Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report

Karen Poteet, MA Shannon Rios, PhD Tosha Robinson, MA Jeffery Jenson, MA

Volume 1, Issue 3 July 2013

Department of Human Services Office of Planning, Research and Statistics

The Practice and Policy Research Quarterly highlights program evaluation and research findings on social and economic issues. It is designed to inform and provide policy and academic research audiences with timely and high quality data and statistical, economic and social analyses. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions regarding the report, please contact the Department of Human Services, Office of Planning, Research and Statistics at 405-521-3552.

DHS, Office of Planning, Research and Statistics P.O. Box 25352 Oklahoma City, OK 73125

Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report

Department of Human Services

Karen Poteet, MA Child Services

Shannon Rios, PhD Tosha Robison, MA Office of Planning, Research and Statistics

Jeffery Jenson, MA University of Oklahoma, Center for Public Management Table of Contents:

I. INTRODUCTION...... 7 A. PROGRAM ACTIVITIES, SETTING AND POPULATION SERVED...... 7 II. BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 8 A. CONGREGATE CARE VS ...... 8 B. BENEFITS OF KINSHIP CARE...... 8 III. PROJECT OVERVIEW ...... 9 A. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES ...... 9 B. PARTNERSHIPS...... 13 IV. EVALUATION ...... 14 A. PURPOSES AND METHODOLOGY OF EVALUATION ...... 14 B. EVALUATION COMPONENTS ...... 17 C. FINDINGS ...... 20 V. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ...... 27 VI. RECOMMENDATIONS...... 28 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... 29 REFERENCES ...... 30 Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013

I. INTRODUCTION

Kinship foster care can be an extremely valuable opportunity for children in out-of-home care. Children who are raised with kinship caregivers experience stronger connections to family and increased placement stability than when living in traditional foster care homes or in congregate care. In an effort to increase kinship placement and strengthen those placements, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services applied for a Family Connections Discretionary Grant through the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Children’s Bureau. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS) was awarded a Family Connections Discretionary Grant over a three year project period beginning September 30th, 2009. This federally-funded project is known as the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge. It was administered by Child Welfare Services under the leadership of Director Deborah G. Smith and Programs Administrator Joani Webster. The evaluation was conducted by the Office of Planning, Research and Statistics under the leadership of Dr. Shannon J. Rios.

The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project was a collaborative effort that included DHS, the University of Oklahoma Center for Public Management, the National Resource Center for Youth Services, the Foster Care and Adoptive Association of Oklahoma, OK Foster Wishes, Safe Kids Oklahoma and Tulsa Advocates for the Protection of Children. This project integrated the Intensive Family-Finding and Kinship Navigator models. Intensive Family-Finding is a process of identifying all relatives or kin of children in out-of-home care. Relatives and kin may include any biologically-related individuals or those related by and can also include fictive kin relationships, teachers, coaches, mentors or other people who have a connection with the children in question regardless of biological relationship. The dual goals of Intensive Family-Finding are to enhance permanency options and maintain continuity of relationships, to the optimal degree possible, throughout a child’s life. Locating family and friends is done in an effort to achieve emotional permanency as well, so that children have family relationships or other important connections during and after their stay in custody. The primary purposes of the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project were to recruit, retain and support kinship resource families and to improve permanency and safety rates for children in, or at-risk of entering, state custody. By implementing innovative methods to connect with families, the project sought to increase permanency and safety rates for children in Oklahoma’s child welfare system, as well as, access to the use of needed services and programs among kinship families. The project was implemented with strategic alignment to the 2007 Children and Family Services Review (CFSR) Program Improvement Plan regarding Oklahoma’s “use of emergency shelter care for placement of children, including infants and toddlers, as opposed to locating a placement that matches the needs of the children.” The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project’s goals reinforced the DHS mission to help individuals and families in need help themselves lead safer, healthier, more independent and productive lives.

A. PROGRAM ACTIVITIES, SETTING AND POPULATION SERVED At the end of state fiscal year 2009, there were 9,712 Oklahoma children in DHS custody. During 2009, there were 4,501 confirmations of abuse, neglect, or both involving 7,958 children. Most of these children entered DHS custody through an emergency shelter. This project implemented an initial Intensive Family-Finding methodology during the first 24-hours of children being brought to the DHS emergency children's shelters in Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties. Children, who were in, or at-risk of entering, DHS custody in Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties were the target population for the project because these counties are Oklahoma’s two largest metropolitan areas and nearly half (42%) of the children with confirmed cases of abuse, neglect, or both (3,303) were residing in Oklahoma or Tulsa County (Referrals and Removal Data, DHS KIDS June 21, 2009). 7 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013

Moreover, due to unique placement needs, the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project sought to increase access to, and use of, needed services and programs among kinship resource families. Unlike a non- kinship family who has planned and trained for their duties, kinship families may receive little notice or training prior to children being placed in their home. Although they may know the family and the children, they may not be prepared to understand the complexities of the child welfare and legal systems, including how to get medical treatment for the children, what benefits the children are entitled to receive and the overall child welfare process. Furthermore, kinship caregivers may or may not be prepared to children with special needs. Children in the child welfare system are often traumatized due to abuse or neglect and family separation. Most kinship families are not prepared to address the needs of traumatized children. Kinship families also have the added benefit (or burden) of having intimate knowledge and family history. These emotional ties can make the job of being a kinship caregiver more difficult, but are truly beneficial for the children. The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project was designed specifically to address the aforementioned issues.

