Conduct workshop to provide an understanding of California's Child Welfare Services system and the performance of Yolo County's Child Welfare Services Division; provide direction to staff regarding potential actions to improve the County's delivery of related services. (General fund impact $4,800) (Karen Larsen/Stuart Oppenheim, Danna Fabella, Child & Family Policy Institute of California)

1. Conduct workshop to provide an understanding of California's Child Welfare Services system and the performance of Yolo County's Child Welfare Services Division; and
    
2. Provide direction to staff regarding potential actions to improve the County's delivery of related services, including but not limited to changes and additions to the Division's action plan.

Thriving Residents
Safe Communities

In response to the Board of Supervisors' desire to deepen its knowledge of California's Child Welfare Services system, to ensure improved outcomes for families and individuals that come in contact with Yolo County's Child Welfare Services program, and in support of the 2016-2019 Strategic Plan focus on "expanding best practices in programs benefiting children", the County has engaged the services of the Child & Family Policy Institute of California to provide a series of educational workshops that will offer an opportunity to understand: 1) the statutes and regulations that govern the state's Child Welfare Services system; 2) the Yolo County operationalization of that system; 3) the quantitative and qualitative data that reflect the County's performance; and 4) the specialized practices and partnerships that support that performance. These educational workshops, along with an evaluation assessment of Yolo County's program will culminate with an opportunity to formulate recommendations for improvements to the performance of Yolo County's Child Welfare Services Division. The workshops and evaluation assessment have been scheduled as follows:
 

July 26, 2016	Board Workshop #1 CWS Overview/CWS Workflow (State and Federal requirements) Legal System
August 2016	Evaluation & Assessment of Yolo County's Child Welfare Services program Coordination with UC Berkeley Data System Max. 20 Key Informant interviews 4 Focus Groups Social Workers Social Work Supervisors Resource Families Stakeholders, Parents, Youth Resource Family Survey Analysis of Data
September 27, 2016	Board Workshop #2 Presentation of Quantitative and Qualitative Data Yolo Data in comparison to State and Federal data measures Results of August Evaluation & Assessment
November 8, 2016	Board Workshop #3 Structured Decision Making Other Best Practices County Partnership Staff Training - Core Curriculum & Specialized Training
November 22, 2016	Board Workshop #4 SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Treats) analysis based on what has been learned in each workshop, including the responses to questions raised at each session Identification of next steps that would be formed into an action plan

Child Welfare Services Ad Hoc Subcommittee