MRS 8v3 DRAFT - North Carolina
MRS!INFORMATION IN SUPPORT OF NORTH CAROLINA’S MULTIPLE RESPONSE SYSTEMMRS: We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby!MRS Meetingsby Holly McNeillWelcome! This is a special issue of the MRS newsletter,because it is our last. Not because the work is done, orbecause there’s nothing left to be said, but because we’reevolving. As we always intended, the Multiple Response System (MRS) has become simply the way we do business inchild welfare here in North Carolina. And you can be assuredthat we continue to work to grow and strengthen our practice to ensure that weare doing everything we can to achieve the best possible outcomes for familiesand children.MRS and System of Caremeetings take placethree times monthly viaconference call. To learnthe dates and times ofeach call and to get otherupdates, be a part of theMRS listserv. To join, askHolly McNeill to add you tothe list.MRS YesterdayOh, this is such a fun issue to write! It’s fun because I get to brag about all thefabulous work that social workers, supervisors, administrators, agencies, universities, and the NC Division of Social Services have done since MRS began way backin the late 1990s. continued next pageCall-in and logininformation for MRS callsare always the same:We’re Still Here for YouAlthough this is the last issue of MRS! the Divisioncontinues to make past issues of this publication available. Topics addressed by past issues include:www.ncdhhs.gov/dss/mrs/10:00-11:30 a.m.Call-in number:218/936-4141Access code: 956303Link to join in on the web:https://dss.ncgovconnect.com/mrs Shared Parenting: Overcoming Barriers (Dec. 2011)MRS Questions? MRS and Rates of Juvenile Petitions (Oct. 2011)If you have questionsregarding theimplementation of anyaspect of MRS, pleasecontact Holly McNeill at828/757-5672 orholly.mcneill@dhhs.nc.gov Working with the Courts (Oct. 2008)www.practicenotes.org/ CFTs for Teens in Foster Care (July 2008) Frontloading Services (Jan. 2008) MRS and System of Care (July 2007) Collaboration with Work First (Jan. 2007)Plus, we still have many really great and well-estab-www.fosteringperspectives.orglished publications, including Children’s Services Practice Notes, Fostering Perspectives, and Training Matters.In these newsletters you can continue to find information that will be helpful to you in the work you do.www.trainingmatters-nc.org
2Training DatesAdult Mental HealthIssues Which ImpactFamilies Served by ChildWelfareAug. 6–22Nov. 4–21All onlineChild Development inFamilies at RiskJuly 23–Aug. 20Aug. 5-Sept. 4Sept. 17-Oct. 15Oct. 1-29All onlineTo learn about thesecourses or to register, go tohttp://www.ncswLearn.orgVol. 8, No. 3 July 2013MRS! is published bythe NC Division of SocialServices and the JordanInstitute for Families at theUniversity of North Carolinaat Chapel Hill School ofSocial Work. This issuewas created by PatrickBetancourt, Holly McNeill,and John McMahon.Comments?Contact Patrick Betancourt,Child Welfare Services,NC Division of SocialServices, 919/334-1104;continued from previous pageMRS began for me while I was with CaldwellCounty DSS. At that point I was at not at allconvinced that this whole “MRS” idea was goingto work. After all, it just wasn’t the way we hadalways done things in child welfare. In particular, I had my doubts about the use of an alternaWhen I saw how MRS helpedtive response in child protective services.families I overcame my initialYou know how this story goes: Girl doesn’tdoubts to become its biggestcheerleader!believe. Girl is schooled by open-minded colleagues. Girl sees amazing results in families. Girl becomes head cheerleader!Without getting too lost in the history of it all, I do want to send a shoutout to my many colleagues across the state who were present at the beginningof MRS, both in county agencies and at the Division. Some had their own misgivings about MRS. Others had a fearless vision. Each of us played a part in startingwhat I believe is the most comprehensive system reform effort in this country.We MRS pioneers share a special secret. If you promise not tell anyone I willshare it with you. . . what we developed was only a seed. A magic bean, really. Ithas been nurtured with the sunshine of many ideas, cultivated with an innovative spirit, and watered with showers of questions that helped us make changeswhen changes were needed. And oh, what seed it was. . .MRS TodayWhere is North Carolina’s child welfare system today? Things aren’t perfect, butlet’s do what we do with families (parallel process!) and consider what is working. What has