Rep. Kagi praises first-of-kind study of state’s child-welfare system

OLYMPIA — Among parents with children in the state’s child-welfare system, a remarkable 60 percent had trouble meeting basic food needs during the past year. This is just one of many significant findings reported in the most comprehensive study to date of families involved in Washington’s child-welfare system.

The inability to meet basic needs was a common theme in survey results. About 70 percent of parents were unable to pay the rent or mortgage, buy necessary clothing or pay an important bill at some point during the previous 12 months. Roughly 50 percent had been homeless, evicted or had to move in with family or friends. Annual income was $10,000 or less for about half of families, which highlights the pervasiveness of poverty among this population.
 
Partners for Our Children, a public-private partnership housed at the University of Washington’s School of Social Work, presented these results earlier this Legislative session to members of the House Early Learning and Children’s Services Committee at the request of Rep. Ruth Kagi (D-Lake Forest Park), the committee’s chair.

“In everything that we do, our ongoing goal is to improve outcomes for children and their families. Our efforts need to be supported by high-quality data so that we can understand real-world realities and measure outcomes,” Kagi said.

Although the data illuminate the major challenges families faced in being able to meet basic needs, the study highlights some positive trends as well. Despite the feelings of anger and frustration most parents felt about being involved with the child welfare system, many spoke highly of the help they received from caseworkers. 

“They saved my life and my family’s life,” one parent said. Another parent said, “No one wants CPS in their life. But I’m glad they’re in my life. It has been a good experience.”

“The study shows that parents are engaging with our social workers as they assess and respond to the problems parents have that cause their children to be placed out of their homes,” Kagi said, “but parents believe they have some unmet needs.”

Another significant finding of the study is that although parents and social workers are generally in agreement on most emotional needs (parenting, behavior management), parents named basic needs – food, clothing and housing – as a higher priority than the social workers did.

“The social worker can help get families the services they need to overcome the conditions that caused the child’s removal, but the worker usually doesn’t have access to resources to provide basic, concrete services like housing,” said Partners for Our Children’s Director of Research and Development Mark Courtney. “This raises important policy issues, like what role if any our state’s child welfare services should have in providing these basic concrete services and what role other public institutions have in supporting the child welfare system.”

“This study will help us in our day-to-day work with families,” said Children’s Administration Assistant Secretary Denise Revels Robinson. “The families we serve are under considerable stress to meet their basic needs, and the more we understand how that stress can impact a family, the more we can help them get needed services and find solutions. Ultimately we expect to use this evaluation to improve outcomes for children and families we serve.”

The state Department of Social and Health Services asked Partners for Our Children to conduct the survey as part of an independent evaluation of the department’s efforts to implement the new Solution Based Casework model, which DSHS implemented in 2008. The model aims to engage parents in a way that promotes improved parenting. In the next few months, POC researchers will conduct a survey of another group of parents who received services after implementation of the new casework model. Results will be compared to the first survey to measure changes in practice and outcomes for families. More information about the baseline survey is available on the Web site of Partners for Our Children.