Statewide Parent Collaboration Group and Local Parent Support Group May 23, 2012

1. Statewide Parent Collaboration Group and Local Parent Support GroupMay 23, 2012 Presented by: Kathryn Sibley, Family Based Safety Services Program Specialist Sandra Haire, Program Administrator/CPS Liaison Leshia Fisher, Program Director/CPS Liaison Michelle Hansford, Parent Liaison Region 6

2. Learning Objectives • Learn about the statewide Parent Collaboration Group (PCG) and the local Parent Support Groups (PSG) • Role of parent volunteers • Hear about the importance of partnering with parents

3. What is the Statewide Parent Collaboration Group? • A partnership between the Texas Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS) and parents who have been recipients of CPS services. • A venue for gathering and incorporating parental feedback to enhance CPS policy and practice. • Provides: • information to staff regarding what parents experience as recipients of CPS services; and • recommendations for improvement.

4. What is the Local Parent Support Group(PSG)? • An informational support group led by parents who have successfully gone through the CPS system. • Parents co-facilitate with the CPS. • Meetings occur at least once a month in every region – not in every county. • Parent facilitator shares their personal story. • Important information is provided about the CPS process • There is a short question and answer session

5. Parent Volunteers • Parent volunteers are not paid to co-facilitate PSG meetings and are not CPS employees • This is not a contracted service; it is a support group where one parent offers hope and support to other parents; and • Parents do not receive formal training from CPS.

6. Benefits of partnering with parents Parents understand CPS process and their role in it: • With some hope and support • Feeling empowered and encouraged • Not feeling so alone, strength in numbers • With some information about various community resources. As a result, permanency can be achieved sooner!

7. There is value in shared experiences because they’ve “been there.” Communication is often accessible, plain talk, absent jargon. Support includes: emotional, informational, and development of self-reliance. Offers hope, encouragement and trust – “if I can do it, you can do it, too.” Exchange of strategies can occur for parenting, growth in confidence and personal development Engaging families promotes better outcomes for children. Benefits of partnering with parents (Cond’t.)

8. Results of Studies • Contra Costa, California results indicate that “reunification may be more likely for children whose parents were served by Parent Partners. Specifically, approximately 60% of children with a Parent Partner reunified with their parents within 12 months of removal, compared to 26% of children whose parents were not served.” • Iowa Partnering with Parents for System Change - MCWIC Midwest Child Welfare Implementation Center – A Service of the Children’s Bureau currently conducting the research evaluation on Parent Partners. 6/13/2011 Baseline Data Brief on Family Centered Attitudes and Situational Decision Making – Iowa DHS Case Managers Overall, the at this time the baseline data is showing all positive attitudes for Parent Partners. • The Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Parent Advocate Program Evaluation: Jefferson County, Kentucky June 2007 – results indicate advocates reported gains in strength, improved communication skills and increased self-sufficiency in most families they served. Had higher percentages of reunification with their parents, similar instances of permanent placement with a relative, and fewer exits to adoption and emancipation.

9. Other states who have Parent Partners • Iowa Department of Human Services Parent Partners (mentor) families who are currently navigating through DHS. • The Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Department for Community Based Services – Parent Advocacy Program. • Contra Costa County, California – Parents Helping Parents – where parents who have been involved in the child welfare system now serve as mentors and resource guides to other parents currently receiving child welfare services. • New York City, New York – Child Welfare Organizing Project - continues to provide training and other tools needed for parents to communicate effectively about the on-the-ground experience of child welfare and helps provide a voice for those so rarely heard.

10. What you can do? • Ask if there is a parent support group • Contact state or regional representative • Have Parent Partners in your court • Create Parent Navigators within your systems

11. Resources • Department of Family and Protective Services - Web site: www.dfps.state.tx.us • CPS Liaison - E-mail: sandra.haire@dfps.state.tx.us - Telephone: (409) 944-4948 • CPS Liaison -E-mail: leshia.fisher@dfps.state.tx.us -Telephone: (936) 525-2170 • Parent Liaison - E-mail: michelle_Hansford@yahoo.com -Telephone: (832) 891-1363 • Parent Program Specialist - E-mail: deshaun.ealoms@dfps.state.tx.us - Telephone: (512) 438-2224

12. References Publication • Iowa Partnering with Parents for System Change MCWIC Midwest Child Welfare Implementation Center – A Service of the Children’s Bureau 6/13/2011 • Partnering with Parents Promising Approaches to Improve Reunification Outcomes for Children in Foster Care Executive Summary, July 2009, http://ccyp.berkeley.edu/pdfs/parenting_with_partners_exec_summary.doc • The Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Department for Community Based Services – Parent Advocacy Program Evaluation June 11, 2007

13. Questions?