title: Point of engagement: reducing disproportionality and improving child and family outcomes.
abstract: This paper describes an innovative service delivery model to reduce the number of children entering the child welfare system. Point of Engagement (POE) is a collaborative family- and community-centered approach initiated in Compton, a regional office in Los Angeles County that serves south Los Angeles, a predominantly African American and Hispanic/Latino area. Over the past two years, the POE has been implemented in the Compton area by providing more thorough investigations, engaging families, and delivering needed services to children and families within their homes and communities. POE has demonstrated a reduction in the number of children removed from their families, an increase in the number of children returned to their families within one year, and an increase in the number of children finding legal permanency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Children and Family Services, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Marts
authors.forename: Eun-Kyoung Othelia
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McRoy
authors.forename: Jacquelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McCroskey
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005581:Foster Home Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015141:Los Angeles; D011287:Prejudice; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012947:Social Work / Q000458:organization & administration; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data