“To Enrich Lives Through Effective and Caring Service”1

DPSS EXECUTIVE TEAM

Sheryl L. SpillerActing Director

Phil AnsellActing Chief Deputy Director

Jacob AguilarDirector, Bureau of Program and Policy

Anjetta Venters-BowlesActing Director, Bureau of

Workforce ServicesMichelle CallahanDirector, Bureau of Special Operations

Norma Doctor SparksDirector, Bureau of

Administrative ServicesMichael J. Sylvester

Director, Bureau ofContract and Technical

Services

Shirley ChristensenSpecial Assistant

HIGHLIGHTS

Funmania 2011....................1

First 5 LA Comes To The Rescue of Pregnant/Parenting Teens...................5

Toy Loan Program PSA Wins Prestigious Emmy.......6

CalFresh PSA Featuring Dolores Huerta Receives National Recognition..........................6

“Design Thinking” at DPSS...............................7

Linkages Celebrates a Decade of Collaboration......8

OCTOBER 2011

NEWSLETTER“To Enrich Lives Through Effective and Caring Service”

ACTING DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

One of the true signs of a great leader is one who develops an organization that runs equally as well in his absence as it did when he was present. Philip L. Browning has dem-onstrated great leadership and because of the quality of his leadership, the Department is in good standing and will continue to run effectively and efficiently in his absence. I ap-preciate the Boards’ and Philip’s confidence in me during this interim period and know I can count on your support as well.

• Unfortunately, State tax revenues are down, which increases the chances of the State making further cuts. These so-called “trigger” cuts are primarily in education. For DPSS the impact is the loss of the IHSS Anti-fraud funding, as well as further reductions in IHSS hours. Despite these challenges, I am opti-mistic that we can have some limited promo-

tions/hirings. Although we will not be at our full need, we’re hoping for some relief.

• As a result of budget reduction actions tak-en by the Governor, Medi-Cal funding for the Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) Program has been eliminated. Effective December 1, 2011, all ADHCs are expected to close their doors. The closure of these centers will impact over 18,000 of our IHSS consumers.

• On a more positive note I received great news on the Medi-Cal audits! The State con-ducted a LEADER and MEDS Interface Fo-cused Review in Los Angeles County. The results showed a 97.33% accuracy rate, well above the State standard of 90%. Thanks for all of your hard work to achieve such a high accuracy rate.

• The Business Process Re-engineering Di-vision was launched on September 6, 2011 in the Bureau of Special Operations and will incorporate the Customer Service Center operations. Governor Brown signed the FY 2011-12 California State Budget, which in-cludes funding for the LEADER Replacement System (LRS) Project. We look forward to starting the LRS in early 2012.

Thank you for your continued hard work and commitment. As always, one of our primary goals should be staying healthy. Let’s not for-get to create a healthy balance between our work and our personal lives.

Sheryl L. Spiller

FUNMANIA 2011FRANCES NAVARRO, DISTRICT DIRECTOR

NORWALK DISTRICT #40

The DPSS FunMania Annual Picnic and Sporting Event was held on Saturday, Sep-tember 24, 2011 at Whittier Narrows Regional

Recreation Area in the City of El Monte. The purpose of this yearly event is to raise funds for the five Charitable Giving Organizations (Asian Pacific Community Fund of South-ern California, Brotherhood Crusade, Earth Share of California, United Latino Fund, and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles), and

FUNMANIA continued on page 3

OCTOBER 20112

SHERY L. SPILLER: FROM TYPIST CLERK TO THE TOP AT DPSS

COURTESY OF SUPERVISOR ZEV YAROSLAVSKY’S WEBSITE

It’s funny how the little things can shape a working life. Like that summer day in 1967 when Sheryl Spiller, fresh out of Centennial High School, went downtown to the County Hall of Administration with some girlfriends looking for summer jobs.

“I didn’t want to work for the County. But I didn’t want to wait outside either!” So Spiller went inside, aced the test and set off on a county career that has taken her from typist clerk to acting department head. Spiller has taken the reins of DPSS from Philip L. Browning, who was selected to temporarily head the County’s Department of Children and Family Services.

