CPYP
Partnership Workgroups and Youth Permanency
It is the belief of the California Permanency for Youth Project that success in accomplishing permanency outcomes for foster youth requires effective partnerships between various organizations of the child welfare system. As a result of a grant received in November 2003 from the Walter S. Johnson Foundation, CPYP formed workgroups to address partnership issues related to youth permanency and public child welfare in three arenas: the juvenile courts, group homes, and adoption/foster family agencies.
Child Welfare and the Juvenile Court
This facilitated workgroup met six times between February 2004 and September 2005. Membership included representatives from public child welfare, judges, commissioners, attorneys, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), advocacy organizations, the Judicial Council of California, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and youth or young adults currently or formerly in the foster care system.
The workgroup identified ways in which the juvenile court and the child welfare system could work together to accomplish permanent lifelong connections for foster youth. It sought to identify barriers to youth permanence and develop a set of recommendations to address these barriers. The workgroup had a goal of creating recommendations to outline the respective roles, policies, procedures, and practices in public child welfare agencies and the courts that will achieve the best permanency outcomes for youth in the California system.
The workgroup's recommendations were reviewed by the California Permanency for Youth Task Force, and distributed to responsible state, court, and county groups.
Child Welfare and Group Homes
This facilitated workgroup met six times between February 2004 and September 2005. The membership of this workgroup included representatives from public child welfare, group homes, advocacy organizations, mental health services, attorneys, California Alliance of Child and Family Services, and youth or young adults currently or formerly in foster care.
The goal of this workgroup was to identify optimal ways for the child welfare system and group homes to work together to achieve permanent lifelong connections for foster youth. It planned to identify trust and attitudinal barriers, as well as administrative, practice and fiscal barriers, that interfere with working cooperatively. Ultimately, the workgroup sought to make recommendations on how to redesign the working relationship between public child welfare and group homes, addressing roles, expectations, fiscal arrangements, policies, procedures, and practices necessary to achieve permanency for foster youth.
The workgroup's recommendations were reviewed by the California Permanency for Youth Task Force, and distributed to responsible state, court, and county groups.
Child Welfare and Adoption and Foster Family Agencies
This facilitated workgroup met six times between February 2004 and September 2005. The membership of this workgroup included representatives from public child welfare, adoption and foster family agencies, the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, attorneys, advocacy organizations, and youth or young adults currently or formerly in the foster care system.
The goal for this workgroup was to identify ways for the public child welfare system and adoption and foster family agencies to work together to achieve permanency for foster youth. It worked to identify trust and attitudinal barriers, as well as administrative, practice and fiscal barriers, that interfere with working cooperatively. The workgroup planned to make recommendations on how to redesign the working relationship between public child welfare and adoption and foster family agencies, including addressing roles, expectations, fiscal arrangements, policies, procedures, and practices necessary to achieve permanency for foster youth.
The workgroup's recommendations were reviewed by the California Permanency for Youth Task Force, and distributed to responsible state, court, and county groups.