As a professional, you will be called upon to present information for decision making. Based on your Capstone Project, prepare 5–6 PowerPoint slides (not including your title or reference page) that y

Week 10 Project: Child Welfare Capstone Project

Alexis Lowe

Humn 6660: Social Change, Leadership, and Advocacy for Human and Social Service Professionals

Walden University

Professor Marnie Carroll

August 4th, 2019

The Core Values of the Annie E. Casey Child Welfare Foundation Organization

The Annie E. Casey Foundation child welfare value is the intervening ethical end aimed by the entire characteristics of the child welfare part of the practice. Also, it is a source of integration of general basic values of social work because, for children, liberty comprises of the likelihood to grow as well as build up without harm as well as exploitation. The justice of children includes right to basic needs along with nurturance. Moreover, a child does not request to be produced, therefore it is children birthright. Additionally, these privileges are present for the reason that children, similar to adults, are also human beings having intrinsic as well as irreducible value. As a final point, if we do possess some selfless obligation to fellow individuals, it is particularly likely for children because we are the ones who create them to be, reliant on us, they are weak, as well as they lack power and influence.

Another important core value of the universal child welfare organization is known as transparency. through the Universal Child Welfare Organization is allowing the character of human service professionals to walk before them, and use their heart to speak boldly, clearly and with confidence on the societal issue of child welfare. Each year, more than thirty billion dollars is spent on a federal, state and local level in order to stimulate the well-being of vulnerable children and their families. However, with the core value of transparency involved in this nonprofit organization, we are able to promote ongoing quality improvement in child welfare. Even with the core value of transparency, there comes some sort of accountability within the child protection system; as the more we increase transparency in our child protection system the more aware the public is about what is taking place in a day-to-day child protection work, the less likely issues within the system will be overlooked until yet another tragedy takes place.

To contribute to the well-being of the people, groups, families, and global communities, the child welfare agency has formed numerous policy and norms to direct practiced activity, for instance, the application of change theory which will be applied by altering the performance of foster care as well as policies employed to foster care along with the community’s opinion of foster children. Also, it shall start with providing the problems to be transformed to the related parties as well as influencing them to create a way for a change in the manner in which foster children are treated.

What is its mission?

The mission of the Child welfare is to protect, promote, and improve the protection, wellbeing as well as the healthy growth of children in addition to families; making certain the re-establishment of the children’s dignity, families as well as communities at large. Significantly, it is aligned with the core values of the agency as it aims for the wellbeing of the child and society in general. Furthermore, it portrays social change by checking on the healthy growth of the child who will be tomorrow's agent of change to family and society.

Here Lies their Vision into Child Welfare

The vision of the agency is to protect the family in the form of a unit, securing the marriage as well as the youngsters inside the family. Also, to address social needs of people and society through providing of expert social work administration. Moreover, according to Whittaker, (2017) explain that it will eliminate child abuse, sexual orientation and enabling individuals to get awareness from networks through the introduction of limit building and mindfulness projects and formative ventures. Furthermore, it will advocate for parents rights to contain unconditional care as well as contact to their real children. Since the vision scope comprises of generic strategy, it shall promote advocacy, social change as well as good leadership in the society.

Potential Key Stakeholders

According to the text of Strand (2018) many child welfare agencies should come to understand and know that they can not achieve any outcomes of safety, permanency or even well-being for the child’s best interests by performing along. In engaging potential key stakeholders, non profit organizations such as the Annie E. Casey do not bear the responsibility for child protection alone, but together as a team. Thus, for human and social service professionals in order to meet the needs of families and children it goes beyond the capability of one agency as the child welfare system is twice as big as any child welfare agency.

However, following the text of Stone, D'andrade, and Austin (2006) claims that the first stakeholder is the child family as it is internal; the objective is to give power to them so that the general family takes the protection of the child as their responsibility in child and family services reviews. Moreover, collaborating with external community stakeholders assists to make a community for child welfare, so as during the time the agency requires to support it acquires, for instance, government and finances institutions may aid during child abuse, neglect and abandon cases or passing away. Furthermore, Stone and colleagues (2006) suggest that partnerships, in addition, shall strengthen external stakeholders it fosters fundamental, efficient referrals of families for further services. Moreover, cooperative case organization with different service providers such as the family, plus its network will create required new programs, information gathering as well as services needed in the agency.