The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project established Kinship Bridge Units that assisted in the implementation of an Intensive Family-Finding approach to facilitate swift, long-term kinship placements for children in care. The units also provided Kinship Navigation services which assisted caregivers in learning about, locating, and using programs and services to meet the needs of the children in their care, as well as individual and family needs. Additionally, staff members were charged with promoting effective partnerships among public and private agencies to ensure kinship families were supported. II. BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW

A. CONGREGATE CARE VS FOSTER CARE Research shows that congregate care settings, such as shelters, are not an ideal placement option for children. Shelters are impersonal and potentially frightening for children. Even if children do not stay long, shelters guarantee an extra placement move and have been shown to result in worse outcomes for children (Hornby Zeller 2009). Children in, or at-risk of entering, state custody often have extensive abuse histories. It is imperative to address the impact of trauma on the trajectories of children in care (Cook, Blaustein, Spinazzola, and Kolk, 2003). With protective factors in place, children exposed to trauma can adapt in positive ways which can result in healthy functioning and productive lives. One protective factor linked with adaptability is a secure connection to emotionally supportive adults (Cook, Blaustein, Spinazzola, and Kolk, 2003; Masten 2001). Kinship foster care can provide children in care a stable placement with an emotionally supportive adult thereby facilitating resiliency in children exposed to trauma. Foster care can provide the stability that children in care need to flourish after removal from the home (Harden, 2007; Horwitz, Balestracci, and Simms, 2005; Barth, 2002).

B. BENEFITS OF KINSHIP CARE Child welfare systems should take care not to re-traumatize fragile children. Kinship foster care provides children with increased stability compared to children placed in non-kinship foster care (Conway and Hutson, 2007; Testa, 2001). Kinship foster care is more likely to cultivate relationships because are frequently placed together in kinship foster care placements (Conway and Hutson, 2007; Shlonsky, Herrick and Piccus, 2005; Webster, and Needell 2003). Kinship care also benefits children by preserving cultural connections. Placing children with kinship caregivers improves children’s well-being by fostering their connections to racial, ethnic, and cultural identities and

8 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013 traditions (Casey Family Programs 2004). Overall, kinship care provides stability, permanency, supports children and families and assists state child welfare systems in fulfilling federal requirements for children in care (Conway and Hutson 2007). III. PROJECT OVERVIEW

A. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project had two main goals (see Figure 1). The first goal was to improve permanency and safety rates for children who were entering, or were at-risk of entering, Oklahoma’s child welfare system. The second main goal for the project was to increase awareness of, and access to, needed resources, services and programs among kinship families. The project also had several secondary goals. In the short-term, the project sought to increase the number of potential kinship caregivers and other family members willing to be involved, at some level, in the support of the children. The project also focused on the elimination of barriers to swift placement with kin while maintaining fidelity to the statutorily required steps in the placement process. Intermediate goals included: 1) reducing search time for kin if the first placement was unsuccessful; 2) enhancing the level of family finding partnerships through dissemination; 3) streamlining processes so impediments to placement are handled as quickly and prudently as possible and 4) increasing cooperation among multiple parties during the kinship placement process. Figure 1: Project Goals and Objectives for the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Project Goal 1: Increase permanency and safety rates for children in Oklahoma’s child welfare system. Objective 1 - Increase kinship homes for children who are in, or at risk of entering, DHS custody.

Objective 2 - Develop an Intensive Family-Finding team available 24-hours a day, seven days a week to conduct a rapid search process and seek alternatives to DHS custody and shelter placement within the first day of referral to emergency shelters. Objective 3 - Develop an expedited process for screening kinship families, that includes conducting home safety assessments, criminal background checks, child welfare background checks and checking personal references. Goal 2: Increase access to, and use of, needed services and programs among kinship families. Objective 1 - Create a Kinship Navigator Program to assist kinship caregivers with information referral systems, and other services to close the gap between needed and available resources for caregivers, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), health, legal, judicial, and educational services. Objective 2 - Implement an orientation for kinship resource families developed by the University of Oklahoma National Resource Center for Youth Services. Objective 3 - Promote effective partnerships between public and private community and faith- based organizations to better serve the needs of kinship caregivers.

The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project established Kinship Bridge Units in Tulsa and Oklahoma Counties. These units were implemented to increase the number of kinship placements for children who are in, or at risk of, out-of-home care. Moreover, the units sought to support kinship resource families in caring for the children placed in their care. These units were located at two shelters: The Pauline E. Mayer Shelter in Oklahoma County and the Laura Dester Children’s Center located in 9 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013

Tulsa County. A team of ten staff members were assigned to the Oklahoma County unit while a team of seven staff members were assigned to the Tulsa County unit. All staff members met the same criteria for child welfare workers in the state and were required for child welfare staff and supervisors. Having the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units located in the two DHS operated shelters was a groundbreaking approach.

These units engaged several new strategies to increase the number of children placed in kinship homes. The units inside the two emergency shelters were the first place children were taken upon removal by law enforcement or child welfare staff in these two counties. The units were available to respond to the needs of removed children by providing coverage to the shelter reception centers 24- hours per day, seven days per week. The units operated as crisis units, immediately developing a response to the children’s placement needs outside the emergency shelter if returning to the family home was not a possibility. The units worked closely with the shelters to coordinate placements and ensure the children were ready for placement when a kinship home was located. The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units were not designed to replace the direct responsibilities of existing partners or child welfare workers. Rather, the role of the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units was to support partners and co-workers by taking on new or additional responsibilities to expedite existing steps in the placement process (see Figure 2).

Based upon best practices within child welfare, the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project facilitated the implementation of Intensive Family-Finding during the first 24-hours of children entering an emergency shelter in Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties. Project staff employed multiple tools to assist in locating kinship placements for children who were in, or at-risk of entering, custody: 1) use of technology to search for kinship relationships; 2) interviews with or caregivers; 3) interviews with the children; and 4) Family Group Conferencing. The search process involved asking both the parents and the children, as appropriate, to identify all known relatives and kin. Although parents may have been reluctant to share family information at the time the children were removed, under Oklahoma statutes, parents are compelled to provide a list of relatives or potential kinship relationships for the children. Staff also reviewed available internal and external records with parents and children, as appropriate. The units also had access to the resources used by DHS Child Support Services and the Federal Parent Locator. Staff conducted interviews and carefully documented findings in Oklahoma’s Statewide Automated Child Welfare System (SACWIS), also known as KIDS. Local, statewide and national searches were conducted to locate as many relatives or kinship relationships as possible for children in custody.

