In this final episode of season 3, I invited Kate Luster from Rock County to help us bring many of the strategies from this season together. As you have heard throughout this podcast, too many children and families, especially Black families, are being investigated and separated by child protective services. As part of our Strong Families, Thriving Children, Connected Communities initiative, we review the data from all the counties across Wisconsin to see what counties are meaningfully addressing issues like racial disproportionality or reducing the number of children separated from their families and placed in foster care for reasons of neglect. This past year, Rock County jumped off the page as we saw a significant decrease in the number of children entering foster care. We wanted to know why and how this had happened. So we reached out to Kate, and she shared the story of Rock Families First, which we will explore today. While you are listening to Kate, I encourage you to look for examples of how she and Rock County bring to life many of the strategies that you heard earlier this season. How have they disrupted system mindsets? How have they reimagined engagement and embedded community leadership? How have they invested in their workforce? Then, ask yourself, how might we do something like this and where can we start?
Today’s episode included the following speakers (in the order they appear):
Host: Luke Waldo
Experts:
:04-:44 – Kate Luster - “Co-design was very different in which the parents have truly influenced and driven what our priorities will be moving forward, how we will go about implementing. They have been a regular resource for us to really help share that power of making decisions about what should happen as we work to improve our system and to grow resources in the community.”
:55- - Luke Waldo – Opening, introduction to Kate Luster and Rock Families First, and welcome.
3:37-3:40 – Kate Luster – Thank you
3:41-4:01 – Luke Waldo – Why is Rock Families First needed today?
4:02-7:32 – Kate Luster – Rock Family First is a response to the disproportionality that Black families have experienced with the Child Protective Services in Rock County. It was also a response to the national shift within CPS to the Family First Prevention Services Act. Focusing on Black families in Beloit and how we can learn from them as to what works and what doesn’t allow us to scale up improved changes.
7:33-7:43 – Luke – Can you elaborate on the disparities in Rock County?
7:44-8:44 - Kate – Black families make up 22% of Child Protective Services involved families while they only make up 7% of the county’s population.
8:45-9:08 – Luke – What did Rock Families First hope to change or accomplish? What were the key strategies that were employed to advance it?
9:09-16:23 – Kate – Promote child and family well-being through partnership.
A Community Cultivator is a partner from Beloit who has been a bridge to Black families in Beloit with lived experience with CPS. This has led to a co-design process with many families within our community.
16:24-18:23 – Kate – This co-design process was very different as it was led by the community partners. They had influence and decision-making power from the beginning until now beyond the initial plan.
18:24-18:59 - Luke – We have been talking a lot this season about authentic engagement with lived experience experts. Can you share more on how that relationship and process worked?
19:00-31:31 - Kate – Co-design was central to this initiative, but we didn’t just jump into it. We first did a lot of preparation on our teams. We then worked to build trust with our community. We invested in the well-being of our staff and teams, and the trust in their leaders. We developed a two-year well-being process to ensure that leaders were responsive to staff needs. The culture changed, which led to a mindset shift that prepared us to be more responsive to our community’s needs and co-design. The system had not been designed to be family-centered. It was punitive, which put staff in a difficult position. Kate tells her story about her apology to families and the community.
31:32-32:52 - Luke – It takes courage to do what you did. People come to do this work with good intentions as they want to help children and families. What did it take to implement Rock Families First?
32:53-43:47 – Kate – We have seen a significant drop in the number of families in out of home care in CPS. We have reallocated a lot of our funds to prevention and early intervention services. We have created a position that provides in-home safety supports.
Parents and staff came together to co-design a new practice model. This has been translated into new standards and best practices for staff. Community engagement and communication have been developed through Parent Cafes. There was a strong balance between professionals with experience with developing communication plans and the lived experience understanding of what will connect with the community.
Now we are in the phase of moving forward with accountability. We are partnering with prevention and early intervention organizations, so that they can work with families that may be overloaded but don’t need the intervention of CPS.
43:48-4:03 - Luke – As a partner of ours with SFTCCC, it’s promising to hear the work that you are doing in the Workforce Innovation and Inclusion space. Can you expand on the workforce well-being work that you’ve done?
42:04-49:07– Kate – Culture change that empowers staff to say what they need. Caseload sizes were reduced. Provided education on the impacts of family separation, bias, systemic racism, and the opportunities to do and be better. They were given a safe space to process this and think differently.
