|
ASFA TRAINING PROJECT
PHONE POLL OF CHILD WELFARE AGENCIES
Idaho
| Agency:
|
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare |
| Person
interviewed: |
Shirley Alexander |
| Title: |
Child Protection Program Specialist |
| Mailing
address: |
450 West State Street, PO Box 83720
Boise ID 83720 |
| Phone
#: |
208-334-6618 |
| Fax
#: |
|
| E-mail: |
alexande@idhw.state.id.us |
1. How would you rate your agency's staff
in terms of their understanding of ASFA requirements? We are particularly
interested in the level of understanding of managers, supervisors
and workers. Please rate their understanding on a scale from 1 to
5 with 1 being 'poor' and 5 being 'comprehensive'.
a. Managers:
| POOR |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
COMPREHENSIVE |
Comments: The managers have a high degree of understanding
of ASFA and are committed to supporting the Act.
b. Supervisors:
| POOR |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
COMPREHENSIVE |
Comments: The supervisors have a good understanding of ASFA
however its implementation is more difficult and more of a struggle
for supervisors (than for managers) because they have the challenge
of actual implementation.
c. Workers:
| POOR |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
COMPREHENSIVE |
Comments: The workers have a good understanding of ASFA
however its implementation is more difficult and more of a struggle
for workers (than the managers) because they have the challenge
of actual implementation.
2. Based on your agency's experience to
date, what skills do you think managers, supervisors and workers
need to have to implement ASFA?
a. Managers?
- Additional concurrent planning models
- More data; our new SACWIS doesn't have reporting capacity for
ASFA outcome measures yet. The analysis has been done and the
reporting process is pending.
- Communication skills to support staffing and case planning
b. Supervisors?
- The ability to communicate clearly with social workers about
what needs to happen with a child's plan.
c. Workers?
- The ability to multi-task
- Flexibility
- The ability to communicate with families in a way they will
understand, not social work jargon
3. As part of your ASFA implementation
has your agency undertaken any activities in the following areas:
4. How do you handle staff training on ASFA?
a. Please describe the training.
Initially all of the regions received a full day of training on
ASFA. We offered the training 2 times in each region so all our
staff could attend. We opened this initial training to our community
partners.
We ask the Child Welfare sub-committee members, who are regional
Chief Social Workers, to take information back from the meetings
and explain and share it with their staff.
b. Who does the training?
It varies depending on who the audience is.. Some times the Program
Specialists do the training, sometimes it is judges and prosecutors,
sometimes we contract it out to other agencies such as national
child welfare resource centers.
c. Is the training just on ASFA or is it incorporated into other
training that you provide?
We have incorporated ASFA into our new worker training academy
and our service planning training includes concurrent case planning.
We plan to continue to offer stand -alone ASFA training upon request
since the topic is so important.
d. Have you done any training with or for the courts?  No
Yes
If yes, please describe.
Using Children's Justice Act funding, we brought in expert judges
and prosecutors to train ID peers.
We held a Court Improvement summit last year and will sponsor one
again this year. The summits provide a multi team approach to sharing
information, an opportunity for of child welfare, judicial and community
partners to gather and discuss issues of mutual concern.
5. How well does your information system
support the work of managers, supervisors and workers in implementing
ASFA? Please rate the support provided by your system on a scale
from 1 to 5 with 1 being 'poor' and 5 being 'outstanding'
| POOR |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
COMPREHENSIVE |
a. Why did you give your system that rating?
We have a new SACWIS system; it is just a year old. It does a nice
job incorporating ASFA information, for example we have ASFA alerts
for children in care 15 of the last 22 months, and risk assessments
with a question regarding concurrent planning. However because the
system is so new, we have no baseline data on outcomes. Our focus
has been on implementing the system, getting the bugs out and making
it user friendly for the social workers. The analysts have just
started looking at reporting for ASFA and planning for those reports
we need .
b. If a rating of 1 or 2 is given, probe as to the status of
the SACWIS system.
N/A
6. What has worked best for you in terms
of supporting staff as they implement the ASFA requirements?
Receiving excellent technical assistance from our regional federal
office. We could always turn to them when we needed answers to questions.
Clear communication with the staff.
The initial and follow-up training.
We created a brochure for families which discusses permanency planning
for children in clear, respectful language. Our regional staff asked
for help explaining concurrent planning to families because, despite
up front discussions between the social workers and the families,
some families were having difficulty understanding the options and
process. This brochure gives families something tangible to look
over when they are ready.
7. What do you view as barriers to your
agency's support for staff as they implement the requirements of
ASFA?
We need more flexible funding. We haven't received a budget or
FTE increase since ASFA passed despite the fact that ASFA requires
us to do faster, more thorough up front casework with a more difficult
caseload.
8. (For County based systems only.) To
what extent does the fact that your state is county-based impact
your ASFA implementation?
NA
9. Is there anything else that you want
to tell us regarding the best way to support staff as they implement
the requirements of ASFA?
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