Relatives or kin who were located, whether or not they served as a kinship placement, were viewed as a support source for the children. For located kinship caregivers interested in becoming a placement for the children, the units assessed the kinship caregiver’s suitability as a placement option. Next, staff engaged the potential kinship caregiver with the children in a process that could lead to permanency, placement or a relationship.

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Figure 2: Kinship Bridge Unit Placement Process Map Kinship Bridge Unit Placement Process Map

Determine Determine Is the child safe in their Yes Placement current placement? non-custody Necessity placement

No Determine custody placement

Yes Will the child be No placed at the shelter?

No Place in Place in out- Place in shelter emergency of-home care foster care resource

Placement Located

Contact family/ Conduct intensive Document Gather family/ Send letter to kin from initial search with family family/kin for kin information relatives information finding tools future reference

No Does the kinship Identify kinship caregiver agree to caregiver placement? placement

Yes

Place with Conduct record Conduct house Give fingerprint kinship Kinship Bridge Unit’s Five Days checks assessment cards caregiver

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In addition to Intensive Family-Finding, a process to expedite the approval process was undertaken by the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units. Criminal background searches, personal reference checks, and neglect registry checks and home safety assessments were conducted in an expedited manner. The goal of the accelerated search was to ensure children the opportunity to be placed with family or other kinship placements as soon as possible (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Kinship Bridge Unit Process Map Kinship Bridge Unit Process Map

Contact Potential Intensive Contact Document Intensive No family/kin family/kin Search with family/kin family/kin Letter to Family identified from information family from tools for future relatives Finding placement internal gathered finding tools used reference information

National Child Home and Transition Crime Provide Joint welfare and financial to child Kinship Identified Information resource resource criminal assessment welfare Navigator placement Center and and service and service

Kinship Bridge Units Contacted Kinship Bridge records (fingerprint services background referrals follow up check cards given) case worker check

In order to increase, retain and support the kinship families who care for children in out-of-home placements, the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project developed a Kinship Navigator Program. Kinship Navigation services were designed to assist kinship caregivers in learning about, finding, and using programs and services to meet the needs of the children in their care. Caregivers were also given information about programs and services to address their own needs. This enhanced the capacity of caregivers to provide for the children and for themselves by addressing physical barriers to placement, such as a lack of needed resources, for example, beds and car seats.

Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties opted to implement the Kinship Navigator Program in slightly different ways. In Oklahoma County, one staff member provided all the Kinship Navigation services while the remaining team members were trained in Intensive Family-Finding. In Tulsa County, all project staff were cross-trained and provided both Kinship Navigation services and Intensive Family- Finding services. The units were responsible for contacting the kinship family at several key points during the first 30 days of the children’s placement in the home. First, a staff member contacted each new kinship caregiver shortly after placement to provide information and assistance specific to the children in their custody and the kinship caregiver’s needs. Kinship Navigation services were provided either through a home visit or phone call. Resources provided to the kinship resource families included information regarding the child welfare system, legal processes, and referrals to, and information regarding, available community resources. The Kinship Navigator staff worked with the kinship families initially, but Kinship Navigators’ involvement was phased out at the conclusion of the first 30 days of the kinship placement. At that point, the kinship provider was transitioned to a Child Welfare Services worker with whom they would continue to work. The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units worked closely with the foster care resource specialist and agency partners during case transfer to coordinate activities and ensure families were receiving consistent services and communication.

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An information booklet was developed to assist kinship providers. The orientation included answers to frequently asked questions and an introduction to, and overview of, the Kinship Care program. Information about regulations, guidelines, and the overall processes of the Kinship Care program were also included in the orientation booklet.

B. PARTNERSHIPS The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Unit promoted effective partnerships among public and private agencies to ensure kinship caregiver families were served. The project had several integral partnerships during the three-year grant operations period. The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Steering Committee was comprised primarily of internal DHS partners given that DHS is a comprehensive human services agency. The Steering Committee met quarterly and included representatives from Aging Services, Developmental Services, Field Operations, Services, Child Welfare Services, Child Care Services, Child Support Services, 2-1-1 Oklahoma, National Resource Center for Youth Services, University of Oklahoma Center for Public Management and the Foster Care and Adoptive Association of Oklahoma.

The Foster Care and Adoptive Association of Oklahoma has a long-time partnership with DHS. The mission of this association is to improve the lives of Oklahoma's foster and adoptive children by empowering child advocates through support, training, and communication. The association represents over 10,000 foster and adoptive families in Oklahoma and seeks to: 1) encourage the recruitment, retention, training and professional treatment of foster and adoptive families; 2) assist foster and adoptive parents and other concerned citizens work to improve services for foster and adopted children; 3) assist, support and promote cooperation among foster care and professionals, child welfare staff, service providers, volunteers, and juvenile justice staff; 4) and promote a clear, balanced and accurate understanding of the foster care and adoption systems in Oklahoma. On December 2, 2010, the Foster Care and Adoptive Association of Oklahoma provided several new car seats to the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Unit in Tulsa in response to a request for car seats to assist in expediting placement with kinship providers. The association also assisted with dissemination for the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project by posting articles concerning the grant project on their website and Facebook page. The president of the association served on the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Steering Committee, the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Advisory Committee and co- presented a workshop with the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Project Manager regarding the grant at the National Foster Parent Association Annual Education Conference in Chicago, Illinois in June 2012.

OK Foster Wishes began as an informal group to link the Oklahoma City community with needs of children in foster care. In 2004, a group of mission-minded servant leaders heard about the need for Christmas gifts for foster children who lived in rural communities. Although the majority of Oklahoma's foster children live in the metropolitan areas of the state, other children lived in less thriving areas and, as such, fewer resources were available. OK Foster Wishes has helped to fulfill many Christmas wishes and over the years has expanded to serve children in every county in Oklahoma. OK Foster Wishes, in support of and in partnership with the Oklahoma County unit, provided "safety kits" for kinship families in need which included mandatory safety items such as, a fire extinguisher, electrical outlet plug covers and drawer locks. The OK Foster Wishes project, “Emergency Kinship Support” also provided kinship resource families a list of local food pantries, restaurants which have "kids eat free" nights, and foster family support groups/organizations. Additionally, they accepted requests from the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units to provide beds or food when needed to facilitate kinship placements.

