Caroline County Results for Child Well-Being

Story Behind the Curve

The rate of births per 1,000 adolescents in Caroline County rose sharply from 47.6 in 2008 to 65.2 in 2009, then dropped to a five-year low of 24.9 in 2012. Although Caroline County ranks 6th highest in the State, the percentages have continued to drastically decrease each year. This can be attributed to the School/Community Program for Sexual Risk Reduction Among Teens. This Program was chosen by the HSC to continue due to its success and the need to maintain the education being provided.

Strategies to improve these indicators

School/Community Program for Sexual Risk Reduction Among Teens

Why Is This Important?

Adolescent mothers are more likely to drop out of high school, experience unemployment, or if employed, earn lower wages than women who begin childbearing after age 20. Children born to teen mothers face increased risks of low birth weight, prematurity, infant mortality, developmental disabilities, and poverty.

Story Behind the Curve

Alcohol use rates among Caroline County students decreased from 2001 to 2007, but increased in 2011. However, a different survey was administered in that year. Even so, Caroline County's use rates have been consistently higher than Maryland's. 2011 is the latest jurisdictional data available. It is perceived that without the School Based Addictions Program, the addiction rates would rise dramatically as drug use on the Shore continues to be a severe problem. More students are seeking the help of the Addictions Counselor in the schools.

Strategies to improve these indicators

Addictions Counselor in the Schools

Why Is This Important?

Use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs poses many health risks for youth. Early use of some substances (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana) is associated with later drug use and the prevalence of high-risk behaviors.

Story Behind the Curve

Indicated child abuse and neglect rates in Caroline County have dropped over the years from 10.1 in 1999 to 5.1 in 2008, but remain higher than the Maryland average. In FY12 the rate per 1,000 in Caroline County was just below the MD average. The Respite Program has assisted parents in coping with special needs youth in an effort to keep the youth in the home and preventing out-of-home placement.

Strategies to improve these indicators

Planned and Crisis Respite

Why Is This Important?

Building a community that supports the Indicator Safety, family life is especially important in a rural community where resources are few and limited. Only through a concerted effort to bring all sectors of the community together can we hope to create a county where children and families are safe in their homes and live in safe and supportive neighborhoods.

Story Behind the Curve

1st qtr FY18

This quarter we proceeded with the admission of one new client. New admissions have been virtually on hold barring emergencies until a second Behavior Interventionist was hired. This was enacted to make sure that quality services were provided to all of our currently enrolled clients. Fortunately we were able to hire an excellent candidate right after the end of the quarter, and that employee is in the process of transitioning into the position. We will likely have many more admissions through the second quarter, as we are already pursuing new referrals for the second quarter. In addition we are serving 8 carry-over families from the previous fiscal year as well as 13 individual clients from those families. Our consistent work to strengthen the pool of our community partners has given us the ability to continue to tap into the needs of the families in the community.

During the first quarter, one of our families made three visits to the Caroline County Detention Center (CCDC) to visit their incarcerated father. It was their goal to be able to visit monthly and the family was able to achieve that goal. The family would try to stay connected with their father by playing word and number games. In addition, the behavior interventionist working that case made regular trips out to CCDC to meet with the father to keep him up to date on any behavior interventions taking place in the home. This was the program’s way of keeping the father as involved with the family as possible. The father will be released in the second quarter, and it is our hope that he will continue to have a strong relationship with his children. Our behavior team worked consistently with the father on release planning to aid in trying to achieve that goal.  

 The Child and Behavior Support Program made one discharge this quarter, and this young person was able to show an improvement on the CAFAS. In addition, this same family reported that their family relationships and stability have improved with support through the program.

 The program did not have any parents or caregivers that were released this quarter, so we do not have any numbers to support the metric of relationships continued six months after release. However, we are very excited to proclaim that we already had a parent getting released at the beginning of the second quarter and we look forward to this parent continuing to pursue a relationship with their family. 

