Creating the Opportunity for Shared Success

Connie:

We developed a group that met monthly to design and implement the mini-summits. We started the planning process with the basics, such as who to invite, how to make it convenient for people in a wide geographical are to attend, how long it would be, etc.

When we talked about who should participate, that really brought to the surface how important collaboration would be in improving services. When we talk about coordinating services for families, a lot of people are involved from so many areas. Casting a broad net of participants gave us a comprehensive approach to improving services.

Jamie took charge of the “Purple Team,” which focused on Pottawattamie, Mills, and Fremont counties. I organized the “Pink Team,” representing Audubon, Carroll, Greene, Guthrie, Cass, Montgomery, Page, and Taylor counties.

Jamie and I took the momentum from the statewide summit and plugged it into localized mini-summits.

Ideas Welcome Here!

Jamie:

I agree 100% with Connie’s impression of the statewide summit. It was such a great experience to have the free exchange of ideas, but especially under the auspices of collaboration. Going into the meeting with the mutual understanding of shared ownership of goals and outcomes is something new, and establishing that from the beginning opens the door to a whole new set of conversations.

When Connie first started talking about holding a regional mini-summit, I got pretty excited. I knew that bringing that approach to a local level could really bring private and public agencies, as well as other partners involved with families together, and that we could develop better solutions together.

Shared Goal of Helping Families Succeed

Connie:

I’d heard about the work the Child Welfare Partners Committee (CWPC) was doing, but I didn’t know what to expect when I attended the statewide summit. To experience the open exchange of ideas and discussion was truly enlightening.

Everyone brought their unique perspective and together we were able to generate real momentum, which we can translate into better outcomes for families.

When we held our first local mini-summit, that day was probably one of the most positive and productive days in my career. It was wonderful to sit at the table with such a diverse range of professionals – child protective staff, social work case managers, judges, supervisors, family team meeting facilitators… We asked the question, “What are our strengths?”

We talked about how we could apply those to the challenges we face. Then we talked about what wasn’t working, and which were the most important issues to problem-solve to achieve the outcomes we need. Essentially we focused on the fact that everyone at the mini-summit shared the same goal of helping families succeed. We may serve in different roles, but we’re unified in that goal.

Summit Meetings

In June 2010, professionals from all over Iowa, from many different roles, met for a one-day summit, the Child Welfare Partnership Summit. The focus was improving outcomes for Iowa children and families and reinforce partnership at all levels.

Each of the five (5) DHS service areas was represented by a team of 20 participants to the summit. The teams comprised of DHS Front Line Supervisors, Provider (Safety Plan/FSRP Services and Iowa KidsNet) Front Line Supervisors, DHS Front Line Staff, and Provider (Safety Plan/FSRP Services and Iowa KidsNet) Front Line Staff.

The summit was neither training nor downloading of information. The majority of the summit was spent in facilitated dialogue about how well DHS and Providers are working together as partners, both on specific practice issues as well as on the respectful relationships needed to support good practice. The breakout sessions included the following topics:


1. Child and Family Service Review (CFSR) Outcomes

2. Conflict Resolution

3. Partnership Trickledown

4. Safe Case Closure

Based on the statewide summit for private and public agency employees, each service area was asked to take the information learned and use it to further the partnering initiative locally. We'll follow the story of two individuals who did just that in the west side of the state. These mini-summits in the west side of the state continue to date.

Connie tells her story from a perspective of an Iowa Department of Human Services (public) representative. Jamie tells her story as someone from a provider (private) agency.

A difference in the way our staff interact

Since the implementation of FSRP, the involvement in cases has really changed at the supervisory level. We established joint meetings between public and private agency staff, and we even look forward to them! We now have the ability to assess how we’re working together. What’s working and if there’s something that’s not working – what ideas can we come up with jointly to make it work?

There’s certainly a difference in the way our staff interact. Establishing regular meetings together and modeling working together has really opened up the possibilities for working on cases. The interactions between supervisors just weren’t there before, and the collaborative approach has only brought about positive change.

We even do more trainings together. When we’re literally sitting in the same room, hearing the same thing, we’ve got an advantage. When we hear each other’s questions we gain more perspective on what each other faces, and where we’re coming from. We also hear the exact same answers, which helps us all get on the same page.

Taking it one step further, private and public agency supervisors now discuss what their staff needs are to determine what trainings will take place. Again, we are learning more about each other and process the same information together.

Jody

Now Relatives are Engaged

One particularly interesting thing about involving more relatives that we used to is what we hear from them. Most relatives felt they had to jump through several hoops to be involved in the case of a family member. They felt intimidated, obstructed or both. Now we openly seek out relatives who can supervise visits, transport family members, provide respite or provide temporary care for children.

We’ve heard relatives say no one ever asked them in the past. Now it’s standard operation!

It’s the same with family friends. There was a standing misperception that if a family has an issue, all the friends of the family would be considered the same. I’ve heard Jody talk about a good friend of a mom that came to a family team meeting. She attended, but she sat in the corner and didn’t talk. Jody brought her in the conversation and in on the solution-focus by saying directly to her, “I’m counting on you to help her meet her requirements. Because you are so important to her, YOU can make it happen.”

We’re always paying attention during family visits to note visitors or people mentioned in conversation who may be a good addition to that informal support team. We sometimes literally use the line, “Wait a minute…who was that?” to discover additional team members.

In the end, all of this is important because it establishes trust, which makes success possible. We have to establish it with the families and with the people who touches the families. This is what we really try to model with our staff – we communicate with each other and build that trust, and we build that same trust with the families.

The Group Helped Her Get There

Another great example is a family who had worked with DHS previously without much success, and she was resistant to taking advantage of mental health services. Taking a similar approach, we invited individuals from her church, a school counselor who took an interest in the children, and a family friend to participate in the case.

Involving people the family already knew and trusted made it easier to find somewhere the kids could stay while the mom worked on her goals. The kids had an easier transition and the mom was more engaged in her goals because she knew the people her kids were staying with.

Again, bucking tradition, we secured permission for members of the informal support group to transport the kids and supervise visits between the kids and their father, who was in jail. Not only did this help the kids, but it also gave the mother time to attend the other children’s school and sporting events, so that she could play an active part in their lives.

Involving her personal contacts in monthly team meetings and having them participate in the discussions with professionals had a great impact on the success of this case. Not only did this build trust, but it also prompted honesty among those that knew the mom well. As a result, the group as a whole was able to encourage her to get her mental health needs addressed. She had resisted past attempts by DHS to get help with her mental health, but the group helped her get there. And guess what? The results were incredible.