Parents Supporting Parents program are part of the continuum of resources and supports.
Invest in our leadership development and strategy to support leaders to support staff.
49:08-50:38 - Luke Waldo – This initiative has led to a significant and community-changing outcome that SFTCCC aspires to. What would you leave our audience with that you’ve learned from this movement?
50:39-54:58 - Kate – When we authentically engage with our community and believe in them, real change can happen.
54:59-55:26 – Luke – Thank you.
55:27-55:28 – Kate – Thank you.
55:37-57:45 - 3 Key Takeaways
57:52- - Luke Waldo – Closing Credits
Join the conversation and connect with us!
Kate Luster 00:05
Co-design was very different, in which the parents truly have influenced and driven what our priorities will be moving forward, how we will go about implementing. They have been a regular resource for us to really help share that power of making decisions about what should happen as we work to improve our system and work to grow resources in the community.
Luke Waldo 00:50
Welcome to season 3 of Overloaded: Understanding Neglect, where we explore how we might change the conditions that overload families with stress, so that families can thrive and children grow up with a strong foundation built on positive childhood experiences.
Hey everyone, this is Luke Waldo, your host for this podcast series and the Director of Program Design and Community Engagement for the Institute for Child and Family Well-being, our partnership between Children’s Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Helen Bader School of Social Welfare.
In this final episode of season 3, I invited Kate Luster from Rock County to help us bring many of the strategies from this season together. As you have heard throughout this podcast, too many children and families, especially Black families, are being investigated and separated by child protective services.
As part of our Strong Families, Thriving Children, Connected Communities initiative, we review the data from all the counties across Wisconsin to see what counties are meaningfully addressing issues like racial disproportionality or reducing the number of children separated from their families and placed in foster care for reasons of neglect. This past year, Rock County jumped off the page as we saw a significant decrease in the number of children entering foster care. We wanted to know why and how this had happened. So we reached out to Kate, and she shared the story of Rock Families First, which we will explore today.
While you are listening to Kate, I encourage you to look for examples of how she and Rock County bring to life many of the strategies that you heard earlier this season. How have they disrupted system mindsets? How have they reimagined engagement and embedded community leadership? How have they invested in their workforce? Then, ask yourself, how might we do something like this and where can we start?
Kate Luster is the Director of Human Services for Rock County, Wisconsin. Kate has over 25 years experience in public sector social work practice and administration. In recent years, Kate’s leadership has centered around family-centered systems change in Rock County’s child welfare services by prioritizing prevention, promoting workforce wellbeing, and committing to parent-driven, community-based solutions for families. Kate holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Social Work from the University of Chicago.
Welcome, Kate. Thank you for joining us today and for all the work that you have led in Rock County to transform systems and improve outcomes for children and families.
Kate Luster 03:37
Thank you for the opportunity to be here.
Luke Waldo 03:41
All right, Kate, well, it's again, a pleasure to have you. I'm excited to learn more about the work that you've done in Rock County, and most specifically with your Rock Families First initiative. And so I would like to start by exploring why you and your colleagues felt that Rock Families First was needed.
Kate Luster 04:02
Great. So Rock Families First is really a term that we use to describe both our big picture systems change in our child welfare practice and service delivery in Rock and a really focused project on improving our collaboration with and services to the Black community in Beloit, where we have our most notable disparities and outcomes.
And the reason that this effort is needed, really at its core, this is a response to nationwide industry shifts in child welfare related to the FFPSA the Family First Prevention and Services Act that passed in 2018 . Those of us in this work know that that represented a pretty big shift and change in how we are funded, potentially how Child Welfare jurisdictions are funded. And it really recognized that there has been not enough effort and resources allocated in child welfare work to early intervention and prevention, At the same time that that shift’s happening nationally, of course, the state of Wisconsin, Department of Children and Families implemented a significant Child Welfare transformation to implement these changes and to respond to what the research tells us and at our local level, here in Rock, we needed a way to align with those changes in the profession, to shift our culture and our practice to respond sooner, to help families and Rock Families First is really our innovative and exciting way of making that real here in Rock.
In addition to those changes that are happening I think across the field, here in Rock, we, like many other jurisdictions, know that we have significant disparities and outcomes for our Black families, and in particular, we know that those families, most of them in our county, live in the city of or in the area of Beloit, Wisconsin, and so when we're thinking about, how do we frame a strategy and priorities for shifting our system? We believed that focusing on Black families in Beloit and thinking about, how do we respond better and serve them better? If we can make some headway with these families and learn from them about what works, then we will be well positioned to scale that up and improve our services across the county.
