Supreme Court of PennsylvaniaAdministrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts

Office of Children & Families in The Courts

Today’s Agenda:

Brief Update –• What’s

completed…• What’s

Happening Now…

• What’s coming…

Completed

Judicial Analyst County Assignments

Children’s Roundtable Initiative• Children’s Roundtable Initiative structure in place• Eight Leadership Roundtables

–Co-chairs• Statewide Roundtable

Children’s Roundtable Initiative

• encourage a strong collaboration between the court and agency, includes all stakeholders

• free flow of ideas, problems and solutions

• All practices and initiatives taken on by the OCFC are vetted through the Pennsylvania Roundtable governance structure

Children’s Roundtable Structure

Guiding Principles

• Committee Chaired by The Honorable J. Brian Johnson, Lehigh County

• Mission Statement and Guiding Principles

• Pennsylvania Child Dependency System

Permanency Practice Initiative

Permanency Practice Initiative Phase One Implemented

Phase One Counties– Allegheny, Blair, Butler, Carbon, Dauphin, York, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Snyder, Venango, Washington, Jefferson, Chester, Northampton

Phase 1 County Meeting

Expected Outcomes

• Increase in

– Child, Family & Community participation

– Community based services

– Prevention services

– Placement stability

– Permanent, life-connections for older youth

– Safe & timely permanency

PPI Practice Components• Three (3) Month Court Review • Family Group Decision Making• Children’s Roundtable (leadership &

oversight team)• CPCMS Dependency Module• Family Finding• Family Development Credentialing• 3-5-7 Model

Three (3) Month Court Review

• More frequent review of cases provides for greater accountability:– families– providers – workers– court – agency

• All Phase 1 Counties have moved to 3 month reviews

Family Group Decision Making (FGDM)

• Voluntary decision making process• Guided by values and beliefs• Organizational Change/Practice

Shift• 2009 International FGDM

Conference – Legal Track

CPCMS Dependency Module

CPCMS live in 65 of 67 counties

CPCMS Forms sub-committee of the Juvenile Court Rules Committee

court case management reports and outcome data

Family Finding (FF)• Finds Families

(extended families) • Combines: common sense, social work,

detective work, and technology• Search for families at intake and

throughout the life of the case• Connects to other family focused

practices• Real work begins once family members

are found

Family Finding (FF)

Completed:• Training for

county users–6 of 6 sessions–40 real cases–14 PPI Counties

• Accurint

Family Development Credentialing(FDC)

• Process to develop a network of strength-based community providers

• Advisory group (Local Roundtable)

• Includes:– Instructor Training (80hrs) & Portfolio

Advisors (10hrs)– Course work & transfer of learning hours– Credentialed through Cornell University

Family Development Credentialing(FDC)

Completed

• Family Development Credentialing

– 3 Instructors Institutes trained over 75 instructors in 15 counties

– Portfolio Advisor Training underway

What’s Happening Now?

Permanency Practice Initiative - Phase 2

• Adams

• Armstrong

• Bucks

• Cumberland

• Franklin

• Fulton

• Indiana

• Luzerne

• Montgomery

• Tioga

Permanency Practice Initiative - Phase 2

• Phase 2 County site visits

• Same components as Phase 1

• Supported by OCFC, OCYF, CWTP, SWAN, CAAP, Phase 1 Counties

Children’s Roundtable Summit

• September 24 – 26 Pittsburgh, PA

• Meeting of Children’s Roundtable Members

Benchbook• Dependency Bench Book Committee –

Chair, Honorable Chester Harhut, Lackawanna county

• Details Court Hearings’ Best Practices

• Science piece – trauma, attachment, grief/loss

3-5-7 Model• Understanding of Grief, Loss &

Attachment

• In Pennsylvania this Model is known as the Child Preparation Unit of Service

• Training for Phase 1 Counties

What’s Coming

• Training for Judges, Attorneys & Advocates

• Truancy Prevention• Fostering Connections

Grant– Kinship Navigator– Family Finding

• Concurrent Planning• Data Exchange

Questions

Contacts

• Cathy Utz, DPW/OCYF(717)-705-2912; cutz@state.pa.us

• Angelo Santore(717) 795-2000 ext 3825; angelo.santore@pacourts.us