>> CARING FOR A CHILD IN THE

FOSTER CARE SYSTEM CAN BE

COMPLICATED AND EMOTIONAL.

DIFFERENCES OF RACE AND CULTURE

CAN MAKE IT A MORE CHALLENGING

ENDEAVOR.

BUT LOCAL CHILD WELFARE

NONPROFIT LUTHERAN CHILD AND

FAMILY SERVICES SAYS ANALYSIS

SHOWING TAKING AN ANTIRACIST

APPROACH CAN IMPROVE OUTCOMES

FOR BLACK AND LATINO CHILDREN.

JOINING US WITH MORE IS BEVERLY

JONES, VICE-PRESIDENT AND CHIEF

OPERATING OFFICER OF LUTHERAN

CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.

CAN YOU FIRST EXPLAIN TO US A

LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOUR

ORGANIZATION DOES?

>> WE'RE AN AGENCY THAT HAS BEEN

AROUND FOR OVER 140 YEARS

STARTING OUT AS AN ORPHANAGE.

WE ARE A NONPROFIT.

WHO BASICALLY PROVIDE SERVICES

TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES THROUGH

A NUMBER OF PROGRAMS.

THE LARGEST BEING FOSTER CARE.

>> AND SO WE'VE LEARNED 54% OF

ROUGHLY 21,000 CHILDREN IN

ILLINOIS FOSTER CARE ARE BLACK

OR LATINO.

OF COURSE, PRESUMABLY YOUR

ORGANIZATION WAS ALREADY

ACCUSTOMED TO WORKING WITH

CHILDREN AND FAMILIES OF COLOR.

BUT WHAT MADE YOU REALIZE THAT

YOU NEEDED TO CHANGE YOUR

APPROACH?

>> DATA IS POWERFUL.

AND WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE

PERCENTAGE OF CHILDREN OF COLOR

WHO WERE ACHIEVING WHAT WE CALL

PERM NANCY OR LEAVING FOSTER

CARE TO GO BACK WITH THEIR

PARENTS OR BE ADOPTED, WE SAW

DATA THAT WAS EMBARRASSING AND

UNACCEPTABLE.

WHEN WE BEGAN THIS JOURNEY IT

WAS 4% OF CHILDREN OF COLOR WERE

LEAVING FOSTER CARE TO GO TO A

LOVING FOREVER FAMILY.

>> I THINK WE ARE GOING TO GET

TO THE CHANGE FROM 4% WHAT THE

IMPROVEMENT WAS.

BUT HOW DID YOU PUT THAT CHANGE

OF APPROACH INTO PRACTICE?

WHAT STEPS DID YOU ALL TAKE?

>> WE DID SOMEWHAT I CALLED

FOUNDATIONAL WORK.

WE STARTED WITH LOOKING AT WHAT

DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN ANTIRACIST

ORGANIZATION?

WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE?

WHAT COMMITMENT DO WE WANT TO

MAKE TO THE PUBLIC AS WELL AND

MORE DIRECTLY TO THE CHILDREN

AND FAMILIES WE SERVE?

SO WE NOW HAVE AN ORGANIZATIONAL

STATEMENT AROUND THIS.

WE ALL PARTICIPATED IN A

ANTIRACIST TRAINING.

TOGETHER WHICH REALLY GAVE US A

COMMON FRAMEWORK AND CONCEPT AND

LANGUAGE TO THINK ABOUT AND TALK

ABOUT.

WE HAD WORKSHOPS AND ALL STAFF

MEETINGS DIVERTED TO THE SUBJECT

ABOUT BIASES IMPLICIT BIASES AND

WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE AND HOW

DOES IT SHOW UP IN OUR WORKDAY

TO DAY.

THOSE ARE A FEW THINGS THAT WE

DID.

AND THEN WE SET A GOAL THAT WE

WANTED TO TACKLE THE DISPARITY

AROUND CHILDREN ACHIEVING

PERMANENCY AND HOW LONG IT TOOK

FOR THEM TO LEAVE FOSTER CARE

AND GO WITH A LOVING FOREVER

FAMILY.

>> LET'S GET TO SOME OF THOSE

RESULTS.

SOME OF THEM ARE POSITIVE FOR

BLACK AND LATINO YOUTH YOU ARE

SHOWING AN INCREASE IN ACHIEVING

PERMANENCY AND REDUCTION IN THE

AMOUNT OF TIME SPENT IN FOSTER

CARE.

NOW, THAT DROP IN TIME AND CARE

FOR LATINO YOUTH WAS ESPECIALLY

LARGE.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ACCOUNTS FOR

THAT?

>> WE'RE STILL EXPLORING THAT

AND LOOKING AT THAT.

SO THIS IS WHAT STAFF HAVE

SHARED WITH US.

ONE IS LISTENING BETTER TO

FAMILIES.

WE HAVE BILINGUAL STAFF TO SERVE

ON SPANISH SPEAKING CHILDREN AND

FAMILIES.

LOOKING AT BOTH PARENTS IF

CHILDREN ARE NOT ALREADY LIVING

WITH ONE, ALSO ENGAGING THE

OTHER PARENT AND THAT SIDE OF

THE FAMILY AS RESOURCES FOR THIS

CHILD.

AND I THINK JUST PAYING

ATTENTION TO HOW WE TALK TO

PEOPLE THE LANGUAGE WE USE TO

DESCRIBE THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES AS

WELL AS THEMSELVES.

ALL HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO OUR

SUCCESS.

>> WHY IS IT IMPORTANT THAT

CHILDREN SPEND LESS TIME IN A

FOSTER CARE SETTING VERSUS IN A

PERMANENT HOME?

>> FOSTER CARE WHEN IT WAS FIRST

CREATED OR ESTABLISHED IN THIS

COUNTRY, ALWAYS SAYS THIS IS A

TEMPORARY ARRANGEMENT.

AND WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT CHILD

DEVELOPMENT AND SUCCESS IN LIFE

IS THAT YOU NEED A LIFETIME

SUPPORT LINE REGARDLESS OF HOW

OLD YOU ARE.

AND THAT FOSTER CARE IS MEANT AS

TEMPORARY.

WHERE DO I BELONG?

WHERE CAN I GO WHEN I'M IN

TROUBLE OR SAD OR EVEN WHEN I'M

CELEBRATING SOMETHING?

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE THE JOY OF

FAMILY.

AND FOR MANY OF OUR CHILDREN

THEY WERE MISSING THAT.

>> AND IN THE FEW SECONDS WE

HAVE THE LEFT WHAT ADVICE DO YOU

HAVE FOR ORGANIZATIONS THAT NEED

TO TACKLE A SIMILAR ISSUE?

>> YOU HAVE TO START SOMEWHERE,

MOVE PAST THE WORDS TO ACTIONS.

THERE IS NO BLUEPRINT FOR YOU TO

FOLLOW.

WE SHARE WHAT WE ARE DOING AS A

WAY OF SAYING HERE ARE SOME

IDEAS.

THE IMPORTANCE IS ACTION IN

MOVING PAST WORDS.

CHILDREN DESERVE MORE THAN WHAT

WE'RE PROVIDING AT THE MOMENT.

AND WE SHOULD ALL BE OUTRAGED BY

THAT AND DETERMINED TO TACKLE

THIS ISSUE.