So Rock Families First is really our our way of of implementing those changes and of making those shifts. We've been really lucky and privileged to have a key partnership with Alia, a national not for profit that works to help systems make these kinds of changes. And so we've, it's been good timing for us and a good relationship, and we've used their partnership and expertise to help us strategize this effort moving forward, too.
Luke Waldo 07:33
Thank you, Kate, can you explain a little bit more about what you mean by disparities and outcomes for Black families in Beloit specifically?
Kate Luster 07:44
Sure. So what we know is that in Rock county, about about 22% of our families in involved in child welfare services are Black/African American families, whereas only 7% of our county population is represented by Black families. And so we have over representation at sort of every step of every level of decision making within the child welfare continuum, reports to access, screened-in reports, investigations, separations and out of home placements, etc. So we we know we are we're not alone in that. Those are statistics that show up across the state and across the country, and we feel committed to prioritizing addressing those disparities in our our in our work, moving forward.
Luke Waldo 08:45
So what, what exactly did Rock Families First, in its inception, hope to change or accomplish? And more specifically, what were some of the kind of key mechanisms or components of the initiative that helped drive that forward?
Kate Luster 09:09
Sure, so we have in the big picture, what we're hoping to accomplish is to really promote family stability and well-being by partnering with parents who have been impacted by the system in new and different ways, and we have three specific goals that are to reduce the overall number of children that are separated from their families via Child Protective Services intervention, to eliminate the racial disparities that I referenced in CPS outcomes across Rock County, and to improve our engagement with parents and their satisfaction with their involvement with CPS. And so for some parents that might seem like those things don't go together, satisfaction with and involvement with CPS, families, and we feel very committed to to changing that experience for families, so they really see us as a helpful resource.
So those are the overall goals of what we are working toward in this movement. And there are several key elements of sort of centers of effort that we have prioritized. We, if I kind of think about it as thinking about systems transformation and practice change, so impacting and changing and improving and adapting the way our staff are practicing and responding to families in the community. And at the same time efforts around community organizing and doing everything that we can as a County Human Services Department to share and improve and grow resources in the community, so that the community has services and supports that families need before they need CPS intervention.
And so these centers of effort around our own system, our own practice, and helping to support community organizing and development and sort of in the middle of all of that, and tying that together is the element of of co-design. So this has been a key intervention, center of effort with this project, or movement, as we call it. We used to call it a project, and now we decided we're in this for the long haul, and so this is the Rock Families First movement, and co-design with parents has been a critical element at every stage of the game of this effort.
So we had the opportunity to partner with Alia, as I mentioned, who hired a community cultivator, which is a really important role in the work that we've been able to do. The community cultivator in our effort here, her name is LaMikka James. She's been a critical partner. LaMikka lives in Beloit. She's been part of the community. She's integrated with those who need our services in lots of ways, has a lot of experience and connection, and in her role as Community Cultivator, she recruited a group of Black parents from Beloit who had been negatively impacted by their experiences with Child Protective Services, and invited those parents to participate in a co-design effort with Child Protective Services and Human Services Department staff to come together and reimagine a new way of working together that would have better served their families when they needed support.
So the Community Cultivator role has has filled a gap and and met a need that we would not have been in a position to do here at Human Services, and LaMikka engaged, we initially had 17 parents who came together in a co- design process with about eight staff. We intentionally, in that process, wanted to make sure that we had significantly more parents than staff, so that they were so that it was, that it was clear that their voices were to be centered in the effort and in acknowledgement of the the courage and commitment that they had to come to the table with all of us.
And so that co-design effort was initially intended to be a short term effort of several weeks of coming together and creating a vision for the future. We did that work. It was pretty powerful, and created a, the parents culminated in the product of what we call the Idea Book, which is the the roadmap forward based on our parents’ vision for what families need, and they got to know our staff, and our staff listened and collaborated and shared as well to create that vision for the future. So we created that that product, and then our parents, who were involved in that effort said, you know, wait, we're not finished. We've had this experience of creating a vision in partnership with staff to see something different happen in the future, and we want to be part of making that real.
