SACRAMENTO COUNTY

Sacramento County's California Permanency for Youth Project, known as the Ruby Slipper project, is in its second year. In addition to sustaining our 2006 accomplishments, here is some of what we've done since March 2007:

• From March 2007 through June 2007, we participated in Dr. Darla Henry's training, "Preparing Youth for Permanency using the 3-5-7 Model." It was four sessions - one each month. We invited five of our community partners and our Child Protective Services (CPS) social workers and supervisors. Out of the training, the 3-5-7 Implementation Team was created. The team is now planning how to implement this model in Sacramento County. We are starting to use the model on a small number of youth so we can see what works and what our challenges will be.
  
  We also invited Dr. Henry back in October 2007, to train those who had started or were going to start using the model. Henry was able to answer practice questions and instill confidence in those who attended.
• We had our first "FR (Family Reunification) Success". This was a celebration for families whose CPS cases were recently closed or about to be closed. It was funded by a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Approximately 20 families attended and enjoyed free food, sodas, prizes, and hand-quilted blankets. CPS director Laura Coulthard personally handed out certificates of appreciation praising parents for their efforts to maintain safe, stable families. Representatives of neighborhood community agencies were also present to offer parents services they may need. In addition to CPS, sponsors of the event were Valley Hi-Florin Resource Center, Birth and Beyond, the Valley Hi Youth and Adult Coalition, and the Sacramento Children's Home.
• Twenty of our staff and sixty partner agency staff are presently taking the Kinship Center Adoption Clinical Training (ACT). The training focuses on permanency competency for treatment providers and others who are working with youth toward permanency. The training is provided by the Kinship Center in Monterey and funded through a blending of Wrap reinvestment savings, IV-E training dollars, private agency funding and a contribution from the Northern Regional Services Training Academy.
• We have created a permanency web page that's titled Permanency for foster children: There's no place like home. The idea for the web page originated from the work of the Ruby Slippers Project, a group of internal cross program and Sierra Adoption Services staff who have been working together for the past 11/2 years. With the technical assistance of the California Permanency for Youth Project we have been looking at ways to improve permanency outcomes for children and youth in foster care. In addition to providing a definition of permanency and speaking to the importance of permanence for children and youth in foster care, the site provides links to a number of permanency resources and information, including electronic access to the "A Guide to Permanency Options for Youth." The permanency web page is designed to meet the needs of youth and those people who have an important part in their permanency planning.
• Our Permanent Placement Program changed its name and is now called Permanency Services Program. The new name was celebrated at the November 2007 all-staff meeting. As part of the celebration, each unit presented a youth that the unit selected to champion for permanency. Time was spent presenting each youth, hearing about the permanency services that are available and each unit then discussed what they were going to do to achieve permanency for the youth they selected.
• We participated in the Sacramento County Heart Gallery for the third year in a row. Thirty-eight children were featured at the opening on November 3, 2007. Eight of those children now have a prospective adoptive placement.

Success Story

Beth (not her real name) entered care two years ago when she was ten years old. Reunification efforts with her mother proved unsuccessful. Beth had not talked to her father for seven years and his whereabouts were unknown. By using US Search, her father was located on the east coast and she flew to meet him and her siblings in October 2006. Over the subsequent three months she visited her father and siblings several times and their relationship strengthened. Beth voiced a strong desire to reside with her father and in late 2006 she was placed with her father and her dependency was terminated.

County Documents

Sacramento First Plan

Sacramento Second Year Plan

Sacramento County Guide To Permanency Options for Youth

Sacramento CPYP Task List and Progress (MS WORD)

Sacramento Permanency Assessment Form (MS WORD)

Sacramento Youth Permanence Talking Points (MS WORD)

Contact:
Luis Villa
916.875.5535

villalx@saccounty.net

11/1/08