PROPOSAL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF

The Center for the Improvement of Child and Family Services

Graduate School of Social Work
Portland State University
February, 2006

Introduction
The field of children and family services is in a state of dramatic change. Never have the
demands on families and on the systems that serve families been so constant and so severe.
Decreasing federal and state revenues and their re-allocation to the private and corporate sector
have worn holes in an already-fragile safety net for vulnerable children and families. The daily
news reports on threats to families: from methamphetamines and other drugs, the erosion of
substance abuse and mental health services, and chronic poverty and neglect aggravated by
systemic racism and oppression. While Oregon remains a national leader in some aspects of
services to children and families, the state has fallen behind in other critical areas. Here, as
elsewhere, the costs of this lag will be high. Adults abused or neglected as children are
disproportionally represented among the ranks of the homeless, prison populations, and those
with poor health outcomes.

It is also, however, a time of great promise. Thanks in part to research conducted at Portland
State University, new practices and program models are emerging in response to contemporary
challenges. In partnership with researchers, the field of child and family services is exploring
innovations such as integrated multi-disciplinary service approaches and customized responses to
child and family needs. More is known about the prevention and treatment of child trauma.
More is understood about the sensitive and respectful utilization of cultural strengths in building
resilient families.

This is a proposal to establish a Center for the Improvement of Child and Family Services. The
proposed Center will integrate research, education and training on child welfare and related
services. In partnership with communities and agencies, the Center will focus these integrated
services on the solution of current policy and practice challenges. If successful, the Center will
help Oregon and Portland State University obtain national prominence in the generation and
dissemination of practice knowledge, research and policy for child welfare and related systems.
In brief, the Center will partner with professionals, communities and families to do better at our
community’s most important job – taking care of the children.

The work of the Center will be carried out by integrating for this one mission the kinds of
services that a university is uniquely qualified to offer, including:
 The power to convene professionals and scholars in transformative conversations.
 The capacity to conduct research using methods appropriate to large administrative data sets
as well as using other methods to develop new knowledge and learning with the community.
 The ability to mount state-of-the-art, effective research-based training for professionals and
community members who serve children and families.
 The ability to form powerful learning partnerships, bringing the field to the classroom and
the classroom to the field in a continuous loop of learning.

Center Proposal – Graduate School of Social Work February 2006 p. 1

The Center, located in the Graduate School of Social Work, will reflect and be informed by the
emancipatory and social justice mission of the profession of social work. Education, training,
and research projects will employ methods used by professional social workers, including
empowerment and participatory research, consumer voice and choice, fairness and equity (anti-
racist, anti-oppressive) practices, and attention to the role large systems play in affecting the lives
of vulnerable clients. Research, education, and training will be carried out in collaboration with
scholarly and professional colleagues from social work and other disciplines. Collaboration will
reach out to include youth, parents, foster parents, and others with life expertise in child welfare.

The proposed Center will stand on the foundation of accomplishment, steady revenue generation,
and competent management provided by the Child Welfare Partnership, a 12-year contracted
relationship between the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS) and PSU. The
Partnership, founded in 1994, employs 35 staff and faculty and will offer $6.4 million of
training, research and graduate education support to public child welfare during the 2005-07
biennium. Already an important part of the Graduate School of Social Work, the Partnership will
continue as a core initiative of the Center, and public child welfare will be the core client
community of the Center.

The proposed Center is new and much needed. It names and provides an appropriate
administrative platform for a growing portfolio of work conducted by partnership faculty and
staff (and affiliated faculty and units) but funded outside of the Child Welfare Partnership
contract. It provides a new platform for the expansion of work now underway and allows room
for the inclusion of new partners.

History leading up to this proposal

Through a continued contract with DHS, the Child Welfare Partnership has developed three
integrated programs that serve the state’s public child welfare agency. These programs are 1)
training for child welfare professionals, 2) research on topics of concern to the agency, and 3)
educational programming specific to the development of a diverse professional workforce.

Over time, staff at the Child Welfare Partnership have been asked to work with groups beyond
the public child welfare agency. For example, the research team now has eight contracts in hand
or pending with sponsors separate from the DHS Master Agreement. Similarly, the training team
has three contracts with private and public non-profits who serve clients that overlap with DHS.
And the educational team has worked closely with the Dean to develop a Distance Education
Program in response to the need to prepare professional social workers in the child welfare sector
statewide. It is appropriate to create an administrative platform that can house these diverse
activities and that allows the staff and affiliated faculty of the partnership to serve the community
who share the child welfare system’s commitment to safety, permanence, and well-being for
every vulnerable child.

