Talk:Casey Family Programs

Research/Laws

I removed this line from the article because I don't believe it's accurate and furthermore it had already been flagged for neutrality in January 2012. Here's the line I removed:

They promote these changes by providing nonpartisan research to members of congress, state legislators and other policymakers so they may craft laws and policies to better the lives of children in foster care and their families.

Jlawshe (talk) 21:09, 27 July 2012 (UTC)

Intentions, conflict of interest disclosure

I'm a member of Casey Family Programs' communications team. I've been tasked by the foundation with working here to update the Casey Family Programs page in order to make it more accurate and comprehensive.

I understand that this constitutes a conflict of interest, so I plan to make ample use of the talk page before making any changes. Right now I'm in the process of doing further research that will allow me to create citations that conform to Wikipedia's policies.

If you have any questions or concerns for me, I'd be happy to address them. Looking forward to learning from the editors here.

Jlawshe (talk) 20:57, 27 July 2012 (UTC)

I'm stepping in where Jeff Lawshe left off. I'm a temporary employee of Casey Family Programs, and I have been tasked with providing a more accurate picture of Casey on this Wikipedia entry.

I'm proposing some updates and additions to the content and hoping for input from editors. Thanks!

Worldraveler (talk) 23:52, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

Untitled

http://seattlepi.com/local/94378_casey06.shtml

2015 Content Update

Hello, the current Wikipedia content about Casey Family Programs is not accurate or comprehensive. In a good-faith attempt to update the content within the Wikipedia guidelines for transparency and impartiality, I am proposing to replace the existing content with the following:

Casey Family Programs is the nation’s largest operating foundation focused on safely reducing the need for foster care and building Communities of Hope for children and families across America. Founded in 1966, it works in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to influence long-lasting improvements to the safety and success of children, families and the communities where they live.

The organization's stated mission is to provide and improve — and ultimately prevent the need for — foster care.

History

Jim Casey, the founder of UPS, established Casey Family Programs in 1966 to help improve the safety and success of vulnerable children and their families across America.

Casey believed that a strong, supportive family was critical to the success that he and his siblings enjoyed. They credited his mother, Annie E. Casey, with keeping the young family together following the death of his father and for providing them with the love and guidance they needed to thrive.4

Today, Casey Family Programs focuses on building hope for children, families and the communities where they live. Since its founding, Casey Family Programs has invested more than $2.1 billion to support improvements in programs, services and public policies that benefit children and families in the child welfare system.

Casey believed that a strong, supportive family was critical to the success that he and his siblings enjoyed. They credited his mother, Annie E. Casey, with keeping the young family together following the death of his father and for providing them with the love and guidance they needed to thrive.

Today, Casey Family Programs focuses on building hope for children, families and the communities where they live. Since its founding, Casey Family Programs has invested more than $2.1 billion to support improvements in programs, services and public policies that benefit children and families in the child welfare system.

Work

To influence improvements in child welfare in the United States, Casey Family Programs provides:

·Consulting. Casey Family Programs offers ongoing strategic consultation, technical assistance, data analysis and independent research and evaluation at no cost to child welfare systems, policymakers, courts and tribes across America to support long-lasting improvements that safely reduce the need for foster care.

·Direct services. The foundation provides foster care and other direct services to 1,100 children and families through community-based offices in nine locations. They share what we learn with child welfare systems, tribes, courts, private providers and community partners.

·Public policy. They provide federal, state, tribal and local governments with comprehensive, nonpartisan child welfare information and education driven by data and based on evidence of what works best to improve the lives of children and families.

Locations

Casey Family Programs is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and has offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, New York, Texas and Washington.

Related Organizations

In 1948, Jim Casey and his siblings established the Annie E. Casey Foundation to honor their mother. In 1976, Jim Casey created Casey Family Services, which served the New England states until 2012. In 2001, the Marguerite Casey Foundation was founded by Casey Family Programs to help low-income families strengthen their voice and mobilize their communities to achieve a more just and equitable society for all. Casey Family Programs also is the founding member of Foster Care Alumni of America.

Worldraveler (talk) 23:37, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

References

I don't see how we would want the above text the way it's written. It sounds like an advertisement. Look at this sentence: "Today, Casey Family Programs focuses on building hope for children, families and the communities where they live. Since its founding, Casey Family Programs has invested more than $2.1 billion to support improvements in programs, services and public policies that benefit children and families in the child welfare system." Is that the tone of a neutral writer? No. That's ad copy. You'd see that sentence in fundraising brochure.

I could stop what I'm doing and go to work rewriting all this to remove peacock phrases and other promotional tone, but this article is not a high priority for me. I think if you'd like to move this information into the article you should rewrite it in a neutral tone. It really reads like a resume of accomplishments and accolades rather than what you'd find in objective sources.

