborative work between Chapin Hall and the New York State Office of Children and Family Services to promote the use of provider-based data at the state, county, and provider level. We cover the structure of the database, education and training for those who will access it, and how the state has used provider-level data in its process of continuous quality improvement

Presenters: Britany Orlebeke, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, IL, and Claire Strohmeyer, New York State Office of Children & Family Services, Rensselaer, NY

Canadian Workshop Session

Tuesday, February 28

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm 

Aboriginal Child Welfare Transformation: Lessons Learned

In Canada, there is a significant over-representation of Aboriginal children in the child welfare system. In parts of Western Canada, 80-85% of the children in State care are Aboriginal. In recent years, there has been mounting pressure to revisit how Aboriginal child welfare services are oriented and delivered in Canada. Provincial and Territorial governments have been reviewing their child welfare legislation, acts and related programs and service delivery structures. A key focus of these reviews has been to transform Aboriginal child welfare to account for how the system is servicing Aboriginal children, families and communities. This workshop will draw on important lessons learned and examine models, programs and policies that are directed to improving health outcomes for Aboriginal children who are involved in the child welfare system.

Presenters: Lynda Brown, Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre, Ontario; Lynn Ryan MacKenzie, Nunavut Department of Health and Social Services, Nunavut; Marion McIver, Ranch Ehrlo Society, Saskatchewan; Kathy Tsetso, Dehcho Health and Social Services, Northwest Territories;  and Moderator: Gordon F. Phaneuf, Child Welfare League of Canada, Ontario