Kent County DHHS adopts Teaming Pod model as child welfare leaders report higher removals and 463 children in care

Kent County Department of Health & Human Services leaders told the board on June 17 that a recently implemented Teaming Pod Model is reshaping how child-welfare teams coordinate and that removals and foster-care counts remain high.

District Manager Scott Orr said Kent is now handling all DHHS foster-care work and that the department streamlined supervisory roles from three section managers down to two while continuing to support staff through the transition. "With the help of Director Noelle Bair the department has navigated the changes," Orr said, and the two section managers were recently recognized for efforts to motivate staff.

Section Manager Laura Turner Bish described what she called "the biggest change in Kent County" as the implementation of the Teaming Pod Model, saying it is intended to remove siloed roles and centralize decision-making around families' needs. "The teams are still learning how to adjust to all the processes," she said.

Section Manager Robert Peck said the model has improved processes and staff retention. "The teaming model helps the workers to know they are not alone," Peck said, adding that workers display "positive energy" as agencies and DHHS teams work more closely together.

CSA Director Noelle Bair told the board that removals in May included 30 petitions to remove children, with three children remaining with a parent and a net total of 33 children entering foster care that month. Bair also reported that Kent had 463 children in care in May, including participants in the Young Adult Voluntary Foster Care program; 18 youth were placed with relatives or parents and 11 were placed in foster homes during the month.

Bair noted a spike in complaints in May (1,200 total) and that 46% of complaints (552 cases) were assigned for follow-up in that month. Despite those spikes, she said most of the county's performance metrics met a 95% threshold for timeliness of report completion, supervisor approval, and contact-entry measures.

Board members and managers said they will continue monitoring how the Teaming Pod Model affects outcomes and staff workload as teams settle into the new structure. No formal vote or policy change on the Teaming Pod Model occurred at the meeting; the board received the update as part of the directors' reports.