How come nothing but feel-good facts? What about this news story announcing 60 people laid off? A balanced article would tell the whole story and not just nice things Casey would like to say about itself. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 23:54, 27 July 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for your feedback, Dennis. Based on your recommendations, I have attempted to "de-peacock" the information. I have also added information about the 2002 reorganization that you referenced in the Seattle PI article. I corrected reference formatting as well. I'm pasting the updated draft below:

Casey Family Programs is the United States’ largest operating foundation focused on safely reducing the need for foster care. Founded in 1966, it works in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico with a stated goal of improving the safety and success of children, families and the communities where they live. The organization’s stated mission is to provide and improve — and ultimately prevent the need for — foster care.

History

Jim Casey, the founder of the UPS, established Casey Family Programs in 1966 to help improve the safety and success of vulnerable children and their families across America. Casey believed that a strong, supportive family was critical to the success that he and his siblings enjoyed. He credited his mother, Annie E. Casey, with keeping the young family together following the death of his father and for providing them with the love and guidance they needed to thrive.

Work

To strengthen child welfare in the United States, Casey Family Programs provides:

• Consulting. Casey Family Programs provides strategic consultation, technical assistance, data analysis and independent research and evaluation at no cost to child welfare systems, policymakers, courts and tribes in the United States.
• Direct services. The foundation provides foster care and other direct services to 1,100 children and families through community-based offices in nine locations.
• Public policy. The foundation provides child welfare data and other information to federal, state, tribal and local governments.

199.249.207.6 (talk) 17:34, 10 August 2015 (UTC)

Staff and locations

In 2002, Casey Family Programs broadened its focus from direct child welfare services to include research and consulting. As part of this change, they laid off 60 child welfare employees. As of 2015, Casey Family Programs employed about 450 staff working on direct services, consulting, and public policy. Casey Family Programs is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and has offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, New York, Texas and Washington.

Related organizations

In 1948, Jim Casey and his siblings established the Annie E. Casey Foundation to honor their mother. In 1976, Jim Casey created Casey Family Services, which served the New England states until 2012. In 2001, the Marguerite Casey Foundation was founded by Casey Family Programs to help low-income families strengthen their voice and mobilize their communities to achieve a more just and equitable society for all. Casey Family Programs also is the founding member of Foster Care Alumni of America. Worldraveler (talk) 17:47, 6 August 2015 (UTC)

References

2015 Content Update (Continued)

I'm restarting this section because the way that I put in the proposed content sections confused the structure of this page.

I am moving forward with updating the content based on earlier proposed changes as well as recent updates from other users:

• Some recent additions "re-peacocked" the language somewhat and strayed from facts, so I have removed some of that content (i.e. "As advocates for change, they are committed to their 2020 strategy - an ambitious yet attainable goal....").
• I have added more factual content about the work that Casey Family Programs does, using a neutral tone.
• I removed non-neutral words throughout; for example, I changed "make them exceptionally qualified to identify" to "enable them to identify."
• I removed language that indicated Casey Family Services was an active foundation (they closed in 2012), changed the section header to a more broad "Related programs" and added a reference to the Marguerite Casey Foundation. I also moved the reference to the Foster Care Alumni of America down into this section.
• I removed repetition/redundant information.
• I added references throughout.
• I corrected punctuation and capitalization.

With these changes, I hope that we have both improved the information on Casey Family Programs and adhered to Wikipedia standards for quality and neutrality. Worldraveler (talk) 16:27, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Remove alerts from page?

With the most recent edits to improve the Casey Family Programs content, both by myself and others, and with the resolution of the sockpuppetry accusation, can we now remove the alerts from this page? I believe they are no longer valid:

• refimprove (2010): Recent updates include many new and updated references to support the content. I believe this 5-year-old alert can be removed.
• COI (2015): I have been transparent about my relationship to Casey Family Programs from the outset - working as a short-term contract employee. I was not hired specifically to update Wikipedia, nor is my compensation dependent on Wikipedia updates. It's simply a task I was asked to perform. I recognize the inherent conflict of interest, and I have made a good-faith effort to provide unbiased but much-needed updates to the entry.
• advert (2015): I have attempted to remove any "advertorial" content from the page and to maintain a tone of neutrality throughout. I've removed "peacock" language both from earlier submitted drafts and from content submitted by other users. If there are further improvements required, please let me know or submit edits.

I have tried my best to follow the Wikipedia directive to "be bold" and maintain a "neutral point of view"; I hope that editors can "assume good faith" and remove these alerts.

