piÑon perspectives - cyfd · having courageous conversations—and success-fully had one with a...
TRANSCRIPT
PIÑON PERSPECTIVES OCTOBER 2013
PIÑON
PERSPECTIVES NEW MEXICO CYFD PROTECTIVE SERVICES E-MAGAZINE : OCT. 2013
PIÑON PERSPECTIVES OCTOBER 2013
YOUR PERSPECTIVES I continue to enjoy Piñon Perspectives and gain
insights into Protective Services. This publication
does an excellent job of creating a conversation
between all of CYFD, allowing people in different
divisions to learn from one another. Thank you
“y muchisimas gracias” for such a beautifully de-
signed magazine that is always informative and
insightful. Saludos Cordiales, J. Martín Rodríguez
Cultural & Linguistic Competence
Office of Community Outreach and Behavioral
Health Programs, CYFD
Thank you for the lovely publication. It is one I look
forward to seeing every month.
Lois Haggard, PhD
Community Health Assessment Program
NM Department of Health
I took seriously the daring piece last issue about
having Courageous Conversations—and success-
fully had one with a colleague that I think made a
real difference. Thanks for the inspiration.
Jesse Leinfelder, Office of Child Development,
CYFD
WELCOME Our goal is to provide you with a way to communi-
cate with the PS workforce and share lessons
learned nationally, so please consider sharing
your news, insights and ideas for new articles, in-
terviewees, and photography.
All the best– The Piñon Perspectives Team
Contact us at: [email protected].
THE ART OF PIÑON
About the artwork. Alonzo Zozo Garcia has a love
of dessert that he shares in his “work in progress”
with art and chocolate lovers. Zozo studied at New
Mexico State University and plans on going to
graduate school to attain a Masters of Arts in ei-
ther painting, drawing or art restoration. He first
started painting in watercolor at the age of nine
and slowly branched out to drawing and painting
in every medium available. He loves painting and
drawing with extreme contrasts of light, shadow
and color. Art©Alonzo Garcia. You may contact
Alonzo Garcia about his art at: [email protected]
PIÑON PERSPECTIVES OCTOBER 2013
PART 1
Q&A:
John Barela
Data Evaluation Specialist,
Santa Fe
John works in the Data
Evaluation Unit within the
Research, Assessment and
Data Bureau. One of his projects
is the 360 Degrees Report.
Continues on next page
PIÑON PERSPECTIVES OCTOBER 2013
How have you found ways to enhance your work
experience?
We can’t always decide which projects we work
on, but I believe it’s important to express where
you believe your skills would be best utilized.
How can central office and county office staff
work to create work environments that foster
courageous conversations-----addressing work
problems and conflict?
I think people need to be honest and respectful
with others in order to address problems.
How can information technology improve the PS
process----with laptops, tablets and cell phones
offering access to the net?
Technological advances are constantly changing
the way business is done in the private sector,
and how we live our lives. We need to adapt to
and embrace such items because they allow us
to become mobile, provide better services, and
stay competitive with other states.
What type of professional development opportu-
nities would you like to see offered?
As the economy continues to recover I hope there
will be more opportunities for training and attend-
ing conferences so that we can see what others
are doing to address the needs in their states.
How does our collection of data inform practice?
In my position I provide statistics and reports
that are used by others to make decisions which
can have a great impact on improving child wel-
fare outcomes. The data is used to focus efforts,
show needs, and determine the effectiveness of
current practices.
What is one thing you wish the public understood
about PS?
I wish the media would provide a more balanced
approach in their reporting. It is always great
when they are able to tell the public about our
success stories.
Thank you for your time and insights.
What do you like most about your job?
I work with a great group of people. We all show
each other respect, work hard, and use our
knowledge and skills to solve problems. I also feel
that our work is making a positive change in the
lives of the children in New Mexico and is truly
appreciated.
What is a typical week like for you?
In a typical week I work on updating various
monthly reports that are used by both internal and
external stakeholders. Some of these publications
include the desktop, pending and aging, central
intake, and the permanency and investigations
caseload reports. I also respond to our information
requests, and update the 360 degrees County
Profiles and strategic planning measures on a
quarterly basis.
What are the biggest challenges you face in your
job?
One of the biggest challenges I currently face is
developing and modifying existing reports. The
data unit is working on developing a new annual
report that will cover the current state fiscal year.
This report will cover statewide data and will
hopefully answer many commonly asked ques-
tions. We will also be unveiling a new 360 degree
County profile report in the upcoming fiscal year.
PS is a very complex area where people specialize--
- and those of us working in it often only experi-
ence a small part of the overall system. How have
you learned about the PS “big picture”?
Positions in the data unit are unique because we
need to be knowledgeable about the entire system.
In order to report statistics we need to have at the
very least a basic understanding of the various
processes that occur.
What innovation would you like to bring to PS in
NM?
I would like to get a system where individuals in my
bureau could access resources on the network and
run reports online. This would give us more
freedom and we could respond faster to requests.
PIÑON PERSPECTIVES OCTOBER 2013
PART 2
EXPERIMENTS Learning from Innovation
and Adaptive Leadership in
the Field.
San Juan County Manager
Nicole Garcia shares her
office’s adaptive challenges
and solutions.
What problem or challenge were you facing?
San Juan County worked on the challenge of
more consistent application of the safety as-
sessment tool and safety management proc-
ess.
