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HUMBOLDT
COUNTY
HOPE Project In December 2005, Humboldt County Child Welfare Services (CWS) and the California Permanency for Youth Project (CPYP) held a kick-off session with consultant Kevin Campbell of EMQ Children & Family Services. Invitees included administrators and staff from the Department of Health and Human Services' Mental Health, Public Health, and Social Services branches, Probation Department, State Adoptions, foster family agencies, a local group home, our community college, CASA, and members of the California Youth Connection. In February 2006, Mr. Campbell presented a second kick-off session, this time for Juvenile Court judges and their staff, public defenders, county counsel deputies, and private defense attorneys. Each kick-off session was well received, and a sense of excitement was palpable among attendees about the possibilities of finding permanent connections for our dependent youths. Since January 2006, CPYP has provided monthly, on-site technical assistance (TA) for our HOPE team members. After several sessions, Juvenile Probation and State Adoptions staff members joined us in the TA sessions. The HOPE team learned how to search successfully for permanent connections for the first group of thirteen youths, who staff had identified as the most in need of lifelong connections. For most of the youths, staff quickly moved from the discovery phase through the engagement, planning, and decision-making phases. The team frequently was amazed at how easy it was to find family members and other connections for these youths, who seemed to have no one permanently involved in their lives. Family finding has been integrated into Family to Family Team Decision-Making Meetings. CWS staff attended trainings provided by the Bay Area Academy Y.O.U.T.H. (Youth Offering Unique Tangible Help) Training Project. During these sessions, Y.O.U.T.H. has promoted invaluable skills and values for our staff working with foster youth transitioning from dependency. In May 2006, our HOPE project was honored for its efforts at family finding at the Day at the Capitol event in Sacramento, sponsored by the California Youth Connection. Senator Wesley Chesbro and Assemblymember Patty Berg presented the award to us and to our contingent of former foster youths. Our HOPE project team is looking forward to the next phases of evaluation and follow-up/support for this group. After that session, HOPE's next step is to identify another set of youths who are close to emancipating and in need of permanent connections. HOPE's successes at finding family and non-related family members for our loneliest youths in a short period of time has facilitated integrating the search for permanent connections into daily CWS casework. Staff members report feeling inspired by their work and enthusiastic that they are receiving fewer crisis calls and incident reports about the youths, but rather are receiving "check-in" calls.
Success Story Louisa (not her real name), now sixteen, entered care for the first time when she was twelve. She experienced nine placements and was in Juvenile Hall when she entered the CPYP project. Her case worker credits the CPYP project and the use of WRAP services (including in-home therapy) for resulting in a recent successful reunification with Louisaís mother. The WRAP worker thought it was important for Louisa to also develop a relationship with her father. According to the primary case worker, without the project, this young lady probably never would have met her fatherís side of the family. Her mother was "extremely resistant to any connection with the paternal family." However, after the connection was made (and the relationship nurtured with WRAP services) the worker reported that "it was a good thing for all of them."
County Documents Download Humboldt Second Year Plan
Contact: 9/15/08 |
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