the magic bean that is MRS produced?continued next pageThe 7 Strategies of MRSPrinciples of PartnershipNC’s Multiple Response System is a multipronged effort to make its child welfaresystem safer, more effective, and morefamily-centered. It uses seven strategies:The NC Division of Social Services usedthe following six family-centered principles of partnership to help agenciesengage families and implement MRS: Everyone desires respect Everyone needs to be heard Everyone has strengths Judgments can wait Partners share power Partnership is a processToday, the Division’s vision is that allprograms it administers will embracefamily-centered practice principles andprovide services to promote security andsafety for all.1. Strengths-based, structured CPSintake process2. Choice of two approaches to CPSreports (i.e., differential response)Online3. Coordination between lawenforcement agencies and CPS oninvestigative assessmentswww.ncdhhs.gov/dss/mrs4. Redesign of in-home family servicespatrick.betancourt@dhhs.nc.gov5. Child and family team meetings6. Shared parenting meetings7. Collaboration between Work First andchild welfare programs
3continued from previous pageTraining DatesA New Way of Thinking. Over the years, my fellow trainers and I have seena tremendous shift in the way social workers think about families. It not wouldbe an exaggeration to say that five years ago, a majority of the child welfarestaff we saw in training judged families quickly and harshly. They believed thatwhen families missed visits or failed to follow through in some other way it wasdue to a moral failing (laziness, apathy, etc.). Thanks to MRS, today most tell usthat families are just scared, or struggling with change—just as we all strugglewith change. That’s a huge shift in our thinking, one I believe makes us betterat engaging families and therefore better (more effective) at helping them.New Language. Can changing a word here or there really make a difference?North Carolina’s experience implementing MRS shows that it can, as long asthere is an underlying change in thinking to go along with the new language.Now, to be clear, if you call something a “Family Assessment,” but it stilllooks and feels exactly like a traditional CPS investigation, then the change inlanguage won’t make much difference. But when we use “assessment” language,rather than “investigation” language AND we demonstrate, through words andactions, that we are not trying to “catch” someone, but instead are genuinelycurious about what is going on and how we might help, most families feel muchbetter about our presence in their lives. They’re more likely to accept the supportwe can give them, which leads to better results for kids.Internal Partnerships. A change brought by MRS that I think is often overlooked are the new partnerships that have been formed inside DSS. Before MRS,in many agencies there was quite a divide between Economic Services (WorkFirst, Food and Nutrition, Medicaid ) and Child Welfare. Today, thanks to MRS,there’s more partnership and increased communication between these two veryimportant parts of DSS. This, in turn, results in more resources for families, lesscontinued next pageduplication of service, and less confusion for families.MRS: A Timeline2001 NC Legislature mandates the NCDivision of Social Services developand pilot differential responsesystem2002 Pilot of MRS begins in 10 counties NCDSS begins crafting MRS policy inclose partnership with pilot counties2003 Legislature approves expansion ofMRS MRS now in 52 counties Policy development continues2006 Legislature authorizes statewideimplementation All NC counties begin implementing MRS Duke University preliminary evaluation ofMRS. Findings are that under MRS:— Children are just as safe— CPS responses are just as timely— Frontloading of services increases— Increasing frontloaded minutes reducesprobability a child will come back intothe system within six months2013 Support for MRS implementation continuesAdoptions in ChildWelfare ServicesOct. 22-25FayettevilleDec. 10-13GreensboroChild Welfare Practicesfor Cases InvolvingDomestic ViolenceJuly 24-25GreensboroAug. 19-20CandlerOct. 16-17WilmingtonOct. 24-25CharlotteCPS AssessmentsAug. 27-30GreensboroSept. 16-19WilmingtonOct. 8-11CharlotteOct. 29-Nov. 1CandlerCPS In-Home ServicesAug. 8-9NashvilleSept. 24-27FayettevilleOct. 15-18CharlotteNov. 5-8GreensboroEffects of Separationand Loss on AttachmentJuly 22-23GreensboroAugust 22-23CandlerOct. 15-16Lenoir County