She’s built her career with a combination of front-line work, strategic savvy and a commitment to helping those around her grow on the job. And with more than three decades of DPSS service under her belt, there’s not much she doesn’t know about the department she’s been chosen to temporarily head. Except for three and a half years in the County’s Child Support Services Department, where she first worked with Browning, her entire career has been within DPSS.

Browning calls her “an amazing lady” who’s been generous with her deep knowledge of the department and its people. “I think it’s remarkable that an individual could remain within one organization and have that kind of a presence and an impact,” he says.

Accustomed to working behind the scenes, Spiller now will be a more visible presence—charged with serving millions of the County’s neediest residents with programs including CalFresh (formerly Food Stamps), in-home services for the elderly and disabled and General Relief assistance.

Working within a large organization to get things done, Spill-er’s broader philosophy is about networking, educating and mentoring. She says her “personal goal is to leave the depart-ment with highly educated, well-trained, success-oriented, self-motivated and healthy employees.”

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS RECOGNIZES DPSS’ ENERGETIC CHARITABLE GIVING EFFORTSBY JAMES BOLDEN, INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS

DPSS was recently recognized by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, who highlighted the department’s continued ef-forts to lead other departments in fundraising for the County’s Charitable Giving Campaigns.

With excellent participation among DPSS employees, the department continues to be innovative in its fundraising ap-proach. The Board publically acknowledged DPSS for con-tributing more than $127,000 toward the total $258,507.83 raised as part of the County’s 2010 campaign.

The County’s Charitable Giving Campaign is a partnership with five agencies, each approved by the Board, which in-cludes the Asian Pacific Community Fund, Earth Share of California, United Latino Fund, Brotherhood Crusade and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. The approved agencies use the County donations to fund many community-based grassroots organizations that provide vital health and human services and help improve the quality of life for low-income children and families in the County.

L.A. COUNTY EXCEEDS FEDERAL WORK PARTICIPATION RATE

BY JAMES BOLDENINTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS

Los Angeles County, through DPSS’ CalWORKs program efforts, exceeded the federal 2009 Work Participation Rate (WPR) for placing County residents into employment and/or training opportunities. With the caseload reduction credit, L.A. County exceeded the minimum federal requirement of 50% with a 65.6% WPR.

The County more than doubled its WPR since 2007. Only four small California counties -- Glenn, Alpine, Sierra and Plumas - had a higher WPR for 2009. With a combined population of only 53,000, the four counties had significantly smaller caseloads than L.A County.

Sheryl L. Spiller, August 18, 2011, Swearing-In Ceremony

“To Enrich Lives Through Effective and Caring Service”3

DPSS CUDAHY DISTRICT OFFICE PARTICIPATES IN AFRIENDLY GAME OF SOFTBALL AGAINST DHR

BY DIANA FONSECALA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES

On Saturday, July 23, 2011, the Countywide Fitness Chal-lenge held its annual “Stop & Smell the Flowers!” event at the Torrance Certified Farmers’ Market at Wilson Park in Tor-rance. County employees and their families were out in full force checking out the flowers, fruits and vegetables, while participating in a farmers’ market scavenger hunt and brisk fit-ness walks around the park. The DPSS Cudahy District Office accepted the challenge to play in a softball game against the Department of Human Resources.

Team Captain Eddie Martinez rallied his team in a solid per-

formance both offensively and defensively. Motivated by the support of a huge cheering section, including Philip L. Brown-ing and Assistant Director Jacob Aguilar, the Cudahy Office team walked away with a landslide victory, winning by an 18 to 4 score. The event displayed great sportsmanship and ca-maraderie, with both teams coming together in the name of fitness.

The Countywide Fitness Challenge invites all DPSS staff and their families to participate in its remaining events that will provide easy ways to boost physical activity levels and make healthier choices about foods that provide fuel. This great program includes bike rides, hikes, walks, cooking demon-strations, prize giveaways and more. Working together with family and co-workers makes it easier for DPSS employees to reach fitness goals and have fun along the way.

FUNMANIAcontinued from page 1to provide a sense of collaboration and partnership between employees from different DPSS offices.

This year’s FunMania events began on August 27 with Bowl-ing, Billiards, Tennis, Table Tennis, Basketball and Golf Tour-naments.

