TITLE
Title
DHHS-DSS PARTNERSHIP WITH SOUTHEASTERN WORKFORCE STRATEGIES, LLC
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SPONSOR
Sponsor
Heather Skeens (Shelia Stokes)
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BACKGROUND
Background
Guilford County Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Social Services has partnered with Southeastern Workforce Strategies (SWS) to target achieving timely and successful reunification for children. In Guilford County, approximately 20% of children and youth entering the child welfare system are successfully reunified with their birth parents, compared to more than 50% of children in other communities. The percentage of reunification in Guilford County has consistently fallen below that of the state. Most children entering care are under the age of five and a disproportionate rate of these children are African American.
In April 2018, the Board of County Commissioners approved a partnership between Social Services and Southeastern Workforce Strategies (SWS) to implement A Model Approach for Change in Child Welfare (AMAC-CW). The goal of this partnership is to improve reunification outcomes for Guilford County children in foster care by examining Guilford’s foster care system as a whole. Guilford County Social Services and Southeastern Workforce Strategies presented the outcomes of the first phase of A Model Approach for Change in Child Welfare (AMAC-CW) at the work session on April 18, 2019.
SWS recommends that GCDSS embark on the second phase of AMAC-CW, including further research, collaboration, and establishing a hybrid collective impact governance structure.
· Recommendation 1: Research and Data
o Convene and implement a Judicial District 18 Court Improvement Collaborative, aligned with direction and guidance from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
o Conduct a comprehensive case file review to understand specific case factors and their impact on family reunification.
o Conduct a policy and procedure analysis.
· Recommendation 2: Internal Alignment
o Con...
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