And what about the youth themselves? According to the text of () youth have or will become involved within the child welfare system have a greater insight involving the many challenges and barriers affecting them; yet, many non profit organizations do not partake them in the decision-making process or policy making conversations. These youth are able to promote social change, leadership and advocacy as they have the opportunity to examine the system firsthand and develop or even implement a nationwide campaign towards reform. Lastly, how can we forget about the judges who have all the decision-making power to determine whether or not a child needs to be removed from their home. Judges involved in juvenile court proceedings within the child welfare system are also good potential stakeholders who have the capability to take on the leadership role into improving court processes and even encouraging collaboration among systems and stakeholders to ensure the well-being of these children placed into the system.

Child Welfare Needs Assessment

In providing thorough and efficient assessment tools or strategies for caregivers, parents and even foster parents help practitioners gather enough information needed to determine proper interventions that will prevent maltreatment, strengthen family functioning and increase family stability. These sorts of needs assessment conducted for the purpose of child welfare helps human and social service professionals identify potential safety concerns, risks, strengths and resources necessary for the best response stemming for the child, parent and the whole family. Thus, steps I would take to conduct a needs assessment would include:

Step 1: Brainstorming and Planning

First of all, I will consider gathering all the concern key stakeholders who will tend to serve as the task force for the needs assessment regarding the child welfare project. In context, the group will include individuals in service delivery staff, leadership, consumers as well as volunteers. During the gathering, I will create questionnaires whereby I will be asking questions relating to various factors such as duration, frequency, scope severity and perceptions the project will take and aim (Cummings, 2016). Based on brainstorming, I will initiate validated methods like Modified Delphi Technique that is a simple meeting facilitation technique to give every participant an equal chance to contribute their voices as well as ideas regarding the concern project.

Step 2: Guiding Documents

I will collect and gather feedback that directly comes from the concern task force where then I will analyze. Thereafter, I will use the analyzed data to come up with concrete solutions to act as the guideline documents for the entire child welfare needs assessment. Besides, I will ensure that the documents are well attached and published in a comprehensive manner for both task force and stakeholders involved to clearly read and understand.

Step 3: secondary data collection

In step three, I will utilize the existing sources in formulating relevant information concerning the child welfare project. Moreover, I will use the secondary data or information to support the project’s questions in regards to my surveys, interviews and focus groups. Further, I will conduct an in-depth research on the available literature for an effective understanding on research evidence state relating to the subjective area associating to the child welfare project (Child Welfare Strategy Group).

Step 4: Primary data collection

I will also utilize both methods of collecting primary data including qualitative and quantitative methods which will help me in collecting direct information concerning the child welfare project from the people I will be serving. Some of the primary data sources I will initiate include electronic or written surveys, moderated focus groups and key informant interviews.

Step 5: Data analysis

With all data required for the project, I will tend to use both qualitative and quantitative analysis to verify the results. During the analyzing, I will seek help from a statistician who will help to predict the outcomes of the results and to determine whether the data collected are valid and relevant to the project.

Step 6: Gathering data through focus groups

In utilizing a community focus group comes in to addition to administering surveys. These focus groups will involve both adoptive, foster and kinship parents even including a few older youth in adoption, foster care or kinship care. The focus group will discuss things learned from the surveys to address barriers and informal supports that these families may be gettings from other parents or youth in similar situations. These focus groups will seek to answer questions of (1) challenges they face when attempting to meet the child’s needs, services they used that they thought were not helpful to them on an individual basis or for the family as a whole or the services they needed but had no access to.

Stakeholders

Some of the most significant stakeholders that I will prefer to include in the child welfare project include the government and the financial institutions. As a reason, it is evident that the project requires a heavy amount of capital to fund it to its completion. As such, the government and financial institutions will act as the funding sources as their contributions towards the project will assist the organization to successfully complete the project without interference that may arise as a result of lack of adequate funds for the project sustainability (Stones, 2006). Furthermore, as Stone and colleagues (2006) suggest, I will call upon partnerships with the same goals and objectives to work together and sharing ideas relevant to the project. In addition, I will also involves the community concerned to offer the first hand information regarding the challenges facing their children in day to day activities.

