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www.aliainnovations.org

ALIA UNSYSTEM INNOVATION COHORTFamily connections are always preserved

and strengthened

CASE STUDIES AND EARLY DATA

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

§Meet Alia 3

§What is an UnSystem? 4

§Operationalizing an UnSystem 4

§Cohort Context 6

§How Are They Doing It? 6

§Mindset and Relationships 6

§Summary of Early Outcomes 7

§Insights on the Process 8

§Finding Value in the Cohort 8

§Case Studies 10

» Cass County, ND

» Eau Claire County, WI

» Eastern Iowa Service Area

» Washington County, MD

» Waupaca County, WI

§Appendices 20

1. Cohort timeline

2. Guiding Principles of UnSystem

3. UnSystem graphic

4. Change framework

5. Idea Crowdsourcing campaign flyer (Cass County)

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Meet AliaAlia is a Minnesota-based national nonprofit that supports and convenes innovators in public and private child welfare agencies to transform the child welfare system. We have set out to obsolete child welfare as we know it today by creating and supporting new approaches and environments where youth and their caregivers can thrive.

With roots in therapeutic foster care and a history of record-setting, award-winning outcomes for youth permanence, Alia’s work is in movement-building. It is our goal to convene, support, challenge, and nurture leaders in child welfare to design and implement system changes needed for every child to have an uninterrupted sense of belonging.

There is an overwhelming amount of new information available to us that those who created our current child welfare system did not have. We know better about attachment, trauma, and healing, and it is our responsibility to do better. Author, philosopher, poet, and scientist, Margaret Wheatley has influenced how we understand systems behavior and evolution. This has helped us frame our approach of disrupting the current, outdated system and building something new: an UnSystem.

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What is an UnSystem?The UnSystem concept on which the Cohort is based, emerged from a human centered design event that Alia hosted in May 2017 called Ten of Ten for Kids, facilitated by design pioneers, IDEO. Leaders at all levels of child welfare, innovators from diverse industries, child development experts, achievement and innovation Fellows, child welfare funders, and child welfare-affected individuals – 100+ innovators in all – were tasked with reimagining what child welfare could look like.

They were asked to ideate, prototype, and design a new way of intervening that heals, connects, and honors family connections, obsoleting our current system that blames, shames, disconnects, and punishes families when parents struggle.

The discovery at Ten of Ten lives in the realization that there is already a system that works for children: the family system. Insights confirmed that new solutions need to focus on supporting families and preventing the separation of children from their trusted adults, even if that means defining family more broadly to keep children safe.

Ten of Ten was convened to design a new system. Yet in the end, it was clear that designing an entirely new child welfare system would do little to stop the traumatic cycle of removing children from their families. Following 3.5 days of design, 1000s of Post-its, 100s of evaluations, and 2 subsequent

months of overflow ideas and rich discussion, the Guiding Principles of an UnSystem emerged. (appendices 2 and 3)

TEN OF TENTEN OF TENTEN OF TEN#10of10forkids

Operationalizing an UnSystemInnovators at Ten of Ten found common ground in the belief that a child’s family and surrounding community are vital to solving the challenges they face. The critical roles of family and community place an urgent need to collaborate and focus on what the family needs in order to prevent children from removal in the first place. But how do you do that??

The UnSystem Innovation Cohort is Alia’s 3-year commitment to guiding a set of select agencies through this unprecedented

change. Team Alia, the Cohort agency leaders, and every Cohort guide are committed to bringing UnSystem concepts, principles, and practice ideas to reality.

Ten public child welfare agency leaders representing 5 jurisdictions and 14 counties were selected to participate based on their commitment to family-honoring practice and the ability to redesign their systems. We asked, “Do they subscribe to UnSystem Guiding Principles?” and, “Do they have what it takes to make change?” For these agency leaders, the answers are YES and YES!

UnSystem Guiding Principles

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Innovators drive system change, so we looked for people who identified here on Rogers Innovation curve:

Each jurisdiction was paired with one professional and one lived experience guide. The guides bring broad and deep expertise of the child welfare system from inside and out, professional and (often overlapping) personal experience. Their contributions offer the needed bookends of our systems change perspective – from the widest view historically and geographically, to the most intimate and personal.

Alia UnSystem Innovation Cohort

Agency leadersChip Ammerman

Linda Dorff

Diane Cable

Population: 178,000

Population: 150,000

Population: 52,000Population:

500,000

Population: 104,000

Tom Wirth

Mike Piercy

Tiffany Rexrode

Chuck Price

Shannon Kelly

Janée Harvey

Lori Frick

Cohort EvaluatorLaurel Bidwell

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Cohort contextAll 5 agency jurisdictions are similar in size and all were participating in current state or local redesign efforts prior to the Cohort. Initially, there were questions about how the Cohort process would fit with these current efforts, and we found them in all cases to be complementary and well-timed, building on work they have already done. Often, the Cohort process would push them even farther toward family-focused practice.

For example, all agencies have focused on implementing trauma-informed practice, which is a necessary component and requisite to UnSystem redesign work. Deep commitment to the radical efforts of keeping kids safely at home with their own families requires a foundational knowledge of the trauma of separation.

The Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) was enacted this year (taking first effect October 2019) and changes the way public agencies are meant to focus their attention. Prevention work to avoid the removal of children from their families is now eligible for reimbursement by the federal government, and as a Cohort we have discussed ways to capitalize on this funding to support our vision now and in the future.

How are they doing it?Through the Ten of Ten experience, Alia latched on to the principles behind and practice of human-centered design; rapid cycle innovation is a process that fits well with our style and approach. IDEO is also keen to see the UnSystem Guiding Principles come to life so we kept regular touch points with them as the UnSystem Innovation Cohort developed. They put bumpers on our process, keeping our expectations real and our vision grand. IDEO shared with us an approach to change called School Retool they developed for educational settings, which we adapted for the Cohort.

Together the Cohort set an aspiration, and separately within each jurisdiction they are identifying desired behavior changes, creating theories of change, and implementing small “hacks” to achieve the desired changes. Alia wanted to ensure the Cohort was focused enough to create measured change, yet flexible enough for each agency to accommodate geographical and cultural interpretation.