The core of the Center’s practice focus will be the children and families who come to the
attention of the public child welfare system. The broader administrative platform allows staff and
faculty affiliates to respond more nimbly to the increasingly multi-disciplinary and integrated
world within which services are delivered today.

Center Proposal – Graduate School of Social Work February 2006 p. 2

1. What is the name of the proposed center?

The Center for the Improvement of Child and Family Services

2. Does the center establish or make major alteration to the structure or educational
function of departments or of programs?

No, the proposed Center does not establish or make major alteration to the structure or
educational function of the Graduate School of Social Work or any other program or
department. It offers the opportunity to integrate current functions to more effectively serve
the child welfare and related service sector.

3. How does the proposed center help PSU to achieve its mission?

The Center for the Improvement of Child and Family Services embodies the mission of
Portland State University, “Let knowledge serve the city,” by putting knowledge
development and dissemination technologies to work for the vulnerable children and families
of our state and beyond.

The values we believe in and that shape our work are consistent with Portland State’s values
and those of the Graduate School of Social Work:
 Families and communities are the experts in their own systems and have the talent and
knowledge to develop solutions.
 Rigorous research and evaluation contribute to best practice in child and family services.
 Collaboration results in the better products, including research, training, and education.
 Diversity, fairness, and equity are of central concern in the delivery of services.
 Leadership and innovation are critical to building the child welfare system of the future

4. What are the planned outcomes for the proposed center?

 To increase the competency, diversity, and professional skill of social workers serving
vulnerable children and families of Oregon and beyond.
 To increase the number of professionally skilled child and family service sector leaders
(supervisory, managerial, and executive).
 To increase the development and use of evidence-based practices by public, private, and
tribal agencies serving children who have been abused or neglected.
 To establish and maintain strong and mutually beneficial relationships between Portland
State University and community, state and local agencies for children and families.
 To develop and demonstrate educational and training methodologies to bring state of the
art, child welfare social work knowledge to rural and place-bound learners.
 To increase the fairness and equity of the child services system and to reduce the
disproportionality of negative system outcomes for children of color.

Center Proposal – Graduate School of Social Work February 2006 p. 3

5. What activities will take place within the proposed center (e.g., will courses be offered,
research performed, community partnerships built?)

Research, training, and education will take place and be integrated within the proposed center
to serve the public child welfare field and associated public, private, and tribal agencies. The
center will continue to house the graduate education program that provides educational and
financial support to current and prospective child welfare workers in Oregon and serve as a
resource for the Graduate School of Social Work and others in developing educational
programs for the child and family services sector.

The Center plans to build on and strengthen relationships with current clients including:
 The Oregon Department of Human Services (Children, Adults, and Families)
 Juvenile courts and related social service providers (in particular social programs such as
CASA programs, drug courts and other agencies serving abused or neglected children)
 Tribes and off-reservation urban Indian children and family services programs.
 Domestic violence, mental health, education, and substance abuse programs who work
with child welfare clients and families.
 Private children’s services agencies and networks, both established and grass-roots who
work with child welfare client children and families.
 Community and family advocacy agencies concerned with child welfare client families.
 Consumers such as youth, parents and parent organizations, foster parents, and
communities of color with a vested interest in improved child welfare outcomes.

The following current grants and contracts will be located within the proposed Center:

 Oregon Department of Human Services, Child Welfare Partnership 2005-07 contract

Training $3.79 million
Graduate Education $1.67 million
Title IV-E Waiver Evaluation $1.1 million
 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and
Families: Training Grant for Child Welfare Practice in Rural Communities
Five-year grant through September 29, 2008 $1.0 million
 Albertina Kerr Centers (funded by Meyer Memorial Trust and Robert Wood Johnson):
Wraparound Oregon Initiative – Training Program
Four-year contract through June 30, 2009 $310,100
 City of Portland: Children’s Investment Fund Evaluation
Three-year contract through April 30, 2007 $330,330
 Oregon Department of Human Services: Federal System of Care Project to Improve
Permanency Outcomes (IPOP)
Three-year contract through September 30, 2006 $150,000
 Juvenile Rights Project Inc.: SchoolWorks Evaluation Project
Three-year contract through June 30, 2006 $86,966

Center Proposal – Graduate School of Social Work February 2006 p. 4

6. Why is a new center needed to achieve these outcomes and to host these activities?

a. What other units are already undertaking similar activities?

