'■ ijrcimittee Agenda Date Apnl 6

County of Santa Clara

COU/V;.^
•

o

Social Services Agency

A-

-'A

Department of Family and Children's Services

CSFC SSA03 040605

Prepared by: Mai^ D. Patterson
Special Assistant for
Children’s Services

Doug Southard
Director, Children's
Shelter

Reviewed by: Nonna Doctor Sparks
Director, Department of
Family and Children's
Services
DATE:

April 6, 2005

TO:

Supervisor James T. Beall, Jr., Chaiiperson
Supervisor Don Gage, Vice-Chairperson
Children, Seniors & Families Committee

FROM:

Will Lightboume
Agency Director, Social Services Agency

SUBJECT: DECS Pilot Programs Update

RECOMMENDED ACTION

Bci.std ijf Supe'iviscii':., Donald F Dagd, Blanca Alvarado, Peta McHugh, Jii'n Boall, Liz Kni
d ountv' Executive Peloi Kutra':. Ji
1

Committtiis Acienda Date :Apii l 6, 2005

Accept status report from Department of Family and Children's Services on Pilot Programs
operating at the Children's Shelter.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Not applicable.
CONTRACT HISTORY

Not applicable.
REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATION

At its December 8, 2004 meeting, the Children, Seniors and Families Committee accepted a
status report on implementation of Pilot Programs at the Children's Shelter facility, and
requested that another status report be given in three months. The attached report provides that
information.

BACKGROUND

The Board of Supervisors, during its FY 2005 budget hearings, approved the pilot
implementation of two program ideas recommended by a task force fonned to identify
potential alternative uses of the Children's Shelter facility. The two pilot programs aim to

support educational achievement and assure mental health services for children involved in
the child welfare system.

Between July and December 2004, an Operational Planning Team convened to develop an
implementation plan. The Children, Seniors and Families Committee accepted regular status
reports on the planning process during that time.
The Pilot Programs opened for service on January 12, 2004. The Operational Planning Team
has continued to meet weekly, as it has since October 1, 2004, to oversee the programs,
identify and resolve problems, monitor results, and plan for the future. The attached report
describes the accomplishments and lessons learned during the first two months of operation.
CONSEQUENCES OF NEGATIVE ACTION

Board or Supervisors: Cionald F. Gage, Blanca Alvarado, Pete McHugh, Jirn Beall, Liz Kniss
County- Executive: Peter Kutras Jr.
2

Committee Agenda Date 'Apri l 6,'2005

Negative action would result in the Childrens, Seniors, and Families Commitee not accepting
the report.
STEPS FOLLOWING APPROVAL

The Clerk of the Board will follow the usual steps for a report of this type.
ATTACHMENTS

•DFCS Pilot Programs Update 040605

Board of Supervisors: Donald F. Gage, Blanca Alvarado, Pete McHugh, Jim Beall, Liz Kniss
County' Executive: Peter Kutras Jr.
3

DFCS Pilot Programs Update
for the

Board of Supervisors’ Children, Seniors & Families Committee
April 6, 2005

The pilot programs located at the Children’s Shelter facility launched on January 12, 2005. The
goals of the pilot programs are:
1)Improve children’s mental health by offering enhanced screening and assessment for,
linkage to, and coordination of mental health services; and
2)Improve children’s educational achievement by offering strategies to stabilize
attendance and improve literacy.
The target population of children to enroll in the pilot programs are those aged six to eleven who
have had a new service case opened in DFCS and who live in Santa Clara County.

Accomplishments During First Two Months of Operation
1.

Planning for implementation of the Pilot Programs was completed on time. Planning
was completed in time for a January launch, as requested by the Children, Seniors and
Families Committee. The programs began operation on January 12, 2005. See Appendix 1,
Planning and Implementation Timeline.

2.

