CountyInformation
County: ButlerCounty / Submission Date: September 14, 2009
ICSP Contact Name: Amanda Feltenberger, ButlerCounty Human Services
Title: Program Development Manager
Signature:
Date:
Street Address: 124 W. Diamond St. P.O. Box 1208
City, State, Zip: Butler, PA16003
Phone Number: 724-284-5114
Fax Number: 724-284-5128
Email Address:
Acknowledgements
ButlerCounty Human Services / ButlerCountyHuman Services
Carmine A. Scotece, Director / Ann Brown, Fiscal Director
Signature: / Signature:
Date: / Date:
ButlerCounty Children and Youth Services / Program: ButlerCounty Mental Health Program
Joyce Ainsworth, Director / Amy Peters, Director
Signature: / Signature:
Date: / Date:
Butler County Mental Retardation/Early Intervention Program / ButlerCountyDrug and Alcohol Program
Amy Trempus, Director / Donna Jenereski, Director
Signature: / Signature:
Date: / Date:
Butler County Juvenile Court Services / Center for Community Resources
Kathy Hofmeister, Director / Michael Robb, Executive Director
Signature: / Signature:
Date: / Date:
ButlerCounty Family Advisory Committee / Y.I.N.O. (Youth Impacting New Opportunities)
Signature: / Signature:
Date: / Date:
ButlerCounty Family Advisory Committee / Y.I.N.O. (Youth Impacting New Opportunities)
Signature: / Signature:
Date: / Date:
Butler Collaborative for Families / Butler Collaborative for Families
Dr. Elan Welter Lewis, Co-Chair / Heather Dovenspike, Co-Chair
Signature: / Signature:
Date: / Date:

Table of Contents

Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………………………3

Description of Family/Stakeholder/Youth Input……………………………………………….…5

Assessment and Strategies for Involving Families and Youth in Integrated Children’s Services Planning……………………………………………………………………………………...6

Community Indicators Chart……………………………………………………………..………10

Self-Assessment of Community Level Indicators Worksheet #1………………………………..11

Self-Assessment of Community Level Indicators Worksheet #2………………………………..12

Response to Feedback from DPW and Summary of Early Successes, Challenges, and Barriers……………………………………………...…………………………………..….13

Notification of Intent to Submit as Tier One………………………………………………….….15

Planning for Full Integration of Children’s Services………………………………………...….16

Promising Practices Incentive Grants: Project Budget…………………………………………24

Promising Practices Incentive Grants: Project Budget Narrative ………….….…………....…25

Checklist………………………………………………………...……………………………….....28

Attachment A

List of cross-systems team members……………………………………..……………….29

List of meetings held with the cross-systems team..……………………………………..31

Attachment B

ButlerCountyFamily & Multi-Agency Planning Process (MAPP)…………...……….32

Executive Summary

ButlerCounty continues to focus on the creation of a fully integrated, comprehensive service system for children and families in our community. ButlerCounty defines a fully-integrated system as one with the following seven components:

1)Direct and meaningful input from families into the development, implementation, and operation of integrated services (In progress);

2)No wrong door access to services which includes a comprehensive assessment accepted by all systems (In progress);

3)Universal service plan that accesses resources from all appropriate sources to meet the needs of the child and family (In progress);

4)Comprehensive prevention plan reviewed annually which includes recommendations for new and expanded services (In progress);

5)Integrated case management for families involved in multiple systems (In progress);

6)Continuum of quality, evidence-based services accessible to all county residents (In progress); and,

7)Integrated data system that respects confidentiality but enables communication and avoids redundant historical collection (funds to support this component are requested in this plan).

Our vision is that ButlerCounty is a safe and thriving place to live and work, where families and individuals reach their highest possible potential and are educated, productive, self-sufficient, vested members of the community. Human Services in ButlerCounty support this vision through a system that:

  • Is family-centered and easily navigated;
  • Is accountable to its stakeholders;
  • Fosters independence, responsibility, recovery, and self-sufficiency; and,
  • Embraces collaboration and open communication to work toward the common goal of strengthening families and individuals.

ButlerCounty’s system vision was revised this year so as to incorporate the viewpoints of various stakeholder groups, including County agencies, providers, family members, and youth. The vision statement presented has been formally adopted by Butler County Human Services, Butler Collaborative for Families, Butler County Family Advisory Committee, and Y.I.N.O. (YouthImpactingNewOpportunities-ButlerCounty’s Youth Advisory Committee).