So we sort of shifted gears in the original plan and the the parents stayed together as a group. That group called themselves, calls themselves the Beehive. They're a tight knit group. 13 of those original parents are still in that group, who have stayed together and have been a critical resource for us in continuing to co-design the actions to implement the Idea Book that they developed initially. So that key element of community engagement, having a Community Cultivator in that role that helped us do that, and coming together for this co-design effort has been a really foundational part of where we have come with Rock Families First.
Kate Luster 16:23
Co-design is really at the center of what we're doing and and how we've worked. And I just want to say that I didn't quite understand what what was meant by co-design initially, when we were moving forward in this project, and I didn't understand or appreciate how different it is from other experiences I've had of partnering with people with lived experience, or inviting lived experts to advisory committee or another group or effort where we want to include those voices.
Co-design was very different, in which the parents truly have influenced and driven what our priorities will be moving forward, how we will go about implementing. They have been a regular resource for us to really help share that power of making decisions about what should happen as we work to improve our system and work to grow resources in the community. So I think that's just a very different experience. And co-design, the co-design models, are based on principles related to human centered design and really sort of understanding the needs of whoever the end user is. In our case, that end user is our parents, and particularly those who have been harmed by our system and understanding how they might suggest we modify what we do and how we do it so that has been a really meaningful foundation for our effort is to rely on co-design parents and the Beehive.
Luke Waldo 18:23
Thank you, Kate. I appreciate you sharing that. It's it just resonated with me on what, what we've been discussing a lot in this season, and so it's really exciting to hear about it being put into action here in Wisconsin and in Rock county. So so I want you to continue to share a bit more about some of what you're proposing here is from the co-design process that has led to particular changes, either in your practice or your policies or your mental models, because going to really require that we start to think differently potentially about the families that we serve.
Kate Luster 19:00
Sure. So I think I want to share some really important elements. I shared how co-design is really that central way of being and working with families that has been so unique in our Rock Families First effort. And I just want to share that we did not nor would I recommend just jumping right into co-design as a first step. We did significant preparation work, with our system, with ourselves, with our leadership, to be in a place where we were ready for co-design. And so I guess I really can't emphasize that enough, and I have certainly learned a lot as a leader about the importance and value of that prep that goes ahead of this, and it links back to what you mentioned, Luke, about earning trust and building trust.
I think we are very aware of the importance of the need to, you know, we are constantly earning trust and working to build trust from our co-design parents, our Beehive. And there's a really important parallel for for staff and workforce well-being and and building trust and within our workforce, and so the steps that we took that positioned us to be able to move forward in engaging in co-design, with with parents, really was about investing in the well-being of our staff, recognizing the stress, secondary trauma that comes from doing this work. We knew that we had a lot of work to do here within Rock County to strengthen trust within our workforce, their trust of leadership, their trust of each other, their trust that, you know, we have their backs and support them in this very difficult work and at a really important time of change within, within the profession, in the field.
So our initial work and how we initially began working with our partners at Alia, was a two year effort around workforce well-being and leadership strategy, where we provided resources and opportunities for staff to come together voluntarily in well-being activities and groups, and at the same time, worked to strengthen the supervisor and management team of the Child Protective Services area so that they had what they needed and that they were better positioned to be responsive to staff needs. And so we we really had to create a different culture within our own workforce that made it safer for staff to speak up, made it safer for staff to say what they needed, helped our supervisors to tune into that and respond to it. And you know that really happens at every level of the organization.
So as administration, we needed to be prepared to support the leaders, so that they were prepared to support the staff and to really build that trust and well-being culture with real intention. Doing that positioned us to be able to do challenging work in the community, and to prioritize a racial equity focus in our systems change, and to be in spaces with parents, where we could say out loud, you know, we could have done better, you know. And so that systems preparation work that happened ahead of co- design was really important. And, you know, is that ongoing? And you're never finished with that, just like you're never finished with all of these systems changes. It's constant, constant work and learning and trust building and earning trust.
And so I guess I'll just, I just want to emphasize that systems prep work was really important, and that was really where we were able to center a new mindset for thinking about working with families differently. You know, our our our staff, all of our staff, are committed and professional and have been doing what has been asked of them, you know, for many years in many cases, and now the system is changing, and we're asking them to think about work differently and to think about centering families and family voice and family needs in a different way. So this systems prep work also was the the effort around changing those mindsets and helping people to think about the work in new and different ways. So that's been really critical as well, leading up to that co-design event and chapter.