Mindset and relationships A majority of our effort so far has been defining where we’re going, why it’s important we get there, and building trust so that we can do the change together.

Shifting our mindset and the mindsets of agency staff and community partners is a critical piece of transformation and one we revisit at every meeting. Just the act of intentionally shedding our limiting beliefs and seeing new possibilities holds the capacity for tremendous change.

Alia UnSystem Innovation Cohort shared aspiration:

“Family connections are always preserved and strengthened.”

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Summary of early outcomesDr. Laurel Bidwell, mixed methods research expert, is the UnSystem Innovation Cohort evaluator. Because we are simultaneously defining and evaluating the innovation, qualitative data reflecting people’s observation of change and numerical data to describe results are combined to give the most complete picture of what effect participation in the Cohort is having. Laurel will conduct staff interviews, oversee data collection, and consult on family interviews which will take place in 2019.

To demonstrate the outcomes (both process and data) of the Cohort within the agencies so far, we collected qualitative and quantitative feedback reflecting the time from our first day of our meeting through the writing of this report (March to December 2018).

Below are some collective highlights and emerging data:• In Cass County, Child Protection reports rose 21% in Q3, yet out-of-home placements decreased by 8.3%.

• In Q2, Eau Claire County conducted detailed case reviews on all youth in placement including the 20+ youth in residential care. Approximately 25% of youth in residential care are now on track to get home. Without this urgent review and attention, it wouldn’t have happened.

• In the Iowa Eastern Service Region, the average length of stay in group care went from 208 days to 112 days in Q3.

• Also in Iowa, discharges to family or family-like settings increased from 16% to 58% of youth.

• In June 2018 there were 45 youth in residential care in Eastern Iowa Service Area. In November 2018 there were 25.

• Eleven of twelve children referred for out-of-home placement were able to stay safely at home or with kin and avoid out-of-family placement by using child safety conferences before removal in Eastern Iowa Service Area.

• Cass County worked diligently with a mother to keep her 12th child safely at home after her first 11 had been removed in years prior.

• Waupaca County saw a 60% reduction of youth in residential care, discharged in non-traditional ways, like:

• A 17-year-old was discharged to “independent living,” with his dad.

• One youth was placed with a family friend who had trouble getting licensed due to living out of state, so was placed on a TPC (temporary physical custody)…with them.

• A youth was placed with a full-time mentor who worked for the County and quit to become the youth’s full-time paid foster parent. Waupaca County will hold the employment status and re-employ the worker once the youth finds permanence.

Well, that was fast!Cross check the timeline on page 20 and you’ll notice the data and outcomes here represent a mere 7-month period (5/2018 through 9/2018). Below are the early outcomes of three, 2-hour virtual meetings, one in-person meeting with just Cohort leaders, and six, all-Cohort, in-person meetings. (Our in-person meetings are 9 hours in total: noon-5pm one day and 8am-noon the following day, to minimize overnight travel.) We’re just getting started, so stay tuned!

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Finding Value in the Cohort: What keeps them coming back?“As busy County and State Human Service leaders, how do you find the time to spend 2 days per month on this and still get your ‘work’ done?” We asked. Here’s what they said:

§This isn’t the hard work! This is where we get our buckets filled.

§It’s what you prioritize. Time is not an issue; that’s a myth.

§When we do our work right, we’ll have LESS day-to-day demands. The more you do what you LOVE the more energy you will have.

§This IS the work. It’s creating the change, not signing papers. If I wasn’t here on a monthly basis making changes in our department, know what would I be doing? The answer is, “what we’ve always done,” and now we know better, so we can’t just do that.

§A year ago if someone had asked if I had 2 days every month I really don’t think I could have guaranteed it. But now, YES! This is what we NEED to do so that family connections are always preserved and strengthened.

Insights on the processIn November 2018 each of the 5 agencies reported a summary of their process thus far. We then discussed our own reactions to what we’ve accomplished. Here are some of our observations:

§We are not looking outside ourselves for the leaders. We are the ones changing the System.

§Everyone’s willingness to push forward in the tough times, even when not everyone is on board with you. That’s awesome.

§These are stories of real people’s lives, not just numerical data. This is deliberate connecting with real humans; there are people with real beating hearts behind the numbers. “I don’t care if one of us gets fired – 3 kids moved “home” from residential care and that alone makes it all worth it!”

§Behind these success stories are people who care and keep at it. A hundred times it went wrong before it went right. We just didn’t give up.

§The skill sets in each pair of agency leaders are highly complementary. Their varied skill sets, shared experience, high trust level, diligent communication and accountability to one another have contributed to their success.

§Each family, each jurisdiction, and each agency are unique in what they do and how they do it. Each set of leaders have designed the work based on the specific voices of their staff and communities. The common aspiration is the unifying and mobilizing force.

§It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and doing this together as a Cohort is exceedingly valuable. Since sometimes you cannot be an expert in your hometown, we can call on the other leaders to bolster the efforts in our own communities.

§This is not a single-leader model. The goal is to put the constituent at the center, infuse it in the culture, let go of your need to be right, make brave decisions, and bring everyone along.

§There is still a LOT to be done!

ignite! Innovation, local crowd-based innovation experts and part of the Optum group, hosted for us a 3-week Idea Crowdsourcing online campaign which invited all staff from all 5 agencies to submit their ideas – big and small – in response to this question, “How might we always preserve and strengthen family connections?” Among all 5 agencies, 604 staff submitted 207 ideas and/or cast 22,796 pair-wise votes on their favorite ideas – demonstrating widespread engagement and excitement for UnSystem change. A thousand thank yous, Optum!

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Here we will share the path each jurisdiction has taken to achieve our collective vision of an UnSystem, described in our shared goal as a place where, family connections are always preserved and strengthened.