ButlerCounty has made significant progress in moving toward full integration. The Butler Collaborative for Families (BCF) continues to experience increased membership and meaningful participation from community organizations and businesses. This committee supports collaboration and has been key in increasing ongoing communication and coordination of services among community providers. In addition, the BCF has been successful in laying the groundwork to beginimplementing six of the seven component of an integrated service system described above. The creation of the Center for Community Resources in 2001 was also a monumental event in terms of providing us with the structure necessary to provide integrated services.

Highlights ofButlerCounty’s 2010/2011 ICSP include:

  • Request for funding to support the enhancement of the Integrated Access Unit by adding an integrated data system that is directly compatible with the system Butler County Children and Youth Services plans to utilize;
  • Planning and implementation of Community Needs Forums in order to provide a vehicle for direct community input into the development of a comprehensive, integrated prevention plan; and,
  • Adoption of a process for contracting and monitoring that focuses on outcomes and success as measured by community level indicators.

Description of Stakeholder/Family/Youth Input

Activities of the cross-system planning team and plan to continue work next year: Butler County’s Cross-Systems Team, Butler Collaborative for Families (BCF), continues to meet monthly, with a mission to “build a unified and integrated network of services by using a multiple agency approach to break down barriers and strengthen the system of care for the children and families of Butler County”. The BCF will continue to be the driving force behind ButlerCounty’s Integrated Children’s Services Plan, as it has been for the past five years. In addition, to further ensure that there is continuous focus on the implementation of goals set forth in the ICSP, the BCF has created an ICSP subcommittee that also meets on a monthly basis.

List of meetings and participants on the cross-systems team:See Attachment A

Steps to ensure families/youth involvement: In 08/09, BCF team members attended meetings with existing family and youth groups, to gather feedback relating to the current system of care, suggestions for improvement, and guidance ongaining ongoing involvement from families and youth. The overwhelming response was the need to develop a Family Advisory Committee and a Youth Advisory Committee. These committees began meeting in Spring 08 and continue to meet on a monthly basis. In 09/10, the committees will focus on reaching out to additional families and youth to gain more support and feedback regarding integration of services.

Future steps to coordinate services with the educational system: In 08/09, workgroups were created to develop a common screening tool and a process for the delivery of integrated service coordination for families involved with multi-systems. Representatives from the Intermediate Unit and ClarenceBrownSchoolwere involved with these workgroups.We will maintain these partnerships through the upcoming years. Also, in 09/10, the Family Advisory Committee will work directly with the ICSP subcommittee to develop and implement a plan to reach out to the educational system further.

Assessment: Strategies for Involving Families and Youth in

Integrated Children’s Services Planning

Strategy for involving families and youth is currently in place in the county / YES / NO / 2010/11 plan will include
Special orientation and training is offered on an ongoing
basis to assist families/youth that need a better
understanding of administrative, budgetary, and other issues that play a role in planning. / X / X
Tips:
Include families in the planning and delivery of these trainings.
Use existing family leaders from local support groups and programs.
Identify these leaders from community centers, religious organizations, parent groups, disability groups or school family committees.
Families/youth have more than token representation at meetings and staff are actively asking for their input at both the process and implementation stages. / X
Tips:
Offer a variety of methods to give input including going to where families meet frequently, like shopping centers
Having a variety of levels for input, paper surveys, phone surveys,
focus groups, and attending the formal countyICSP meetings.
Make sure that all families, including contributing families get regular and informative updates on what actions have occurred even iffamilies could not attend the meetings where decisions were made.
There are active working partnerships with parent groups within the county.Please list groups in your narrative section. / X
Tips:
Ask people charged with collaborating with family groups for a list to identify groups, including the CASSP Coordinator, and