Respectfully, Worldraveler (talk) 18:09, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

No, I disagree. For example, the first sentence is a direct quote of what the subject "claims" about themselves. We don't write article because "X claims to be the world's strongest man". We write an article about X if it is attested as a fact by reliable, independent, third party sources that he IS the world's strongest man. If we seriously lack any independent reliable sources who can tell us what this organization is notable for, other than their own PR, then we should delete this article for failing the criteria of Notability (organizations and companies). The lead goes on to tell us what the org's stated mission is. Encyclopedias don't care what the subject's mission statement says. Mission statements go in press releases and motivational posters. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Readers what meaningful facts on how the subject has affected the real world. If the subject hasn't done that, and it hasn't been reported by their parties, then we delete the article.

The rest of the article is more PR. It's nothing but what the subject wants to tell the world about itself. The problem here, as Upton Sinclair said, is "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." I don't think I'll be able to get through to you what neutrality means. It's your job to be a flack and and flacks write PR instinctively. I would have to devote hours of my time slowly going through point by point to teach you to write objectively. It would be like pulling teeth to get this article in shape; you'd fight me every step of the way. I would do that, but it so happens I'm busy. I have other articles to work on which are a higher priority. They are about broader topics, and they are read more by more readers. The reason we have maintenance tags is to flag problems that for whatever reason we can't fix right now. Some maintenance tags sit around for years, it depends on when Wikipedia's volunteers can get to it. I am a volunteer and I don't jump to work because a paid flack snaps their fingers and tells me they're impatient to get an article fixed up. I don't work on your timeline. Neither does anybody else. Wikipedia did not tell you to come here and put POV advertising into an article. The Casey Programs made the mistake of telling you to do that, and it rarely works out. If you were to write totally objectively, your bosses would be unhappy. Wikipedia didn't create that dilemma, you guys did.

I suggest that you should spend a few months working on articles unrelated to your work in order to become a real Wikipedian who understands what we do here. Or you could keep trying to make this article objective. As I said, use third party sources. Stop citing Casey's marketing blurbs and work only from books, magazines and newspapers. Delve fully into criticism, controversy and opposition to the subject.

If you do not wish to follow my advice, and you think the article is adequate as is and want the maintenance tags removed, then your options are described over at Dispute resolution. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 19:16, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Dennis, based on this feedback, I'm making further changes. I am removing the casey.org website as a reference (aside from the one that points to the contact page listing the various locations, i.e. factual information). While I believe the quotes in the previous version (which I did not insert into the page) serve to explain what the organization does, I have removed them in the interest of reaching agreement on this content. I am also making some additional edits/redactions to attempt to satisfy complaints. If you have additional specific content recommendations, please make them. Thanks for your help.

One note: Casey Family Programs and the Annie E. Casey Foundation are both founded by Casey family members but are not affiliated. Worldraveler (talk) 21:27, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

Please see the extensive (and, yes, TLDR) list of independent sources about Casey Family Programs. The reason for its length is to demonstrate that the organization receives significant independent news coverage. Worldraveler (talk) 18:16, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

Coverage of Casey Family Programs in independent sources

Here is a Google-sourced list of news articles mentioning Casey Family Programs for the last 10 months or so. While these don't necessarily work as references for items in the write-up, they should address any concerns about notability. I welcome editorial advice on how best to use these to support statements in the page.

