Leading Reforms to Eliminate Institutional Placements in NY
Redlich Horwitz Foundation, New York State
2016-2020
At Redlich Horwitz Foundation (RHF), I developed new program areas in a region new to the foundation (NY state, excluding NYC). After completing a needs assessment (involving 50+ informational interviews from a cross-section of leaders/community members, site visits, an analysis of government data and a literature review) I led system-transformation projects in three counties to address the high rates of institutional placements by combining capacity-building, grantmaking and knowledge building.
NY state had double the national rate for these placements, which was particularly troubling because of the research showing how these placements drive poor outcomes such as higher trauma, disconnection from community/family and risk for school failure, homelessness, unemployment and incarceration. These placements are also three to ten times more expensive than home-based placements. The demonstration project involved partnerships from community members, family court, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Programs, non-profit agencies and state leadership. The initial three counties showed success after 18 months (see case study below), so we replicated the project in an additional three counties. Throughout the process, we continued to educate state and local leaders through papers and conference presentations.
This effort resulted in a decrease in entries into foster system, a 45% reduction in institutional placements and a 320% increase in placements with relatives in the participating counties, leading to less trauma, greater family preservation and permanency. Each investment by the foundation is now sustained by public dollars. The success of these projects also informed the advocacy priorities of CHAMPS NY, who successfully lobbied for state-wide replication and a $3.5 million state investment into a public-private partnership with the Foundation, which paved the way for RHF’s Family First Readiness portfolio.
This system-transformation effort has led to a host of other strategic grantmaking areas that I managed for RHF including practice reform at non-profit agencies, partnerships with family court (including a demonstration project to create an innovative older youth court), and capacity-building projects with the state. Today RHF works in ~20 counties in NYS, reaching around 90% of the state’s foster system population.
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