Cass County leaders

Chip Ammerman Linda Dorff

Cass County guides

Shenandoah Chefalo Marge Gildner

Eau Claire County leaders

Diane Cable Tom Wirth

Eau Claire County guides

Franco Vega Margo Kemp Johnson

Eastern Iowa Service Area leaders

Janée Harvey Lori Frick

Eastern Iowa Service Area guides

Amanda Brown Brian Clapier

Washington County leaders

Mike Piercy Tiffany Rexrode

Washington County guides

Ashley McCullough Lien Bragg

Waupaca County leaders

Chuck Price Shannon Kelly

Waupaca County guides

Corey Best China Darrington

CASE STUDIES

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Chip Ammerman has been the Director of Social Services for Cass County since 2008. He has been working in child welfare since 1983.

Linda Dorff has been the Family Services Divisional Manager for Cass County since 2017. She has been with the county since 1986 and working in social services since 1983.

Cass County UnSystem Theory of Change: Where are we going? How will we get there? Why do we think it will work?“Because we believe children fare better with protective connections with families, we will no longer place children outside of their family. Rather, we will use our resources and expertise to be conduits to build community partnerships to provide the right service at the right time, building stronger families. We believe that this will work because children need to be with family and when families identify their own needs, they become their own problem solvers, and the community is there to assist them to build a structure of belonging for the long term.”

Sharing the aspirationLinda used division social work meetings to talk about the Cohort and the direction it was going. During monthly staff meetings, Linda started using IDEO’s principles of human- centered design and she posted them throughout the main space in the office. Some of the staff favorites were, “fail forward,” and “trust the process” and it became accepted language among the team.

When the Cohort developed the aspiration, “Family connections are always preserved and strengthened,” they asked all staff what these words meant, starting with the supervisors. What does “family” mean? What does a connection look like? Linda presented a cartoon about those who call for change but don’t want to change themselves. But, unlike in the cartoon, when she asked the group, “who wants to see change?” everyone raised their hands, and when she asked, “who wants to DO change?” they all stood up. Staff want to do things differently; they are eager for change. They want to HELP and the Cohort aspiration gave them a common language. They used to say their goal was to “ensure children are safe” but that didn’t hold enough clear meaning to facilitate action in alignment.

They learned: Trust the visionWhile they learned people were ready to change and work differently, they had fears. The skills they had perfected (affidavit writing, testifying, investigating, etc.) were being replaced or significantly changed. What does it mean if your area of expertise is phased out?? By putting the new aspiration on the wall in the waiting room, they made a statement to each other and to the people they serve. As a team, they decided together that it’s a work in progress and to trust the process, because if they are acting based on the aspiration, they are doing the right thing.

Idea crowdsourcingCass County staff had high participation in the 3-week, online, all-staff idea crowdsourcing challenge and top ideas won prizes. This was another reminder that staff are eager to offer ideas when asked and they offered strong, family-centered ways of advancing the department.

CASS COUNTY, ND

Cass County is located in the far eastern part of the state along the North Dakota/Minnesota border. It is the most populous county in North Dakota with a population of approximately 178,000. The community has seen a dramatic population increase over the past several years due to diverse employment opportunities.

Annual operating budget:$13,000,000

Number of staff:160

employees

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Hack: Slow downThrough an intentional slow-down they learned that through a calmer approach, more solutions appear. Crisis situations have decreased and asking, “What does this child need?” offers clarity. Before people go out to an emergency situation, they take a moment to ask themselves, “How can we avoid placement here?” They look for safe people within the family’s trusted network and look for ways to ensure children are safe but are still with family.

Big idea: Complete community investment and family connections The state has “trained” its community partners to treat them as the “end-all, save-all” in family intervention. To create family connections within the community, this relationship dynamic needed an adjustment, so Chip and Linda met with schools and school district leaders, regional supervisors, law enforcement, juvenile court justices, and families. Schools and law enforcement have relied on the state to fix family challenges, so Chip and Linda have been building the confidence, capacity, and competence to move them forward as partners. Partners and DHS must align their beliefs and approaches to recognize that taking kids, trying to “fix” them, and bringing them back to the same home situation simply does not work.

Chip has worked on building relationships with their legal team, which has a long history of, for example, automatically removing all babies from mothers with drug addiction and court-ordering services. Working alongside a family to help them determine their needs, bringing in outside supports, and withholding mandates takes a big mindset shift, which requires trusting relationships.

Hack: Family connections at intakeInstead of using the intake process simply as a means to gather details of abuse or neglect, interviewers now ask, “Who is there to support this family? Who are the child’s supports?” Supervisors are working with social workers to move beyond the standard, step-by-step accepted way of approaching families. Their goal is to make it less invasive and more solution-focused for families.

The two Cohort guides – Marge Gildner and Shenandoah Chefalo – visited Cass County and delivered training on trauma and system redesign, and shared personal stories about what it’s

like to be in foster care. Over 80 people attended (internal staff and external partners) and Linda and Chip felt validated by their message. The guides observed that even with outspoken doubters, leadership held steadfast and never let up. Linda says, “I believe in this from the bottom of my heart. I didn’t sign up to remove kids and break families. This is a helluva lotta work. It’s not an easy road to walk, but it’s well worth it.”

Doing it differentlyCass County is spending their money differently, on prevention rather than intervention. Putting families temporarily in hotels and offering bus fare, for example, are ways to support families, not punish them by taking their children away. “And it’s not by chance,” says Linda, “it’s intentional.”

A mother known to the department has had the rights of 11 of children involuntarily terminated and she recently delivered her 12th baby. At first it seemed clear that of course this baby would be removed, however both mom and baby tested negative for drugs and her probation offer said she was doing well. With some pushback and negotiation with her team, they decided that removal wasn’t necessary and that the right thing for that baby is to stay with her mother.

Cass County leadership still have some questions about what’s next, but they “are NOT gonna be retraumatizing the kids we work with,” and they know each and every one of their staff are important in how they talk with people and the actions they take. They are a team and together they are committed to this approach. Linda says, “Are we there yet? Oh, no. But we know where we’re going, and we’re going family by family, situation by situation.”