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Safe Kids Oklahoma is the state's leading organization in battling the number one killer of children, unintentional injury. Grant funds paid for one of the Oklahoma County Kinship Bridge Unit staff members to become certified as a child passenger safety technician. Certification included attendance at a four-day training event and successfully passing a written examination with three skills evaluations. After the staff member received the certification, the unit became eligible to receive car seats needed throughout the project through an ongoing donation from Safe Kids Oklahoma.

Tulsa Advocates for the Protection of Children has a long-standing partnership with DHS to improve the lives of abused and neglected children in Tulsa County through advocacy, resource development, best practice service provision and community outreach. This group provided financial assistance to the Tulsa unit to secure required child abuse and neglect registry checks from other states. This financial assistance aided in the swift placement of children with kinship families by the Tulsa unit. Tulsa Advocates for the Protection of Children also operates a foster family resource center that provides beds, mattresses, cribs, clothing, diapers, formula and other items, which greatly assisted with the expeditious placement of children with kinship resource families.

The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Steering and Advisory Committees ceased meeting with the end of the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Grant period. However, due to the sustainability of the project, all project partnerships have continued on an ongoing basis. IV. EVALUATION A. PURPOSES AND METHODOLOGY OF EVALUATION The purposes of the project evaluation were to inform program development, improve programs and services for Oklahoma children and families served by DHS and inform decision-making among key child welfare leadership staff. The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project employed a pre-post design for outcome evaluation.

The evaluation design was based on the logic model (see Figure 4). The resources used to support the project included funding, staff and data sources, and website and technical resources. State level child welfare data were collected at several time intervals to assess the Family Finding and Kinship Navigation components of the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project. There were two types of primary participants in this project: the removed children and the kinship caregiver with whom the children were placed. Secondary participants included Oklahoma Kinship Bridge specialists, their supervisors and the Steering and Advisory Committees. The variables selected for the analysis are described in Figure 5. The variables listed relate to the experiences of children in care and are classified into four general categories: placement, maltreatment, kinship connections, and caregiver support.

The data predominantly came from Oklahoma’s Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS), known as KIDS. All consideration was taken to protect the confidentiality and/or anonymity of research subjects who participated in this demonstration project. No known harm came to subjects who participated in research activities and there were no incidents to report. Strict information security guidelines were followed and all guidelines for human subjects research were followed.

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Figure 4: Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Logic Model

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Other data sources were shelter logs, diversion logs, focus groups, implementation reports, and a Kinship Caregiver Survey. A simple time-series design was selected because the design allows researchers to collect quantitative data at regular intervals through repeated measures or surveys following a program, activity, or intervention (Nachmias and Nachmias 1987). Data was synthesized from multiple sources and allowed qualitative data to inform quantitative data. In this case, data from surveys, Children and Family Services Review measures, and focus groups were triangulated. Employing this methodology strengthens the interpretation of findings, improves policy and programs based on the available evidence, and helps control for third variables or other factors not directly measured in the current evaluation.

Figure 5: Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Variables and Definitions Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Variables and Definitions Pre-implementation period July 2008-July 2010 (25 months) Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Project period August 2010-Septebmer 2012 (26 months) Placement Type: Kinship Foster Care Placement of removed children with someone who the children or children’s parents know. Placements are made with people who are related to the children by blood, marriage, adoption, or by an emotional tie or bond. Source: KIDS

Emergency Foster Care A short-term substitute care for the child in custody provided by a contract agency to meet the children's need through service coordination and delivery in conjunction with DHS. Source: KIDS

Placement Time Frame: Less than 24-hours Less than 1 day Source: KIDS 24 to 120-hours 1-5 days Source: KIDS Over 120-hours More than 5 days Source: KIDS Unique Placements The number of times children have physically moved to a new placement provider. Source: KIDS Kinship Connections The contact information of someone the children know. Source: KIDS Average Length of Stay The average number of days children spend in shelter care before initial placement. Source: Shelter Log and KIDS (see Figures 11 & 12)

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Substantiated Maltreatment Any recent act, or failure to act, on the part of a parent or caretaker that results in the death or serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation of a child. An act or failure to act that presents an imminent risk of serious harm for the child. Source: The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act 2010

Kinship Caregiver Support Measured with survey items (see Figure 6) Source: Kinship Caregiver Survey

B. EVALUATION COMPONENTS The Kinship Caregiver Survey, along with a postage paid return envelope, was given to every kinship caregiver during the final home visit of the Kinship Navigator. Ninety-four surveys were returned for a response rate of under five percent. The sample size for the Kinship Caregiver Survey was smaller than anticipated. The smaller sample size limits the generalizability of the results to the overall kinship caregiver population in Oklahoma. However, of the kinship caregivers who responded to the survey, feedback was entirely positive with no negative answers reported. The results of the survey are presented in Figure 6. The Kinship Caregiver Survey asked caregivers questions about the quality of the services provided by the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units, as well as, questions about the caregiver’s well-being and ability to provide for the needs of the children placed in their care. A majority had applied for services since becoming a kinship caregiver and stated that it would be difficult to provide for their family without the supports and services (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)-child only, child care, Supplemental Nutriton Assistance Program (SNAP), etc. for which they applied. Almost all believed they had an adequate support system as they took on this new resonsibility. An equal number of caregivers stated that they would recommend becoming a kinship foster parent to those in similar circumstances. One limitation of the survey was that it was given within the first month of becoming a kinship caregiver.

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Figure 6: Kinship Caregiver Survey Results Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Caregiver Survey (n=94)

My Kinship Bridge Specialist talked to me about 87% 13% services and resources that I may be eligible for.

The OVERALL service that I received from my 84% 16% Kinship Bridge Specialist was very helpful.