Continues on next page
PIÑON PERSPECTIVES OCTOBER 2013
What experiment did you implement to address the
challenge?
We tested the assumption that teaming across dif-
ferent service areas within PS would lead to an in-
crease in shared responsibility for outcomes and
the exchange of information would be more seam-
less across units. Many experiments we tested in-
cluded some form of Teaming between units, such
as each unit being represented at key decision
making points in a case. For example, participating
in 48 hour staffings, FCMs, or facilitated meetings
that went over treatment progress.
How did staff and/or clients react?
Teaming benefits that both staff and families, as
well as other key stakeholders, have reported in-
clude the following:
The transition is much smoother when PPWs
(Permanency Planning Workers) are involved while
the case is still with the investigators.
All units which have contact with families involved
in the case should be represented at these early
meanings.
The people who will be working the case get to
know the dynamics, the family, the possible prob-
lems, input from investigators about supervised
visits, etc.
With all workers involved early there is better coop-
eration and coordination between units.
It becomes a partnership rather than “yours” and
“ours” and the families can’t play one unit against
the other. It’s unified decision-making.
(We consider this a Best Practice)Ego has to be left
out of the process; the goal is working together for
finding the best options for the child.
Teaming will improve the working relationship with
the foster family.
Feedback from the staff who participated in these
staffing/FCMs (Family Centered Mediations)
stated the information being received makes for
more effective case transfer and less information
being lost or not transferred..
Placement staff also noted it was helpful for them
to assist with identification of relatives and for
placement staff to see the “big picture” outside of
just their perspective.
Improved communication with all at the table at
the same time and reduced time to permanency.
Parent questionnaire results indicate positive
teaming experiences and improved communica-
tion.
Workers have seen the shift in office culture; im-
proved internal communication with provider and
all other service providers.
What is your assessment of the success, thus far,
of the experiment?
After multiple tries at experimenting with teaming
and the positive outcomes being reported by staff
and families it became standard practice to do
business this way. It increased our respect for the
work each individual brings to the table no matter
what position or role you have within the office.
Adaptive Leadership: Work in Progress
To keep up to date on the Piñon Project and adap-
tive leadership, visit: www.cyfd.org/pinonproject
PIÑON PERSPECTIVES OCTOBER 2013
EXPERIMENTS Adaptive Leadership and
Innovation in the Field
Lessons from Jolene Martinez
Dona Ana County
Office Manager
Permanency Planning and
In-Home Services
PIÑON PERSPECTIVES OCTOBER 2013
What problem or challenge were you
facing?
In Doña Ana we initially selected Supervisory Ca-
pacity as our adaptive challenge. Through a brief
experiment we realized we may have been focus-
ing our energy in the wrong direction. We re-
grouped on selecting our adaptive challenge and
we are now focused on improving our Internal Rela-
tionships.
We are focused on the Piñon Value of customer
service. We are throwing our energy into improving
our relationships with better communication, un-
derstanding one another’s roles, managing our
competing demands, and by taking ownership for
our work products.
What experiment did you implement to
address the challenge?
We gathered some pre-experiment data from our
staff on the issue of customer service. It collected
basic opinions about issues like office morale, sup-
port from supervisors, and addressing office con-
flict/gossip. We used this baseline information to
implement our experiment of using Learning Cir-
cles.
The goal of a learning circle is to build, share, and
express knowledge though a process of reflection
and group dialogue. The key concepts include de-
veloping shared responsibility for the leadership,
problem solving, and task completion related to
addressing the problems at hand. We have multi-
ple Learning Circles going on currently.
We are currently collecting data in the form of the
survey, to see how staff opinions have changed
regarding our internal relationships, with a central
focus on customer service to one another.
How did staff and/or clients react?
Our staff is the key to the success of the project
implementation here in our county. They work
hard, and take the time to engage openly in the
process as well as to be reflective on their contri-
bution to the shared values we have. Our staff
have demonstrated a clear competency of the pro-
ject.
They take a clear effort in the positive change
that is occurring in our office. We are hoping to
take the concept of Learning Circles, and open it
up to our community partners and other stake-
holders like our foster parents as we gain exper-
tise with the process.
What is your assessment of the suc-
cess, thus far, of the experiment?
We are looking forward to the data results of our
post intervention survey, but in the mean time I
believe that the majority of staff feel heard, they
feel part of the office decision making, and they
know that there is a consistent culture and set-
ting where they can present their concerns.
We have seen improved communication and feel-
ings about coming to work. It has developed rela-
tionships amongst supervisors and management
as a team.
Adaptive Leadership: Work in Pro-
gress
To keep up to date on the Piñon Project and adap-
tive leadership, visit: www.cyfd.org/pinonproject
NEWS & UPDATES
CYFD employees were recently recognized for
their hard work. The Heart Gallery of New Mexico
Foundation presented the Heart Gallery Heart
and Soul Award to Renee Fitts, Acting Statewide
Recruitment Manager, and Isela Burciaga, Foster
Care and Adoption Bureau Chief for their work in
the recruitment of foster and adoptive parents
and tireless efforts to support the CYFD Heart
Gallery of New Mexico.
PIÑON PERSPECTIVES OCTOBER 2013
“Ideas should be clear and chocolate thick.”
“Las cosas claras y el chocolate espeso.” ~Spanish Proverb