DPSS held various sporting and competition activities at this year’s picnic which included a T-Shirt Design Contest, Cook Off, and Banner/Spirit Contest, Soccer, Volleyball, Softball, Children’s Activities, Wellness Walk, Bike Ride, and Ta-ble Games. There were over 1200 employees, families and friends that competed in the activities. The event was filled with activities and fun for over 3500 employees and their fami-lies in attendance.

2011 1st Place Softball Tournament Champions, Team “District Seventeen”, Florence District #17

2011 1st Place Banner Contest Champions, San Gabriel Valley District #20

OCTOBER 20114

DPSS’ GOT TALENT GRAND FINALEGRACE RODRIGUEZ

MEDIA SERVICES

The DPSS’ Got Talent grand finale will take place November 4, 2011, at 7 p.m. at El Camino College in Torrance. The first Got Talent show took place on August 12, at Robert F. Ken-nedy High School. DPSS had a great turn-out. The second Got Talent show took place on September 9, at Pasadena City College.

The final contestants for the Grand Finale were selected at these shows by a panel of judges which included Ray Charles Robinson, Jr., Author and Producer; Vernon D. Webb, United Way of Greater Los Angeles; William T Fujioka, L.A. County CEO; Victoria Pipkin-Lane, Los Angeles County C.E.O. Char-Victoria Pipkin-Lane, Los Angeles County C.E.O. Char-itable Giving; Michelle Callahan, DPSS Assistant Director; Norma Doctor Sparks, DPSS Assistant Director; Oren Wa-Oren Wa-ters, Recording Artist; Raquel Sanchez, The United Latino Fund and Maya Pirela, EarthShare of California.

Congratulations to all of the finalists who made it to the Grand Finale. The finalists include: Shelva Quinine, Ray L. Jones, Erika Thomas, Leticia Aguayo, Michael Guerra, Michelle Chen, Vicki Kuo, Louise Lu, Olivia Liou, Heidi Ramirez, An-gela Walker, Carolyn Woodard, Peggy L. Dawson, Jose Na-varro, Debreal Andreson, Mitzuko Osuna, Jose Guerrero,

Rudy Aquino, Raffi Nazarian, Cecilia Ramirez, Claudia Fer-rioly, Amber Esteva, Jorge Flores, Ana Cruz, Ismael Estrada, Aba Leon and Liren Zhang.

Get your Got Talent t-shirts and Cheering Sticks! Order through your Office Charitable Giving Coordinator. Your Par-ticipation is Voluntary and Greatly Appreciated. To see pic-tures of the DPSS’ Got Talent shows please visit the DPSS’ Got Talent website at:http://intra.dpss.lacounty.gov/dpss/CharitableGiving/gotTalent/default.cfm

DPSS’ Got Talent Jazz Players

MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE OCTOBER 27, 2011CARLOS SANCHEZ

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIVISION

After a four-year hiatus, the Department is pleased to an-nounce that it will be holding a DPSS Management Confer-ence this year on October 27, 2011. This year’s conference is being hosted by the Department’s Bureau of Contract and Technical Services (BCTS) and the theme is “Innovate, Inte-grate and Motivate - Shaping Our Future”.

In keeping with the theme, the featured speakers will be Moshe Rubenstein, PhD, a distinguished professor at UCLA and also, well-published author, a world-renowned expert in problem solving and innovation and creativity within organi-zations. Ronnie Kovach, a best-selling author, motivational speaker and modern day adventurer will also address the au-dience.

This event will provide a forum for our Department’s manag-ers to network and gain valuable insight into the roles they will play in shaping our Department’s future and the methods and approaches we can take to continue providing “effective and

caring services” to the public amidst an ever-changing work environment.

The conference will also feature several of our vendor part-ners and the DPSS Mobile van, which features the latest in DPSS mobile technology.

“Integrate, Innovate, Motivate-Shaping the Future”

“To Enrich Lives Through Effective and Caring Service”5

DPSS STAFF CONTRIBUTES TO INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO SERVING CHRONICALLY

HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS IN THE COUNTYBY MICHELE SEPULVEDA, DISTRICT DIRECTOR

WILSHIRE SPECIAL DISTRICT #10

About a year ago, DPSS was asked to participate in a project coordinated by L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina, with a goal to provide comprehensive services to the chronically homeless in the La Placita Church area. Various organiza-tions were brought together to collaborate on an innovative way to help the chronically homeless suffering from mental health and substance abuse problems.