84% 16% My Kinship Bridge Specialist was very professional

The reading materials given by my Kinship Bridge 82% 18% Specialist were very helpful.

My Kinship Bridge Specialist assisted me in 76% 24% completing the necessary paperwork to become a kinship caregiver.

My Kinship Bridge Specialist was helpful as 75% 25% challenges arose.

Strongly Agree Agree

It was hypothesized that a concerted effort in rapid kinship placement would not increase placement instability and would not increase the maltreatment of children while in DHS custody. The resources used to support the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project included funding, staff, data sources, a website and technical resources. Outputs and outcomes for each activity were tracked and assessed at the short-term, intermediate, and long-term intervals. The evaluation focused on the comparison of 18 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013 outcomes for children prior to the beginning of project implementation then again post- implementation at various intervals. Results and progress related to the various program activities were continuously recorded and tracked on a semi-annual basis. Several outcome-focused questions were examined by the evaluation team and are shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Outcome Evaluation Questions Outcome Evaluation Questions Does the rapid placement of children increase the number of unique placements that children experience over a six-month period? Does the rapid placement of children increase the number of confirmed maltreatment episodes experienced by removed children? What changes will occur, in terms of placement types, as a dedicated team is focused on kinship placement?

The central focus for the process evaluation was to look at proposed ideas, best practices, and data to determine the best course of action in the rapid placement of removed children. Of particular concern and interest were any barriers or abnormal response times that were roadblocks in the approval process for kinship homes. Process evaluation questions are displayed in Figure 8.

Figure 8: Process Evaluation Questions Process Evaluation Questions What are the major barriers in the placement of removed children in less than 24-hours? Is it more effective to have all Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Unit staff cross-trained in both Intensive Family-Finding and Kinship Navigator services or to have one dedicated Kinship Navigator with the remainder of the unit working on Intensive Family-Finding? What resources are readily needed in the event placement is attempted after most businesses are closed or on holidays? Is the benefit for using an online paid search engine to obtain contact information of potential kinship caregivers worth the expense?

Process evaluation also relied heavily on qualitative measures to collect data regarding the existing barriers to the rapid placement of children with a kinship caregiver. Instruments used in the data collection process are: 1) quarterly implementation reports completed by the steering committee, Oklahoma Kinship Bridge supervisors and Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Unit staff; 2) semi-annual focus groups with Oklahoma Kinship Bridge staff and the advisory board; and 3) a Kinship Caregiver survey distributed at the last home visit of the Kinship Navigator to measure customer service and caregiver well-being in which a postage-paid return envelope was supplied.

Quantitative data was used when administrative decisions had to be made that would impact the potential productivity of either site. This was exemplified by a change made to the original assumption that the number of workers in each Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Unit should be evenly distributed. Data analysis demonstrated the Oklahoma County site was serving two to three times more children than the Tulsa County site. As such, an additional staff position was moved from Tulsa County to Oklahoma County via staff attrition.

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C. FINDINGS The evaluation team hypothesized that with the addition of the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units, safety and placement stability would remain constant when compared to the pre-implementation time period. A long-standing concern of DHS child welfare staff members was that the rapid placement of children could potentially decrease placement stability. The evaluation team examined the number of unique placements experienced by removed children who were placed rapidly for a six-month time period.

The number of unique placements refers to the number of times children had physically moved to a new placement provider. At times, children were placed in a home that was an approved kinship resource to provide both emergency foster care and therapeutic foster care. Although the children might have been initially placed into an emergency foster care placement in the home and then met the required criteria for a therapeutic foster care placement in the same home, it was counted as one unique placement because the children never changed residences. The average number of placements for both the pre-implementation period and during the project period was not significant for both the less than 24-hours and 24 to 120-hour time frames. Unique placements (see Figure 9) illustrates the fact that children placed in the over 120-hour time frame experienced an average of at least one additional placement compared to those in the under 120-hour time frame.

The findings of this project indicated rapid kinship placement is as stable as those kinship placements that occurred prior to the initiation of the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge grant project. Given that the average number of placements was similar, the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units were still able to place more children in a similar time frame. A study by Winokur, Crawford, Longobardi, and Valentine (2008) found children placed in kinship care experienced fewer placements over time. This outcome will be measured and hopefully realized after the grant concludes.

Figure 9: Average Number of Unique Placements when Rapidly Placed in Kinship Foster Care as First Placement (First Six Months)

Oklahoma County (post- 2.00 implementation) 2.10

Oklahoma County (pre- 2.00 implementation) 2.07

2.00 Tulsa County (post-implementation) 2.07

2.00 Tulsa County (pre-implementation) 2.14

Under 24 hours 24-120 hours

An additional assumption existed among DHS child welfare staff that children placed rapidly might experience increased maltreatment. Maltreatment data was examined during the first five days in

20 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013 which Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units had the opportunity to make kinship placements (see Figure 10).

Oklahoma County matched the pre-implementation rate of zero maltreatment incidents at the less than 24-hour time period while kinship placements increased from 137 pre-implementation to 357 kinship placements during the project. Kinship placements for this time period more than doubled with 315 pre-implementation kinships placements compared to 647 kinship placements during the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project period (see Figure 13).

Tulsa County did not experience any substantiated maltreatment incidents in the placements made by the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Unit. For the less than 24-hour time period, kinship placements increased from 19 kinship placements pre-implementation to 261 kinship placements during the project period. For the 24 to 120-hour time period, kinship placements increased from 77 kinship placements pre- implementation to 173 kinship placements during the project period (see Figure 15).

