Continued from History of the Center

One barrier to solidifying the revised partnership was reliance on Title IV-E funds.  Title IV-E emphasis on foster care and adoption restricted the knowledge and skill requirements for child welfare delivery of services in many communities in Idaho.  By incorporating additional funding streams, the direction of the partnership with the university would allow for consideration of expanding service delivery response that reflected the unique features of child welfare practice required in rural settings. 

EWU offered the university-established student work-study mechanism as a vehicle for the partnership to begin experimenting with the delivery of community-based, emergency assistance services.  IDHW agreed to pay MSW students placed in agency programs using emergency assistance funding (Title IV-A funding).  In turn, students were allowed to use their agency work-study sites as their field practicum.  The work study students placed in Idaho settings were provided a child welfare focused education (IV-E) and supervision funded with IV-E funding.  This blended funding arrangement provided the partnership with increased flexibility regarding the range of child welfare interventions in which students could participate and the skills that students could acquire. 

In conjunction with this reaffirmation of the university/agency partnership agreement, IDHW was concluding a successful pilot project with the Boise School District; Community Resources for Families Project.  In this project, child protection staff were co-located in schools and assigned to do child abuse prevention and early intervention with the ability to access Title IV-A funds.  These flexible funds were to provide families who fit the category of “at-risk” with resources necessary to prevent entry into the child welfare or public welfare systems.  IDHW and EWU School of Social Work agreed to replicate and evaluate the model, substituting MSW students paid by IV-A funding in place of child welfare staff.  The third critical partner to this agreement was Post Falls School District.

The assessment, treatment and crises response services provided by the students in designated school settings was outlined in the partnership agreements and further supported by MSW learning contracts.  Supervision of students was through the Child Welfare Field Coordinator.  Placement of students was planned sequentially:  Foundation (first year) students were placed in IDHW to gain familiarity and understanding of the complexities of agency based child welfare practice.  Advanced (second year) interns were placed in the school district elementary schools that reflected a high percentage of students who qualified for free and reduced lunch.

In 1997, based on the successful replication of the prevention/early intervention services utilizing emergency assistance (IV-A) funding, IDHW entered into agreements with ninety school districts across the state of Idaho.  The funding shifted to TANF.

Additionally in 1997, IDHW began deliberation regarding the implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA).  In anticipation, the partnership agreement was funded using a blend of Title IV-E, IV-B and TANF.  Additionally, the Center wrote and was awarded a three-year Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) grant to support a statewide Kinship Care Training Initiative.

Next, Child Welfare University Partnerships across Idaho