Due to the complexity of the population’s needs, staff from various organizations, including the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, Behavioral Health Services, Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Adult Protective Services, and several other agencies, partnered to permanently house the

hard-to-serve individuals. This required continuous teamwork and resources that each organization brought to the team, including specific expertise of staff members. Staff went be-yond their required duties in order to help these vulnerable individuals.

A noteworthy example was that of a participant who was in need of transportation to the hospital. Responding to the need, staff opened their wallets to collect funds to pay for a cab. Similar examples of this dedication occurred on a regular ba-sis. Effective communication was seen throughout every level of the team, as well as communication with participants. Each team member engaged with immense sensitivity, care, and understanding of the participants’ current situation. With this innovative approach, participants were made to feel visible and important once again, as so many had been homeless for years, in some cases decades. The project truly enriched lives by achieving its goal in providing permanent housing.

FIRST 5 LA COMES TO THE RESCUE OF PREGNANT/PARENTING TEENS

CONSUELO AYALAGAIN PROGRAM DIVISION – PROGRAM POLICY SECTION I

Thanks to the generous support of $2.9 million from First 5 LA, a program which has provided state-mandated Cal-Learn services to pregnant/parenting teens in the County for ap-proximately 16 years, Cal-Learn has avoided termination due to budget cuts at the state level.

On March 24, 2011 the Governor signed into law several budget-related bills that included suspending the Cal-Learn program, with the exception of bonuses to Cal-Learn par-ticipants for FY 2011-12. DPSS was faced with terminating case management service contracts with the four communi-ty-based Adolescent Family Life Programs (AFLP) providers that provide services to pregnant/parenting teens.

Termination of the Cal-Learn contracts would have resulted

in the loss of case management services for participants to fulfill their goal of obtaining a high school diploma and assis-tance and support in overcoming day-to-day challenges and barriers as well. Instead, Cal-Learn services were preserved for high-risk pregnant/parenting teens who are age 16 years and younger, homeless, in need of mental health, substance abuse or domestic violence counseling, or are identified as having other environmental/familial issues that require addi-tional intervention from AFLPs.

At the request of DPSS, in collaboration with the Board of Supervisors and AFLPs, First 5 LA did not hesitate to respond to the need, stepping in to provide the much-needed funding to continue services.

On behalf of the high-risk teens who are continuing to receive case management services from AFLPs, DPSS thanks and recognizes First 5 LA for its commitment and dedication to improving the lives of vulnerable teens and their children.

OCTOBER 20116

DPSS TOY LOAN PROGRAM PSA WINS PRESTIGIOUS EMMY FOR LOS ANGELES COUNTY CHANNEL

BY MARCIA BLACHMAN-BENITEZ, DIRECTORTOY LOAN & VOLUNTEER SERVICES SECTION

The DPSS Toy Loan program public service announcement, produced through a grant by the Hollywood-based Women in Film (WIF), earned an Emmy for the L.A. County Channel, the first such award in the government channel’s brief history.

The Emmy was presented August 6 at the 63rd Annual Area Emmy® Awards at the Academy of Television Arts and Sci-ences in North Hollywood. The production crew included stu-dio set design professionals, costume and wardrobe staff, make-up artists, catering staff, and a 20-person film crew. Both professional actors and Toy Loan Program borrowers were cast for the PSA titled “Every Child Deserves the Gift of Play.” The Toy Loan Program was selected to receive the an-nual WIF grant, among numerous county-wide submissions, to produce the 30-second PSA at no cost to the County. The project was produced as part of WIF’s PSA Production Pro-gram, which included the expertise of well-renowned WIF film industry executives, working in partnership with CityTV in the City of Santa Monica.

The Toy Loan Program is a free service, which allows chil-dren to borrow a toy once a week from one of the 54 Toy Loan Centers located throughout the County. The program is

a voluntary, community effort, sponsored in part by the Board of Supervisors and DPSS. Over 42,000 children are served each year and 120,000 toys are borrowed annually through the Toy Loan Program. Toy Loan is the oldest free toy lend-ing program in the nation operated by the non-profit Toy Loan Advisory Board. For 76 years, DPSS has provided an oppor-tunity for children to learn responsibility and at the same time play with toys and books they might otherwise never have a chance to see.