The other element that I just want to share, that we we learned, was really important and necessary, as we have partnered with parents in new ways, was the value and importance of acknowledging in formal ways the harm that's been done in the past. In consultation with our partners at Alia, who have done a lot of this work across the country, when we were preparing for that first night of co-design of coming together with parents, it was suggested to me that if I was willing to share a message to those parents at the beginning of that session of acknowledging the harm done by the CPS system in the past, that that may be a meaningful message to set the stage. So I thought about that, and thought, I can do this, and spent some good effort preparing for that and sort of recognizing that that was a meaningful message. And I'll say preparing. What should I say? What is the right thing to say? What? What can I say with authenticity that might be true and meaningful was probably one of the most challenging but most important efforts that I've made as a social worker, and certainly as an administrator. And I just really learned, really learned a lot about the value of that.
So it was the day before our first co-design session, and we're excited but anxious, and I'm trying to plan what, what what to say, and what I really came back to as I was prepping for that was I went back and reviewed stories that I was aware of, I hadn't thought about it this way in the in the past, but of harm done. You know, as a, as a human services director, in my I'm a social worker, but my practice background isn't specifically child welfare, it's behavioral health. And so I don't, I don't have those first hand stories, per se, but as a director, I had heard plenty of complaints, grievances, controversies, bad outcomes, critical incidents, where it had this opportunity that my awareness to really raise my awareness of, gosh, we could be doing things differently, you know. If only we had, you know, or I wish that this outcome was different, and I regret that the family experienced this, you know, outcome. So I had those stories at my disposal from other opportunities where I'd been aware of these situations, and I I just went back and really dug in again that day and reminded myself of of what those experiences had been, and knowing that for every one of those that had risen to the level of coming to my attention, there are so many more examples of of families whose experiences and outcomes associated with interfacing with CPS were not just not positive, but oftentimes traumatic and harmful. And again, not because our staff were doing anything wrong, really, CPS professionals have done what they've been asked to do, and really, the system's been set up to be more punitive and neg, you know, not necessarily positive and family centered. And so it's not about staff doing things wrong. It was really about how we have, how we have implemented the system's mandates.
So I, you know, sort of prepared with and centered by those stories, I, you know, crafted my key points and messages to parents that evening, and used our mission statement as the structure for my apology statement, and went through our department's mission and and shared with the parents in that room that this is what our mission says, and I'm sorry for the times that we have failed you and not lived up to that mission in all of these examples. And so that was just a really important, an important step that we took that at the time it was hard for me to read the room. I wasn't quite sure how that was received by parents, but but learned soon thereafter that that had been a critical and meaningful message of acknowledging that harm done that that sort of cleared the air and opened the door for for parents to come to the table with our staff side by side, and to know that that we get it in, maybe as in as much as we can get it, that we're trying to get it. So I think that's just been a really important lesson learned about the value of that, of that step that we took.
And like the other steps I referenced that you're never you're never finished with some of this growth. The the other side, the important side of that apology and acknowledgement of harm done is another statement that I made that night, which is an invitation to hold me and our department accountable as we move forward. That that we've said out loud and stated as part of this effort, that we care about what parents experiences have been, that we want their voices to influence our actions in meaningful ways, and if they don't think that's happening, or they need to better understand how that's happening, they should hold my feet to the fire about that. So I think that's been a commitment, a challenge, and a commitment that that we've needed to make at the leadership level to really bring true meaning to what co-design and partnering and sharing power actually means. So that's been another important lesson in our work.
Luke Waldo 31:32
Thank you, Kate for sharing that powerful story. It takes a lot of courage to not only make that statement, but to do so directly in front of those that have been harmed. But as you said, I think it's, it's clearly a first step in beginning kind of that reconciliation process that is necessary to build trust, The people that do this work come to this work because they are committed to serving and helping children and families. They are people that often lead with compassion and with empathy, but are unfortunately, oftentimes, again, an extension of systems who have design flaws that do not position them effectively. Our system has historically been designed in a way that creates adversarial relationships between the worker and the family that they're serving.
So I do want to shift towards the implementation part of this conversation. So can you share a bit more about what what practice changes, what policy changes, what kind of mindset changes you've implemented or you've seen come from this co-design process and journey.
