Adams County Children and Youth Services
Family Group Decision Making

Program Description:
The foundation of collaboration/integration established in Adams County has served to further position the county for its current initiative involving the implementation of Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) as a practice. For Adams County, FGDM ties practice directly to the Child and Family Service Review, Program Improvement Plan and related best practice standards. Addressing outcomes relating to safety, permanence and well-being, the emphasis of this multidisciplinary approach is on the family engagement process. It involves a high level of self-determination in responding to the needs of families. The model recognizes the value of greater family involvement in decision-making and expanding the community of helpers beyond formal systems to include the family’s own natural helping systems.

By focusing on the strengths of the family and empowering them to set short and long term goals for themselves and their child(ren), the agency is creating a collaborative atmosphere between professionals and those most connected to the child(ren). This collaborative approach is consistent with Pennsylvania practice standards that emphasize the importance of the child welfare (or other system) worker working directly with and involving all family members, as well as others involved with the family, in a comprehensive, family-focused assessment to determine the strengths and needs of the family.

Ultimately, this multidisciplinary approach will improve quality of service delivered and preserve the integrity of the family unit whenever possible, as well as address the required five areas of program improvement identified in Adams County’s annual plan and Needs-Based Budget. When the placement of a child becomes necessary because of safety reasons, it is anticipated that, in the majority of situations, the child will be placed with a relative, thus preserving familial ties and addressing placement stability.

The exciting part of implementing Family Group Decision Making in Adams County is the fact that it is being approached as a county-wide practice, not just a Children and Youth (C&Y) and Juvenile Probation Office (JPO) initiative. The collaboration already established in the county has resulted in an implementation team of 40 individuals representing a strong cross section of services providers, community members, law enforcement, school districts, residential facilities, the faith-based community, C&Y, JPO, Mental Health/Mental Retardation and Child and Adolescent Service System Program. Each member of the team sees this as a practice that he/she can utilize with families, and as a result, we anticipate a strong, yet diverse, referral base. It is, thus, creating a true integration of service systems in Adams County. Through this team, systems serving children are being integrated and also beginning to integrate all social services. Any community agency, provider or stakeholder may refer a family for a Family Group Conference. In addition, the agency has structured this practice in a way that will hopefully encourage families to self-refer for conferences. Accordingly, as policy, procedure and protocol have been developed, it has been the intent to make the process, as well as all of the necessary forms, extremely “family friendly” so that families will feel comfortable in accessing services. In addition, in keeping with the State’s vision, the referring worker can serve as the single case manager for the family.

In reviewing specific Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System data, we are seeing these core practice values reflected in measurable outcomes. Adams County has made significant gains in the second and third permanency outcome measures, exceeding the national standard. The second outcome measure looks at the percentage of children in placement less than 12 months that had no more than two placement settings during that time. The national standard was 86.7% when Adams County Children and Youth Services jumped to 88.09% during the 2003-04 fiscal year. A similar improvement in results can be seen in the third outcome measure -- of all children reunified with their parents at the time of discharge from placement, what percentage were reunified in less than 12 months from the latest removal from home? The national standard was 76.2%, and Adams County’s outcomes reflect a significant increase to 84.78% during the 2003-04 fiscal year. These are significant improvements in outcomes, and we believe are tied to practice/program changes we have implemented that are tied to a strengths-based approach to working with families.