Forty-six children have enrolled in the Pilot Programs. Between January 12^^ and March
18*, 2005,46 children met the target population criteria and enrolled in the Pilot Programs.
See Appendix 2 for more demographic information. [Note: The number of children
participating in the pilot programs averages 20 children per month. Previous estimates of
100 children per month were based on admissions to the Children’s Shelter, and did not
take into account the following characteristics that place tte child outside of the pilot
program target population: 1) children who are quickly returned home and for whom no
DFCS case is opened, and 2) children with an existing DFCS service case.]

3.

Seventy-six percent of children have begun their mental health assessment. As of

March 18*, 35 children(76%) had begun their mental health assessment, and of those,
100% were determined to be in need of ongoing mental health services. Those children

have been referred to community-based mental health services, or are being served by
County Mental Health staff at the Shelter, until their placement is secure and the
appropriate community-based provider can be identified for referral.
4.

Seventy-six percent of children have completed or will soon complete Success Camp.

As of March 18*, 35 children(76%)had completed, or have been scheduled to soon
complete, the educational program. Success Camp.

5.

Access to mental health services is happening more quickly. Weekly planning meetings
and close tracking of Pilot Program cases has enabled faster problem identification and
resolution. For example, the Planning Team identified delays in getting children in for
mental health assessment and then into ongoing treatment by a community-based provider.
A close look at the delays revealed a) difficulty transporting Gilroy children to the Shelter
for assessment, and b) figuring out when a placement is “stable” enough to make the
referral to a community-based agency. These issues are quickly being resolved by securing
office space for mental health assessment at the Gilroy Family Resource Center, and
increasing communication about placements between Mental Health staff and Social
Workers.

6.

Streamlined procedures for consent will benefit the entire system The Pilot Programs
offer children mental health services and educational support immediately upon entry into
the child welfare system. The Planning Team has spent many hours refining the process for
obtaining consents to attend Success Camp, to receive mental health treatment, and to
release information. This expedited process can be used department-wide to save time and
effort.

7.

Success Camp is having a positive impact. Informal conversations with the social
workers, parents and caregivers, teachers of the children in the Pilot Programs, as well as
conversations with the children, and preliminary observations of an independent evaluator
reveal that Success Camp is having a positive impact. See Appendix 3: Examples of
Childrens’ Journal Entries.

Support to Parents and Caregivers

The DFCS Supervisor coordinating the Pilot Programs, mental health counselors and the Success
Camp teachers are talking with parents and caregivers before the children’s entry in the Pilot
Programs, and afterward, to follow-up. In these conversations, information is being gathered on
what parents and caregivers would like to know, leam, or talk about, regarding their children’s
educational and mental health needs.

Beginning in April, a monthly workshop will be held for parents and caregivers to receive
information that will be helpful to them on these topics. A committee of the Operational
Planning Team is convening to plan the workshops’ objectives, content and logistics. The first

workshop is scheduled for April 27"^ at the Children’s Shelter facility.
Early Lessons from Pilot Program Planning and Implementation

1. To expedite quick entry into services and promote a multidisciplinary approach to meeting
children’s mental health and educational needs requires constant attention and the contributions
of multiple individuals sitting at the same table. The Operational Planning Team, representing
Mental Health, Social Work, Education, Legal, Information Systems and Eligibility, continues to
meet every week, as it has since October, in order to assure that children can move quickly into

DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6, 2005 Page 2 of 8

service, that their confidentiality is protected, and that important information can be shared
among service providers that helps to keep a focus on the whole child.

2. Early mental health assessment is a positive outcome of the pilot program. However,
children’s placements are also being arranged at this time and referral to a community-based
mental health provider should wait until the child’s placement appears to be stable. This allows
for a provider to be identified that is a good match geographically and otherwise with the child’s
new home. The waiting period requires County Mental Health staff to continue to provide
treatment to the child for a longer period of time than originally anticipated, thereby increasing
their caseload.