Cass County UnSystem Cohort Guides:Shenandoah Chefalo, Author and Advocate, Garbage Bag Suitcase (MI)

Marge Gildner, Senior Associate for Child Welfare Practice, SLI Government Solution, Center for the Support of Families (GA)

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The Eastern Iowa Service Area (EISA) is a 10-county area in eastern Iowa that begins in Dubuque County and runs along the Mississippi River to Lee County. The Iowa Department of Human Services resides under the executive branch – directly under the governor’s office. This area has been innovative and creative in looking into the current system and making change for better outcomes for families. Though this area may be considered rural, it also includes several larger cities like Dubuque and Davenport.

Janée Harvey is the Bureau Chief of Child Welfare and Community Services at the Iowa Department of Human Services and works with the policy division in Des Moines. She has experience in varying aspects of the child welfare system for the past 16 years, and prior to this position was in child welfare nonprofit leadership in Brooklyn, NY.

Lori Frick is the Eastern Iowa Area Service Manager for the Iowa Department of Human Services. She has been with IDHS for 11 years and has over 25 years of experience in child and family services.

Eastern Iowa Service Area UnSystem Theory of Change: Where are we going? How will we get there? Why do we think it will work?“Because we know children fare better with protective connections, and approximately 275 children in the Eastern Service Area are not living safely with their families, we are committed to holding Child Safety Conferences and providing holistic support to relatives and fictive kin who are in the child’s natural support network. We expect to see a reduction in out-of-home removals and an increase in children who are remaining connected with loving, caring adults who are already known to them.”

• We are committed to keeping children connected safely within their families, not protected from their families.

• We are committed to creating a system and response that work for any of our own loved ones.

• We know this will work because all children need love, connection and belonging in order to thrive.

Pre-CohortThe State Capital of Iowa has diligently been working on preparing for the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) and moving their state in the direction of family preservation since 2017. “It would be artificial to unbraid Family First and what we’re doing with Alia,” says Janée Harvey, Bureau Chief of Child Welfare Policy for the state. They have built a team approach to change and it is this aligned, collaborative way of working that has made change possible.

In July 2017 the state of Iowa negotiated new contracts with congregate care providers, which included three key elements:

1. “No eject, no reject.” Providers must accept the youth who are referred to them and may no longer discharge a youth from their facility. Without this mandate, youth could be placed hundreds of miles from their homes and moved from place to place, inflicting more trauma with disrupted placements. This is an intentional shift toward seeing services attached to a person, not a bed.

2. They changed the funding stream for providers away from a rate of pay per bed/per day model which had the unintended effect of keeping kids in care, to a guaranteed funding stream determined by the volume of beds DHS projected to need.

3. Performance-based contracts were put in place, requiring four key outcomes: 1) the number of days in group care (90% of youth must be out of group care in 185 days), 2) rates of return to group care, 3) recidivism rate for adjudicated youth, and 4) percentage of youth leaving

EASTERN IOWA SERVICE AREA

Eastern Iowa Service Area Department of Human Services represents Child and Adult Protective Workers, Social Workers, admin staff, leadership, and contracted services such as family foster care and group care.

Annual operating budget:$34,000,000

Number of staff:204

employees

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to family or family-like settings. Since these changes, the average length of service days has gone from 208 to 111 days. In Q1 of 2018 16% of youth went home to family, in Q4 it is 58%.

Implementing these types of changes set the stage for the UnSystem Innovation Cohort work. Providers and workers were prepared for the state to make big changes for kids.

Cohort aspiration provides the foundationDeveloping the aspirational commitment (Family connections are always preserved and strengthened) helped them “make sense” of what they were already doing. Shortly after the Innovation Cohort determined this overarching aspiration, the Iowa team went to Seattle for an FFPSA training and, “when we said that mantra, it was like lightning struck our group,” said Janée. “We have to have foundational commitments that we bounce everything off of, and from there they developed the blueprint for Iowa’s future-oriented system.” The blueprint is their effort to further operationalize this philosophical orientation.

Support for kin careIowa is now looking at how to better support kin care by identifying obstacles for natural supports to becoming licensed, including subsidy rates. Currently, unlicensed blood relatives receive $183/month in support and fictive kin receive nothing. There are approximately 6,285 youth in foster care in Iowa and over 2,000 of those are with their families or loved ones and receiving no state support.

In January 2018, there were approximately 315 youth in family foster care, and in December 2018, approximately 278 – a decrease of 37 youth in family foster care. Also, in January 2018, approximately 278 youth were in relative foster care, and in December 2018, 268 youth were in relative foster care. Since October 2018, there has been an additional focus and data-tracking on efforts to keep kids with parents, and if not with parents, a trusted adult known to them (fictive kin). Since then, they have placed 53 youth with fictive kin and attribute the decrease in family foster care placements and kin placements to the emphasis of creating safety plans so kids can remain at home or with already-trusted adults, rather than being moved to licensed care.

Licensed foster families receive over $600/month in financial support – a mix of state and federal funding. In order to expedite even modest financial support to (fictive) kin temporary caregivers, state leaders are looking at the option of offering a provisional license and forgoing the federal IV-E funding to offer kin caregivers the state-funded half. A provisional license is less stringent, states would have more discretion, and it could offer financial relief during a longer licensing process, if required.

A Family Support Fund from the local Child Welfare Decategorization (Decat) boards is used in the Eastern Iowa

Service Area to help families keep their kids at home. Further commitment to kin care includes the launch of a state-wide Kinship Navigator program. The Youth Policy Institute is conducting research with 30 youth currently in kin care and their relatives to identify what factors contribute to a successful (fictive) kin placement.

Hack: Child Safety Conferences (CSCs)Since October 2018, Child Safety Conferences have been required prior to a potential child removal. CSCs include the CPS worker, a CPS supervisor, a social work administrator, an outside provider to facilitate, a state-provided parent partner, the family/caregiver, and anyone else the family wants to include. Once families learn the goal of this group is to do everything possible to keep that child safe at home or at the home of a loved one, “they’re in” says Lori Frick, Eastern Iowa Service Area Manager.