4Training DatesIntakeAug. 13-15HalifaxDec. 10-12GreensboroIV-E: An OverviewJuly 18LumbertonSept. 11GreensboroOct. 17WilmingtonNov. 6ClydeLegal AspectsAug. 7-8BooneSept. 5-6GreensboroNov. 21-22MorgantonDec. 12-13BeaufortLife Books: Motivatingthe Memory KeepersJuly 22FayettevilleOct. 21GreensboroMedical AspectsJuly 30-31FayettevilleAug. 13-14SmithfieldOct. 9-10GreenvilleNov. 5-6CandlerDec. 2-3Winston-Salemcontinued from previous pageIn county DSS agencies, everyone is busy. Often we don’t feel we have timeto learn what our colleagues are doing “on the other side” or “on that otherfloor or building.” But MRS has helped us realize thatPlans developed with thethe truth is we don’t have time not to partner with our family and their naturalinternal colleagues.supports are much moreExternal Partners. Another big shift we’ve seen likely to be successful.Child and Family Teamover the “MRS years” is the way we work with external meetings have helped uspartners. I believe that North Carolina was fortunate in put that into practice.that at about the same time we were developing ourMRS, three counties were also learning about System of Care through a federalgrant, and we discovered that the philosophies of System of Care were a great fitwith the tenets of MRS. Many counties have made huge strides in how they workwith community partners. This includes having regular meetings, educating eachother, and sharing work and even—gasp!—money. Which of course leads me towhat I think is one of our biggest achievements since implementing MRS . . .Child and Family Teams. The use of Child and Family Teams (CFTs) has supported great growth and change in our journey towards partnerships with familiesand others. In the training room, my colleagues and I hear that fewer serviceagreements are being written at the computer in a social worker’s office and manymore are being developed during CFTs—with families in the driver’s seat.Research tells us that plans developed with the family and their natural supports are much more likely to be successful. CFTs have helped us to put that intopractice. Although before MRS there were some counties that were using someform of family meetings (e.g., Family Group Decision Making), today North Carolina’s child welfare system has a model of its own, promoting consistency acrosscounties. We also have seen the use of CFTs picked up by many of our community partners, such as the schools, juvenile justice, and mental health. Again,anecdotal data tells us that CFTs are meeting several needs, including helping usprevent out-of-home placement, plan appropriately when placements are necessary, and holding families accountable for their own goals and behaviors.Shared Parenting. For the counties that have embraced this MRS strategy, Shared Parenting has brought about a new kind partnership between birthand foster parents. Counties report that Shared Parenting provides comfort andreassurance to birth parents, early communication to ease the transition forchildren, and a chance to plan for those unplanned encounters that sometimescause problems or hurt feelings. I hear wonderful stories of how Shared Parenting is being used and benefiting all parties.Empirical EvidenceDuke University’s Center for Child and Family Policy has conducted several formalevaluations of MRS. Here are some highlights:2004. Duke’s initial evaluation (done pro bono) found children were no lesssafe when agencies used the Family Assessment response during continued next page
5continued from previous pageCPS. It also underscored the value and efficacy of frontloading services: it foundthat the more time we spend on the assessment phase, the less time familiesspend in CPS in-home services.2009. This evaluation reaffirmed that child safety is not adversely affectedby the Family Assessment response. Furthermore, it found repeat assessmentsdecreased after the implementation of MRS. Good stuff! Other findings: CFTs. Though families and social workers found CFTs effective, agenciesstruggled with fidelity to our CFT model. We continue to work on this. Shared Parenting. Though counties who used Shared Parenting foundit very helpful, many had not begun to implement it. This is still truetoday, although I believe use of Shared Parenting is on the rise. Supervision. Supervisors play a key role in the success of the implementation of key MRS practices. (Surprise!) The Division engages supervisorswhenever possible to inform the policy and practice across the state.2011. Findings: there appears to be no connection between the implementation of MRS and the decrease in juvenile petitions. This final evaluation alsolooked at rates of TPRs and