CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION OF ILLINOIS

       MONDAY REPORT

July 17, 2000

SPECIAL NOTE:  Copyright 2000. The Monday Report is produced each week as a benefit to the member agencies of the Child Care Association. Please protect this membership benefit - DO NOT copy and distribute this report to agencies/staff that are not members of CCA.  Thank you for your cooperation.

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CHILD WELFARE

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CHILD WELFARE WORKER LICENSING EXAM AND LICENSURE REVIEW SCHEDULE

Below is the list of dates and cities where DCFS plans to hold Licensure Reviews and Tests.  The licensure exam will always be the third afternoon of the series of 3 days.  DCFS does not yet have the specific training sites locked up right now, but will forward  that information to Northern Illinois University ASAP.

Chicago  ( most likely at IITRI)

 July 12, 13 & 14

 July 24, 25 & 26

 August 7, 8 & 9

 August 30, 31 and Sept. 1

 September 6, 7 & 8

 September 25, 26 & 27

 October 4, 5 & 6

 October 18, 19 & 20

 November 14, 15 & 16

 November 28, 29 & 30

 Northern Region

 Aurora--  July  19, 20 & 21

 October 18, 19 & 20

 Rockford- August 9,10 & 11--- November 15, 16  &17

 Joliet- September 11, 12 & 13

Central Region

 Springfield-  July 12, 13 & 14  and October 23, 24 &25

 Peoria-  August 2, 3 & 4

 Champaign-  September 18, 19 & 20

 Bloomington-  November 14, 15 & 16

Southern Region

 Collinsville-  July 26, 27 & 28-  September 25, 26 & 27  November 28, 29 & 30

 Mt. Vernon-  August 28, 29 & 30   October 23, 24 & 25

DCFS will send all the specific information to Northern Illinois University as soon as sites are confirmed.  All staff must register with NIU at 1-800-637-1396. (MB)

REGISTRATION PROCEDURE FOR LICENSURE REVIEWS AND EXAMS

CCA has received many requests from staff in our member agencies to register for the DCFS child welfare worker licensure review and tests.  These requests seem to be coming from line staff in satellite or site office locations.  CCA cannot register your staff with DCFS.  Staff must register directly with Northern Illinois University at 1-800-637-1396.  All eligible staff were previously mailed an information packet from DCFS which included a registration form which must be filled out and faxed to NIU.  For additional copies of the information packet and registration form, call DCFS Training at 217-785-5689.  We urge executive directors, program directors and supervisors who read the Monday Report to pass this information along to all supervisors and workers in all units.  (MB)

DOWNSTATE PERFORMANCE BASED WORK GROUP

The Downstate Performance Based Work Group met in Springfield on July 12.  DCFS staff reported that all agencies should have received FY'01 contracts and should have begun to return them to DCFS for processing.  Program directors of statewide, multi-site agencies are encouraged to track down a copy of their agency's contract with their main office.  The reconciliation process for downstate will soon begin. Agencies should receive the initial data processed by Chapin Hall by the first week of August. There will be a two-week turnaround period for agencies to return the data and note any discrepancies for DCFS staff. Final results should be ready from DCFS by the end of August with bonus payments due in October.

Recommendations for an equitable referral system for downstate were discussed. Agencies confirmed that the goal of any system will be the timely replacement of cases which move to permanency in downstate performance programs.  A sub-committee of the group presented initial recommendations to consider as such a system is developed. The goal of the system is to assure that from this point forward, the agencies have a fair chance of filling the slots from achieved permanencies. It is not intended to, nor can any future system, undo what has already been done.  The group recommended  that implementation needs to be as easy as possible to make the rotation work. Since at any given time more than one DCP investigation may be occurring, attempting to do a case-by-case rotation could be difficult. It was therefore recommended that initially, a day-by-day rotation system would be implemented. Agencies would know when they need to have workers available for intake calls.  A regular calendar could be established and shared with DCFS, DCP and private agencies. A secondary referral agency could thus be identified in the event that the first agency is not available for the referral. This appears to be the fairest way to distribute possible referrals. Agencies would have a determined number of referral days based upon performance rates and possible other factors. DCFS direct service units for Traditional cases could be placed in the rotation system, as well. The baseline factor for determination of size and thus establishment of the number of referral days would be the starting caseload as of July, 1999.

The group raised a number of issues for further discussion. Major concerns were: whether the 24 hour day should go from midnight to midnight or a different time of the day; how an agency that voluntarily withdraws from the intake rotation for a period of time should be treated; the need for separate schedules for HMR and TFC programs; the timeframes for resolving case problems when children with highly specialized needs are placed in the TFC rotation; and the issue of how providers in the rotation system for a region or sub-region will be determined.  If an agency serves multiple field offices then their presence in a specific area may not be as important as their ability to have the necessary foster home resources available.  Can an agency that has typically not taken referrals from a specific area ask to be placed in the rotation system for a region if they have the homes available? Does an agency "earn" a place in the rotation? DCFS staff also noted that one of the concerns of the private agencies had been the ability to move new cases into the private agencies earlier and avoid the initial placements that DCFS must sometimes make before a case is referred out.  DCFS staff stressed that they would have concerns if agencies suddenly began placing all new cases in emergency homes only to move the children again.  The long range intent is to get the new cases into a stable home setting within the agency or DCFS unit as quickly as possible and aim for a higher stability rate in downstate programs.   All members of the work group agreed that there will also need to be a regular review of how any rotation system is working and a regular opportunity for agencies to see where the new cases are going. In this way any problems can be quickly identified.