Stakeholder Survey

Question 1: Are children’s and parent’s self-identified needs incorporated into case plans?

Justification: How effective is the State or nonprofit organization in ensuring each child has a timely written case plan that involves the child’s parent as some programs to be used include Baltimore, GA, Jacksonville, FL and Gwinnett Programs.

Question 2: Identify which role you will play

Justification: Referral agency

Question 3: Evaluate the effectiveness of the six month reviews in promoting timely achievement of permanency for all children in foster care. Identify their strengths and barriers to effectiveness.

Justification: Periodic reviews helps to ensure children placed into foster homes are comfortable in their new homes and their needs are being met. Periodic reviews helps the professional establish the improvement children have made once being placed into a home examining their well-being, safety and stability into a new home for a long time.

Question 4: Who will engage in our project?

Justification: The community’s families will be engaged in the project where respect will be maintained to all members

Question 5: What will be your workforce timeline?

Justification: All concerned members are easily accessible and tend to respond to phone calls, text or email whenever possible.

Question 6: Significant of the services to be offered

Justification: All the services to be offered are to be focused on addressing the identified needs and requirements for the community.

Question 7: Which things are been done so well in the project?

Justification: Showing and demonstrating an honest interest regarding the well-being as well as safety of all children especially those in need of help.

Question 8: please show us how we can efficiently improve

Justification: increasing the number of families that are in need of the services concerning child welfare.

Question 9: Explain how decisions are made not to file a TPR and what the TPR policy is when no adoptive placement has been identified.

Justification: How effective is the State in filing for termination of parental rights (TPR) when a child has been in foster care for fifteen to twenty-two months and has yet to be adopted or reunifie back with family. ‘

Question 10: Evaluate the effectiveness of the ways foster parents, pre-adoptive parents and relative caregivers are given an opportunity to be heard.

Justification: Foster parents, pre-adoptive parents and relative caregivers have their rights and play an integral role in the child’s well-being, thus helping the judge form the right decision in placing the child in a safe loving home where the child’s needs are being met.

Annie E. Casey Foundation

It is often crucial for Annie E. Casey Foundations to first consider the feasibility of the project through detailed research before establishing such organizations. One of the most significant ways of acquiring and evaluating in-depth study for the organizations is the conduction of SWOT analysis. In context, the report tends to have an examination of the present weaknesses and strengths to encounter with the venture. Moreover, the report tends to entail potential threats as well as opportunities associated with child welfare projects.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths of the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Strength of an organization is the portion of SWOT analysis with discussion relating to the services offered by the organization. One of the essential strengths of the organization includes its effective foundation. In essence, the organization has been built on the basis of robust foundations styles that are aligned with the situations or conditions found in child welfare projects. The organization has a proper means and strategic plans of selecting only qualified employees within its different departments thereby making the organization to have efficiency in running its operations. In other words, it has adequate and effective workforce system with required talents for leadership who can drive different activities towards the right direction as well as coordinating with each other in achieving the organization’s goals and objectives. Secondly, leadership is among the strengths for the organization that has enabled the organization to operate steady. Substantially, the organization’s leaders are well equipped with skills relating to child safety and well-being of children within societies. As such, they are people with capabilities of offering counselling to parents on how well they should raise their children to become essential elements for the growth and development of their communities in the future. Besides, the organization has applied different types of leadership theories to its management system where before recruiting individuals, the management ensures the recruiters have necessary skills regarding the approaches. Thirdly, the way of the organization to align its operations with organizational theories is also strength for its growth and development. Contingency theory is one of the styles the organization applies to its management system. Based on the method, the leaders can effectively strike a balance between the behaviors, context as well as needs and wants of the organization’s stakeholders. With their skills on child welfare leadership, they are also able to assess the requirements and needs of all children while at the same time providing primary education to parents within different communities on parenting. Moreover, the organization’s employees are people who were born with individual business’s qualities. In essence, the management has ensured its leader's selection relies on people with necessary internal attributes in regards to leadership such as confidence, charisma, social skills, and intelligence. These sorts of conditions are not learned instead according to the “Great Man” theory; they are qualities which an individual is born with.