3. There are multiple readiness factors that preclude a child’s participation in Success Camp,
and all need to be considered before enrolling the child. Scheduling children into the camp takes
at least three weeks. Factors include child’s emotional state and physical health, stability of
child’s placement, fit with Social Worker’s plan, permission of parent or caregiver, possible
concurrent events at child’s home school (i.e. tests, field trips, etc.) and fit with child’s teacher’s
plan.
4. Strategies to promote school attendance and improve literacy for this target population should
start with the child’s understanding that he has control over certain aspects of his life, that he can
set goals, and that he can manage himself in such a way to achieve his goals, even in very
challenging environments. For a child undergoing difficult and perhaps frequent changes that are
out of his control - new home, new caregiver, new school - educational success depends on his
ability to manage these changes, identify resources that will help him, and stay focused on his
goals. The Success Camp curriculum uses reading, singing, acting, counting, cooking, playing
and a host of other activities to teach these lessons and build the resiliency skills needed to
succeed. New performance measures needed to be developed that would better capture the
objectives of Success Camp.

Performance Measures

As mentioned above under “Early Lessons,” new performance measures have been developed
for Success Camp. An underlying goal of Success Camp is to help these students be more
successful in the traditional school setting. The research (Bernard, B.1993) is clear that resiliency
skills will be more helpful in moving students toward academic successes. Garmenzy (1991)
notes that these skills (resiliency skills) must precede academic skills in order for students to
succeed in school. At this time data on students obtaining and demonstrating these skills will be
the most insightful in measuring the effectiveness of Success Camp. Once the pilot has been
completed, consideration should be given to a more rigorous evaluation where improved literacy
and increased school attendance are measured.

The following performance measures have been developed for the pilot programs;
1) Increased number of children receiving mental health services
2)Increased resiliency skills
3) Improved understanding of what skills are needed to succeed

DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6, 2005 Page 3 of 8

4) Client (child and parent/caregiver) satisfaction with Pilot Program services.

Planning is also underway on how best to track the Pilot Programs’ impact on the County’s
System Improvement Plan (SIP) goals of reducing multiple foster care placements and foster
care re-entry.

Only limited measures are available at this early stage of implementation. The client satisfaction
tools will be issued at a 30-day interval for Success Camp, beginning in April, and a six-month
interval for Mental Health, beginning in June.
Performance Measure

Performance Measure Status

1. Increased mental health

services
2. Increased resiliency skills
3. Improved understanding

76%

_

Comments

This performance measure
has been met.

Data collection in progress

of skills needed

Data collection in progress

4. Client satisfaetion

Data collection to begin in
April

Budget

The Social Services Agency is committed to continuing the Pilot Programs in FY 2006 at their
current level. The SSA is including funding in its FY 2006 budget request to aehieve this. The
Mental Health Department has also included funding in its FY 2006 budget request to maintain
the pilot program services. It should be noted that the years- long county budget deficit, and
cumulative effects of ongoing staff reductions are having a negative impact on the ability of
Operational Planning Team members and others to commit to proper planning, administration
and evaluation of these programs.
Potential Expansion

The Operational Planning Team will begin formulating recommendations for expansion of the
Pilot Programs at the conclusion of the first six months of operation.

DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6. 2005 Page 4 of 8

Appendix 1: Planning and Implementation Timeline

Start

End

date

date

7/04

8/4/04

8/04

8/18/04

8/04

8/31/04

8/04

10/22/04

9/04

10/20/04

10/4/04

10/4/04

Task

10/12/04

10/15/04

10/27/04

11/10/04

Develop implementation plan overview
Obtain CSFC approval of implementation plan
Identify partner agencies
Develop planning process
Provide follow-up information to CSFC
Convene Operational Planning Team
Draft outline of service delivery components
Convene Workgroups