2nd Qtr

This quarter our program focused intently on strengthening our community ties, as well as working to improve upon the services we provide. In early November, CFBSP had some of our employees attend a Strengthening Families training, an evidence based family support program, to add to our repertoire of interactions and skillsets in regards to the care we provide to our families and the community. This quarter our program can boast quite the success story. The client’s father who was being released from incarceration at the end of last quarter has attained housing, found employment and has almost entirely reclaimed care of one of his children. The child is now successfully living with this father, who was released from incarceration in October. We expect that this relationship will continue. This is the main reason for a decrease in our working with incarcerated parents, and their interactions with children because this client is no longer incarcerated. In addition to this success, we have been working to continue to increase our partnerships with Caroline Count Public Schools and the Board of Education. The Child and Family Behavior Support Program participated in presentations to Colonel Richardson High School, North Caroline High School, and the Board of Education’s Parents of Truant Children seminar meeting. We can also boast participation in the Board of Child Care’s Fall Fest, the Lights on Afterschool event, and an invitation to Caroline County’s Multi-Dimensional Team Meeting. As a program we are also working to improve our community of care, beginning to forge better partnerships with local Mental Health providers in the area. In February we will be presenting our program at a For All Seasons staff meeting so that we can continue to partner with our clients’ Mental Health Professionals. It takes a team of people to support our families, and we are hoping that a close partnership with local OMHC’s will provide a more seamless community of care. In addition to all this, we have also increased the number of IEP’s that we have previously attended, working to ensure that our clients and families have the necessary school services. This can attributed to our continuously growing partnership with the school system, and the Board of Education’s diligent work to embrace our program. This has also allowed us to begin a regiment of in school visitations for cases where this is more appropriate than home visitation. On the level on the individual client, out of the five discharges that commenced this quarter, four of our completion of services surveys were overwhelmingly positive. Overall we believe we can claim having a successful quarter, as we are continuing to try to adapt to the needs of the county and establish ourselves as a viable community resource and advocate. 

FINAL REPORT

Story Behind

To best explain our data for the final quarter, we want to highlight what the program focused on most. We wanted to extend our services to as many families as possible. The goal was to get most, if not all the families who were on the waiting list for longer than 2 months, enrolled with services. We also focused on expanding our services in the school last quarter, but wanted to solidify and hold regular weekly sessions with youth from our program in the middle schools. This quarter we began seeing a group of students at Lockerman Middle School every Wednesday in conjunction with the weekly visit at Colonel Richardson Middle School. CFBSP staff knew the program was ending when admitting the students explaining this to the family and school administration. Luckily the school year ended before the program did, so the services for the month and a half were well appreciated and were impactful for the youth. We made this decision because behaviors were at a high as the end of the school year was approaching. Lockerman Middle school reached out for support to best assist their troubled youth. Our program was able to act quickly before the youth were sent to alternative school.

We struggled in communicating with the incarcerated parent/ guardian as none of the staff members communicated directly with parents/ guardians who were ever incarcerated. Almost every case that had an impact by incarceration, had the incarcerated adult no longer in the child’s life, still in prison, or not living in the home with the child. Because there was limited interaction with the family and the incarcerated family member, this made it hard for CFBSP staff to communicate and extend services to them. Our team expanded the program this quarter from having just 1 Behavior Interventionist, to 2 Behavior Interventionist starting in the month of April. We also increased our number of youth in the program from 11 to 25. This was all made possible by having the additional staff member who helped to begin services for families on our waiting list, and current staff member extended the case load from 8 to 15. We also want to highlight Lockerman Middle school and Caroline Board of Education Pupil Personnel workers for the many referrals and ensuring a space was provided when our staff went out to the schools to see clients. A challenge the CFBSP staff had was knowing how to interact and communicate with those family members who were currently incarcerated. Additional trainings and information about how to go about obtaining contact with current incarcerated adults would have helped in overcoming that barrier. Our youth this quarter learned a lot about themselves and spent many interactive, one on one moments with CFBSP when they earned incentives. Many of the incentives were earned through a chart system implemented by the B.I and enforced at home by the parents. At the end of this quarter, 4 youth were formally discharged from the program. The remaining clients were notified about the program ending and the stopping of services. All families were mailed a client completion survey to get their input on the program.

