Oversight Committee has the option of designating at least one or perhaps two of its members
to serve on the Grievance Council.
Mr. Clark explained that the Grievance Council can select the cases it will review and
make recommendations. If the matter cannot be resolved by the Council, the consumer has the
option of going to the Consumer Hearing Panel.
MOTION: Rep. Barth moved that Rep. Stephens represent the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel by serving on the Grievance Council and that staff would contact
Sen. Wharton regarding his interest to also be appointed. If Sen Wharton agrees, he may also
represent the panel on the Grievance Council. The motion passed unanimously.
4. Review of Child Welfare Legislation Enacted During 1997 General Session--Ms. Janetha W. Hancock, Associate General Counsel, distributed copies of H.B. 307, H.B. 109,
H.B. 178, H.B. 94,
and a document entitled "Child Welfare Legislation: Enacted 1997 General Session."
Ms. Hancock reviewed the following bills for the panel:
.
H.B. 307 "Child Welfare Reform Act Amendments"includes the following amendments: 1) members of DCFS Board may receive per diem/reimbursement,
not to exceed 75 days per member in any one fiscal year; 2) clarification of the
state's role in providing reunification services and "rehabilitation" of parents; 3)
requires DCFS to have basic information available at the 24 hour meeting; and 4)
limits authority of district court to "at any time" certify questions of support,
custody, and visitation to the juvenile court.
.
H.B. 109 "Adoption of Children in Division of Child and Family Services Custody" requires: 1) DCFS to ensure that children adopted (previously in its
custody) continue to receive medical and mental health coverage that they are
entitled to under state and federal law; 2) DCFS to establish standards and
curriculum for training and education of employees of adoption agencies licensed
by the division, with regard to special needs of children in the custody of DCFS,
to support and educate potential adoptive and adoptive parents; and 3) termination
of reunification services if parent(s) have abandoned a child for a period of six
months since the date reunification services were ordered.
.
H.B. 178 "Foster Care Citizen Review Board Amendments" establishes Foster Care Citizen Review Boards in First, Second, Third, and Fourth Juvenile Court
Districts to act as sole panels to conduct periodic reviews required by federal law
(unless otherwise conducted by the court). It also establishes the role and
responsibilities of those boards, and the use of the reports by the juvenile courts in
abuse, neglect, and dependency proceedings.
.
H.B. 94 "Guardian Ad Litem Amendments" creates two restricted accounts for training of volunteers and funding the Office of Guardian Ad Litem Director,
provides for utilization of paralegals and other trained staff by that office, and
clarifies the roles and responsibilities of attorneys guardian ad litem.
5. Review of Recent Caseload Trends in the Division of Child and Family Services-- Bryant R. Howe, Research Analyst, distributed handouts showing the number of children in
the custody of DCFS, information regarding the children in custody, child abuse and neglect
reports, foster care recidivism rates, and the number of foster homes. He said that the number
of children in the custody of the DCFS reached an all-time high in June of this year.
Mr. Howe said that H.B. 307 exempts children that are in custody of the division
because of status offenses or delinquent behavior from the Child Welfare Reform Act. This
involves about 20 percent of the division's case load.
6. Update On Various Activities in the Division of Child and Family Services--Mary Noonan, Director, announced that this was her last meeting with the panel as director of DCFS and thanked the members for their work on child welfare.
a.
Privatization of Case Management Functions _ Ms. Noonan distributed handouts titled "Case Management Contract Pilot Project." She said the case management
contract pilot program was implemented in April 1996. The project was
implemented for the purpose of reducing DCFS foster care and in home caseloads
to allow the Central Region DCFS to come into compliance with the David C.
Lawsuit Settlement Agreement and the Child Welfare Reform Act.
Mr. Ortiz, DCFS, reported that these contracts were written as two year contracts
and will be reviewed within the next year. He said that the program has been
especially beneficial to the delinquent population.
b.
Update on Reorganization of Regions_ Ms. Noonan reported that smaller units are able to give better service. Therefore, the central region will be divided into
three service regions. The western region may be divided into a western and a
southwestern region.
Mr. Howe asked about the impact of these additions on the budget. Ms. Noonan
said that since it will not be necessary to add administrative positions, the budget
should not be affected.
c.
Neighborhood Based Work Teams _ There are currently three functioning neighborhood teams. They are located in Magna and Murray school districts, and
at Jackson Elementary School. The Neighborhood model puts DCFS staff in teams
based on school districts. The Neighborhood teams work with families, local
schools, law enforcement, and neighborhood support systems in case planning and
service delivery.
d.
Process for Hiring New Division Director _ Ms. Noonan said that June 30, 1997, would be her last day as the division director. Rod Betit will be serving as the
interim director. There are currently five applications on file at the Department of
Human Services.
Chair Haymond expressed appreciation to Ms. Noonan for her outstanding work as
division director.
7.
Other Business_
a.
Future Panel Meeting Dates _ The panel decided to meet on the third Tuesday of each month at 9:00 a.m. except in September, when they will meet on September
9th.
MOTION: Rep. Stephens moved to adjourn the meeting at 3:00 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.