The Child Welfare Partnership has existed since 1994 as a contracted collaboration with
the Oregon Department of Human Services. The purpose of the partnership is to provide
graduate education support to students committed to careers in child welfare, train
Oregon caseworkers and foster parents, and conduct research and evaluation work related
to public child welfare. Under this proposal, the activities of this existing unit will be
administered within the center.

The Center will continue the Partnership’s long-established relationship with the
Regional Research Institute for Human Services (RRI), and will continue the current
fluid and collaborative working relationship with RRI researchers. For example, recent
joint projects include work on empowering the voices of foster youth, developing a
system of wraparound services for youth in multiple service delivery systems in
Multnomah County, and community-based child abuse prevention programming. The
two units will not compete with one another for work, and will offer services
collaboratively where it would best serve the community.

The Center plans to continue to be in communication and work collaboratively with the
School of Extended Studies (SES) on their fee-based professional education and training
programs. Partnership and SES faculty and staff now collaborate on the Certificate on
Adoption, the Certificate in Infant Mental Health, and the Degree Completion Program.
Possibilities exist for collaboration on contracted consulting. The School of Extended
Studies Early Childhood Education and Training Center and its Center on Healthy
Inclusive Parenting are logical partners, since the two Centers serve related but distinct
sectors of the community. The two centers will stay in communication, will not compete
for grants or contracts, and where it serves the community best will collaborate to realize
the larger outcome: better services to vulnerable children and families.

The existence of a Center with a service delivery niche in public, private and tribal child
welfare improves the ability to access these issues and communities for all PSU units,
and improves access to PSU for this sector of the community. Referrals to other Centers
or faculty will be made where requests fall outside the scope or capacity of this Center.

b. Why is a separate identity and/or structure key to the success in meeting the
planned outcomes?

The establishment of a distinct Center on Child and Family Services places PSU and the
Graduate School of Social Work as an important resource in the field of child welfare and
related services. The Center will open opportunities to build strong relationships with
community partners and public, tribal and private child welfare agencies, and to launch
collaborative initiatives to meet and support change in child and family services. The
proposed Center will bring the following advantages:

Center Proposal – Graduate School of Social Work February 2006 p. 5

  Specialized expertise and relationships: The world of child and family services is
increasingly complex, characterized by specific (and changing) funding streams, a
unique political context, and daunting policy and practice challenges. PSU will gain
a long-term strategic advantage with a center that can maintain an informed presence
in this complex field.
 Platform for work beyond DHS: The Center will create a much-needed platform to
allow talented staff to serve a variety of sponsors related to work with child welfare,
and to support social work and other faculty in work with child and family services.
 Branding: The Center label will provide a recognizable organization for those in the
child and family services sector to contact when seeking University support.
 Integrated programming. The Center will bring a potent combination of training,
research, and education to bear on one mission: the improvement of services to
children and families.

7. What is the structure of the proposed center (e.g., will it be housed in an existing
department, school or college or will it be a separate administrative unit; will it have its
own staff; who will have oversight for the proposed center)?

The Center will be housed within the Graduate School of Social Work. Reporting to the
GSSW Dean, the Center’s Executive Director will have direct oversight and management
responsibilities for the Center’s operations. The Executive Director will serve on the school’s
Administrative Group, which advises the Dean on matters of overall school functioning.

Advisory and oversight committees formed of community experts, consumers, and faculty-
based scholars will be developed as needed for specific initiatives and projects within the
Center. For example, the existing DHS contract for the Child Welfare Partnership activities
will continue to operate under the oversight of the original Governing Board.

8. When will the center be established and what is the period of time envisioned for the
center to operate?

The Center will be established as soon as possible upon receipt of necessary approvals from
the GSSW Faculty, Dean, and the Council of Academic Deans and the Provost. It is hoped
that this will be no later than spring 2006 to take advantage of funding opportunities with
spring application deadlines.