 

Partners

1st Qtr FY18

• -Caroline County Detention Center- Rosalind Roberts, Health Services Coordinator Dawn Catts, Lieutenant Moore
• -Caroline County School System: Colonel Richardson Middle (Trisha Bolduc, Jennifer Blount), Greensboro Elementary, North Caroline High School, Colonel Richardson High School, Lockerman Middle
• -For All Seasons (Caroline Eglseder)
• -Eastern Shore Psychological Services
• -Maryland Choices
• -Department of Social Service: Robin Bigelow, Erica Taylor

2nd Qtr

• -Caroline County Detention Center- Rosalind Roberts, Health Services Coordinator Dawn Catts, Lieutenant Moore
• -Caroline County School System: Colonel Richardson Middle (Trisha Bolduc, Jennifer Blount), Greensboro Elementary, North Caroline High School, Colonel Richardson High School, Lockerman Middle
• -For All Seasons
• -Eastern Shore Psychological Services
• -Maryland Choices
• -Maryland Coalition of Families
• -Department of Social Service
• -Board of Education: Melissa Prettyman, Ty Horsey, Bill Allen
• -Department of Juvenile Services: Taneesha DeShields
• -YMCA of the Chesapeake
• -Board of Child Care
• -Caroline County Library System
• -Caroline County CASA
• -Family Support Center/Head Start
  
  FINAL REPORT

• Partners

• Caroline County Detention Center Rosalind Roberts, Health Services Coordinator Dawn Catts, Lieutenant Moore
• Caroline County School System: Colonel Richardson Middle (Trisha Bolduc, Jennifer Blount), Lockerman Middle (Courtney Handty, Kia McKinney), Denton Elementary (Roger Banko).
• For All Seasons
• Eastern Shore Psychological Services
• Department of Social Service
• Board of Education: Melissa Prettyman, Ty Horsey, Bill Allen
• Department of Juvenile Services: Taneesha DeShields
• YMCA of the Chesapeake: Ivy Sherwood
• Board of Child Care
• Caroline County Library System
• Channel Marker

What Works

1st Qtr FY18

CFBSP is committed to working in collaboration with DSS.  CFBSP staff will provide education to parents/caregivers to assist in mitigating the risk of child maltreatment.  CFBSP staff will report any and all concerns of child maltreatment to DSS.

2nd Qtr

What are you or your partners doing that works to improve the Indicator “Child Maltreatment”

CFBSP is committed to working in collaboration with DSS.  CFBSP staff will provide education to parents/caregivers to assist in mitigating the risk of child maltreatment.  CFBSP staff will report any and all concerns of child maltreatment to DSS.

FINAL REPORT

• CFBSP is committed to working in collaboration with DSS.  CFBSP staff will provide education to parents/caregivers to assist in mitigating the risk of child maltreatment.  CFBSP staff will report all concerns of child maltreatment to DSS as mandated reporters. CFBSP staff provided a safe and comfortable environment to allow youth the opportunity to speak up on any maltreatment concerns that may experience at home or in school.

Who We Serve

1st Qtr. FY18

• -Male: 13   Female: 1
• -We are currently serving an age range from 3-18. Majority in middle-high school.
• -African American: 1      Caucasian:9     Hispanic/Latino: 3

2nd Qtr

• -Male: 16   Female: 2
• -We are currently serving an age range from 3-18. Majority in middle-high school.
• -African American: 4      Caucasian:11     Hispanic/Latino: 3
  
  FINAL REPORT

Demographics

Demographics:  Sex, race, age of youth, (report on Incarcerated parent and youth served)

• Male: 19   Female: 6
• We are currently serving an age range from 318. Majority in elementary- middle school.
• African American: 14      Caucasian: 10     Hispanic/Latino: 1

How We Impact

1st Qtr FY18

Youth in program have reported that they are very happy when Behavior Interventionists are able to visit their incarcerated parents to help strengthen the family relationships. Youth and parents/caregivers have reacted positively to receiving educational materials about behavior challenges and behavior modifications. Youth have expressed interest in Behavior Interventionists doing in-school visitation to assist with IEP services. CFBSP will begin the process of providing this service in the second quarter with the help of Colonel Richardson Middle School. 

