Pennsylvania, 2004 - Present
Since work in Pennsylvania began:
- We have helped 28 counties achieve permanency outcomes for children in foster care.
- Children in project counties have saved an average of 9 months in foster care before finding permanent homes.
- Counties have saved a total of $8,410,840 - and counting - in foster care costs.
Achievements:
- Blair County developed a family treatment drug court to coordinate services, track progress, and encourage accountability for families struggling with substance abuse.
- Lackawanna County created a Dependency Compliance Conference to increase accountability and speed permanency. The conference documents and tracks compliance by both the agency and family and promotes frequent, meaningful reviews of family progress.
- Westmoreland County developed new kinship placement and permanency policy and tools. This focus on improving kinship practice resulted in an increase in the use of kinship placements by 280% over a ten year period following the project.
- York County developed an early multidisciplinary case conference process to frontload services, support families, and speed permanency.
- Greene County delivered case worker testimony training to strengthen the relationship between the court and agency and developed parent resources to assist with parent engagement. A Parent Handbook and Parent Worksheet help parents understand the court process and their rights when a child is removed from their care.
Project Counties:
- Luzerne - 22 months saved, $660,000 saved*
- York - 12 months saved, $446,400 saved
- Cumberland - 7 months saved, $621,600 saved
- Philadelphia - 15 months, $2,070,000 saved
*Estimated foster care savings based on conservative estimate that it costs $14,400 per year for a child in foster care. It costs approximately $20,880/year for a child in foster care in PA.
Wyoming, 2004 - 2010
Natrona County (2004 - 2006)
An average reduction of 9 months for kids in foster care to find permanent homes
- $453,600 saved on foster care costs.
Less Paperwork
- The project successfully explored ways to eliminate unnecessary and/or duplicative forms. Midway through the project, caseworkers were reporting less time needed to complete required paperwork.
Title IV-E Compliance
- The project was able to significantly increase IV-E reimbursements by several thousands of dollars for the county.
Concurrent Planning
- Natrona County made enormous progress toward improving working relationships between the agency, foster parents and birth parents.
*Estimated foster care savings is based upon an estimate that it costs an average of $8,000/year for a child in foster care.
Laramie County (2008 - 2010)
Children saved an average of 13 months in foster care before finding permanent homes.
- $250,000 saved on foster care costs.
- In 2008, before the project began, 3% of cases reviewed achieved permanency. In 2010, 57% of cases achieved permanency.
Expanded Scope
The Project had an expanded scope that also included juvenile services. The project addressed matters related to Children in Need of Supervision (CHINS) and delinquency.
Achievements
- Provided juvenile services-specific trainings
- Implemented the PACT Assessment to identify individual service needs by examining a youth’s criminal history, social history, mental health status, and other factors.
- Shifted away from a more traditional probation/compliance-focused model to a comprehensive permanency planning model.
- Much like the results with our dependency work, we knew that cases were being expedited with the project. We did not, however, collect delinquency-specific data.
*Estimated foster care savings is based upon an estimate that it costs an average of $8,000 per year for a child in foster care.
Kentucky, 2004 - 2006
Regional Project: KIPDA Rural Region
- Children saved an average of 9 months in foster care before finding permanent homes.
- $237,600 saved on foster care costs.
- The number of children who achieved permanency in cases reviewed in 2004 and 2006 increased by 24%.
Adolescent Permanency
- Formed a youth advisory council in the KIPDA rural region to report to the state youth advisory council.
- Began to involve adolescents in the training process for foster parents to encourage foster parents to take in and adopt adolescents.
Concurrent Planning
- Implemented a concurrent planning pilot project
- Created a concurrent planning checklist to determine which cases should fall within the new project
Court Orders
- Implemented steps to ensure that parents have a clear understand of what is expected of them with their service requirements.
*Estimated foster care cost savings is based upon a conservative estimate that it costs $14,400 per year for a child in foster care.
New York, 1989 - 2004
The project began as Termination Barriers with funding from the New York State Department of Social Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 1991, the original program ended and the New York State Office of Children and Family Services began to fund the project.
We worked with 20 small, medium, and large counties throughout the state, both urban and rural.
A Substantial Impact
- Children in project counties saved an average of 15 months in foster care before being freed for adoption.
- Counties saved $15,300,000 in foster care costs.
- Some counties eliminated backlogged cases.
- Counties streamlined procedures and significantly improved handling of foster care cases.
Adoption Excellence Award
- In 2005, the Permanency Project received an award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in for its work in New York.
*The estimated foster care cost savings is based on a conservative estimate that it costs $10,000/ year for a child in foster care.