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/08/31/the-bipartisan-plan-to-save-foster-care/?postshare=3831441230797738:
• http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/sep/6/commission-to-eliminate-child-abuse-and-neglect-fa/?page=all
• http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video/#!/news/politics/Mayors-Meet-to-Reduce-Violence-Among-Young-African-American-Men/301735941
• http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2015/06/16/childs-death-shines-light-on-stressed-protection-services/
• http://www.startribune.com/hennepin-county-to-add-100-workers-to-child-protection/309371351/
• http://bringmethenews.com/2015/06/23/hennepin-county-to-add-100-people-to-child-protection-staff/
• http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/01/02/youth-courts-attorney-pilot-programs-search-funding/21195437/
• https://www.georgetown.edu/news/spring-faculty-convocation-2015.html
• http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150730/NEWS/150739936
• http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2015/04/14/former-youth-court-judge-gets-new-role-with-state-high-court/
• http://www.charkoosta.com/2014/2014_09_04/CSKT_approves_child_welfare_agreement.html
• http://www.brookings.edu/events/2015/05/05-states-improve-childrens-health
• http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/rtc/ct-residential-treatment-response-met-20150402-story.html
• http://www.startribune.com/drowned-girl-3-was-under-child-protection-supervision/307722811/
• http://6abc.com/politics/nutter-13-other-mayors-meet-for-cities-united-conference/687968/
• http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/rtc/ct-legislation-harsh-treatment-met-20150213-story.html
• http://www.phillytrib.com/news/nutter-hosts-conference-on-reducing-violence-against-black-men-boys/article_db4ab32e-a1c8-5e63-8e13-efb73b38c7e6.html
• http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-rauner-budget-dcfs-met-20150305-story.html
• http://www.nwherald.com/2015/02/16/rauner-faces-pressure-to-overhaul-child-services/aq99rfi/
• http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/372802/29-kids-among-illinois-child-welfare-agencys-faces-failure
• http://www.nhregister.com/government-and-politics/20150509/connecticut-senate-passes-safe-sleep-bill-dcf-seeks-to-reduce-deaths
• https://philanthropy.com/article/Open-Society-Foundations-Spins/151923
• http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_28381925/andre-chapman-and-bob-nunez-homelessness-can-only
• http://www.insightnews.com/news/13691-melvin-carter-jr-at-large-genesis-49
• http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2015/02/chicago-tribune-george-sheldon-to-be-named-new-chief-of-illinois-dcf.html
• http://augustafreepress.com/mcauliffe-releases-report-from-childrens-cabinet-recommendations-of-commonwealth-council-on-childhood-success/
• http://www.phillytrib.com/news/strategies-to-quell-violence-against-black-men/article_90176179-d980-5c5b-aa33-95ec1eacc0bf.html
• http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/vermont/2014/12/18/report-calls-changes-vermont-child-safety/20588207/
• http://kcur.org/post/southeast-kansas-counties-still-rank-low-health
• http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/04/25/less-money-fewer-workers-protect-endangered-kids/26314051/
• http://www.politicspa.com/pa-gov-wolf-unveils-physician-general-more-cabinet-nominees/63044/
• http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/Federal-report-Critical-of-WVa-Mental-Health-System-305865471.html
• http://www.statejournal.com/story/29220428/bowling-responds-to-doj-criticism-of-west-virginias-handling-of-children-with-mental-health-needs
• http://www.tbo.com/Local/CommunityNews/helping-kids-earns-hillsborough-judge-national-award-20150306/
• http://www.amny.com/news/former-nyc-foster-care-children-face-barriers-trying-to-reconnect-with-missing-siblings-1.10554165
• https://www.openminds.com/market-intelligence/executive-briefings/future-child-welfare-services-thoughtleaders-think.htm/
• https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/12/08/fact-sheet-improving-outcomes-our-nation-s-foster-youth
• http://www.news4jax.com/news/report-more-work-needed-to-fix-child-protection-system/31052174
• http://vtdigger.org/2015/05/28/truancy-viewed-with-a-new-lens-at-youth-justice-summit/
• http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2015/02/27/kentucky-program-helps-drug-addicts-keep-babies/24087709/
• http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-dcf-child-deaths-0203-20150202-story.html
• http://www.masslive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/03/an_ounce_of_prevention_a_strat.html
• http://savannahnow.com/news/2015-01-31/chatham-specialty-court-helps-families-find-stability
• http://www.phillytrib.com/news/mayor-announces-findings-from-brother-s-keeper-summit/article_8ad236b2-1861-5b13-b53b-4999c4076bd5.html
• http://www.startribune.com/message-to-task-force-more-scrutiny-for-minnesota-child-protection/282783431/
• http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150616/New-data-shows-psychotropic-medication-use-among-Medicaid-enrolled-foster-children-in-Pennsylvania.aspx
• http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/11/26/child-welfare-system-looks-to-institute-to-help-steer-a-course/
• http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/report-on-tribal-youth-and-violence-urges-action/article_6d7a8660-6f72-11e4-8f4c-ebe6d261a38f.html
• http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-county-launches-reform-campaign-for-child-welfare-system-20130801-story.html
• http://flaglerlive.com/74082/jonchuck-killing/

Worldraveler (talk) 00:52, 17 September 2015 (UTC)

Seriously, no one is going to read all that. Erpert ^{blah, blah, blah...} 04:29, 9 October 2015 (UTC)

Frankly, it's not meant to be read. It's meant to demonstrate the significant amount of independent coverage the organization receives in response to previous editor comments. This is just a sampling of coverage in the last year. The fact that it's TLDR should be proof enough. Worldraveler (talk) 18:26, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

"controversy"

I intend to delete the section titled "controversy" because it's basically just quoting a single bizarre panicky article. There is no controversy over Casey. Their view that the child welfare system is structurally racist is mainstream in American child welfare today - and not because of anything Casey has done. The child's death in New Orleans is not linked to Casey by anyone in their right mind, and doesn't belong here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.17.244.59 (talk) 04:04, 11 November 2019 (UTC)