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Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel

MINUTES OF THE

CHILD WELFARE LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT PANEL

May 13, 1998_8:00 a.m. -- Room 405 State Capitol



Members Present:    
    Sen. Lyle W. Hillyard, Senate Chair
    Rep. J. Brent Haymond, House Chair
    Rep. Nora B. Stephens
    Rep. Steve Barth
        



Members Absent:
    Sen. Blaze D. Wharton          
Staff Present:                 Mr. Bryant R. Howe
     Research Analyst
    Mr. R. Chet Loftis
     Associate General Counsel
    Ms. Tracey Fredman
     Secretary

Note:    A list of others present and a copy of materials distributed in the meeting are on file in the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.

Chair Haymond called the meeting to order at 8:14 a.m.

1.    Panel Business_
    a.     Approval of minutes of November 18, 1997 meeting

    MOTION: Rep. Stephens moved that the minutes of the November 18, 1997 meeting be approved as printed. The motion passed unanimously. Sen. Barth was absent for the vote.

    b.    Review of Trends of Children in the Custody of the Division of Child and Family Services--Bryant R. Howe, Research Analyst, distributed to the panel documentation regarding the number of children in the custody of the Division of Child and Family Services, number of children by treatment goal and permanency status, percent of caseload by permanency status, number of new cases opened vs. cases closed, ratio of new cases opened vs. cases closed, and foster care recidivism rates. Mr. Howe reported that the number of new cases increased slightly in the last quarter, while the total recidivism rate declined.

    Mr. Howe distributed several newspaper articles on the latest actions regarding the Settlement Agreement in the case of David C. vs. Leavitt.

2.    Report of Monitoring Panel Established Under Settlement Agreement in David C. vs. Leavitt

    Pamela Atkinson, Chair of the Monitoring Panel presented an overview of the audit panel's of the DCFS covering the period of time from January, 1997 through June, 1997. She outlined some areas of concern as follows:

    1.    Overall compliance with child abuse investigations was only 61.9%.

    2.    Interviews with child victims was only 78% in compliance.

    3.    Necessary medical exams within 24 hours was only 50% in compliance.

    4.    Some children are still being kept in shelters for over fourteen days without any documentation as to the reason why.

    5.    Some children are still being placed in foster care without adequate information given to foster parents.

    6.     There are still multiple placements in some areas.

    7.    Health history status and names of healthcare providers are not always given to the foster parents.

    8.    Follow-up mental health treatment wasn't sufficiently documented.

    9.    Case workers seem to be focusing more on compliance with the Settlement Agreement and the Child Welfare Act than the quality treatment of individual cases.

    Ms. Atkinson stated that the next step in the process is for the state to develop a Comprehensive Plan for the upcoming year. She said that this plan will document goals, plans for meeting those goals, barriers that exist to compliance, strategies to overcome those barriers, prioritization of strategies, time frames for achievement, assignment of responsibility for tasks, and a basis for evaluation of achievement.

3.    Response of the Division of Child and Family Services

    Ken Patterson, Director of the Division of Child and Family Services, said that they were pleased with the thoroughness and content of the Monitoring Panel's report, noting that it reported on the progress of the Division of Child and Family Services, and the Child Welfare System as a whole. He said that although some of the low quantitative ratings reflected uncontrollable circumstances, the qualitative ratings indicated an overall acceptable status.

    Carolyn Nichols, Attorney General's Office, reminded the panel that the lawsuit is scheduled to expire the end of August, 1998. She said that the plaintiffs were filing a motion for extension on May 13, 1998, and will likely request modification.

    Sen. Hillyard expressed concern over the discouragement that the negative publicity surrounding the lawsuit has caused among many DCFS employees. Rep. Haymond concurred with Sen. Hillyard on this issue.

    Pamela Atkinson commented that the Monitoring Panel has received a number of calls from people who have said that the Settlement Agreement has provided positive assistance in their respective responsibilities. She also said that exceptions, which are documented, are not out of compliance with the Settlement Agreement. Ken Patterson said that the National Center For Youth Law's actions in 1993 and 1994 initiated changes resulting in a better system overall, although the quantitative report does not appear to reflect a better outcome for the children.

    The panel discussed ways in which the list of requirements of the Settlement Agreement could be simplified.

    Carolyn Nichols said that a new lawsuit could be filed if the motion for extension was not granted.

    Bryant Howe asked Pamela Atkinson if she saw a conflict between the Qualitative and Quantitative Reports, wherein the Qualitative Report says children are doing reasonably well while the Quantitative Report says the State is not following the practices and time frames that the Settlement Agreement says it should. Ms. Atkinson said that comparison of the two reports was difficult because the methodology was so different. She said that there is a lot in the Settlement Agreement which is good and needs to be measured while the barriers need to be sufficiently documented.
    
    The panel discussed briefly whether the State will agree to an extension of the current Settlement Agreement.

    Rep. Stephens asked for more information about the change in definition of multiple placements as noted in the Report Summary. Ken Patterson said that a decision was made to not include shelter placements, but rather to document the number of times a child has to change relationships with a care giver.

     MOTION: Sen. Hillyard moved that the two co-chairs write a letter on behalf of the panel to the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate, asking them to convey to the Governor and to the Attorney General that no final action be taken by the state with regard to any aspect of the Settlement Agreement without the Governor and Attorney General first consulting with legislative leadership and the Child Welfare Legislative Oversight Panel. The motion passed with Rep. Barth voting in opposition.

    Chet Loftis asked how the Comprehensive Plan relates to the Settlement Agreement. Ms. Atkinson explained that within the Settlement Agreement, the Comprehensive Plan is called the Corrective Action Plan, and both are essentially the same. She said the purpose of the Comprehensive Plan is to bring the state into compliance with the Settlement Agreement.

    The panel discussed recent improvements in documentation processes which include a new management information system called SAFE, version 1.1.

5.    Other Business

    a.    Next Meeting Date June 26, 1998 9:00 a.m.

6.    Adjournment

     MOTION: Rep. Stephens moved to adjourn the meeting at 10:15 a.m. The motion passed unanimously.

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