Of the initial 12 Child Safety Conferences, 11 children stayed within the child’s trusted adult/family network and one moved to foster care due to medical needs. Comparing this with previous removal data, we can see that half of these youth would have gone to out-of-family placement before the implementation of CSCs.

Hack: Slow down and take a closer lookBefore placing youth in group care, a social worker must speak with their supervisor AND a social work administrator to discuss if every alternative has been explored. This extra step has led to a decrease of DHS youth in group care placement from 45 to 25 youth.

The Eastern Iowa Service Area noticed an increase in the number of youth in shelter through October 2018, so a social work administrator followed up on every single case, resulting in 10 of the 17 going home.

Lori and Janée also see changes in the behavior of social workers and supervisors. They approach their families with more of a “never give up” attitude when looking for kin. “There has got to be somebody else,” they say and keep looking. Some trusted adults may have been overlooked in the past, and the teams broaden their searches as a commitment to finding real-time support to keep youth safely among people they know and trust. One of the Child Safety Conferences resulted in a youth staying with her teacher.

About prioritizing kin care Lori says, “Yes, there is risk…but the emotional trauma of foster care is also a risk.”

Eastern Iowa Service Area UnSystem Cohort Guides:Amanda Brown, Iowa Lead, Parent Partner for the Cedar Rapids Service Area, managed by Department of Iowa Children & Families (IA)

Brian Clapier, Policy Fellow, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago (IL)

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Eau Claire County is a rural area in western Wisconsin, with an approximate population of 104,000. Eau Claire County Human Services Department is part of a team of County Departments serving the residents of Eau Claire County. For the past 2 ½ years they have been laying the foundation to becoming a trauma-informed organization.

Diane Cable has been the Director of the Eau Claire County Human Services Department since 2016. She has 30 years of experience in the human services field, including work in child welfare and youth justice. Diane serves on several state and local human service committees.

Tom Wirth is the Deputy Director for Eau Claire County’s Human Services Department and has spent most of his professional career with the department. Tom has been practicing social work for 35 years and worked in several practice areas of human services.

Eau Claire County UnSystem Theory of Change: Where are we going? How will we get there? Why do we think it will work?“Because we believe children fare better with the protective connections of family we are committed to shifting our culture, mindsets, and practice to ensure the children and youth of Eau Claire County never experience an interruption in their sense of belonging and connection. And, we believe adults with healthy connections lead to children and families doing well.”

To achieve this, we are committed to: • Utilizing family, kin, or kin-like placements for children when

placement is necessary• Valuing and viewing family voice as the driver of our services• Providing non-traumatizing, solution-focused services

• Promoting healing and wellbeing for youth, families, and our workforce

• Assuring that healthy connections exist for all we serve and all partners we support

• Operating a service delivery system that believes in individuals, and guides children, families and individuals to recovery, healing and resilience.”

Big idea: Shifting the mindset and practice to our new visionOn the drive back to Eau Claire after the first in-person Cohort meeting in May 2018, Diane and Tom felt an incredible sense of urgency and the need to take immediate action! They strategized an immediate meeting with the leadership team to begin the process of changing the agency mindset to the vision developed by the Cohort, where Family Connections are ALWAYS Preserved and Strengthened. They knew they needed to rethink how they respond to children, youth and families in crisis. Diane and Tom presented the new vision, first to the management team, then the entire staff, and then the board.

Diane and Tom shared the new vision with the 20 management staff members. In small management team groups (including economic support and fiscal staff), they began to operationalize what the new vision would look like in each department, thinking beyond the historical, and current cultural practice and beliefs. Although challenging, the teams were receptive and engaged in the activity.

In July 2018 they held a 150-person, all-agency meeting to share the new vision as well as teach on the concepts of ACEs (adverse childhood experiences), mindfulness, and brain development after trauma. Staff were interacting with one another without prompts and began to see the “why” behind the vision.

EAU CLAIRE COUNTY, WI

Eau Claire County HSD (Human Services Department) includes Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, Behavioral Health (Mental Health, Substance Abuse & Crisis Services), TANF programming, Adult Protective Services, and Income Maintenance Services.

Annual operating budget:$29,900,000

Number of staff:202

employees

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Following the all-staff meeting, Diane and Tom presented the new vision to the Human Services oversight board. They were supportive and understood that keeping families together was not only fiscally responsible but the right thing to do, yet they questioned how it would be done. Diane recalled: “they were concerned about how we were going to move this mountain.”

They learned: Staff don’t see what you seeUnlike Diane and Tom, staff don’t come to Minneapolis for two days a month with other leaders and guides to process, ideate, build community and gain momentum around doing things bigger, so at first, staff politely agreed with the vision but were soon back to business as usual. Diane and Tom were reminded of how strategic, thoughtful and consistent they must be as they roll out this new “way” to the staff. They learned that all staff needed time to be heard and not blamed or shamed for the previous practice. They needed to be quiet, listen, and be supportive.

Saying “no” to new congregate careIn Spring 2018, counties in Wisconsin were offered 95% reimbursement from the state to open a long- term Juvenile Correctional Facility. Eau Claire County currently operates a short- and long-term detention facility used by 30 neighboring counties. When given the “opportunity” to open this correctional facility, they knew it was in direct opposition to the new vision and would not ensure that family connections are always preserved and strengthened. Expecting pushback, Diane’s voice was shaky as she announced to the Wisconsin County Human Services Association that they would NOT move forward. Instead, providers were supportive and want the system to be different – a surprising and encouraging response.

Hack: Setting framework with the budgetDiane told the board that the current rate of alternate care cost was unsustainable, and she would propose a new budget investing in more managers to support the new vision. Until this point, managers were supervising 11 staff and 250 youth which didn’t allow them the capacity to provide responsive supervision needed for safety and connection. Diane told them: “Every single thing in this budget will connect to the vision of family connections being preserved and strengthened. Period.”

Hack: Child placement reviewsStaff members reviewed the case file of every single youth in care with the lens of the new vision. Reminded of the despair and challenges of the families they serve, they asked: “What can we do to help this child return home?” and, “Have we done all we can to preserve and strengthen this youth’s family

connections?” Being challenged to view these cases through a different lens was threatening at first, but they came to realize this extra attention gave them an opportunity to intervene differently. Of the 20 youth in congregate care, about a quarter are now on track to get home within five months.

