Customer Need

In 2001, the Children's Village of Arizona Board of Directors commissioned the completion of an Arizona Needs Assessment to determine the current trends and potential for implementation of the Children's Village in Arizona. The findings of the Needs Assessment have been considered in completing the program design for the Children's Village of Arizona. Among the findings from the Needs Assessment and more recent data were the following trends:

1. Nationally and at the State level, the policy emphasis is on permanency – particularly through adoption, relative placement or guardianship. While long-term foster care is an option of last resort, there remains a population of children who cannot return home, be adopted or live with a relative.
   • Arizona is placing increasing emphasis on permanency as evidenced by the new kinship care and guardianship laws, the special adoption units in Maricopa County and through the statewide Families For Kids Project.
   • As of September 30, 2001, 8% (504) of the children in foster care have a goal of long-term foster care. However, the Foster Care Review Board found that 20.2% of the children in out-of-home care had been out of their home for four years or longer.
2. While foster homes and relative placement are preferred over group home placement, as of September 30, 2001, 19% of the placements were in group homes.
3. There is a growing emphasis on providing transitional housing and support services for youth that will turn age 18 while in care. This emphasis is resulting in a shift in programming to focus on independent living skills, education and employment.
   • Programs which support this focus will likely be best positioned to meet the program requirements nationally and locally.
   • Providing these services directly or developing partnerships with organizations that currently provide these services would strengthen the program design.
4. Most children in out-of-home care, but particularly those with a case plan goal of long-term foster care, are in need of behavioral health services.
   • Behavior problems are cited as a major reason that children have case plans goals of long-term foster care.
   • Specific linkages with providers of behavioral health services will be critical to effectively serving this population.
   • Attempts by Children's Village of Arizona to provide behavioral health services may require additional licensure / certification from the Arizona Department of Health Services. The additional complexity of this is not addressed in the Needs Assessment.
5. Children who are in out-of-home care longer are more likely to have multiple problems that would need to be addressed by the Children's Village of Arizona, including age, length of time in care, medical and developmental issues as well as behavioral health issues, delinquency, and other evidence of increased trauma.
6. Recruitment in Arizona for quality foster homes with the ability to nurture children over time is an ongoing effort; the need for new foster homes exists in Arizona particularly for children with special needs.
7. With the emphasis on relative placements and adoptions, there is no longer a waiting list for children to access group home facilities. However, group homes which provide programs and services that meet the special needs of foster children could help fill the gap in residential placements for children leaving residential treatment centers and for children for whom a foster home placement has not been identified or is not appropriate.

The Customers

There are two customers of the Children's Village of Arizona: (a) children and youth who have been adjudicated dependent and cannot live with their birth families or for whom adoption in the near future is unlikely, and (b) public agencies with legal responsibility to provide the care, custody and control of these children. In Arizona, the Arizona Department of Economic Security is the agency responsible for children who have been adjudicated dependent.

As of September 30, 2001, there were 504 children with a case plan goal of Long Term Foster Care and 992 children with a case plan goal of Independent Living.

Within this customer base, priority will be given to sibling groups. Since some of the children that have been adjudicated dependent also have juvenile delinquency adjudication, the Children's Village of Arizona will work with the Arizona Supreme Court, Maricopa County Juvenile Services and the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections.

Program Design

The Population: The Children's Village of Arizona will serve children from birth to age 18 or receipt of their high school diploma up to age 21. The service population is children who have been adjudicated dependent by the State of Arizona with a primary emphasis of provision of homes for sibling groups. Consistent with that priority and the belief that siblings should be provided the opportunity to be together, children in a sibling group who may have been adjudicated delinquent, and/or who may have special physical or mental health needs, will also be served. Within the Village there will be homes that are handicapped accessible. Additionally, the Children's Village of Arizona will accept and be prepared to support teen parents with their children.

Children will be referred to the Children's Village of Arizona through the Arizona Department of Economic Security when adoption or reuniting with their birth families is not considered an option. Children will remain in the Children's Village home until they turn 18 and just like home, are always welcomed back.

The Home Environment: Each "Village" is comprised of 10 individual family homes, a community center, and administrative offices. Each home has qualified Children's Village of Arizona Parents specifically trained to meet the special needs of this population and certified to meet the Arizona regulatory requirements. Children's Village Parents are selected based on their individual strengths and abilities, ability to commit to full-time residency in the home, and ability to meet the cultural and special needs of the children served. Children's Village Parents will also act in an advocacy role for the children just as birth parents would. To that end, Children' Village Parents will participate in referral agency staffings and family conferences and Foster Care Review Board activities. More intensive advocacy and casework will be obtained from existing systems as necessary.

Each Children's Village Parent creates a unique home environment, manages a weekly budget, supervises school activities, arranges family celebrations, organizes play and assigns household tasks.

While each home operates as a separate family home environment, the community center provides a meeting place and forum for special activities for the youth as well as an environment for involving and integrating with the community surrounding the Village.

The Services: Children everywhere have a full range of needs that must be supported in any family environment such as medical and dental care, educational assistance, and recreational options. In addition to ensuring children living at the Children's Village of Arizona have these basic needs met, specialized services will be available based on the individual strengths and needs of the child / youth. Services will be delivered, to the extent appropriate, in the home setting. The services that will be available to children and youth may be provided either directly by staff of the Children's Village or through connections to public and community services.