Intermediate
Strategy for involving families and youth is currently in place in the county / YES / NO / 2010/11 plan will include
Unit staff (Migrant worker programs, local substance abuse parent support groups. Autism Specialist, Alternative Education Specialist, Special Education Task Force and Early Intervention Coordinators, Easter Seals/Rehabilitation Services, Clergy etc.)
Typical Local PA Groups
oHead Start, Family Support Alliance (formerly Parents Anonymous), Mental Health Association, NAMI, Ahead (Autism), Family Centers (school districts), 21st Century Afterschool Programs
A process is in place to ask other agencies that work with families/youth (such as schools and child care centers) to recommend parents to participate in planning.
Tips:
Recruit families to help develop outreach materials – newsletters, brochures and/or county website information. / X
Families/youth who participate in planning sessions are compensated in some manner.
Tips:
Pay a stipend/salary
Provide transportation, meals, child care (on site or reimbursement)
Offer donations from businesses- meals, gift cards / X
Meeting times and locations are flexible to meet family/ youth needs and availability.
Tips:
Holding planning meetings on the evenings or on weekends
In locations such as schools, community centers, churches and other
settings that may be more familiar and comfortable to families/youth
than state or local office buildings.
Work with schools to develop capacity for students to use participation to meet graduation or other school requirements.
Work with JPO to develop capacity for youth to use participation to meet probation obligations including community service. / X
Surveys are conducted to elicit the views of a wide range of families/youth.
Tips: / X
Strategy for involving families and youth is currently in place in the county / YES / NO / 2010/11 plan will include
Use families and youth to design and edit surveys.
Make sure they are culturally and linguistically accessible
Make sure they are clearly written at a 6th grade level.
Provide an option to submit them anonymously.
Parents or others who work regularly with families/youth are utilized to conduct focus groups that probe the views of selected groups of parents such as teenage parents, single parents, grandparents raising grandchildren, foster parents, and adoptive parents.
Tips:
Develop funding that supports the operation of these groups. Direct or in kind, i.e. invite leaders to participate in county trainings. / X / X
A process is in place to work with family and youth support programs to tap into informal networks such as familysupport groups or youth advisory councils, for example Independent Living Programs.
Tips:
Develop process with stakeholders
Commit decisions to writing and make them public / X
A process is in place to work with home-visiting programs, such as Parents As Teachers (PAT) through FamilyCenters or health clinics to involve families/youth who may be otherwise difficult to reach. / X / X
A process is in place to work with families/youth involved in specific programs, for example Family Group Decision
Making or Independent Living Programs, within children and youth, mental health, early intervention, juvenile justice, drug and alcohol, etc to involve families who have benefited from these services. / X / X
Acknowledgment of the contributions of families and youth are done routinely and publicly. / X
Experienced facilitators are utilized to conduct sessions for planning group members, administrators, and staff when exploring attitudes and stereotypes about different ethnic, racial and religious groups. / X
Strategy for involving families and youth is currently in place in the county / YES / NO / 2010/11 plan will include
Family and youth satisfaction surveys regarding their satisfaction with being actively involved in the ICSP process are routinely conducted. / X / X
County resource mapping is utilized to show what services are available, including family support groups. / X
County staff have attended local family support groups to understand the services they offer and to promote integration activities. / X
Articles about ICSP as well as meeting times and places are placed in local newspapers. / X
Mailings are sent to all school administrators, guidance counselors, and Student Assistance Program representatives to be involved in the ICSP process. / X
There is a system in place to routinely follow up after meetings with mailings or phone calls to individuals who
were unable to attend meetings for their input. / X
There is an assumption that if you generate lots of public participation that you will, by default if nothing else, have people who have a personal stake in seeing things improve. / X
There is a uniform note taking/ tracking process in place so that all of the groups and meetings can be
Recorded and used to create a concrete plan
that incorporates the spectrum of discussions and input and is available and understandable to all participants. / X
OTHER:
OUTCOMES / INDICATORS / Butler Co (completed in June 08) / ButlerCo. (completed in June 09) / Washington Co. (Western Region) / Cambria Co. (Central Region) / PA
Babies Born Healthy / Infant mortality, 3-year rate per 1,000 live births / 6 / 6.3 / 5.9 / 4.9 / 7.3
Live births to mothers receiving adequate prenatal care, 3-year percentage / 84.80% / 85.00% / 64.10% / 78.80% / 66.00%
Low birth weight babies, 3-year percentage / 6.90% / 6.90% / 7.40% / 9.10% / 8.40%
Early Learning / Children Served by Pre-K Counts / 2.10% / 2.10% / 2.40% / 4.90% / 3.70%
Children in Public Full Day Kindergarten, 2-year % / 16.06% / 15.93% / 39.47% / 82.76% / 62.27%
Children Served by Child Care Works, 2-year % / 18.09% / 17.41% / 23.15% / 24.13% / 33.60%
Child Care Providers in Keystone STARS, 2-year % / 31.00% / 41.00% / 62.00% / 65.00% / 55.00%
Healthy Children / Child and adolescent deaths, per 10,000 / 5.43 / 6.17 / 8.72 / 6.2
Children (0-6) Screened for Lead Poisoning / 6.90% / 7.70% / 7.10% / 11.40% / 12.70%
Children lacking health insurance / 2.00% / 3.00% / 1.00% / 5%
Children Enrolled in CHIP / 5.52% / 5.72% / 5.94% / 7.99% / 5.74%
Children Enrolled in Medical Assistance / 18.06% / 18.50% / 28.29% / 32.87% / 29.78%
Healthy Youth Behaviors / Juvenile Crime Arrests per 1,000 / 31.9 / 37 / 41.4 / 65.3 / 78.8
Juvenile Arrests: Liquor Law Violations per 1000 / 4.68 / 4.66 / 4.32 / 5.76 / 6.23
Juvenile Delinquency Dispositions per 1000 / 26.3 / 29.8 / 48.3 / 45 / 57.6
Juvenile Delinquency Placements / 8.00% / 6.20% / 10% / 1.70% / 9.90%
Child Suicides, Ages 10-19, 3 year total / 6 / 4 / 2 / 4 / 207
Childhood Obesity percentage of children >= 95th percentile / 15.52% / 17.12% / 16.13% / 16.67%
Teen Pregnancies Ages 15-19 3-year rate per 1,000 / 21 / 20 / 28 / 32 / 41.6
Safe and Stable Families and Communities / Substantiated Child Abuse Reports per 1000 / 0.8 / 0.9 / 1.8 / 1.2 / 1.5
Placement Reunifications within 12 months / 87.95% / 91.67% / 81.2% / 69.57 / 69.18%
Children Re-Entering Care within 12 months / 21.60% / 23.77% / 26.67% / 20.21% / 27.62%
Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities Usage, 2-year totals per 1000 / 0.75 / 1.52 / 1.68 / 2
Food Stamps (SNAP) Enrolled / 5.50% / 5.50% / 8.90% / 10.80% / 9.50%
School Success / Student Withdrawals from Public School / 0.90% / 1% / 0.60% / 1.10% / 1.60%
Public School Average Daily Attendance / 95.00% / 95.20% / 94.10% / 94.40% / 94.00%
Truancy in Public Schools / 0.57% / 4.57% / 2.64% / 7.59%

