Kentucky Foster Care Census

1. Kentucky Foster Care Census The status of safety and well-being among Kentucky’s Children in Out of Home care www.trc.eku.edu/fostercare

2. The Census • Initiated Summer 2002 • 100% of over 6,000 children seen and met in their homes • Proactive • Child Centered

3. Kentucky’s OOHC System~6,200 children any dayCommitted to State Custody Relative Residential State Homes Private Homes

4. Census of All Children in: • State Approved and Operated Foster Homes • Private Child Care • Residential settings • Emergency shelters and hospitals • Private foster homes • Placed with relatives

5. Essentials of Child Wellbeing • Cabinet attention and advocacy • Supported foster parents • Nurturing Family Contacts • A voice in decisions • Services to support needs • Attention to Health & Needs • Competence and Mastery

6. Methodology

7. Measures • Child Census Form • Indicators of Child Wellbeing • Completed by Agency Staff • And Foster Adoptive Parents • Adult Care Provider Needs Assessment • Interview worksheet for Census takers and Adult Care providers in each setting

8. AGENCY STAFF Child Census Form Census TakerInformation Adults in Childs Life www.trc.eku.edu Research Faculty Adult Needs Assessment Census Takers Data Collection

9. Census Designed by: • Foster adoptive parents • Agency and Residential staff • State Regional staff • University Training Consortium • Students • Cabinet Staff • University Faculty • EKU Training Resource Center • Nine Research Review Boards

10. Methodology • Statewide effort: student census-takers enrolled in special classes • Data collectors - • sensitive to the needs of people and children in care • external to the Cabinet • Form a statewide research/learning paradigm • Cabinet and 8 public universities • University Training Consortium

11. Profiles in Permanency: Implications for Concurrent Planning Ruth A. Huebner, PhD Viola Miller, EdD Bonnie Hommrich, MSW

12. Months in Care by Goal and Foster Home

13. Percent of OOHC Time in Current Home

14. Child CharacteristicsDifferences between Adoption and Return to Parent Concurrent Planning

15. Child Special Needs

16. Overall Child Functioning (below, at, above age level)

17. Adoption Special physical or athletic abilities (57%) Focused interests or hobbies (54%) Return to Parent Takes charge of their own life (65%) Optimistic (59%) Easy going (58%) Consistent family involvement (64%) Good problem solving (59%) Parent perception of child strengths by goal

18. Services Adequate to Meet Needs • Foster Parents of Children with Goals of Adoption are significantly more likely to say that services are poor and less likely to say that services are consistent.

19. ADOPTION Independent Living Programs After School Programs Activities to be involved with peers RET. TO PAR. Support Network Classes for birth children in the family Communication with other foster parents Service Array and Foster Parent Needs by Goal

20. Foster Parent Perceptions of Visits to Biological Parents

21. Structural Models AGE at Placement Vulnerability Resilience Number of Moves Speed of Permanency OOHC Practices Voice in Care

22. Placement and Stability • There are few differences in months in care by goal for young children, but not for older children. • 12-18 Y/O children in Private foster homes with a goal of adoption have been in care on average for nearly 5 years • 6-11 year olds in DCBS homes have been in their current home for shorter times. • Children in PCC foster home with goal of adoption have been in home least time

23. Children with Goal of Adoption • Have higher rates of special needs especially in the private foster homes • Are more likely to function below age level is some or all skills • Are more likely to be perceived as having strengths in skills and competencies rather than personality traits • Have foster parents who want more services for the child

24. Needs of Foster Parents • Foster parents of children with Return to Parent goals want more support for themselves and their own birth parents. • Foster parents of children with goals of adoption want more services for the foster child

25. Foster Parent Skills for Concurrent Planning Foster Parents have the same rating of their comfort, skills, and importance of visits to biological parents regardless of the goal

26. Structural Factors • Child characteristics and experiences in the system, especially age at placement and time in care constitute a fundamental vulnerability or protective factor. • Agencies practices such as moving children and allowing children a voice in their care are associated with different levels of resilience and permanency planning.

27. Implications • Foster parents have the basic skills to support children in visits to biological parents, but need support through the process • Foster parents of children with a return to parent goal need much more support for themselves and their family - losing children is hard on the family

28. Children in Private Foster Homes • Have more special needs • Have been in care longer • Have experienced less stability in care • Function at a lower level • Need more supports • Are older • This profile suggests that these children will be more difficult to find permanent adoptive homes

29. To achieve CFSR standards • Compare the actual rates of adoption in PCC and DCBS. Are these equal? • Are we changing goal to adoption with little hope for adoption? • Raises the question of why children in care for longer periods have such higher rates of special need • Concurrent planning and supports to foster parents will be different across time and setting

30. National Teleconference Foster Kids Count: Nurturing Well-Being for Youth in Out-of-Home Care www.trc.eku.edu/fostercare November 18, 2003