Children's Village of Arizona would have primary responsibility for providing the following services:

• Recreational, social activities and community service – Provision of these services would be the responsibility of the Children's Village of Arizona although there are various programs provided through the cities, local communities and faith-based organizations that could be accessed for children and youth served by the Village.
• Spiritual development –Children's Village of Arizona would provide access to and support in the spiritual development of children in their care.
• Education in public schools, with private tutoring as needed – To the extent possible, tutoring services could be accessed through the school system; however, the Children's Village of Arizona would provide access to additional tutoring support as needed.

Services that would be primarily provided by public agencies or their contractors with support and facilitation of access for the Children's Village of Arizona include:

• Physical and Mental Health Services – Physical health services are provided for all foster children through the DES, Comprehensive Medical and Dental Program (CMDP). Mental health services are provided for foster children through the Department of Health Services (DHS) and their Regional Behavioral Health Authorities.
• Substance Abuse Treatment Services – Substance abuse services are provided through the DES and through the Regional Behavioral Health Authorities.
• Independent Living Skills Training and Experience – This service would be provided in part by DES and in part by the Village. Facilitating access to and supervising life experiences with youth would be part of the role of the Children's Village of Arizona Parent.
• Adoption Services – Adoption services would be provided through the DES and their contractors. The Children's Village of Arizona Parents would support this process to the extent needed and appropriate.
• Reunification Services – Reunification services would be provided through the DES and their contractors. The Children's Village of Arizona Parents would support this process to the extent needed and appropriate.

Social workers and caseworkers will determine, in coordination with the Arizona Department of Economic Security caseworker, what programs the children are eligible for and will provide the necessary casework services.

Transition Services: The Children's Village of Arizona will coordinate and link youth with a full range of transition services to support youth leaving the foster care system and their Village home to live in the community. The transition services will build upon the skills and experiences obtained through the Independent Living Program and will include assistance in securing employment, accessing continuing education, financial management, assistance in obtaining and maintaining an apartment, accessing health care, and developing connections to their community.

Birth Families: Since foster children often maintain relationships with their foster families after becoming adults, the Children's Village and the Children's Village parents with whom children have grown up will continue to be part of the child's life into adulthood. Recent research also demonstrates that foster children often attempt to develop a relationship with their birth families after the youth leave care. In light of that reality, the Children's Village of Arizona will, whenever appropriate, facilitate and support the development and maintenance of connections with the child's birth families. The Children's Village of Arizona recognizes that the appropriateness of these connections will vary depending upon the individual child's circumstance.

Community Integration: Children will attend nearby schools, participate in local community or youth organizations and belong to area churches, mosques or synagogues, etc.

Competitive Analysis

The current continuum of child welfare out-of-home placement options includes family foster care, group foster care, and group homes. Additionally, care can be provided for the foster care population in a Level III Behavioral Health Facility based on a medical need for behavioral health treatment services.

Foster Homes:

• As of September 30, 2001, Arizona has 1,792 licensed foster homes that could serve 4,211 children. This includes family foster homes, professional family foster homes, respite foster homes and receiving foster homes.
• Within the category of Foster Homes are Group Foster Homes and Professional Foster Homes. Being licensed as a group foster home allows the family to care for more than five children. Both Group Foster Homes and Professional Foster Homes have requirements in addition to the standard foster home certification and licensing requirements.
• As of September 30, 2001, there were 925 placement spaces available in licensed foster homes. While there are licensed foster parents who do not currently have children placed with them, there are children waiting for appropriate foster home placements. According to the Department of Economic Security, foster homes are needed for children with special needs, sibling groups and older teens.

Child Welfare Group Homes:

• The Arizona Department of Economic Security currently contracts with 49 organizations statewide providing group homes for 1,500 youth from birth to age 18. Of those 49 organizations, 31 provide homes in Maricopa County.
• According to DES, as of January 2002, there is no waiting list for access to group homes. While there are available foster homes, there are children and youth who cannot access a foster home that can meet their special needs.
• Many of the current group homes are staff models; i.e. they do not include the "parent" and "family" approach to residential living envisioned by the Children's Village of Arizona. With an emphasis on stability, sibling groups and the house parent model, the Children's Village of Arizona provides a unique alternative to the current array of group homes.
• Additionally, to be competitive in the group home market, the Children's Village of Arizona will demonstrate specific knowledge of and access to services that meet the special needs of this population. Just as children in any home, children will receive needed services including:
  • Behavioral health services — behavior problems are one of the major reasons that children have case plan goals of long-term foster care. The Children's Village program design includes direct linkages to the Arizona Behavioral Health System. In Maricopa County that will require connection to ValueOptions and the three Children's Networks.
  • Independent Living Transition Services — since many of the youth with case plan goals of long-term foster care are adolescents (of the 7,055 children in out-of-home care as of March of 2000, 2,811 were ages 13 to 17 – 39.8%) preparing the youth for transition to independent living is a critical component of the Children's Village of Arizona program.
  • Teen parents — as a population without many options, the Children's Village of Arizona offers both a home and a nurturing environment in which the teen parent can grow and develop as well as learn appropriate parenting skills.

In summary, the Children's Village of Arizona has potential in this market because of its unique characteristics:

• Family home environment
• "Parents"
• Sibling group emphasis
• Attention to special needs — behavioral health, independent living, etc.
• Teen parent options