“The Toy Loan program is an indispensable resource for the children of Los Angeles County and DPSS is committed to expanding services to support the growing need,” said Philip L. Browning. The program depends primarily on monetary and toy donations from the public and private sector. The toys come from a number of resources, including individuals, groups, and several local toy manufacturers. The program is a non-profit 501 c(3) agency and all donations are tax-deduct-ible.

The County of L.A. also provides a location for the program’s headquarters and a truck to collect and deliver toys. At any given time, there are approximately 45,000 toys in circula-tion and at the headquarters facility. To locate the nearest Toy Loan Center, or to make a monetary or toy donation, please call (213) 744-4344 or visit the Toy Loan website at http://dpss.lacounty.gov/dpss/toyloan

DPSS CALFRESH PUBLIC AWARENESS PROGRAM FEATURING PSA WITH DOLORES HUERTA

RECEIVES NATIONAL RECOGNITION BY JAMES BOLDEN

INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS

The County of Los Angeles has been recognized by the Wash-ington, D.C. based National Association of Counties (NACo) for the Department of Public Social Services’ public service announcement featuring national civil rights activist Dolores C. Huerta to reach eligible residents in need of “CalFresh” – the supplemental nutrition food benefit formally known as Food Stamps.

The effort was a collaboration between DPSS’ CalFresh Pro-gram section (which secured the participation of Ms. Huerta), and Intergovernmental Relations and Multimedia Services (which produced the 30-second PSA and facilitated a press conference attended by Ms. Huerta), Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, and Philip L. Browning.

This year marks the 42nd year of NACo’s annual recognition of cost-effective programs that contribute to and enhance

county government in the United States. The award is an opportunity to share valuable information about innovative programs with counties across the nation. DPSS’ successful recruitment of Ms. Huerta was a prelude to the department’s larger month-long effort to increase access and participation in food assistance and reduce food insecurity in the second largest and most populated county in the nation.

Left to Right: Dolores Huerta, Jacob Aguilar

“To Enrich Lives Through Effective and Caring Service”7

A GLIMPSE INTO “DESIGN THINKING” AT DPSSBY PATTY RAMOS ALVAREZ

INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS SECTION

“A pocket size composition book, Kindergarten arts and crafts supplies, Thomas Dolby’s ‘She Blinded Me with Science’ play-ing on an iPad, two whiteboards with Team A and Team 1 mem-bers names listed in no particular order, a warm welcome from our fearless leader and a crash course and introduction to De-sign Thinking.” --Alex Rosas, MPA, EWII, Lincoln Heights Sub Office

Alex best captured the mood of the small Crossroads confer-ence room, turned classroom, that housed a team of DPSS staff for “QR-7 dschool,” a week-long project to understand and address a long-standing problem from the participants’ perspective. Their mission: To unravel the issues underlying the problem of frequently incomplete or routinely late submit-tals of participant QR-7 reports.

What’s the deal with the QR-7s this month? Ask any District staff and they’ll tell of long lines in the district lobby and the volume of calls, all from participants with questions on their report. Ask a program division and they will report the high data of incomplete or late QR-7 submittals that month. Ask an Administrative Executive, and they’ll point out the operational impacts.

The team consisted of eight DPSS staff (all of whom com-pleted the department-sponsored Masters in Public Adminis-tration program), two facilitators, and Assistant Director Phil Ansell, who served as the team lead.

To get to the root of why QR-7s are submitted incomplete or late, DPSS used a method developed by the “dschool” Insti-tute of Design, at Stanford University, and learned through an executive training by Mr. Ansell. The dschool approach to problem-solving follows a series of steps that together are known as “design thinking.”

The team first engaged participants in interviews to under-stand their reasons for submitting incomplete or late QR-7s. By focusing on the experiences of DPSS participants with the QR-7, the team determined underlying anxieties and setbacks for participants with this process, and designed solutions to specifically resolve those causes.