All-staff idea crowdsourcing: “How might we always preserve and strengthen family connections?”The online idea crowdsourcing campaign asked all staff for their ideas on how to operationalize the aspiration. An overwhelming number of staff members across all disciplines offered creative solutions for how we as an entire agency can preserve and strengthen family connections. It was clear that staff across the agency care about children and families, and that NO ONE wants to retraumatize kids.

Hack: Book clubMargaret Wheatley’s book, “Finding our Way” challenged staff to think about systems change. This interesting read provides a safe forum for the management/leadership team to rethink and have critical conversations about system structure and leadership. New ideas are discussed and trust is building.

Managing emotion through changeFranco Vega, one of the Eau Claire UnSystem Cohort guides, and Amelia Franck Meyer, Alia CEO, provided an all-staff training about doing work in a different way. Agency staff responded passionately with enthusiasm and struggle. Some staff members reported feeling disheartened to learn that the work they had done for so many years was actually retraumatizing families and struggled with how to move forward. Staff members wondered if they would be fired for having kids in placement.

Diane and Tom were reminded again that they need to offer encouragement while recognizing the friction of systems change and learning a new way. Dispelling guilt and shame and allowing staff members to grieve for their participation in a broken system is part of the process, and still, we must move forward for the benefit of children and families.

Eau Claire County UnSystem Cohort Guides:Franco Vega, Executive Director and Founder, The RightWay Foundation (CA)

Margo Kemp Johnson, Chief Advancement Officer, Alia (MN)

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Washington County is located in the rural, western part of Maryland, situated between Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The population of Washington County is approximately 150,000. ACFS operates under two layers of governance – the state parent agency (Maryland Department of Human Services - DHS), and the local operations (Washington County Department of Social Services - WCDSS).

Michael Piercy serves as the Director of Washington County Department of Social Services, overseeing all human services, family investment programs, child support operations and administration. He has 24 years of previous experience in child welfare and has been in this role since December 2015.

Tiffany Rexrode is the Assistant Director for the Department of Social Services and has been since 2016. She has worked in several different roles within public child welfare since 2000 and has been a peer reviewer for the Council on Accreditation since 2007.

Washington County UnSystem Theory of Change: Where are we going? How will we get there? Why do we think it will work?“141 children in Washington County have tenuous connections with their families, and because we believe children fare better with protective connections with their own families, we are uniting with families to learn more about their needs to prevent harm. Working with our community partners to meet each family’s unique needs will contribute to our collective success.”

About Washington CountyTen minutes to the north is Pennsylvania and 10 minutes southwest is West Virginia. Washington County is one of three Maryland counties recognized by the Appalachian Regional Commission as being part of Appalachia. The median family income in Washington County is $56,316 compared to the Maryland state average of $78,945. For the last 10 years, Washington County has consistently had among the highest unemployment rates of any of the 24 Maryland counties, and the county lost over 2,000 jobs in the most recent recession. Of the 47 schools in the county and almost 23,000 students, 48% receive Free and Reduced Meals. Washington County is the lowest of 24 school systems for School Readiness, and the Youth Risk Behavior survey (2016) indicated mental health issues greater than the state average. Students are also experiencing increased homelessness with approximately 780 homeless students currently enrolled. According to statistics, Washington County is fourth in the state for the most human trafficking referrals. This is probably due to a combination of the crossroads of two interstates, easy access to other states, and other factors. Opioid addiction and other substance use disorders affect many in the county. Rethinking previous initiativesSix years ago, WCDSS redesigned their service delivery from a unit specific to a team model. This allowed consistency for families and increased communication within the department. They’ve since learned the demands on the social workers to know the statutes and policies of each highly regulated service is inefficient, and they are moving back to a program-centered approach while still meeting as clinical teams and utilizing the Signs of Safety approach.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, MD

Washington County Department of Social Services (WCDSS) employs a total of 240 staff. 135 staff and $9 million are represented here in the Division of Adult, Child, and Family Services (ACFS).

Annual operating budget:$9,000,000

Number of staff:135

employees

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There are 141 youth in out-of-home placement at the moment. Starting in 2006 there was a steady decrease in placements, but the opioid crisis is causing the number of youth in care to rise. Hack: Unifying familiesOne addition they have made is a full-time staff position dedicated entirely to transitioning youth from congregate care to families. There were 34 youth in congregate care for various reasons. They targeted five female youth ages 13-17 that were stable in their current setting. To date, four of those youth have successfully transitioned to therapeutic foster homes. Visitation between the youth and their birth families is supported by the court and the department. Hack: School partnership K-2To emphasize prevention and identify struggling families sooner, the Family School Partnership program is strongly encouraging school staff to refer children younger than 2nd grade who struggle with reading, as this is a strong predictor of school success. Hack: Supervision focusNew questions are being asked in supervision meetings, such as, “How are we strengthening this family?” or, “Is this what we’d do for our own families?” By changing language from “a youth they might need to shelter” to asking, “How are we planning for safety?” It turns the focus in a different direction.

Cohort learning: Reminder – it takes everyoneWashington County take away so far: “We have to change our mindset.” Through hacks with staffing, school partnerships and a supervision focus, the department has learned that behavior change begins with a mindset change.