11/15/04

Develop detailed program plan and case flow to implement

10/27/04

Completed
8/4/04
8/18/04
8/31/04
10/22/04
10/20/04
10/4/04
10/15/04
11/10/04
11/19/04

programs

01/11/05

11/12/04

12/15/04

Meet/confer with unions

11/12/04

12/15/04

11/12/04

12/15/04

11/15/04

11/20/04

11/20/04

12/15/04

11/20/04

12/15/04

Licensing documentation sent to CCL
Finalize program budget
Finalize Pilot Program Plan
Execute MOU DFCS/Mental Health Department and
Service Agreement DFCS/COE
Complete DECS referral process and forms
Provide staff training and orientation
First cases referred for pilot programs services
Help staff available for referral concerns
Evaluation of programs

12/15/04

1/09/04

1/10/05

ongoing
1/31/05

1/10/05

1/10/05

ongoing

12/15/04
2/4/05
11/24/04
12/7/04
1/7/05

Ongoing
Ongoing
1/7/05

Ongoing

DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6, 2005 Page 5 of 8

Appendix 2: Participant Demographic Information, January 12- March 18, 2005

Ethnicity
African-American

No. of Chiidren

1

Percent

2%

Central American

1

2%

Filipino
Hispanic

1
32

Vietnamese

2

4%

White

8

17%

2%
70%

White/Russian

1

Total

46

Age

No. of Children

2%
100%

Percent

5

1

2%

6

6

13%
17%

7
4

9

9%

12

26%

10

11

24%

11

4

Total

46

9%
100%

DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6, 2005 Page 6 of 8

Appendix 3: Examples of Children’s Journal Entries

DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6, 2005 Page 7 of 8

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DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6, 2005 Page 8 of 8

DFCS Pilot Programs Update
for the

Board of Supervisors’ Children, Seniors & Families Committee
April 6, 2005

The pilot programs located at the Children’s Shelter facility launched on January 12, 2005. The
goals of the pilot programs are:
1) Improve children’s mental health by offering enhanced screening and assessment for,
linkage to, and coordination of mental health services; and

2)Improve children’s educational achievement by offering strategies to stabilize
attendance and improve literacy.
The target population of children to enroll in the pilot programs are those aged six to eleven who
have had a new service case opened in DFCS and who live in Santa Clara County.

Accomplishments During First Two Months of Operation
1.

Planning for implementation of the Pilot Programs was completed on time. Planning
was completed in time for a January launch, as requested by the Children, Seniors and
Families Committee. The programs began operation on January 12, 2005. See Appendix 1,
Planning and Implementation Timeline.

2.

Forty-six children have enrolled in the Pilot Programs. Between January 12''^ and March
18*, 2005,46 children met the target population criteria and enrolled in the Pilot Programs.
See Appendix 2 for more demographic information. [Note: The number of children
participating in the pilot programs averages 20 children per month. Previous estimates of
100 children per month were based on admissions to the Children’s Shelter, and did not
take into account the following characteristics that place tlie child outside of the pilot
program target population: 1) children who are quickly returned home and for whom no
DFCS case is opened, and 2)children with an existing DFCS service case.]

3.

Seventy-six percent of children have begun their mental health assessment. As of

March IS**^, 35 children(76%) had begun their mental health assessment, and of those,
100% were determined to be in need of ongoing mental health services. Those children
have been referred to community-based mental health services, or are being served by
County Mental Health staff at the Shelter, until their placement is secure and the
appropriate community-based provider can be identified for referral.
4.

Seventy-six percent of children have completed or will soon complete Success Camp.

As of March IS^*’, 35 children(76%) had completed, or have been scheduled to soon
complete, the educational program. Success Camp.

5.

Access to mental health services is happening more quickly. Weekly planning meetings
and close tracking of Pilot Program cases has enabled faster problem identification and
resolution. For example, the Planning Team identified delays in getting children in for
mental health assessment and then into ongoing treatment by a community-based provider,
A close look at the delays revealed a) difficulty transporting Gilroy children to the Shelter
for assessment, and b) figuring out when a placement is “stable” enough to make the
referral to a community-based agency. These issues are quickly being resolved by securing
office space for mental health assessment at the Gilroy Family Resource Center, and
increasing communication about placements between Mental Flealth staff and Social
Workers.