Figure 10: Number of Substantiated Maltreatment Allegations During First Six Months of a Rapid Kinship Placement Less than Time Period: 24-hours Oklahoma County (pre-implementation) 0 Oklahoma County (post-implementation) 0 Tulsa County (pre-implementation) 0 Tulsa County (post-implementation) 0

The evaluation team proposed the establishment of the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units would narrow the focus of placement to rely more heavily on finding kinship placements and increasing placement stability for removed children. The most substantial finding was that a kinship placement focus reduced the number of children using emergency foster care dramatically (see Figures 14 & 16). There was a 62% decrease in the number of children placed in emergency foster care during the project period. Moreover, kinship placements increased in both Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties during the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project period. The most significant change came from Tulsa County where, pre-implementation, there was very little emphasis on rapid kinship placement. During the project period, the number of children placed with kinship caregivers in Tulsa County more than doubled as presented in Figure 15. Oklahoma County also experienced an increase in the number of kinship placements during the project period as shown in Figure 13. Prior to implementation of the project, Oklahoma County made it a point to place with kin when possible. However, the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project made it possible for both counties to have a dedicated team focused on rapid kinship placement.

The average length of stay was also examined by the evaluation team. During the project period, 29.9% of the children who entered DHS custody at the Pauline E. Mayer Shelter in Oklahoma County were primarily placed into kinship care in less than 24-hours of entering the shelter as compared to only 20.6% of children placed in kinship care in less than 24-hours prior to the implementation of the project

21 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013

(see Figure 11). Nearly half (44.5%) of the children entering the Oklahoma County shelter during the project period were placed into kinship care within 24 and 120-hours of entering custody compared to 26.2% of children entering the shelter being placed in kinship care within the same time frame prior to the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project.

The percentage of children in Oklahoma County whose average length of stay prior to first placement into emergency foster care in less than 24-hours decreased from 12.2% prior to implementation of the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project to 3.4% during the project period (see Figure 11). There was a slight increase (0.9%) in the percentage of children with an average length of stay between 24 and 120- hours whose first placement was emergency foster care during the grant project.

In the Tulsa County shelter, 57.6% of children who entered DHS custody during the project period were placed in kinship care in less than 24-hours compared to 7.3% of children who entered care prior to the project being placed into kinship care in less than 24-hours (see Figure 12). Slightly more than one-third (33.9%) of children that entered custody during the project period were placed into kinship care within 24 and 120-hours compared to only 13% of children placed into kinship care during the same time period prior to the implementation of the project.

During the project period, the percentage of children placed into emergency foster care decreased dramatically (39%) in Tulsa County (see Figure 12). Prior to project implementation, 45.8% of children who entered the Laura Dester Children’s Center were placed into emergency foster care in less than 24-hours compared to 6.8% of children that entered during the project period. Moreover, 20.2% of children that entered care in Tulsa County were primarily placed into emergency foster within 24 and 120-hours during the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project as compared to 26.2% of children that entered care prior to the implementation of the project.

22 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013

Figure 11: Pauline E. Mayer (Oklahoma County) Shelter – Average Length of Stay Prior to Placement 44.5%

29.9% 26.2% 20.6% 14.3% 12.2% 13.4%

3.4% Percentage of Children Percentage

Kinship placement less Kinship placement 24-120 Emergency Foster Care Emergency Foster Care than 24 hours hours placement less than 24 placement 24-120 hours hours Length of shelter stay prior to placement Pre-Implementation Post-Implementation

Figure 12: Laura Dester Children’s Center (Tulsa County) – Average Length of Stay Prior to Placement

57.6%

45.8%

33.9% 26.2% 20.2% 13.0% 7.3% 6.8%

Kinship placement less than Kinship placement 24-120 Emergency Foster Care Emergency Foster Care 24 hours hours placement less than 24 placement 24-120 hours hours

Pre-Implementation Post-Implementation To ensure rapid placement within 24-hours, kinship caregivers need to possess certain qualities and characteristics. The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge staff stated that rapid kinship placement was most easily achieved when potential kinship providers did not have issues with criminal and child welfare background checks. Rapid placement was sometimes still possible in these cases; however, additional steps were required. Overall, there was a significant increase in the placement of children with kinship caregivers in less than 24-hours during the project period (see Figures 13 & 15).

Rapidly placing removed children with kinship caregivers posed many barriers for the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units. Major barriers were identified in focus groups and implementation reports. 23 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013

Primarily, Oklahoma Kinship Bridge staff members listed internal barriers as a major obstacle that slowed the placement process. Given that the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units were new, initially there were “growing pains” with regard to departmental interaction and communication. Over time, once other departments had a chance to experience how unit staff could support efforts to place removed children, protocols were established and expectations set on internal communication and processes. Another barrier was access to criminal background check programs after hours for the Tulsa County unit. In Oklahoma County, and eventually in Tulsa County, law enforcement present during the removal performed criminal background checks for the units.

Another barrier was the need for special approval when further review was necessary regarding either the child welfare or criminal background check. In the initial process, request for review was forwarded to an on-call member of the background check committee. The response time varied greatly depending on the person who was on-call. Eventually, multiple changes were made to allow committee members to be on-call in order to expedite the review process.

Out of state child abuse and neglect registry checks were mentioned numerous times as a challenging aspect of the placement process. The central frustration was the lack of uniformity in each state’s process regarding registry checks. With few exceptions, the diversity of requirements was difficult to track, particularly in a situation where Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units only worked with a case for five days.

The evaluation team examined the effectiveness of each unit’s method of implementing Intensive Family-Finding and Kinship Navigation services. The Tulsa County unit was fully cross-trained in both Intensive Family-Finding and Kinship Navigation services. The assumption was that having staff cross-trained in both skill sets would allow the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Unit staff member to fill in and provide services at a moment’s notice in the event a co-worker was absent or occupied with another case. The Oklahoma County unit had one person dedicated to providing all Kinship Navigation services while the remaining staff members were dedicated to Intensive Family-Finding. The results for this research question were derived from the Kinship Caregiver Survey (see Figure 6).

In reviewing the Kinship Caregiver Survey (n=94), the results for overall caregiver satisfaction with Kinship Navigator services were higher for Oklahoma County than Tulsa County. This finding must be interpreted cautiously due to the low response rate in general, but especially for Tulsa County (n=17). As such, there was no conclusive finding as to whether or not having all Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Unit staff cross-trained in both Intensive Family-Finding and Kinship Navigation services was more effective than having one staff member dedicated to Kinship Navigation alone.

