Grant will help Delaware support high-risk youth and families in Wilmington, and bolster work of Family Services Cabinet Council

WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney announced on Wednesday that Delaware has received an 18-month training and technical assistance grant from the University of Pennsylvania’s Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP) Integrated Data System Learning Community to help develop an integrated data system across state agencies.

The system will help Delaware coordinate services and support young people and families in Wilmington who are at high risk of violence, and bolster the ongoing work of the Family Services Cabinet Council. Delaware was among six county and state governments to receive the technical assistance grant.

“We re-established the Family Services Cabinet Council to make sure that state agencies are working together more effectively, coordinating services on behalf of Delaware families we serve, and delivering results,” said Governor Carney. “The Council is helping confront some of our most challenging issues – including ways to break the school-to-prison pipeline, expand job training, and reduce crime in our neighborhoods. An integrated data system will help us more effectively target our resources, and reach the kids and families who need our help the most.”

“We are excited to be awarded this technical assistance grant from UPenn’s Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy,” said Dr. Kara Odom Walker, Secretary of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, and a board-certified family physician. “This is the technical expertise we need to help make an integrated data system a reality in Delaware, and to help us support the young people in Wilmington who are at high risk for street violence and their families. Being able to see the full picture of the services that young people and their families are receiving and their interactions with the system will help us develop interventions that are coordinated and appropriate for each family.”

Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services will join other state agencies in working with the AISP Learning Community to plan for the implementation of an integrated data system that will establish linkages across multiple stand-alone government data systems. The technical assistance, which will begin in March 2018, will include in-person training, an online learning platform, and a full evaluation of the AISP program at the end of the 18 months. The training will cover governance of integrated data system, legal agreements, data integration and linking procedures, and identifying and carrying out research priorities.

The Data Working Group of the Family Services Cabinet Council, chaired by Secretary Walker, is comprised the eight FSCC agencies including the Department of Technology and Information (DTI). The working group is engaged in the early stages of the development of an integrated data system, drafting necessary data sharing agreements, and creating a vision for the system. The data working group is carrying forward the recommendation of the CDC report on gun violence in Wilmington. The working group also is partnering with CompassRed, a Wilmington-based data and analytics company, to identify the data needed for analysis to provide actionable, data-driven information back to DHSS that can be used to provide the right services to the right families.

“The goal is to increase collaboration between state social service agencies by developing the capacity to link and share data between agencies,” said James Collins, Chief Information Officer for the State of Delaware. “This will enable predictive analytics to better reveal which families and individuals are most at risk and deliver relevant information to social service agencies so they can respond more quickly with appropriate resources.”

The other county and state governments awarded Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy technical assistance grants are Baltimore and Miami-Dade counties and the states of Georgia, North Carolina and Vermont.

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Governor Carney and Council members will hold meeting to discuss state service delivery in Wilmington

WILMINGTON, Del. – At 6:00 p.m. on Monday, November 13, Governor Carney will host a public discussion on Wilmington with the Family Services Cabinet Council.

Governor Carney signed Executive Order #5 in February, re-establishing the Family Services Cabinet Council to help coordinate critical services for families across Delaware – including workforce and job-related services, early childhood education programs, social service delivery, and programs to improve public safety. Next Monday’s meeting will include presentations by members of the Council. Stakeholders and members of the public will have the opportunity to provide feedback to the Council and offer ideas for improving state service delivery in Wilmington.

Governor Carney chairs the Family Services Cabinet Council, which includes eight members of his Cabinet.

Discussion on Wilmington with the Family Services Cabinet Council

This event is open to the press.

WHAT:          Governor John Carney will host a public discussion with the Family Services Cabinet Council at Delaware Technical Community College in Wilmington. The agenda will include presentations on data-sharing efforts among state agencies in Wilmington, state service coordination for low-income families, and a planned dual generation center to improve the delivery of job-related services, and services for Wilmington children.

The event is an opportunity for stakeholders and members of the public to provide feedback and ideas for improving the delivery of state services in Wilmington.

WHO:  Governor John Carney
Dr. Kara Odom Walker, Secretary, Department of Health and Social Services
Patrice Gilliam-Johnson, Secretary, Department of Labor
James Collins, Chief Information Officer, Department of Technology and Information
Josette Manning, Secretary, Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families
Dorrell Green, Director, Office of Innovation and Improvement, Department of Education
Other members of the Family Services Cabinet Council
Community members

WHEN:         Monday, November 13, 2017
6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

WHERE:      Delaware Technical Community College, George Campus
300 N. Orange Street
Wilmington, DE 19801

Click here for the event flyer.
View and share the event on Facebook.