On August 8, the team presented four recommendations to DPSS executives, two of which are now being pursued at Mr. Browning’s direction: (1) a hotline to answer participants’ QR-7 questions and for submission of QR-7s with no sup-porting documents through a touch-tone phone; and (2) a centralized mail processing center where documents will

be scanned into an automated system and a confirmation will be automatically sent to the participants. This re-examination of QR-7 reporting through the dschool process yielded excel-lent findings that were reviewed and accepted by participants as effective methods to resolving barriers they encountered with QR-7 reporting.

Reflecting back on their experience, the team described the dschool approach to problem-solving as an enlightening, dy-namic, humanizing, and outside-the-box solution-finder. In the coming months, the department will explore other potential applications that would benefit from a re-examination through the dschool design thinking cap.

DPSS PASADENA OFFICE AND SAN FERNANDO OFFICES NOW PART OF DEPARTMENT’S CUSTOMER

SERVICE CENTERMAY GAYTON-JACOB, DEPUTY DIRECTOR

CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER

On September 26, 2011, the Pasadena office and it’s sub-of-fice in San Fernando were incorporated into the department’s Customer Service Center (CSC), bringing the total Call Cent-er service population to approximately 440,000 cases in ten district offices.

As part of CSC, participants are able to access CSC work-ers and are not limited to the established two-hour Eligibil-ity Worker’s (EW) telephone hours. Call Center EWs can minimize the need to go into the district offices by providing specific program information over the phone to participants regarding CalWORKs, CalFresh, Medi-Cal, and General Re-lief. Enhancing customer service through the Customer Ser-vice Center remains a major innovative approach to achieving maximum results.

Pictured from Left to Right: Ana Salazar, Juan Herrera, Alexander Rosas, Kimberley Green

OCTOBER 20118

ACTING DIRECTORSheryl L. Spiller

EDITORSIntergovernmental Relations & Media

Services

ADVISORPhil Ansell

UPCOMING EVENTS

November 4, 2011DPSS’ Got Talent Grand FinaleEl Camino College16007 Crenshaw Blvd.Torrance, CA 90506

PROMOTIONSJUNE 2011Anthony Truong Cynthia Schmidt Hannah Chia Treadway Juanita Moss Laura Guillermo Phuong Trinh Ngo Rosalva Arredondo

JULY 2011Antonio Trujillo David Lacabe

AUGUST 2011Susana Barrera

RETIREMENTS JUNE 2011Frank Acedo

JULY 2011Alma MaloneJudy MartellMario Gonzalez

Top row Left to Right: Carlos Pineda (CEO), Hilda Sanchez (DPSS), David Yada (DCFS), Axa Cazzaly (DCFS), Ninoska Campbell (DPSS), and Maria Galindo (DPSS). Bottom row Left to Right: Alma Vega (DPSS) and Lorena Bautista (CEO)

LINKAGES CELEBRATES A DECADE OF COLLABORATION

BY ALMA VEGAGAIN PROGRAM POLICY SECTION I

July was a time of celebration for the nine-member L.A. County Linkages team, partici-pating for many years in the Linkages initia-tive, a strategic effort to effectively integrate DPSS CalWORKs services and DCFS child welfare services.

L.A. County joined other counties that gath-ered in Monterey, CA for three days to reflect on their Linkages strategic efforts. The teams participated in a number of workshops and presentations that highlighted innovative Link-ages strategies and provided peer-to-peer learning opportunities for all in attendance. Along with entries from the other counties in attendance, L.A. County displayed its own sto-ryboard strategy that demonstrated five ways that families are benefiting from the Linkages concept. The L.A. County team’s storyboard was once again voted #1 by its peers.

Highlights included various keynote speakers who addressed the importance of collabora-tion and leadership. The event also featured the gathering’s founders who provided a retro-spective of the past 10 years of the statewide Linkages convening.

L.A. County facilitated a workshop, conducted by DCFS and DPSS Linkages coordinators, focusing on the strength and support of the Linkages leadership infrastructure. All the teams shared their ideas on how to implement and sustain Linkages using various govern-ment resources.

The California Linkages Project is currently implemented across 27 California counties to improve family functioning, strengthen fami-lies through economic self-sufficiency, and prevent and reduce child abuse and neglect. The July event was the final convening, culminating the five-year Federal Demonstra-tion Grant administered by the Child and Fam-ily Policy Institute of California.