Weaknesses of the Annie E. Casey Foundation

It is essential for organizations to consider their potential weaknesses for preparation and avoidance of vital challenges that may incur to their operations. One of the substantial shortcomings of the organization is having insufficient resources to make it possible for the child welfare project (Cummings, 2016). In essence, most children in need tend to face primary challenges, such as having an inadequate food supply, shelter, and clothing. Moreover, the organization mostly includes children with no parents or guardians to take responsibilities on them and with limited or lack of opportunities of growing to something they might be wishing. Thereby, they end up being disconnected from healthy lives that other children tend to enjoy. The organization also has an insufficient workforce to ensure all activities within the organization’s facilities works appropriately. In essence, the lack of enough employees may lead to some important events to be left incomplete. There is a need for the organizations to consider hiring more employees to ensure all the essentials for the children are catered for and the organization’s operations and activities run smoothly. Besides, another weakness is the costs and procedures of obtaining a license for the organization’s process, including expenses relating to compliance with the entire local, state, and federal authorities are exorbitant. Also, the organization will require regular maintenance, which includes the costs associated with repairs, painting, furniture replacement, and other significant supplies. In general, the organization cannot sustain the entire operation on its own, and it requires support from other recognized organizations, including the support from the government agencies.

Opportunities of the Annie E. Casey Foundation

There are vast numbers of potential opportunities associated with the project of child welfare plan, and they can be of excitement. In essence, such organizations to help the needy will always get help from various departments, including the government. As such, the organization will rely on the funds provided by such departments to grow and develop, thereby being able to accumulate as many children as possible. Also, due to the funds, the organization will get an opportunity to ease the difficulties of employing more workers in different departments to ensure all operations run smoothly as it would be intended. Further, there are high chances of the government to share its significant programs meant for helping children well-being through partnering with the organization. Such opportunities can help the organization in accomplishing its important goals and objectives of ensuring all children have access to being taken care of and fulfillment of their fundamental needs.

Threats of the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Every organization working has its factors that tend to offer threats to its daily operations. The Annie E. Casey Foundation is not of any exceptions as it has potential risks that, together with its weaknesses, may provide significant challenges to its services if not considerations are taken. One of the significant threats includes the lawsuits associating with children cases. Necessarily, there are many cases relating to children's disappearance, and when they are brought to the organization’s facilities, circumstances may arise regarding the illegal adoption of children (Whittaker, 2017). Besides, accommodating such children is a responsibility that the management should take into account since any form of damage of harm to any of the children will be held accountable for the organization at large. Also, due to high competition, the organization may incur if the strategic plan fails to push through. Obviously, a large amount that was used to start the organization may be at risk of vanishing in case the organization’s strategic plan will not be successfully implemented.

Environmental scanning

Most importantly, it is essential to conduct a meeting with all the organization’s stakeholders, including the entire employees and the community which the organization will be operating from. All the stakeholders will be allowed to offer information about the condition of the environment in the working areas and their thoughts on how well things are going to be handled to ensure operations run positively. Besides, the parents with insufficient funds to raise children will be allowed to offer their views and state the significant obstacles that tend to face them when raising their children.

Internal and external condition that might impact the strategic plan implementation

One of the internal factors that may impact the strategic plan implementation includes the organization workforce. In essence, the outcome of the operations within the organization highly depends on its employees’ effort. As such, it is essential for the management to first consider the needs of its employees and to ensure their work conditions or environment to sustain their efforts. Another crucial factor to impact the strategic plan implementation has inadequate funds from within needed to complete the project. Most strategic plans of many organizations tend to fail as a result of lacking enough capital for implementation (Chamberlain, 2016). To minimize such impacts, the management should ensure all the needs of their employees are met, and the environmental conditions relating to their workplace are sustainable and conducive.

The main external factor that may impact the organization’s strategic plan implementation is competition. Necessarily, there are many similar organizations to support children welfare. Such organizations may be having strong foundations, thereby attracting more big organizations and the government to direct their funds to them, thus neglecting the organization funds to grow and develop it and implementing its strategic plan. As a solution, the organization should come up with a comprehensive strategy and showcase or notify big organizations to attract them to the organization’s strategic plan. Besides, the management should send inquiries to the government agencies for funding the structure of the organization.