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Council will help coordinate crucial public and private services for Delaware families

WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney signed Executive Order Five on Tuesday, reestablishing the Family Services Cabinet Council to help coordinate public and private services for Delaware families.

Delaware families continue to face significant challenges – including the high cost of child care; violence and poverty in their neighborhoods; the impact of caring for an aging family member; and the challenges of navigating an economy in transition. The Family Services Cabinet Council will be charged with coordinating public and private services that are often fragmented, and proposing changes to current programs to make the delivery of state services more effective.

Governor Carney will serve as chair of the Council.

Reestablishment of the Council, which was first established under Governor Tom Carper, was an action called for by Governor Carney’s Transition Team in their Action Plan for Delaware. The Council also will work closely with the Government Efficiency and Accountability Review Board (GEAR), which Governor Carney created this month to identify cost savings and efficiencies in state government, and to more effectively operate state programs and services.

“Our challenge is to determine whether the programs and services we offer are effective in moving families out of poverty, improving our system of education and creating opportunities for all Delaware families to succeed,” said Governor Carney. “That requires all of us – government agencies, nonprofits and private business – to work together. That also requires that we measure our progress. The reestablishment of the Family Services Cabinet Council will help us do just that, and make a meaningful difference in the lives of Delaware families.”

The Council will be tasked with implementing innovative tools and strategies for addressing a series of specific issues, including: breaking the school-to-prison pipeline; improving access to early childhood education; increasing the availability of affordable housing; improving access to substance abuse treatment; reducing recidivism in Delaware’s correctional system; expanding job training opportunities; and reducing violence in Delaware’s neighborhoods.

The Council will include eight members of Governor Carney’s Cabinet – the Secretary of the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families; the Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services; the Secretary of the Department of Education; the Secretary of the Department of Labor; the Secretary of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security; the Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority; the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; and the Commissioner of the Department of Correction.

“It is our duty to ensure that our children and our families have the necessary tools to be healthy, prosperous, and safe,” said Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long. “The reestablishment of this Council will break down silos in state government and allow for a more collaborative and coordinated approach to address some of the most critical issues we face, so that every Delawarean has a fair shot.”

Dover – Nearly 300 foster families, Division of Family Services staff and service providers will gather in Dover on Thursday May 30th, to learn more about best practice tools and strategies to help care for children who experience Delaware’s foster care system. The theme for the Foster Parent Conference and Recognition Luncheon hosted by the State’s Division of Family Services (DFS) is Partners in Progress: Healing Through Hope. This is the second year that conference workshops have spanned a full day instead of a half day as in previous years. DFS officials say foster parents provide a critically important role in Delaware’s child protective services system.

“They open their hearts and their homes to care for these children, many of whom have experienced a variety of trauma in their young lives, and provide love, nurturing, stability, safety and support,” said DFS Director Vicky Kelly. “It is our goal to support them through this conference so they can even more effectively care for the children who enter their homes.”

Workshops cover a variety of topics including strategies for dealing with difficult behaviors, how to help children maintain familial bonds and connections while in care, the impact of trauma on behavior, and helping children in care get through school. Keynote speakers include the Reverend Darrell L. Armstrong discussing “Congregational Home Visiting,” a program that trains clergy to plan and implement programming related to child abuse & neglect, and Mr. William Kellibrew IV, a motivational speaker on civil, human, women, children and victims’ rights and SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) consultant who will speak about his own experiences with the impact of trauma.

Foster parents provide a temporary home to children who have entered the child protective services system due to abandonment, abuse and/or neglect and prepare them to either reunify with their birth family or move onto a new permanent family when reunification is not appropriate. There are nearly 800 children currently in foster care in Delaware.

“I see foster parents as the starting point for our children’s healing journey,” said Jennifer Ranji, Cabinet Secretary for the Children’s Department. “As the theme for the conference indicates, we want to continue to build our partnership with our foster parents and to hear from them regarding initiatives we’re developing to better support their work with children in very challenging circumstances.” These initiatives include additional training opportunities and respite support.

Additionally, the Division of Family Services is in need of, and actively recruiting, more families to care for children with special needs including teens, sibling groups and children with special needs or who are medically fragile.

The Children’s Department provides services to children who have been abused, neglected, are dependent, have mental health or substance problems, have been adjudicated delinquent by the Courts, as well as prevention services targeted toward all youth. For more information, please visit www.kids.delaware.gov.