Accomplishments
Alternative Response (AR)
Alternative Response is a more engaging approach to working with families than a traditional investigation. While available in most of Texas, CPI continued to expand Alternative Response during the fiscal year by beginning to use the process in Region 2, which includes 30 North Texas counties. CPI plans to expand AR to Harris County in FY 2020, which will make this service available statewide.
Also in FY 2019, DFPS developed a refresher training for caseworkers and managers who have been practicing AR for some time. This training helped reinforce Alternative Response’s foundational principles of achieving child safety through meaningful family engagement.
In addition, AR managers from across the state attended the Alternative Response Leadership Conference in November 2018. The conference, Leading with Passion and Purpose, focused on refreshing and enhancing their Alternative Response leadership skills.
Learn more about AR in the Services section of this report.
Workforce Development
Leadership development has been a particular focus for CPI. A four-day leadership training was provided multiple times through the past year and available to all managers. CPI and CPS leaders held a joint leadership conference in July 2018. The conference, Your Leadership, Your Legacy, focused on providing leaders of the two sister programs additional skills to enhance their leadership ability.
In June of 2019, Investigations applied for and received a Children’s Justice Act (CJA) Grant to advance the Adaptive Coaching Program in Texas. Adaptive Coaching challenges leaders to elevate their existing skillset by intentionally modeling effective engagement strategies with their staff. Caseworkers can then use these same practices in working with families.