Kate Luster 32:53
Yes, so we have after co-design, as I mentioned, we have the Idea Book that was the vision for the future, and we took some key steps forward to implement the changes that that that parents say they need. One area that I'll I'll share that I I've been in prioritizing that's more generalized as as a Human Services Director, I have tried to strategically reallocate resources from savings we've for several years now, we've seen significant reductions in our out of home placements related to all of these changes, Rock Families First and Families First in general, and increased resources from DCF, so our Out of Home Placements have dropped since 2018 by about 73% there's a lot of cost savings there. So we have reinvested those dollars into prevention and early intervention, resources that didn't used to exist as part of our Child Protective Services area, and that align very well with what parents say they need.
So we have a Family Resource Navigator, who outreaches families when cases are screened out, and engages families and voluntarily Office services. What can we link you with? How can we help and and we have dedicated a position kind of reallocated from our mandated services to a family support and preservation specialist who's really working to on those Child Welfare Services reports to help provide services supports for families that are ahead of ahead on the continuum. On that prevention continuum as well, we've also created a position and and increased resources for in home safety supports so that we can really have robust safety planning to to mitigate risk and help keep families together when they're in crisis. Because, as we know, families have crises. We all, all of our families do, and sometimes those that increases risk for for kids and safety, and it is a primary responsibility for us to help provide support to families so that kids can stay safely in their homes.
And so we've made these investments and kind of reallocation of funds from the out of home placement part of our continuum to these earlier intervention and prevention resources, and my hope is to continue to do that as we move forward. So that's been an important intervention and systemic kind of structural change that we've been working toward as well.
At the same time, we created a Prevention Unit, Prevention Coordinator who across all of our areas, Child Protective Services, behavioral health, substance use, is very engaged with community coalitions and agencies to create partnerships in the world of prevention and earlier intervention. So those have been really critical.
I mentioned earlier that following co-design, our parents, who had participated in that said, Can we please stay on board and continue to help and and so the the Beehive sort of was formed, as I mentioned, and we had Beehive parents who then continued in work groups with our staff to co-design those action steps for implementation. One of those focuses was the practice model changes. So we and this was just an amazing process. I wasn't part of this group, but to hear both our parents and our staff talk about what it was like for them to work together on this is just so inspiring. These parents and CPS staff came together to actually kind of redesign a practice model for our staff based on what behaviors do parents want to see from our social workers? What when they show up to do an investigation, what do they want them to say? How do they want them to be? What do they need from them?
And so they crafted some key components of a new practice model moving forward, which we're now in the phase of really translating into standards for our staff. And with that we are really integrating very robust practice supports and behaviors related to safety standards and making sure that we are really aligning with best practices related to assessment of and support for families when we are in a position to really help mitigate safety risks. So all of that is underway right now, again, with that, co design, action planning with parents.
Other steps that we have advanced relate to community engagement, community communication. We had, we have an ongoing group of parents and staff that are that developed our communication plan about this effort to be delivered to key partners in the community. Our parents have put on a few kind of community cafe style events where we've had stakeholders join us to hear from parents about their own stories, needs, and what this process has been like. Our parents in our communications work group were really I'm in I'm in network group, so I can attest to how meaningful it was to have them there. You know, we're really trying to draft kind of like a an elevator speech, you know, what are the, what are the key messages that we all want to be sharing about the Rock Families First effort and how other people can help support it in the community. And, you know, we had those of us who are used to developing talking points in our professional capacity and trying to take a stab at this, and it was really our parents who said, Nope, you know, here's what needs to be first. Here this needs to be the first point, or here's how we need to say it. And that's not going to make sense to people you know in our community, and let's say this instead, and so our messaging was really crafted and informed by our parents’ participation in developing that messaging and community engagement resource.
And you know, it's, it's important to note that what they their consensus, was the first, the first point that we need to make when we're talking about this is to make sure people understand the data around racial disparities, and that, did you know that rock County's population is made up of 7% of Black families or residents, and comprises more than 20% of our CPS cases. And they, you know, told us loud and clear that needs to be at the top of the list in messaging the importance of this effort. And so all of that has been really helpful and meaningful in thinking differently about, how do we make decisions about what the key talking points are? How do we take steps to share priorities with the community? How do we rethink our practice model? And having parents side by side with us in that effort has really certainly changed the way I think about my work. I know our our staff, would say the same thing, you know, that it's just been a really meaningful change that has helped us move forward.
