Recorded IARCA Institute trainings and webinars available on demand at: iarcavideos.org
Reimagining Indiana Foster Care Campaign:
Very few Hoosier parents are in regular, collaborative contact with the foster families caring for their children. Primarily, this is because our system has neither encouraged nor supported these relationships. It’s time we change that reality in Indiana. Together with our partners at DCS, IARCA has launched Indiana Co-Care, a website with resources to help our state reimaging foster and kinship care.
The site includes five videos with parents, foster parents, and kinship caregivers sharing their experiences of working together to support the child or children they are jointly supporting. Please share the link to the site and provide any feedback you have. You can go directly to each video by clicking on any of these images:
Thank You! 2023 Annual IARCA Conference is in the books
IARCA's staff and board want to thank everyone who made time to attend the IARCA Conference this week. It was a great two days. IARCA greatly appreciates the dozens of presenters who shared their knowledge and expertise. Also huge thanks to the IARCA Conference Committee and IARCA staff, led by Training Manager Heather Adebayo, for a fantastic job making sure everyone was taken care of and had a great learning and newtorking environment.
And, congratulations again to our 2023 awardess:
Julie Whitman, Friend of Children award
Ed Graf, Cathy Graham Life of Service award
Dee Szyndrowski, Excellence in Service Award
Ginny Hardin, Staff Training & Development Award
Indiana makes big investments in the safety and well-being of children, youth, and families
As the 2023 legislative session comes to a close, Hoosier children, youth, and families who have experienced abuse or neglect saw significant investments in them and the services that support them. Thanks to initiatives supported by the Indiana Department of Child Services and the Governor and champions in the General Assembly, Indiana is prepared to make $111.6 million in new invetments in supporting stable homes for children and youth and services to the entire child and family welfare community. Here is how it breaks down:
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Stipends for unlicensed kinship families: $27.6 million
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Increase in foster care per diem: $6.1 million
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Workforce Stabilization Fund: $30 million
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Community and Homebased rates: $38.5 million
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Non-profit operating margin: $9.4 million
These new investments represent years of work by IARCA members. We were all grateful that DCS and the Governor’s office included many of these line items in their budget proposals. In particular, DCS’s increase to community and homebased rates were the result of an outside study conducted by Milliman from data submitted by dozens of Indiana agencies. That study followed years of work by homebased agencies to document the gap between rates and the cost of services.
Similarly, the non-profit operating margin for residential services and foster care agencies was a key initiative for Indiana agencies going back almost a decade. The margin was included in 2020 rates but then suspended going into 2021 due to uncertainty about the economic effects of the pandemic. Having the margin included in this budget will not only help over the next two years but is also a good indication of it being a permanent facet of the rate setting process going forward.
Finally, agencies around Indiana have long been advocating for better support for kinship families. Indiana families have done an amazing job stepping up for relatives in need. But, if they weren’t willing to go through the licensing process, they were largely left without financial support. This addition of a monthly stipend for unlicensed kinship homes is a huge step forward to support those homes and preserve the placements.
In addition to these investments, champions in the House and Senate fought for $30 million for a Child and Family Workforce Stabilization Fund. Reconizing the significant strain the service array is under due to workforce shortages, members of the House Ways and Means and Senate Appropriations Committees and their colleagues throughout the General Assembly found additional funds to invest in a grant program to support hiring and retention equal to the need in the state. In particular, the grants will focus on increasing services to children and youth with high acuity and complex families.
IARCA and our members are incredibly grateful for these new investments. We are excited about working with Indiana's children, youth, and families and our partners at DCS and other state agencies to put these funds to use helping Hoosiers heal.
IARCA and IARCA Institute Annual Report now available
IARCA Institute for Excellence webinars and videos - on demand
On demand videos from the IARCA Institute are now located on one convenient page. The free recorded webinars and videos cover a range of topics, including:
IARCA Institute Webinar: Prevention of Sexual Abuse and Coercion
Indiana Family Preservation Services: Where are we one-year in?
Strategic Partnerships and Mergers: Tips from the field
Attachment, Substance Use, Pregnancy and Neurobiology Webinar
Beyond Cultural & Linguistic Competence: Achieving Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
IARCA 2022 State of the Association
Each year, we release a State of the Association as part of our Annual members' meeting. Get caught up on what IARCA has been up to this year.
Information on COVID 19/coronavirus
IARCA is in regular communication with IN DCS and Indiana State Department of Health staff about updates on coronavirus preparation. We are also gathering information from other states, the federal government, and subject matter experts that we think might be helpful in preparing children, families, and staff for coronavirus preparedness. We will maintain and update a list of announcements and resources for the foreseeable future.
IARCA Member Resource Directory
IARCA's Member Resource Directory of Services for Children and Families is a great way to find out which of our members are providing services you need. You can download the September 2023 Guide which includes all members and services in our database or you can use our online directory where you can limit your search by things like region or service.
Our Mission
The mission of the Indiana Association of Resources and Child Advocacy (IARCA) is to promote cooperation, communication, development and mutual support among organizations and systems providing services to children and their families, and to advocate for the establishment and maintenance of the highest quality, most effective, and most appropriate services possible to children and their families.
Member Benefits
Membership with the Indiana Association of Resources and Child Advocacy (IARCA) provides many benefits to its members, including entry in the IARCA Member Resource Directory of Services for Children & Families which is available online for use by the Department of Child Services, Probation Departments, Juvenile Courts, Special Education Offices, CASA/GAL Programs, concerned parents and other professionals.