repeat maltreatment and found that child safety ison an upward trend in North Carolina.ConclusionThere are always new things to learn and brave new strategies to try. MRS continues to teach us to try something new, and not to be afraid of getting it wrongthe first time. That’s how we learn! Let’s keep challenging ourselves, learningfrom each other, and working to better our partnerships with families, internalcolleagues, and community partners.And never fear, you won’t miss me after this last edition of MRS! I’ll still beon those 3 conference calls a month.We’ve come a long way with MRS, North Carolina. And the journey continues!Evaluations of the Multiple Response SystemConsult the following resources to learn more about theimpact that MRS has had on child welfare practice inNorth Carolina. These evaluations were conducted by DukeUniversity’s Center for Child and Family Policy. 2011 MRS Evaluation 011.pdf MRS-System of Care Policy Brief (Spring 20Brief.pdf 2009 MRS Evaluation ort.pdf 2006 MRS Evaluation es/MRS FinalReport-06.pdf 2004 MRS Evaluation uation%20Report%202004.pdfTraining DatesPlacement in ChildWelfare ServicesAug. 13-16GreensboroOct. 22-25FayettevilleNov. 19-22CandlerDec. 3-6CharlottePS-MAPPAug. 27-Sept. 13FayettevilleOct. 8-25GreensboroNov. 19-Dec. 5CharlotteShared ParentingJuly 23-24FayettevilleOct. 28-29GreensboroDec. 16-17CharlotteUnderstanding ChildMental Health IssuesSept. 3-Oct. 3Nov. 4–Dec. 10All onlineTo learn about thesecourses or to register, go tohttp://www.ncswLearn.org
MRS: We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby! by Holly McNeill Welcome! This is a special issue of the MRS newsletter, because it is our last. Not because the work is done, or because there’s nothing left to be said, but because we’re evolving. As we always intended, the Multiple Response Sys-tem (MRS) has become simply the way we do business in
Mr. David & Mrs. Gail Krasner Mr. Gary & Mrs. Tanya Krim Dr. Seth & Mrs. Riki Landa Mr. Avery & Mrs. Linda Laub Dr. Murray Leben Dr. Paul & Mrs. Esther Lerer Dr Miles & Mrs. Valerie Levin Mr. Nathan & Mrs. Shari Lindenbaum Mr. Richard & Mrs. Leora Linhart Mr. Steven & Mrs. Sally Malech Mr. Stan Mandelkern M
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Reimers Ms. Ann Rems b urg Ms. Mary Reynolds Dr. & Mrs. William G. Rhoades Mrs. Jean Ripperda Mrs. Betty May Ro b ertson Major & Mrs. Ro b ert R. Ro b inson III Mr. & Mrs. Donald Roller Mr. & Mrs. Mike Rossman Mr. & Mrs. E. Hartley Sappington Mr. Donald L. Schmidt Dr. & Mrs. Dale Sc
anchor polled herefords ms. laurel walker mrs. dorothy skelton mr. & mrs. russ & kay kiefer mr. & mrs. robert & nancy kropp mrs. karen lathrop ms. lori lathrop anonymous fort shaw bible church mr. & mrs. ron & spencee eli mr. & mrs. paul & berva hinderager: anchor polled herefords mr. & mrs. david & deborah kelly mrs. mary kyler mr. & mrs.
Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Hubert Mr. and Mrs. Stacey Huels Ms. Janet N. Hugg The Humenansky Family Foundation Images Med Spa Mr. and Mrs. James K. Janik Mrs. Laura Jensen Mr. and Mrs. John Johanneson Ms. Patricia A. Johansen Mr. and Mrs. Brian D. Johnson Mr. and Mrs. Richard Johnson Mr. and Mrs. David Jones Mr. and Mrs. John Joseph Judy Hsu Family .
KLOPFER v, NORTH CAROLINA. Syllabus. KLOPFER v. NORTH CAROLINA. CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF NORTH CAROLINA. No. 100. Argued December 8, 1966.-Decided March 13, 1967. Petitioner's trial on a North Carolina criminal trespass indictment ended with a declarati
Mr. Robert J. Bukovac & Mrs. Sandra L. Bukovac Mr. Peter Buksa & Mrs. Irena Buksa Mr. David Burge & Mrs. Julie Burge Mr. Patrick Burris & Mrs. Kathy Burris Mr. Robert W. Burruss & Mrs. Maureen J. Burruss Mrs. Atha Cahalan Ms. Mary Ann Caissie Mr. Salvador J. Caldaron & Mrs. Martha A. Caldaron Mr. John Calvarese & Mrs. Jeannie Calvarese
Mr. Frank Geraci Ms. Beth Gertmenian Mr. & Mrs. Dennis Gertmenian Mrs. Marcia Good Marissa Good Mrs. Dlorah Gonzales Mrs. Lucy Guernsey Dr. Michael Gunson Mr. Asadour Hadjian Mr. & Mrs. Frederick J. Hameetman Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Hamilton Dr. & Mrs. George Helou Mrs. Pamela Hemann Dr.
The modern approach is fact based and lays emphasis on the factual study of political phenomenon to arrive at scientific and definite conclusions. The modern approaches include sociological approach, economic approach, psychological approach, quantitative approach, simulation approach, system approach, behavioural approach, Marxian approach etc. 2 Wasby, L Stephen (1972), “Political Science .