Our, you know, we're really at a stage now of looking at the next phase of how do we implement these practice changes with meaning and accountability, and how do we engage the community and develop resources to assure that there is an array of services available to families that are culturally competent and accessible and that meet the needs that they have identified and prioritized. And so we have an exciting partnership with a couple community agencies and partners now that are taking this on with us to increase peers, parent peers, available in the community, to increase neighborhood and community engagement activities related to prevention and earlier intervention, and to really kind of help us materialize, what we're hoping is that our services as the CPS unit can be limited to those families that really need us for, for for higher end, more complex safety needs. And that those families that have needs associated with, as you know, often come into our come to our attention related to neglect, are highly tied to poverty related needs and unmet substance use and mental health needs that we can help be a part of resourcing community agencies and partners to fulfill that need for families in the community. So we are, you know, really trying to walk the walk and take that idea book from our families and make it real by partnering outside of our own organization to to help build that in the community.
Luke Waldo 43:48
I find all that you've just shared really promising because being a partner in our strong families, thriving children, connected communities initiative we have four critical pathways we are really focused on workforce innovation and inclusion. That has many layers to it, but you've identified a number of of them in in the work that you're doing, particularly around engaging and integrating kind of lived experience into your work and your decision making. You've talked extensively about that today, thinking about how we can better support our workforce, right, to do the work that they really signed up for. I'm hoping you can just expand a little bit more on that and how you've seen transformation in your workforce, right, not only in the practice which you've talked about, but also in how, how you see their well-being, how you see the kind of cohesiveness or challenges with these, these kind of pretty significant cultural and systemic changes that that you've implemented?
Kate Luster 44:54
Sure. So we, as I mentioned, and as you reference again, our first and foremost priority around workforce well-being is really about giving people space to say out loud what they need. And so we, you know, we did that in a formal way through a few years of formal workforce well-being groups, and then really transition, that that then becomes more of a part of the culture where staff are able, as I said before, to share, to share what they need, and be confident that those in leadership will be responsive to that. So we've tried to create that expectation for leaders that they are tuned in and listening and responsive and then sharing with with administration, what do they need to be successful in that.
Another just practicality that we have really tried to stay committed to is reorganizing our staff structure to to really limit case load size, and to set our staff up for success by assuring that they are are able to manage what we're asking them to do, and that they're able to engage with families, with with depth and with adequate time and energy so that they can actually truly understand what families need and respond to it. So we have really tended to best practice standards around caseload sizes, about supervisor to staff ratio, because we know that makes a huge difference in staff satisfaction in this type of work. So just structurally and resource wise, we've prioritized, prioritize that.
We also have, you know, prior to part of that, systems preparation, that I referenced earlier, to help with work with the workforce preparation was to really do some education engagement, and what we call kind of deep dives around important content, around just the the impact of family separation. So wanting to make sure that we are really upfront with staff doing this work about what does the research show about the the impact of child separation from families. What does the research show about outcomes associated with foster care, particularly outside of a family system? Helping our staff to understand what is the data around disparity and outcomes for families in Rock county, so that that's not something ambiguous, but it's really specific. Here's the challenge and the outcome that we are committed to changing. We spent time around understanding, helping staff to learn about and increase their awareness of the historic origins of Child Protective Services, the systemic biases and institutional racism that have integrated that system over time, and how we are accountable and responsive to all being part of the shift toward a new way of doing business. And so we, you know, we, we've provided those kind of education, professional development content areas, and not just like let's watch this PowerPoint and learn these facts, but in a in a way that then gave opportunities for staff to process what what is it like to hear this information? What do you need to be able to integrate this? How can we supervise and lead in a way that supports understanding the relevance of this content to co-designing with families who've been harmed by the system, to thinking differently about intervening earlier?
So I think thinking about what what do staff need at all of those levels has been really important in our staff have been so grateful and responsive to this. I think having parents side by side in in your work and more meaningful ways, changes everything. I didn't mention that, in addition to our co-design parents through Rock Families First, we've also been for several years now a site for the Parent Partners program and Parents Supporting Parents, which is an evidence-based model of parent peer supports in Child Protective Services. And so we have an amazing team of of Parent Partners that are part of our our continuum of resources and supports. They are available to families who have current involvement in CPS, and they provide all kinds of supports. They are side by side at family team meetings in court, and have really their voices too have just really impacted and changed how our staff are able to have kind of front and center consideration of the impact on families and parents in real time, and so they have been really critical partners. Having all of those resources has helped us strengthen our workforce, helped them to feel more supported and and prepared.