6.

Streamlined procedures for consent will benefit the entire system The Pilot Programs
offer children mental health services and educational support immediately upon entry into
the child welfare system. The Planning Team has spent many hours refining the process for
obtaining consents to attend Success Camp, to receive mental health treatment, and to
release information. This expedited process can be used department-wide to save time and
effort.

7.

Success Camp is having a positive impact. Informal conversations with the social
workers, parents and caregivers, teachers of the children in the Pilot Programs, as well as
conversations with the children, and preliminary observations of an independent evaluator
reveal that Success Camp is having a positive impact. See Appendix 3: Examples of
Childrens’ Journal Entries.

Support to Parents and Caregivers

The DFCS Supervisor coordinating the Pilot Programs, mental health counselors and the Success
Camp teachers are talking with parents and caregivers before the children’s entry in the Pilot
Programs, and afterward, to follow-up. In these conversations, information is being gathered on
what parents and caregivers would like to know, learn, or talk about, regarding their children’s
educational and mental health needs.

Beginning in April, a monthly workshop will be held for parents and caregivers to receive
information that will be helpful to them on these topics. A committee of the Operational
Planning Team is convening to plan the workshops’ objectives, content and logistics. The first

workshop is scheduled for April 27*'’ at the Children’s Shelter facility.
Early Lessons from Pilot Program Planning and Implementation

1. To expedite quick entry into services and promote a multidisciplinary approach to meeting
children’s mental health and educational needs requires constant attention and the contributions
of multiple individuals sitting at the same table. The Operational Planning Team, representing
Mental Health, Social Work, Education, Legal, Information Systems and Eligibility, continues to
meet every week, as it has since October, in order to assure that children can move quickly into

DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6, 2005 Page 2 of 8

service, that their confidentiality is protected, and that important information can be shared
among service providers that helps to keep a focus on the whole child.
2. Early mental health assessment is a positive outcome of the pilot program. However,
children’s placements are also being arranged at this time and referral to a community-based
mental health provider should wait until the child’s placement appears to be stable. This allows
for a provider to be identified that is a good match geographically and otherwise with the child’s
new home. The waiting period requires County Mental Health staff to continue to provide
treatment to the child for a longer period of time than originally anticipated, thereby increasing
their caseload.

3. There are multiple readiness factors that preclude a child’s participation in Success Camp,
and all need to be considered before enrolling the child. Scheduling children into the camp takes
at least three weeks. Factors include child’s emotional state and physical health, stability of
child’s placement, fit with Social Worker’s plan, permission of parent or caregiver, possible
concurrent events at child’s home school (i.e. tests, field trips, etc.) and fit with child’s teacher’s
plan.

4. Strategies to promote school attendance and improve literacy for this target population should
start with the child’s understanding that he has control over certain aspects of his life, that he can
set goals, and that he can manage himself in such a way to achieve his goals, even in very
challenging environments. For a child undergoing difficult and perhaps frequent changes that are
out of his control - new home, new caregiver, new school - educational success depends on his
ability to manage these changes, identify resources that will help him, and stay focused on his
goals. The Success Camp curriculum uses reading, singing, acting, counting, cooking, playing
and a host of other activities to teach these lessons and build the resiliency skills needed to

succeed. New performance measures needed to be developed that would better capture the
objectives of Success Camp.

Performance Measures

As mentioned above under “Early Lessons,” new performance measures have been developed
for Success Camp. An underlying goal of Success Camp is to help these students be more
successful in the traditional school setting. The research (Bernard, B.1993) is clear that resiliency
skills will be more helpful in moving students toward academic successes. Garmenzy (1991)
notes that these skills (resiliency skills) must precede academic skills in order for students to
succeed in school. At this time data on students obtaining and demonstrating these skills will be

the most insightful in measuring the effectiveness of Success Camp. Once the pilot has been
completed, consideration should be given to a more rigorous evaluation where improved literacy
and increased school attendance are measured.

