Boise, Idaho – During the past four years the number of Idaho children placed in state foster care for abuse or neglect has increased dramatically, growing over 40 percent. In addition, there is high turnover of child welfare social workers and foster parents, both nationally and in Idaho. To address these issues, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Casey Family Programs, Boise State University School of Social Work and Eastern Washington University (through the Idaho Child Welfare Research and Training Center) will announce the formation of the Idaho Child Welfare Partnership in Boise on Friday, February 24th. The announcement will be held at the Grove Hotel, beginning at 11:45 a.m., with the official signing of the agreement at 12:15 p.m.
“The growth in the number of children being placed in our care is a challenge that is straining our resources,” says Ken Deibert, Administrator for Family and Community Services for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. “This unique partnership combines the expertise of each partner organization and focuses their strengths and abilities to meet this challenge.”
Deibert said there are several reasons for the increased number of children being placed in state care for abuse or neglect, including a significant rise in population and a growing substance abuse problem, primarily related to the use of methamphetamine. “These children are entering the system through no fault of their own,” he says. “The parties involved in this partnership will work as a team to strengthen families and improve the lives of vulnerable children and youth throughout the state.”
The mission of this newly formed partnership is to promote safety, well-being and permanency in the lives of children and youth in Idaho’s child welfare system. To accomplish this, the partnership organizations will collaborate on a variety of fronts, including:
- implementing proven best practices to improve the delivery of services to children and families;
- developing an educated, highly trained and experienced child welfare workforce through the participating universities;
- providing foster parents with training to help them better understand how to work with traumatized children and play a substantive role in working with birth parents; and
- maximizing funding by leveraging in-kind and monetary support from the formal and informal networks for each individual partner organization and federal matching programs.
The Partnership organizations will monitor a variety of factors to determine whether the efforts positively impact the lives of children and families involved in the child welfare system. These factors include, but are not limited to, the number of social workers who are recruited to work in the child welfare community; an increase in the retention rates for child welfare social workers; and the number of available qualified, trained foster parents.
The Idaho Child Welfare Partnership also includes involvement from a network of sub-contracted universities and colleges, including Northwest Nazarene University, College of Southern Idaho, Idaho State University, Lewis & Clark State College and North Idaho College.
An administrative board will govern the Partnership. It is comprised of the Family and Community Services Administrator, Deputy Administrator, and Planning, Evaluation and Training Manager for the Idaho Department of Health & Welfare; the Director of Boise Operations for Casey Family Programs; the Dean of the School of Social Work for Boise State University; the Dean of the School of Social Work for Eastern Washington University; and an elected designee from the sub-contracted universities and colleges.
About Idaho Department of Health & Welfare – This Department is the State of Idaho’s public health and human services agency. Its mission is to promote the health and safety of all Idahoans. Within the Department, the Division of Family and Community Services administers statewide child welfare services. These services include protection and social services to children, youth and their families who are involved in the child welfare system. Services include early identification and child development intervention, family preservation, investigation and court services, foster care, and children’s mental health treatment, permanency planning and transition services. For more information, go to www.healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/
About Boise State University – Boise State University is an Idaho public non-profit educational institution. The School of Social Work prepares students for beginning and advanced professional social work practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. The School of Social Work is committed to human rights, social and economic justice, egalitarianism, and respect for diversity addressing the needs of populations at risk from a strengths perspective. Through its Child Welfare Center, Boise State supports and administers the Child Welfare Worker Academy and the statewide Child Welfare Scholars Program, both of which are designed to improve child welfare practice in Idaho. For more information, go to www.boisestate.edu/socwork/cwc/
About Eastern Washington University – Eastern Washington University’s School of Social Work is committed to the ongoing development of social work education, which instills a core commitment to building a society based on social and economic justice and enhancing opportunities for human well-being. EWU is a public non-profit educational institution. Through its Idaho Child Welfare Resource Training Center, EWU supports and administers Idaho’s statewide Resource Family training and administers a network of sub-contracts with other participating Idaho universities and community colleges, all of which are designed to promote and continually improve the quality of child welfare services in Idaho. For more information, go to www.icwrtc.org/