FAMILY TO FAMILY
RECRUITMENT, TRAINING AND SUPPORT WORKGROUP
Minutes for June 9, 2005
Present: Brittany Walker-Pettigrew, Vanessa Cormier, Mia Buckner-Preston, Elizabeth
Adams, Rosalind McMillan, Elvira Aguirre, Faith Battles, Anita Duplessis,
Lisa Abernathy, Gwen McWilliams, Paula Stewart-Felix and
Katherine Richard
- Review & Approval of minutes from May 19, 2005
- Dates to Remember:
*June 25, 2005 (Saturday) 9:30am-3:00pm Youth Town Hall Meeting/Voices for Change…from Caterpillar to Butterfly Youth Emancipating from Foster Care
*June 30, 2005 (Thursday) 7:00pm-10:00pm “Fostering a Vision/It Takes a Village” live presentation in appreciation of Alameda County’s Resource Families…family event!
III.New Training Unit update
*DCFS now has a full unit dedicated to the training and recruitment of Resource Parents supervised by Faith Battles with Child Welfare Workers Elvira Aguirre, Mia Buckner-Preston and Rosalind McMillan. Katherine Richard, CARI Coordinator, is also a member of the unit. CWWs will be responsible for training all prospective Resource Parents in the PRIDE curriculum, as opposed to MAPP and/or FAPP and will work closely with licensing to streamline the licensing process. Resource Parent Trainers, Gwen Evans-McWilliams, Paula Stewart-Felix and D’Shirley Pegues will co-train with the CWWs assigned to the unit.
A date has yet to be confirmed for the next Resource Parent training class as many logistics need to be resolved, i.e., what phone number community members will call to inquire about fostering and/or adopting, what staff will be responsible for what duties, etc. The CWWs in the unit will attend a “Training for Trainers” on the “mutual assessment” process that happens in the home at least 3 times with each PRIDE family to assess their ability to actually be licensed and decide what type of placement is best for them. CWWs assigned to this unit will attend all RTS workgroup meetings on a regular basis.
The 3 local community colleges, Chabot, Merrit and Las Positas, are entering into an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department pay for all PRIDE training classes, secure locations and pay for the “trainer for trainer”
courses necessary for CWW trainers and Resource Parent Trainers.
The formation of this unit will allow Katherine to dedicate more of her energy actually coordinating the CARI program, as opposed to coordinating and facilitating every Resource Parent event.
Much discussion was had regarding the formation of the RTS workgroup and progress the RTS workgroup has made since it’s formation over 2 years ago, specifically identifying the need to have staff dedicated to recruitment and training of prospective Resource Parents. Comments were made regarding support from the existing RTS workgroup of the immersion of the RTS unit.
Discussion was had regarding what important information needs to be imparted to prospective Resource Parents at bi-weekly orientation meetings: definition of concurrent planning, private vs. county adoption, types of children in need of placement in Alameda County, various types of Resource Parenting opportunities…basically providing “straight talk” without alienating folks. Additional suggestions included keeping the community informed about what is happening in their communities with demographics, etc. Further suggestions included ongoing assessment of PRIDE participants during the actual training to identify concerns and areas of strength. This can be accomplished during the training in small discussions and also during the “mutual assessment” meetings that happen with the CWW trainers and prospective Resource Parents in the home.
The need for staff readiness training regarding the implementation of PRIDE was discussed and it was suggested the workgroup consider formulating a curriculum for “staff PRIDE readiness” training that is much like what the Department did for “TDM staff readiness” training. The intent is to inform staff of what new Resource Parents are trained in, the concepts of the PRIDE curriculum and keep lines of communication open regarding recruitment and training of Resource Parents. Topic to be discussed with Dora Fisher and Lori Jones by Faith Battles. Further plans include introducing current Resource Parents to the PRIDE curriculum without ignoring the ongoing training the community colleges offer in this area (only 9 hours of continued mandated training on specified topics required yearly of Resource Parents after initial licensure).
***It was suggested whatever plans are made to present information to staff, they must be run by labor initially to avoid future conflicts.***
Should it be determined that prospective Resource Parents cannot be licensed, suggestions can be made for that person to be a “lifelong adult connection,” CASA or Big Brother/Big Sister.
IV.FAMILY TO FAMILY UPDATES
Data Integrity Self Evaluation (DISE)
Workgroup is considering sharing information with staff via the “Data Roadshow,” and perhaps hiring a consultant to provide assistance with the presentation. A brief overview of how the Data Integrity and Self Evaluation workgroups was shared, providing background for RTS members.
Community Partnerships (CP)
Youth Townhall event is waiting in the wings which a collaboration with California Youth Connection and the Juvenile Dependency courts.
Parent engagement project is coming along with Vanessa Anderson having held the first Parent Leadership meeting. The idea is to have birth parents support other birth parents who are experiencing the juvenile dependency court system. This project will be housed within Family Reunification.
Team Decision Making (TDM)
Currently we have 5 full time facilitators who can each facilitate 3 TDMs per day! The Department is practically fully “rolled out,” with ILSP participating in TDM this week! Remembering the concept, “once a TDM family, always a TDM family,” keeps referrals coming in for TDMS. Resource Parents are now participating in TDMs on a more regular basis with great outcomes. Linkages Liaison participates in certain TDMs, however full participation in all TDMs would be ideal.
Site Visits
Staff recently participated in a Cleveland site visit. Other opportunities are coming up in July and September to visit the model Family to Family site in Cleveland.
F2F National Conference
Staff along with a birth parent attended the F2F National Conference in Denver Colorado. Feedback was very positive. The birth parent expressed that she had the opportunity to speak with other parents and share experiences about being involved in the foster care system. The theme for this year’s conference was Putting Values Into Action: Youth and Parent Involvement.
F2F Budget
We are currently working with Fiscal/Accounting to reconcile the 04/05 F2F budget. Our first year of planning we received $150,000; the second year was $240,000. We will receive another year of funding from the Casey Foundation. We will continue to have 3 more years of technical assistance.
F2F Quarterly
The next F2F Quarterly is scheduled for July 26th and 27th. All workgroup members are invited to attend.
NEXT RTS WORKGROUP MEETING SCHEDULED FOR 6/30/05 FROM 10AM TO 12PM
TO ALLOW ALL MEMBERS TO ATTEND
RECRUITMENT, TRAINING & SUPPORT
CONTACTINFORMATION
6/9/05
Brittany 208-1195
Vanessa 723-6673
Mia 780-8984
Elizabeth
Rosalind 780-8983
Elvira 780-8985
Faith 780-8942
Anita 259-3805
Lisa 780-8994
Gwen 569-1124
Paula 895-8633
Katherine 780-8987