The following performance measures have been developed for the pilot programs:
1) Increased number of children receiving mental health services
2) Increased resiliency skills

3) Improved understanding of what skills are needed to succeed

DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6, 2005 Page 3 of 8

4) Client (child and parent/caregiver) satisfaction with Pilot Program services.
Planning is also underway on how best to track the Pilot Programs’ impact on the County’s
System Improvement Plan (SIP) goals of reducing multiple foster care placements and foster
care re-entry.

Only limited measures are available at this early stage of implementation. The client satisfaction
tools will be issued at a 30-day interval for Success Camp, beginning in April, and a six-month
interval for Mental Health, beginning in June.
Performance Measure

Performance Measure Status

1. Increased mental health
76%
services

2. Increased resiliency skills
3. Improved understanding
of skills needed
4. Client satisfaction

Comments

This performance measure
has been met.

Data collection in progress
Data collection in progress
Data collection to begin in

April

Budget

The Social Services Agency is committed to continuing the Pilot Programs in FY 2006 at their
current level. The SSA is including funding in its FY 2006 budget request to achieve this. The
Mental Health Department has also included funding in its FY 2006 budget request to maintain
the pilot program services. It should be noted that the years-long county budget deficit, and
cumulative effects of ongoing staff reductions are having a negative impact on the ability of
Operational Planning Team members and others to commit to proper planning, administration
and evaluation of these programs.
Potential Expansion

The Operational Planning Team will begin formulating recommendations for expansion of the
Pilot Programs at the conclusion of the first six months of operation.

DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6, 2005 Page 4 of 8

Appendix 1: Planning and Implementation Timeline

Start

End

date

date

Task

7/04

8/4/04

8/04

8/18/04

8/04

8/31/04

Completed
8/4/04

10/12/04

10/15/04

Develop implementation plan overview
Obtain CSFC approval of implementation plan
Identify partner agencies
Develop planning process
Provide follow-up information to CSFC
Convene Operational Planning Team
Draft outline of service delivery components

10/27/04

11/10/04

Convene Workgroups

11/10/04

11/15/04

Develop detailed program plan and case flow to implement

11/19/04

8/04

10/22/04

9/04

10/20/04

10/4/04

10/4/04

10/27/04

8/18/04

8/31/04
10/22/04
10/20/04
10/4/04
10/15/04

programs

01/11/05

11/12/04

12/15/04

Meet/confer with unions

11/12/04

12/15/04

11/12/04

12/15/04

11/15/04

11/20/04

11/20/04

12/15/04

11/20/04

12/15/04

Licensing documentation sent to CCL
Finalize program budget
Finalize Pilot Program Plan
Execute MOU DFCS/Mental Health Department and
Service Agreement DFCS/COE
Complete DFCS referral process and forms
Provide staff training and orientation
First cases referred for pilot programs services

12/15/04

1/09/04

1/10/05

ongoing

12/15/04
2/4/05
11/24/04

12/7/04
1/7/05

Ongoing
Ongoing

1/10/05

1/31/05

Help staff available for referral concerns

1/7/05

1/10/05

ongoing

Evaluation of programs

Ongoing

DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6. 2005 Page 5 of 8

Appendix 2: Participant Demographic Information, January 12- March 18, 2005

Ethnicity
African-American

No. of Children

Central American

1

2%

Filipino
Hispanic

1

2%

32

Vietnamese

2

1

Percent

2%

70%
4%

White

17%

White/Russian

1

Total

46

Age

No. of Children

2%
100%

Percent

5

1

2%

6

6

13%

7

17%
4

9

9%

12

26%

10

11

24%

11

4

Total

46

9%
100%

DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6, 2005 Page 6 of 8

Appendix 3: Examples of Children’s Journal Entries

DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6, 2005 Page 7 of 8

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DFCS Pilot Programs Update April 6, 2005 Page 8 of 8