There are many resources needed to ensure the rapid placement of removed children after hours or on a holiday. The most common resources needed include: smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, safety locks for doors, beds, car seats, diapers, baby wipes and cribs/play yards. Many of these items were already available in the Tulsa County unit through Tulsa Advocates for the Protection of Children. The Oklahoma County unit was able to partner with organizations to receive donations so that needed items could be purchased. These types of resources were of tremendous assistance in the rapid placement of removed children. According to focus groups and implementation reports, having these items readily available played a large role in ensuring rapid placement was possible.

Online paid search engines are commonly used by child welfare staff for Intensive Family-Finding. The evaluation team assessed the value and benefit of using this type of service. The overwhelming

24 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013 consensus was that fee-based, on-line search engines for family-finding purposes were not as helpful as anticipated in the rapid placement of children. It was determined a total of four placements were the direct result from usage of on-line engine searches. The best and most productive information came from the immediate face-to-face interviews of parents, family members and the children themselves. The original idea of using this type of on-line search engine came from the DHS child welfare diligent search staff. This group locates kin when all other contacts are no longer available or viable. It was discovered that online, fee-based services yield more productive results for children who have been in child welfare custody for an extended period of time.

Figure 13: Pauline E. Mayer Shelter (Oklahoma County) – Number of Children Rapidly Placed into Kinship Foster Care

647

357 315

137

Less than 24 hours Between 24-120 hours

Kinship Foster Care (pre-implementation) Kinship Foster Care (post-implementation)

Figure 14: Pauline E. Mayer Shelter (Oklahoma County) – Number of Children Rapidly Placed into Emergency Foster Care

220

161

81 50

Less than 24 hours Between 24-120 hours

Emergency Foster Care (pre-implementation) Emergency Foster Care (post-implementation)

25 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013

Figure 15: Laura Dester Children’s Center (Tulsa County) – Number of Children Rapidly Placed into Kinship Foster Care

261

173

77

19

Less than 24 hours Between 24-120 hours

Kinship Foster Care (pre-implementation) Kinship Foster Care (post-implementation)

Figure 16: Laura Dester Children’s Center (Tulsa County) – Number of Children Rapidly Placed into Emergency Foster Care

156

119 103

31

Less than 24 hours Between 24-120 hours Emergency Foster Care (pre-implementation) Emergency Foster Care (post-implementation)

26 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013

V. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Findings from this analysis suggest that removed children and their kinship caregivers were positively impacted by the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project. Rapid placement with kinship caregivers did not increase placement disruptions among children in Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties. Further, rapid placement did not significantly impact the number of maltreatment experiences by removed children. The number of children placed in emergency foster care in both Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties decreased. Kinship placements increased for both counties. Tulsa County in particular, experienced a substantial increase in kinship placements as a result of the shift toward rapid kinship placement goals among child welfare staff.

Many of the barriers to kinship placement were successfully addressed during the project period. Kinship caregivers with no criminal or child welfare histories experienced the fewest placement barriers within 24-hours. Additionally, protocols for internal communication, working with law enforcement for immediate background checks (Tulsa County) and special approval reviews were put into place as a result of the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project. One barrier that remained unchanged was the challenges of conducting out-of-state child abuse and neglect registry checks. Notwithstanding, kinship placements in less than 24-hours increased during the project implementation period when compared to the pre-implementation period.

All Tulsa County staff members were trained in both Intensive Family-Finding and Kinship Navigation. The Oklahoma County unit had one team member dedicated to Kinship Navigation while the remaining team members were trained in Intensive Family-Finding. Due to reliance on the Kinship Caregiver Survey, results from this analysis were inconclusive as to whether the Oklahoma County method or the Tulsa County method was more effective. However, this knowledge may be able to be ascertained in the future with continued data collection and analysis.

Many resources were needed to facilitate kinship placement after the close of business and on holidays. Items needed included home safety kits, beds, car seats, and other baby care items. The resources were provided to kinship caregivers as a result of partnership and collaboration with community agencies and organizations.

The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project found that using online, fee-based search engines for family- finding purposes was inadequate regarding rapid kinship placement. These services were found to be most helpful in family-finding for children in care for an extended period and with no other contacts on record.

The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Project increased permanency and safety rates for children in Oklahoma’s child welfare system. Oklahoma Kinship Bridge staff members were trained and available around the clock to provide Intensive Family-Finding services to all removed children brought into DHS’s emergency shelters in Tulsa and Oklahoma Counties. The units operated with a sense of urgency. The best analogy is to compare the units to first responder personnel. Whether police, paramedics, or firefighters, it is common to see all three categories of first responders working together. The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units lightened and expedited the workload of their fellow child protective services colleagues. Rapid placement was only possible when multiple workers were involved as a team in performing all of the required duties as expeditiously as possible. The comprehensive and collaborative approach allowed for multiple Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Unit staff to perform various roles simultaneously. The support provided by the units accelerated the process 27 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013 for screening and approving kinship caregivers so that children could be rapidly placed with a kinship provider.

Moreover, this project enhanced the capacity of caregivers to care for themselves and the children entrusted to them. The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project created and implemented a Kinship Navigator program that increased caregivers’ awareness of and access to needed resources and supports. The project, in partnership with the University of Oklahoma National Resource Center for Youth Services, developed an orientation booklet for distribution to kinship caregivers to assist them with the process of becoming a kinship resource parent. Effective partnerships and numerous collaborative efforts to support kinship caregivers in their roles were forged as a result of this project and continue due to the long-term sustainability of this project. VI. RECOMMENDATIONS

Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project staff members provided recommendations to the state and to the Children’s Bureau as a result of lessons learned during project implementation. This section highlights those recommendations.