Part IV: The Technicals

The manner in which I carry out different activities is as a result of my strategic goals. The goals have been able to control my way of doing different activities in my organization. However, some of my strategic goals include:

• Come up with new machines

• Increasing children’s satisfaction

• Gaining market position

As far as coming up with new machines is concerned, it will enable me to attract a large number of customers from different parts of the country. It is as a result of the new machines whereby the business will be able to increase the number of people served within a given period of time. (Jenson, 2018)

For the purposes of ensuring that the new machines are used in an effective manner, I will be able to employ a group of specialists which will help in ensuring that the quality skills are introduced in the organization.

I will again ensure that I am focused on ensuring that the satisfaction of the children in the business is enhanced. This will play important roles in ensuring that the business addresses the available competition in the best way possible. The satisfaction of the children’s needs will enable the business to gain market position therefore increasing the profits made at a given period of time.

The issues of globalization might end up affecting my strategic goals both positively and negatively. However, the right measures will be taken to ensure that the issues of globalization are addressed in a way that will bring about positive effects to the organization. (McGuire, 2018)

I will therefore form alliances with the other competing companies in the market so as to ensure that the children are provided with quality goods and services. The opportunities experienced as a result of alliances include:

• Increased number of customers in the business

• Improved profit making

• Low employees’ turnover

On the other hand, the alliances are important due to the fact that they will increase the number of customers in the business. This will be brought about by the availability of man power in the organization therefore making it easy for the marketing and advertisement of the products to be carried out accordingly.

For the purposes of implementing the coming up with new machines I will use strategies such as employment of skilled employees and the motivation of the existing employees so as to increase their innovation. For me to implement the satisfaction of the children’s needs, I will therefore use strategies such as listening to their complaints and ensuring that the gaps in the market are filled. Finally, I will implement the gaining of the market position goal by identifying the gaps in the market as well as listening to the children’s complaints. (Strand, 2018)

The general manager will therefore be responsible for the monitoring and the execution of the strategic plan. However, I will address the accountability in the organization by ensuring that the leaders are encouraged to play their roles accordingly. This will lead to a reduction of the losses in the organization.

For the monitoring and the execution of the activities in the strategic plan, the general manager will be responsible. Again, the supervisors will be responsible for ensuring that the employees carry out their tasks accordingly. On the other hand, I will track the employees’ accountability by ensuring that their performance is managed in an effective manner.

The clients and stakeholders will play important roles in ensuring that accountability is enhanced. The clients will be required to report the cases of the incompetence of the employees. For the clients and stakeholders to be able to play an effective role in the accountability of the organization, I will come up with a motivation plan. This will play significant roles in encouraging them to report the cases of the leaders who are not accountable (Strand, 2018.

Moreover, risk-adjusting the service population to reflect the developmental differences in children entering child welfare is an important element of sound measurement. Differentiating the outcomes for children based on their age at entry controls for developmental differences in the service population that affect the type and timing of system outcomes. Therefore, four indicators that would signify success with regard to the strategic plan would include:

1. Safety Indicators: Child safety is a top priority for the child welfare system. Thus, the safety indicators would be examined and measured with three factors from maltreatment recurrence (the rate in which children experience maltreatment following the initial investigation of maltreatment, maltreatment in out-home care (the rate at which children experience maltreatment while placed in foster care) and reentry to foster care (the rate at which children experience placement into foster care subsequent to reunification with their parents.

2. Permanency Indicators: In reunifying children with their parents or finding them adoptive homes as quickly as possible, these second indicator can be observed during different time periods and by using the date from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that will demonstrate a sizable portion of children are not waiting long in out-of-home foster care to be adopted, thus children are being placed in homes where they are generating good permanency or placement stability.

3. Well-Being Indicators: Well-being indicators of physical health, mental health and education problems should be measured as children enter and exit the child welfare system to assess their issues upon entering and exiting the child welfare system to see how much the child has benefited from the services or resources offered to them. As according to the text of Chernoff et al., (1994) children entering the child welfare system appear to have a number of physical health problems, repeated a grade or received SED services; However, enhancing child and family well-being should be a major goal of the child welfare system, especially when children come into the child welfare system with a variety of problems and it makes it hard for professionals to determine if the child improved or have been exacerbated by experiences in out-of-home care. Thus, families have enhanced capacity to provide for their children’s needs and children receive the appropriate services to meet educational needs.