There are also opportunities within other divisions to intervene earlier. Internal job shadowing helped staff to see that each person’s work is connected to the bigger picture of family wellbeing. Prevention of child abuse and neglect begins when families are stable and have their basic needs met. They are exploring how working differently with adults, families, and children in other divisions can preserve and strengthen families. For example, economic services like Child Support Administration can be an early intervention resource to families and to each other. Child Support workers can help non-custodial parents (often fathers) become custodial

parents by suggesting modifications to or forgiveness for past child support debt. By rethinking a traditionally punitive role like Child Support as a supportive resource, Mike and Tiffany are reminded that staff must consistently be encouraged to understand that every position has a vital role to play in supporting family connections. Cohort learning: Staff are readyMike and Tiffany had the task of getting all five executive staff members on board with the UnSystem Innovation Cohort shared aspiration: Family connections are always preserved and strengthened. Executive staff embraced the initiative and support changes that really impact healthy families in the community. Child Welfare staff are eager to think about their work with families in new ways to ensure that connections are stable, healthy, and supported. Washington County UnSystem Cohort Guides:Ashley McCullough, Child Welfare Consultant and Knowledge Management Advisor (MD)

Lien Bragg, Steward + Thought Partner, Sanctuary Seven (SC)

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Waupaca is a medium-sized, rural county in East-Central Wisconsin. The total population of the county is approximately 52,000. Wisconsin is a state-administered, county-run system.

Chuck Price has been the Director for Waupaca County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) since 2012 and is the former President of the Wisconsin County Human Service Association (WCHSA). He has 25 years of experience working with children and families.

Shannon Kelly has been the Deputy Director of Health and Human Services for Waupaca County since 2014. She has extensive experience managing programs for children with special health care needs through DHHS and in a pediatric medical setting.

Waupaca County UnSystem Theory of Change: Where are we going? How will we get there? Why do we think it will work? “When Waupaca County residents are in need of help or support, DHHS delivers a Total Prevention Response (TPR) because we know ALL people have better life outcomes when they are safely (both emotionally and physically) connected to at least two people. To build connections, all of our services, supports, and interventions will begin by asking; “Who do you turn to in times of need?” If unable to identify a safe, natural connection, all of our services, supports, and interventions will focus on supporting the building and/or rebuilding of connections.”

Pre-CohortChuck and Shannon get the sense they are running a marathon, as they have been at this work of shifting mindsets, approaching the work differently since 2012. They started with internal trauma-informed care training and have since expanded their focus to the larger community. Waupaca is seen as the leader in the State of Wisconsin, and their persistence may be outlasting what was expected by the community. They are now experiencing the growing pains of even deeper change.

“Courageous” conversations: Do you have my back in a risk averse system?Members of the Waupaca County Board, DHHS Board, legal system and local law enforcement have been key partners. Chuck and Shannon know it is crucial to maintain relationships with these decision-makers who sometimes see punitive, disconnecting practice as most effective or feel that keeping family connections maintained doesn’t tow a strong enough line and call the approach, “loosey goosey,” or soft. Chuck and Shannon invest significant effort to build trust and mutual understanding. In the past, they have made efforts to “keep the peace” with these stakeholders. However, they now wonder if in their efforts to maintain harmony they may have delayed or inhibited the opportunity for mutual understanding and a unified approach. “There were times we knew there was a disconnect. What if we had spoken up sooner?” they ask.

Several times recently law enforcement officials have altogether circumvented Human Services in custody decisions. Sometimes the viewpoints are so different, Chuck and Shannon have both been threatened to be arrested if they do not comply and wondered at some point if their jobs are at risk. In their change efforts thus far, tension has never

WAUPACA COUNTY, WI

Waupaca County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) includes all Health and Human Service staff: Child Protective Services, Family and Community Services, Aging and Disability Resources, Behavioral Health, Economic Support and Public Health.

Annual operating budget:$13,300,000

Number of staff:128

employees

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escalated to this level, so this is a new challenge for them which highlights the urgent need to continue building trusting relationships.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between law enforcement and DHHS hadn’t been updated in many years. Seeing an opportunity to clarify, align, and build relationships, line by line, they sat down with law enforcement so each could share and understand precisely the protocol and reasoning behind outlined responses. Since then, they have been able to keep at least 15 children out of stranger care and have removed only 2 children to foster care.

Shannon is meeting and holding conversations with each DHHS unit, outlining the Alia Change Framework, the Big Idea of a Total Prevention Response, and understanding Waupaca’s Theory of Change. Each department had the opportunity to identify their own big ideas and hacks. The Economic Support Manager is working on getting rid of the “dumb rules” that take away efficiency and humanity of their services. One of the fiscal team’s ideas is to require partner contracts to include trauma informed practice. The transportation coordinator has now begun to ask every single person, every single time, “Who are you connected to and who do you turn to when you need help?” They are also focused on the un- and under-insured, mining for potential missteps and working diligently to get families insured.

Hack: Transportation programWaupaca is a rural community with no public transit so personal transportation is a must. Waupaca is creating a DHHS Transportation app to identify redundancies in inter-county travel. This ride-share app will be used by volunteers, county staff, and community members. Riders are asked, “Who do you turn to when you need help?” which puts increasing focus on identifying and strengthening personal connections. Waupaca County officials expect trust and connections to increase, while saving time and money and increasing access to its citizens. This is one example highlighting that every department can offer ways to support safety and connection within the community.

Hack: Trainings to support a sustainable work forceTo keep staff engaged, challenged, and supported, the leadership team was guided through implicit and unconscious bias training, completed the Intercultural Development Inventory and did an even deeper dive into the Strengths Finder assessment. In 2019, Waupaca will be training all staff who

interact with children and their families in Protective Factors. Waupaca has learned that they must continue to reinvigorate the staff, even after having been at this for 6+ years.

Hack: Community cafésWaupaca Cohort guide, Corey Best, helped facilitate 3 community cafés to understand from staff, families, and community stakeholders their needs and ideas. They introduced the idea of re-working the current “TPR” acronym from “termination of parental rights” to “total prevention response” representing a significant change in focus. Preliminary Community Café data indicate over 50% of the workforce are confident in the Cohort theory of change. In addition to the renewed sense of urgency to “hack” their way into a complete system redesign, Waupaca leadership observed the Café experience provided families, staff and key stakeholders with an opportunity to assist in the co-creation of a shared vision for Waupaca County to incorporate and measure authentic family engagement and remove barriers to cross-system collaboration.

Hack: Creative placementsOne “pretty darn non-traditional” placement involved a teen father who the department considered in an “independent placement” with his baby and its mother, something that has never been done before. Without this creative solution, the alternative would have been placement in another facility 100 miles away, removing the ability of the family to attach to the baby.