It is anticipated that the Center would continue to operate as long as its services are needed
and useful to the community, as long as it is effectively managed and as long as it serves the
purpose and mission of the University. Fulfillment of these three conditions would be
observed in the ongoing receipt and management of grants, contracts, and working
agreements from sponsors committed to services to children, youth, and families.

Center Proposal – Graduate School of Social Work February 2006 p. 6

9. What resources are needed for the proposed center? From where will these resources
come? What revenue will the proposed center generate?

Budget
The Child Welfare Partnership currently receives $6.4 million per biennium and has 35 staff
to carry out the mission and scope of work assigned by the contract. Revenue to cover this
work is provided through a biennial contract and a Master Agreement with DHS. The current
contract generates about $654,000 in indirect costs for PSU.

It is anticipated that future revenue and projects will come from funding sources similar to
those underwriting existing projects, including the following sponsors:

Federal Grants and Sub-contracts with Federal Grantees

 Children’s Bureau (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for
Children and Families)
 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA, DHHS) (by
subcontract through the Multnomah County Educational Services District)

Private Grants
 Meyer Memorial Trust (by subcontract with Albertina Kerr Centers)
 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (by subcontract with Albertina Kerr Centers)

Contracts with private and governmental agencies

 Oregon Department of Human Services (Enterprise-wide Management Training
Evaluation and Self-Sufficiency Case Manager Training)
 Children’s Justice Advisory Committee
 City of Portland, Children’s Investment Fund
 Juvenile Rights Project Inc.
 Albertina Kerr Centers
 Children’s Relief Center
 Christie School, Child Assessment Center

The Dean of the Graduate School of Social Work will allocate $20,000 out of indirect costs
to provide for core development and administrative support not covered by existing grants
and contracts to the Center. These funds would underwrite development of new work through
grant and contract preparation.

The Center would generate sufficient resources to cover the expenses of providing services to
client agencies and communities. Because the child and family services sector does not
operate on a for-profit basis, this Center will offer its services on an ‘at-cost’ basis (including
necessary staff and faculty salaries and benefits). It is not anticipated that the Center would
generate revenue other than indirect costs. However, benefits to the university will accrue in
the form of good will, the opportunity to fulfill the university’s community service mission,
the development of new knowledge, and the establishment of valuable bridges for learning
between classroom and community.

Center Proposal – Graduate School of Social Work February 2006 p. 7

 Space
The Center will occupy the current office spaces at Suite 440 University Center Building and
in the PSU Salem Center at Chemeketa Community College. Between the two offices, there
is sufficient space to accommodate immediately foreseeable growth.

Staff
Management
 Dr. Katharine Cahn, Executive Director
 Glenn Huntley, Assistant Director
 Mindy Holliday, Director, Educational Programming
 Marthe Lowrey, Director, Training Programs
 Drs. Diane Yatchmenoff, Constance Lehman, Jim White, Principle Investigators
 Anna Rockhill and Angela Rodgers, co-PIs on sponsored research

Staff /Faculty
Over the past twelve years the Child Welfare Partnership has assembled an experienced
professional staff of trainers, researchers, and educators. Currently, 35-40 staff are actively
engaged in the work of the Partnership and related projects, and are expected to continue
with the proposed Center.

Collaborating Faculty
It is envisioned that the Center will serve in a catalytic community building mode, bringing
together faculty and professionals from across campus and the community in partnership to
address pressing child and family services issues. Partners from the community will be
engaged in the development of research and training bringing the best of community
knowledge into the classroom. Partners from the faculty will work to develop a research base
and to bring knowledge of best practice to the field. Center staff will serve as facilitators and
leaders for such collaborations. Faculty who have expressed an interest in collaborating are:

Graduate School of Social Work

Eileen Brennan
Dan Coleman Wayne Scott
Pauline Jivanjee Joan Shireman

Matt Mordrcin Child and Family Studies

Jim Nash Ben Anderson-Nathe
Laurie Powers Jana Meinhold
Michael Taylor

10. List the faculty proposing the center.

Kristine Nelson, Dean, Graduate School of Social Work

Nancy Koroloff, Director, Regional Research Institute, Graduate School of Social Work
Carol Morgaine, Director, Child and Family Studies
Katharine Cahn, Director Child Welfare Partnership, Graduate School of Social Work

Center Proposal – Graduate School of Social Work February 2006 p. 8