2nd Qtr

With the service completion surveys that have been returned this quarter, our clients have expressed very positive reviews of our program, our services and their interactions with our programs Behavior Interventionists. 

FINAL REPORT

Client Completion surveys have been mailed out to all families attached with notification of services ending due to program closing. All the current case load families were happy with their staff person, and want to continue services. Breaking the news was hard for families to accept, but CFBSP staff provided them with tools additional resources to help them continue the treatment process.  All families would like to be apart if there is another program created, or If CFBSP opens again.

Program Summary

Target Population

children ages 0-18 experiencing negative behavioral issues with an Incarcerated parent(s) or a parent on parole or probation and their family 

Story Behind the Curve

Strategies to improve these indicators

Why Is This Important?

Data Discussion

Story Behind the Curve

Full School Readiness data shows Caroline above State average in the last several years. Caroline County has a strong Early Childhood Program which contributes to the higher percentage of Children Enter School Ready to Learn. The Assessment tool was changed in 2015

Strategies to improve these indicators

Imagination Library

Why Is This Important?

Levels of readiness are based upon teacher ratings in the domains of social and personal, language and literacy, mathematical thinking, scientific thinking, social studies, the arts, and physical development. Full readiness is defined as consistently demonstrating skills, behaviors, and abilities which are needed to successfully meet kindergarten expectations.

Data Discussion

Story Behind the Curve

Research indicates that youth development approaches to the delivery of appropriate activities, relationships and services to children and their families fosters school success and builds protective factors. The programs listed below are grounded in positive youth development. The percentage of high school students who report being a victim of bullying has risen from 2011-2013 and is still higher than the MD average. One theory of this is the clearer recognition of bullying and ease of reporting now. Online bullying incidents are slightly lower in Caroline than Maryland – as perceived by students. The strategies to address the Children are Successful in School Result have improved the indicators in Caroline County students. The MSA trend shows increased, stable or some decreases in performance in Math and English. These changes may be attributed to the new scoring procedure. Without these continued programs it is expected the indicators would decrease quickly.

Strategies to improve these indicators

School-Based Mental Health Program
After School Program (Lifelong Learning Centers)
Child and Family Behavioral Support Program

Why Is This Important?

Children who are successful in school are much more likely to reach their full potential and become engaged and productive adults, community members and parents

Data Discussion

Story Behind the Curve

Caroline exceeds the State average in the percent of 16-19 and 20-24 year olds who are employed. It is also higher in youth employment than most Mid-Shore Counties. One of the reasons the data shows higher percentages than neighboring counties can be attributed to Caroline County’s employment and job training programs which help youth find jobs and retain employment. Overall unemployment rates have decreased in Caroline over the last few years.

Strategies to improve these indicators

Youth Summer Employment Program

Why Is This Important?

Maryland employment figures demonstrate a clear connection between educational attainment and employment status. Higher educational attainment equals better paying jobs and meaningful employment.

Story Behind the Curve

Caroline County has seen a 5 year increase of 123.8% in the Food Supplement Program which is higher than the overall State increase. Caroline County ranks 10th in the State for Low-Income Student Participation in School Lunch and School Breakfast. All 11 schools in Caroline County were eligible for the MD Meals for Achievement Program during the 2011-2012 school year. The rise in Free and Reduced Meals has increased due to the increased poverty rate and the unemployment status in Caroline County.

In Caroline County the rate of OOHP has increased overall, higher than neighboring counties and the rate of MD. Mental and Behavioral Health issues have impacted the rise in data in Caroline due to more stress on families cause by the economic impact in the county.

Strategies to improve these indicators

The Gathering (AKA Community Matters)

Family Navigation

Why Is This Important?

Good nutrition, particularly in the first three years of life, is important for establishing a good foundation that has implications for a child’s future physical and mental health, academic achievement, and economic productivity. Children need safe and stable homes to thrive. These placements represent children and families with the most intensive needs in Maryland. Some children experience multiple placements, thus losing stability and the opportunity to form meaningful long-term relationships with their caregivers.