Self-Assessment of Community Level Indicators Worksheet #1

Outcome Area: Safe and Stable Families and Communities

Indicator: Children re-entering care within 12 months of discharge

Discussion (further analysis of local data, comparison to other community, state, or national trends, current efforts to address outcome area):

Based on the data available in 2008 versus that available in 2009, ButlerCounty experienced an increase of 2.17% in the number of children re-entering care within 12 months of discharge. This is lower in comparison to WashingtonCounty (26.67%)and the State as a whole (27.62%), but higher than CambriaCounty (20.21%).

A major effort that is occurring in our community to improve this outcome area is the result of Butler County Children and Youth Services’ selection for Phase 1 of the PA Permanency Initiative. As part of this project, CYS has begun implementing Family Group Decision Making and Family Finding which should lead to a decrease in the number of children who reenter care within 12 months of discharge.

Proposed strategies to improve the outcome area:

  • Butler County Children and Youth Services will continue to expand the use of Family Group Decision Making and Family Finding.
  • Also, we are planning for the implementation of the Integrated Service Coordination program through the Integrated Access Unit. It is expected that this program will also lead to a decrease in the number of children who reenter care within 12 months of discharge.

Measure of short term goal:

ButlerCounty’s short term goal is to further expand the use of Family Group Decision Making and Family Finding and to implement the Integrated Service Coordination program, for the purpose of decreasing the number of children who re-enter care within 12 months by 5%.

Are you requesting ICSP funds to implement this plan?

ButlerCounty will not be requesting ICSP funds to implement this plan.

Self-Assessment of Community Level Indicators Worksheet #2

Outcome Area: Safe and Stable Families and Communities

Indicator: Food Stamps (SNAP) Enrolled

Discussion (further analysis of local data, comparison to other community, state, or national trends, current efforts to address outcome area):

Based on the data available in 2008 and 2009, ButlerCounty remained stagnant at 5.50% of residents who are enrolled in SNAP. This is lower in comparison to WashingtonCounty (8.9%), CambriaCounty (10.8%), and the State as a whole (9.5%).

This indicator was selected because of the focus on the goal of helping families achieve financial stability by many BCF partner organizations, including the County Assistance Office, Grace Youth and Family Foundation, Housing Authority of Butler County, Butler County Community College, Center for Community Resources, and United Way of Butler County. Many families face the difficult decision of supplying their children with nutritious food or paying bills to maintain their home. Enrollment in SNAP can aid eligible families in reaching greater financial stability by freeing up more of their finances to be used for other necessities.

One strategy that we are currently employing is that we have begun working more closely with the SNAP Coordinator for ButlerCounty, employed through the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. The SNAP Coordinator has recently been attending meetings in ButlerCounty to inform agencies about the changes in eligibility criteria, including an increase in the income guidelines, and how they can assist families to get enrolled.