And I can't emphasize enough that a parallel to all of this workforce development piece has really been very concerted efforts supporting our leadership team. So we know that if our leadership team does not have what they need and are not supported, and if they are not cohesive, then we cannot expect our staff to to meet the expectations and to the challenges of kind of this changing world, And so we continue to invest significantly in that leadership development and leadership strategy as a team, about how do we help, help support those leaders and put them in a position to set them up for success in their roles with their teams?
Luke Waldo 51:58
I think that's a great way to to to round out that that last portion of this conversation, right? I appreciate that, that that kind of closing statement. So you've shared so many powerful examples of the work that that has had a real impact in in Rock county, right? You, you shared earlier that that these efforts, this movement, has led to 73% decrease in the amount of families in Rock county in out of home care. That is our aspiration with this initiative, the driver behind this podcast and so to have you share a real life example, that that this is possible is really inspirational, and I really appreciate you taking the time to share. So I appreciate the many, many different levers that can be pulled and that need to be pulled if we're to achieve this aspirational outcome.
So I want to close with any last thoughts that you may have that we haven't covered yet, or any just kind of final thoughts that our audience can take away if they were to aspire to implement some of these strategies in their counties, in their organizations, in their communities, what would be those kind of key ingredients that you feel have been transformational in Rock County?
Kate Luster 53:29
Okay? I think what I want to emphasize is that the the belief that if parents get the support they need when they need it, then kids and families can stay safely together. We really believe that, and we center that belief in parents and in families as the solution. Families are the solution, as we say frequently, when we center that belief and then try to design our interventions and priorities and resources around that, that true belief in families as a solution, then you know the opportunity really exists for meaningful change.
And you know the other pieces that I've shared about the efforts related to supporting the workforce, setting leaders up for success at the same time that we are kind of moment by moment, building trust with parents who have been impacted by our system historically, so that we can change those outcomes in the future. I think all of that, all of those pieces align together to to create opportunities for us to really make changes. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to share what we've been up to in Rock County.
Luke Waldo 54:59
Thank you again, Kate, not only for the conversation today and for for the wisdom and innovative ideas that you've shared with me as well as our audience, but for your for your partnership in this work. I'm excited to continue to learn from you and to partner with you to improve outcomes and change the conditions for children and families in Rock county and across the state of Wisconsin. So thank you again.
Kate Luster 55:27
Thank you.
Luke Waldo 55:37
I hope that this episode and insights from Kate has you thinking more about how we might transform our systems through an investment in our workforce and culture that shares power and decision-making with the communities we serve. Before we go, as always I wanted to highlight three key takeaways to reflect on as we close out this season.
I hope this final episode serves as an inspiring example that real change can happen in your community as it has in Rock County, Wisconsin, that the tools and strategies that you heard throughout this season from our national experts can be implemented in your organization, your program, so that we might change the conditions that overload families with stress, so that families can thrive and children grow up with a strong foundation built on positive childhood experiences.
Luke Waldo 57:52
Thank you for joining us for today's episode, we hope that you will come back and listen next week as we continue to explore how we might change the conditions that overload families with stress so that families can thrive and children grow up with positive childhood experiences.
To learn more about the experts that you heard today, visit the show notes, which is where you will also find links to sources or information that were mentioned in today's episode. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share with friends, family and colleagues. Also, if you rate us on whatever podcast platform you listen to us on, it makes it easier for others to find us.
This podcast would not have been possible without the support and talents of Carrie Wade, who is responsible for our technical production and original music composition. I can't express my gratitude enough to Carrie for all she has given to this project. I'm also grateful to my team at the Institute for Child and Family Well Being at Children's Wisconsin, who drive the Strong Families, Thriving Children, Connected Communities initiative and contributed to the ideas behind this podcast. Finally, I would like to thank all of our speakers that you have heard today and throughout the podcast for their partnership, their willingness to share their stories and expertise with me and all of you and their commitment to improving the lives of children and families.
I'm Luke Waldo, your host and executive editor, as this season is how we show our work as we learn about the innovative systems change happening across our state and country, please share your work that is changing the conditions for children and families by leaving a note in the comments section or emailing me. Thank you again for joining us.