A family friend of another youth had a difficult time getting licensed as a foster parent due to a required out-of-state background check. The judge agreed to approve a “temporary physical custody” order to the original placement to restart the 30-day window, allowing the youth to remain in the same home.

Another involved a youth with few supports, except for one strong connection with a DHHS mentor. As a staff member, the mentor could not house the youth, so HR and the judge agreed to fund this staff as a full-time foster parent, not County employee. If/when the youth is placed with a permanent family, the mentor can return to employment at DHHS.

Waupaca County UnSystem Cohort Guides:Corey Best, Child Welfare Consultant (FL)

China Darrington, Director, XIX Recovery Support Services (OH)

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COHORT TIMELINE 20182018 UnSystem Innovation Cohort session themes

Jan-Feb RFI (Request for Innovators!) open for UnSystem Innovation Cohort jurisdictions and guides, agency and guide selection

March Meeting #1 (virtual)Solidify our purpose – to create a new way in child welfare; reiterate our commitment to the process and each other; plan 2018-19 schedule

April Meeting #2 (virtual)Get to know each other, clarify our aspirational goal – what are we trying to accomplish together?

May Meeting #3 (in person with agency leaders)Understand change framework, clarify aspiration to share with agencies, be inspired to move forward, develop a plan

Defined collective aspiration: Family connections are always preserved and strengthened

June Meeting #4 (virtual) Agency report learnings from agency “hacks”

July Meeting #5 (first in-person meeting with guides and leaders) Clarify agency/guide roles, pump up your hacks, identify desired behavior changes

August Meeting #6 (in person) Initiate evaluation plan, idea crowdsourcing, create inclusion plan, change process, action planning with teams

Sept-Oct UnSystem Idea Crowdsourcing Challenge idea submission – all staff from all 5 jurisdictions participate

September Meeting #7 (in person)Tie things together, develop a plan that can be clearly articulated using Theory of Change worksheets, collect data

October Meeting #8 (in person)Speaking with clarity, passion and vision; having the fortitude to persist

Oct-Dec Idea Buildr process for top crowdsourcing ideas to develop into plans

November Meeting #9 (in person at Alia’s new office) Capturing what is happening, internalizing the message – role plays!

December Meeting #10 (in person) Recognizing challenges; giving and receiving challenging feedback

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•

•

•

•

•

•

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A Traditional Child Welfare System

Locally delivered resources – immediately

Support rather than dismantle/value on family ties that bind

The ORIGINAL

Child Welfare System is the NATURAL

family system

Whole family at center Natural community supports

Supportive, consistent connection

Family-driven, culturally specific supports

Focus on building resilience, joy, wellbeing & health

The constructed system dismantles and adds more pressures on families in times of challenge rather than supporting the family

back to balance & wellbeing

The CONSTRUCTED

Child Welfare System is an ARTIFICIAL

family system

BLAME SHAME

PUNISHMENT

An UnSystem

www.aliainnovations.org

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In an UnSystem, family connections are always preserved and strengthened.

Eau Claire County Wisconsin

Eastern Iowa Service Area

Cass County North Dakota

Waupaca County Wisconsin

Washington County Maryland

We need your unique perspective and ideas to help bring this to life at

Cass Countybecause...

we know the best way to protect children is to safeguard the relationships most sacred to them.

WHAT

WHO

WHEN

HOW

A way to share your ideas – big or small – on how we can preserve and strengthen family connections ALWAYS

You!

Submit your ideas and comments – September 4 – 25

Visit the UnSystem Idea Challenge website

An idea crowdsourcing challenge is a way of gathering ideas from a large group of people for a specific purpose

And employees just like you at 4 other agencies just like ours

• Vote on the best ideas – September 26 – October 3• Top ideas revealed – week of October 8

• URL: https://aliaagent.oim.spigit.com/Page/Home• Submit your own or add your genius to an existing idea

I have questions like:

»» Where did this come from?»» Who are the other 4 agencies?»» Where do I log on?»» Tell me more about the UnSystem!

Look for an email in your inbox with these FAQ and more!

Unsystem idea challengeSeptember 4 - October 3, 2018

IDEA CROWDSOURCING CAMPAIGN FLYER (CASS COUNTY)

Feeling inspired? Join us!

Are you an agency leader interested in participating in the 2020 Alia UnSystem Innovation Cohort?

Are you interested in being a guide for an upcoming Cohort?

Would you like to advance this child welfare innovation with your financial support, or know someone who would?

Have burning questions or great ideas to send our way?

We really want to hear from you!

Please email us any time at info@aliainnovations.org or call 651.705.8872.

www.aliainnovations.org

Imagine this: you’re floating through life among a sea of strangers. You move from one home to another, switching schools as you go. You’ve got no one to talk to, and no one you trust. You’re physically safe, but you don’t belong with anyone. You feel abandoned, worthless and alone. Your brain kicks into survival mode.

The unbearable grief of feeling isolated turns into pain, disrespect, disobedience, inattention and rage. Our very survival is at risk when we lose our network of support. Whether that’s a parent, a step brother, a grandparent or a neighbor, these people are our lifelines. They keep us safe. They don’t give up on us. When we’re disconnected from the ones we love, we turn into the most vulnerable—and therefore dangerous—versions of ourselves. While our current child welfare system is designed to protect kids from physical harm, it often fails to protect them from the psychological trauma of being separated from the people they consider family.

The story we tell ourselves is that we are heroes, saving children from parents who hurt them. In a few cases, this is true; but more often than not separation isn’t the answer to a tough situation, and can make things far worse. Instead of punishing parents or caregivers when they struggle to provide for kids, we must embrace these moments as opportunities to strengthen them with the support they need to stay together.

True transformation in child welfare comes when we redefine our beliefs about what children need. Having food to eat and a bed to sleep in is important, but it’s not enough. What matters most in life is not what we have, but rather who we share it with. Kids need stable, lifelong connections with adults they trust. We must change our measures of success to not only protect children’s physical safety, but to also safeguard their hearts.

We declare: An Alia Manifesto