The inability to place children prior to completion of any and all child abuse registry checks for states in which the prospective foster parent has resided in the preceding five years merits serious discussion. Moreover, consideration should be given to potentially amending Oklahoma State Statute to allow children to be placed in kinship homes in Oklahoma if a child abuse and neglect registry check has been requested but not yet received if all other statutory requirements are met. The possible amendment might include allowing the Director of DHS or his designee to grant an exception allowing kinship placement pending the receipt of the requested check of any child abuse registry maintained by a state in which the prospective parent has resided in the preceding five years or by specifying a certain number of years the prospective parent has to have resided in Oklahoma (i.e. 4 1/2 years) before placement could occur with a registry check pending if all other statutory requirements have been met.

Further, DHS should review the procedure regarding the payment of any fees charged by other states to secure required criminal background checks and/or child abuse and neglect registry checks. Oklahoma Kinship Bridge staff and other DHS staff members have advanced their personal monies on behalf of the agency to secure these checks in an expedited manner. This burden should not be placed on staff and the agency should develop a process to pay these charges without reliance on staff members advancing their own personal funds and then waiting for reimbursement. The DHS Independent Living program has a contracted fiduciary agent who issues payments on behalf of youth receiving independent living services and this process could possibly serve as a guide for change in agency processes.

Nationally, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 requires states to check child abuse and neglect registries for all states prospective foster or adoptive parents and those residing with them have resided in the previous five years. This legislation further prescribed the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would create a national registry of substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect. An interim report to Congress regarding such implementation deemed that the registry was not feasible under the statutory limitations of the authorizing legislation. The Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units had difficulty receiving timely child welfare history information from some jurisdictions. Additionally, some states charge fees that further slow the placement process. 28 | P a g e Oklahoma Kinship Bridge: A Family Connections Grant Report July 2013

A lack of timely responses and fees charged posed barriers to swift placement with kin families for children first entering the child welfare system in any state or territory. The intent of Congress is clear in that a national registry should exist even if it was deemed not feasible under the limitations of the Adam Walsh legislation. Irrespective of the feasibility of the establishment of a national registry, this project proposed the Children’s Bureau promulgate regulations which lead to enhanced oversight of state child abuse and neglect registries via the required Title IV-E plans submitted by each state. A summary of the research surrounding kinship care by Casey Family Programs indicates children in out-of-home care “generally benefit when they are placed with kin, specifically with respect to outcomes around safety, placement stability, and maintenance of family connections.” The project’s experience with expedited Intensive Family-Finding and Kinship Navigation services was consistent with children’s safety, placement stability and preservation of family ties as well as the provisions of the Foster Connections to Success and Increasing Acts of 2008. The child welfare field should pursue Intensive Family-Finding activities as soon as children enter custody or are identified as being at risk of entering custody.

Additionally, Kinship Navigation services are crucial to supporting kinship families. Efforts should be focused on providing such navigation services as research indicates kinship caregivers are less likely to receive assistance and services from child welfare agencies and receive fewer supportive resources than foster parents. Given the shift toward family centered practice and the Foster Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, supportive navigation services, such as those provided by the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Units, for kinship caregivers could result in enhanced outcomes, including improved well-being, for children placed in kinship care. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Children’s Bureau for funding the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge project. We would also like to thank DHS Project Directors Deborah G. Smith and Joani Webster. Many thanks to DHS Child Welfare Services, the University of Oklahoma Center for Public Management, the National Resource Center for Youth Services, the Foster Care and Adoptive Association of Oklahoma, OK Foster Wishes, Safe Kids Oklahoma, Tulsa Advocates for the Protection of Children, the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Steering Committee and the Oklahoma Kinship Bridge Advisory Committee. We would also like to recognize Iyla Griffin (DHS Office of Planning, Research and Statistics) for her assistance in the preparation of this report. Finally, we would like to thank Dena Thayer for her editorial assistance. The views presented here are not reflective of DHS, project funders or partners.

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REFERENCES

Barth, R. 2002. Institutions vs. Foster Homes: The Empirical Base for the Second Century of Debate. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC, School of Social Work, Jordan Institute for Families.

Casey Family Programs. 2004. Commitment to Kin: Elements of a Support and Service System for Kinship Care.

Conway, T. & R. Hutson. 2007. Is Kinship Care Good for Kids? Center for Law and Social Policy.

Cook, A., M. Blaustein, J. Spinazzola, & B. van der Kolk. 2003. Complex Trauma in Children and Adolsescents: White Paper from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, Complex Task Force. Los Angeles, CA and Durham, NC: National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Harden, B. 2007. Safety and Stability for Foster Children: A Developmental Perspective. Children, Families, and Foster Care. Retrieved from www.futureofchildren.org.

Herrick, M., & W. Piccus. 2005. Sibling Connections: The Importance of Nurturing Sibling Bonds in the Foster Care System. Children and Youth Services Review, 27, 845-861.

Hornby Zeller Associated, Inc. 2009. Oklahoma Department of Human Services Performance Audit. February 2009.

Horwitz, S., K. Balestracci, & M. Simms. 2001. Foster Care Placement Improves Children’s Functioning. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 155.

Masten, A. 2001. Ordinary Magic: Resilience Processes in Development. American Psychologist, 56, 227-238.

Nachmias, D. & C. Nachmias. 1987. Research methods in the social sciences (3rd edition.). New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Oklahoma Department of Human Services SACWIS System (KIDS). Unpublished. Referrals and Removal Data June 21, 2009. Oklahoma City, OK.

Shlonsky, A., D. Webster, & B. Needell. 2003. The Ties that Bind: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Siblings in Foster Care. Journal of Social Services Research, 29(3), 741-763.

Testa, M. 2001. Kinship Care and Permanency. Journal of Social Service Research, 28(1), 25-43.

Winokur, M., G.A. Crawford, R.C. Longobardi & D.P. Valentine. 2008. Matched comparison of children in kinship in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services, 89(3), 338-346.

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S13067 DHS Issued 7/2013 This publication is authorized by Oklahoma Department of Human Services Director Ed Lake and printed by DHS in accordance with state and federal regulations at a cost of $136.80 for 60 copies. Copies have been deposited with the Publications Clearinghouse of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.