4. Administrative Indicators: Administrative indicators will be measured on the indidence of abuse or neglect in foster care measuring the percentage of children in foster care during the period under review that have been the subject of indicated maltreatment for a foster parent or facility staff during a six month period.

Part V. Action Plans for Child Welfare

The action plan on how to execute the stated strategic plan in four years. The strategic plans included the introduction of the new machine in order to attract new customers, introduction or improvised children production in order to increase children's satisfaction and increase the client coverage. The new machines will equip the employees with new skills and the urge for innovation. Gaining of market position was also a strategic plan that was stated. In stating the action plan, there should be an indication of how the goals will be achieved and the people responsible for the plans. In creation of more machines, the resources must be stated clearly in terms of funding. The original machines must also be outlined and how the newly intended machines will improve the work output.

In increasing children satisfaction, the features on the new products must be clearly stated and how they will work better compared to the already existing goods. Besides that, there might be emerging side effects both positive and negative which should be clearly understood. In the move to globalize the market as a strategic plan, the moves must be stated and the resources required. During the action plan, there must be supervisors and clearly written reports that will lead to an organized way of working and the supervisors will be responsible for giving directions on what to be done.

In plans established in child welfare needs improvement should be complete current and clear must explain the changes that will occur when used to displace the already existing mode of business operation. Moreover, the plan should include the ideas that were gathered during brainstorming and planning during child welfare needs assessment. There were various secondary and primary data that were collected through various methods and they contain a detailed information on the previous performance of the company. The data also contains the analyzed information about the competition received by the company from other companies. The guiding document are important in the action plans since it contains the information on stakeholders and the shares own across the company.

The stakeholder survey acts as a great guide to establish the division or roles and the programs to be utilized during the running of the action plan. The challenges facing children must also be put into consideration as a way of ensuring the action plan favor every potential customer across the market.

In conclusion, a strategic action plan is very important expecting of ensuring that the stated goal of the company is executed step by step. The section plan is important since it will always create a reference point so that in case of any mistake, it's easy to fix. The plan also gives a blueprint of how and who will be responsible for the process. Therefore, during the process of creating the plan, it is imperative the the previous research done should be visited.

References

Chamberlain, P., Feldman, S. W., Wulczyn, F., Saldana, L., & Forgatch, M. (2016). Implementation and evaluation of linked parenting models in a large urban child welfare system. Child abuse & neglect, 53, 27-39

Child Welfare Strategy Group. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.aecf.org/work/child-welfare/child-welfare-strategy-group//

Cummings, S., Bridgman, T., & Brown, K. G. (2016). Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management. Human relations, 69(1), 33-60.

García-Sánchez, I. M., & Lorenzo, J. M. P. (2009). Decisive factors in the creation and execution of municipal action plans in the field of sustainable development in the European Union. Journal of Cleaner Production, 17(11), 1039-1051.

Jenson, J. M., & Hawkins, J. D. (2018). Ensure healthy development for all youth. Grand challenges for social work and society, 18-35.

McGuire, L., Rizzo, M. T., Killen, M., & Rutland, A. (2018). The development of intergroup resource allocation: The role of cooperative and competitive in-group norms. Developmental psychology, 54(8), 1499.

Stone, S., D'andrade, A., & Austin, M. (2006). Educational services for children in foster care: Common and contrasting perspectives of child welfare and education stakeholders.Journal of Public Child Welfare, 1(2), 53-70.

Strand, V. C. (2018). Introduction: Developing trauma sensitive child welfare systems. In Trauma responsive child welfare systems (pp. 3-11). Springer, Cham.

Strand, V. C., & Sprang, G. (Eds.). (2018). Trauma Responsive Child Welfare Systems. Springer.

Whittaker, J. K. (2017). The child welfare challenge: Policy, practice, and research. Routledge.

Young, R. M. (1999, February). Notes on the use of plan structures in the creation of interactive plot. In AAAI fall symposium on narrative intelligence (pp. 164-167).