involving other stakeholders in the training, and use of stakeholders at the local level as a
resource.
The second barrier is that service plans are not flexible or individualized to address the
individual child and/or family needs. Plan preparers often focus on one process or outcome to
the exclusion of others. Recommendations for change include assigning primary responsibility
to the caseworker to promote collaboration, encouraging better attendance by attorneys,
promoting the ability to collaborate by assigning one caseworker and Guardian Ad Litem to
one judge, training attorneys and judges in child development and family issues, training social
services workers in legal concepts, and the use of an independent mediator to assist service
planners in securing more agreement.
Ms. Weggeland also reviewed the following barriers listed in the handout: 1) the lack
of trust and communication among system stakeholders in the allocation and use of resources
and 2) the lack of trust and communication among all the players involved in preparation and
delivery of service plan.
Recommendations for change in these areas include: use of "managed care" model to pool resources, move toward a "children's budget" format, provide
information at state and local level regarding the Families, Agencies, and Communities
Together (FACT) Initiative with the goal of prevention and intervention and hard-to-serve
cases, involve the GAL and the defense counsel in the service plan development, clarify the
purpose of visitation between the child and the natural parent, and provide training about the
role of the therapist
. Ms. Weggeland also suggested the legislature consider legislation mandating cooperation across all agencies, including school districts.
Mr. Howe noted that H.B. 231, effective July 1, 1996, provided incentives to
communities to develop collaborative community-based plans for at risk children. To date, no
community has come forth with such a plan. He said that the mechanism already exists under
H.B. 231 to make the recommended changes.
Ms. Jacobson said other barriers discussed by the forum include: 1) low morale, risk of
burnout and high turn over, especially among foster parents and caseworkers, but also among
attorneys; 2) lack of adequate resources and services to prevent abuse and neglect and to
promote family stability; 3) foster parents are not currently viewed and treated as full partners
in DCFS service delivery to children and families
; and 4)
the natural parents tend to be systematically excluded.
The forum recommendations for these areas of concern include: providing better salaries, developing a uniform reporting format within DCFS and between
agencies, create job descriptions for case managers, perform candid exit interviews to
document turnover issues, develop career ladder for caseworkers, create job descriptions for
foster parents and improvement in prevention services and other supports for family stability
.
Judge Garff concluded with the suggestion that the FACT Steering Committee be given
responsibility for implement
ing the recommended changes.
Rep. Haymond expressed appreciation for the work done in identifying these issues. He stated that work must be done to solve problems at the family level. He praised the Youth Reclamation Program as a collaborative effort that has had remarkable results.
4. Review of Recent Caseload Trends in the Division of Child and Family Services-- Bryant R. Howe, Research Analyst
, distributed a handout with charts showing the trends in the following areas: 1) number of children in custody of the Division of Child and Family
Services, 2) percent of caseload by permanency status, 3) number of children by treatment goal
4) number of new cases opened vs. Cases closed, 5) ratio of new cases opened vs. Cases
closed, 6) foster care recidivism rates, 7) number of child abuse referrals, 8) number of
substantiated child abuse referrals, 9) disposition of child abuse referrals, and 10) number of
foster homes.
Mr. Howe noted that these charts show record high numbers for this month in the
number of children in custody and new cases opened. Also, the number of substantiated child
abuse referrals have increased. After several months of declining, the number of foster homes
increased by 51 in May over April.
Rep. Haymond asked Mr. Howe to discuss treatment goals for children in custody. Mr. Howe said those children with a return home goal remain in custody for an average of
11.8 months. He will prepare a report showing the length of stay in custody by treatment
goal.
5. Update on Monitoring Panel Activities_ Pamela Atkinson, Chair, reminded the committee of Judge David Winder's orders to prepare a report for October 1996 through
March 1997, tell the court what resources were needed to complete the report, and prepare a
comprehensive plan including any non-compliance discovered by the panel. After conducting a
nationwide search of child welfare experts, Paul Vincent's Child Welfare Policy Practice
Group was selected to be the consultant. This group has interviewed 69 people, will review
400 cases and then follow up on 50 children. The focus on the follow up will be to evaluate the
outcome for the children.
Rep. Haymond stressed the need for common methodology. Ms. Atkinson agreed and
said that has been taken into consideration.
Rep. Barth asked when the report and plan is expected to be completed. Ms. Atkinson
said that should happened within the next four months.
Sen. Hillyard inquired about the cost of the audit. Ms. Atkinson said that the total cost
will be $280,000. Since the money was not in the budget, the state has agreed to pay for the
audit because it was a federal order.
Sen. Wharton asked Ms. Atkinson about the status of the Grievance Council. She
suggested the roles and responsibilities of the Grievance Council and the Consumer Hearing
Panel
be clearly stated to avoid confusion.
Rep. Haymond thanked Ms. Atkinson for her input.
6.
Oversight Hearing: Implementation of Section 62A-4a-117, Performance Monitoring System and Policy and Management Information System Review--
a. Review of Statute--Bryant R. Howe, Research Analyst, distributed copies Section 62A-4a-117. He said that this section requires the director to submit a written report
describing the difference between the actual performance and performance goals of the
Division. This report is due December 31, 1997.
b. Report --Kathryn Cooney, Division of Child and Family Services, reviewed the handouts entitled "Division of Child and Family Services, Outcome Measures, Performance
Monitoring System Summary Baseline Data FY '96". This report identifies the desired
outcomes and performance goals, provides a clear definition of data, and provides an example
of what the data demonstrates. The report also shows areas where data is insufficient.
Ms. Cooney presented the following information from the handout: 1) the average
length of time for all children before they achieved permanency was 10.2 months; 2) since
1981, 10% of adoptions have been dissolved, and the child has been returned to DCFS
custody; and 3) 27 percent of children adopted were adopted by their foster family
.
Rep. Stephens asked what the legislature could do to reduce the time before permanent
deprivation. Ms. Cooney suggested the panel explore mediation as an alternative to permanent
deprivation through the court so that families could voluntarily give up their rights .
Mr. Howe
praised the agency for the excellent job that was done on this report. Rep. Haymond thanked Ms. Cooney for her work on this report.
7. Other Business_
a.
Future Meeting Dates: August 19th, September 9th, October 14th , and November 18th
Chairman Haymond adjourned the meeting at 12:00.