The sub-committee will reconvene during the next month to address these issues and report back final recommendations to the work group at the next meeting.  DCFS staff has begun collecting information from agency sites on referral sources and this will be integrated into the recommendations. The goal is to have the rotation system ready for implementation by September.  CCAI wishes to thank Bill Franklin of LSSI for his leadership in convening the sub-committee that is working on the rotation plan.  The next meeting of the overall work group is scheduled for August 24 in Springfield. (MB)

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GENERAL

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CCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE PUBLIC POLICY COMMITTEE MEET TO SET ASSOCIATION PUBLIC POLICY AGENDA

The CCA Board of Directors and the Association�s Public Policy Committee met last Thursday to begin to lay out the Association�s Public Policy Agenda for the current fiscal year.  The group did a broad base review of the current status of  privatization as well as a review of the Association�s advocacy efforts related to the overall mission and ends of the Association.  The group also did a brief environmental scan of both federal and state issues that are impacting services and the status of the voluntary agencies providing services.  A major portion of the meeting was spent on doing a critical issue identification process--the group identified numerous issues.  Among them were:  the current status of the not-for-profit sector--its image and condition; the impact of workforce issues; the increasing percentage of high-risk children in the system and their impact on services and resources; the impact of current policy on communities of color; the move towards best practice; problems with the monitoring systems of state agencies; juvenile justice reform issues; the impact of technology on systems of care; the impact of welfare reform; the numbers and types of children currently being defined out of the DCFS system of care; the lack of consistent policy across state departments for children with developmental disabilities and their families; the need to redefine the relationship between providers and state agencies.

The need for a consolidated focused agenda becomes ever more important in order to maximize available resources and develop the most impact for our efforts.  After much discussion, the group set three priorities for the coming year.  They are:  1) Juvenile Justice; 2) the redefinition of the relationship between not-for-profits and state agencies including the development of aggressive public policy initiatives rather than dependence on loosely defined partnerships; 3)  the investment in the front end of the system of care, including community building and the provision of respite services.

The group made it clear that while we are prioritizing some areas of service the other items which were identified will receive on-going consideration from the Public Policy Committee and appropriate action will be taken as issues and concerns relative to these items are identified. While this is a process to help us focus our efforts around several key public policy issues, it doesn�t preclude the Association�s on-going efforts around a variety of issues.

We also spent considerable time considering how to mobilize the efforts of the membership to organize to succeed.  Ideas which surfaced included: the need for a clear statement of our public policy agenda to targeted audiences; the need for a strong media support for this agenda; the clear identification of participation in our advocacy efforts as a condition of membership in the Association; development of the power of our constituents; the connection by each member agency to their respective legislators; the critical need for CEO involvement in the Association�s advocacy agenda; the possible development of PACs; the utilization of strategic alliances with multiple stakeholders; the possible utilization of a regional structure to address the Association�s agenda; the effective telling of our membership�s success stories.

The Public Policy Committee will be meeting in the near future to develop the strategies for the effective implementation of this agenda.  (RHM)

CCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS RETREAT

The CCA Board of Directors met in retreat last Friday to assess its current level of functioning and to develop its workplan for the coming year.  The Board did an extensive self-assessment process to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of its current level of operations as well as the creation of actions and priority areas for Board improvement. Key areas that the Board will be incorporating into its workplan for the current year are: 1) the refinement of the Board to Member Link program.  This program was seen as an excellent vehicle for improved communication between the Board and membership and between member to member. 2) The development of membership performance credibility is seen as a priority for the membership--we need to be a competing voice in the media which highlights the work and impact of our not-for-profit membership. 3) The Board will need to help focus the Association�s efforts around Juvenile Justice. 4) The clarification of the interface between the Board and the Public Policy Committee will be critical; 5) It is critical that the Board help to move the Association into the position of being the body that sets the Children and Family Service agenda for Illinois. They will need to do this in a way that is measurable.

Time was also spent on discussing the building of CCA�s capacity to achieve its ends. Key areas identified were:  the need for strong leadership particularly from the CEOs of member agencies in implementing the Association�s overall agenda; the need for the Board to be responsive to the membership--by building cohesion and connectiveness.

The Board also spent time identifying member needs--the highlights of that discussion included: capital needs; the need for the membership to buy into the Advocacy Agenda with a clearly articulated plan for what�s expected; the need for clear and sufficient information on issues; the need for agencies to be responsive to external needs--agencies are in communities and need to be an active part of those communities; the need for innovativeness--we are in an era of needing to do more with less; there continues to be the need for sufficient funding for contracted services as well as for the ability to hire and retain qualified staff; the need across the system for program responsiveness; the need for alliance management among CCA members--how do agencies align with each other?; there will be an on-going need for CCA members to be able to demonstrate the Quality of Care of their services.  The Board spent time organizing its processes to enable it to finalize its work plan at its September Board meeting.  (RHM)

ADVOCATES LOOK AT YOUTH DEVELOPMENT BILL

The Alliance for Children and Families reported in their newsletter that there was an effort underway by the National Collaboration for Youth to develop a legislative proposal that would create a national youth policy for the U.S.  The legislation will be entitled  the �Younger Americans Act� and will be modeled on the Older Americans Act originally passed in 1965.  The goal of the Younger Americans Act is to create a single, comprehensive national youth policy to mobilize and support communities in planning, implementing and being accountable for strategies that link existing community-based organizations, local government, volunteer centers, schools, faith-based organizations, business and other segments to the community assure all children access to ongoing relationships with caring adults, safe places with structured activities during the non-school hours, health and mental health, marketable skills and competencies through education and youth development.  The Collaboration is currently developing a legislative draft of the Act.  (JMS)

SACWIS WORKGROUP ON FUNDING PRIVATE AGENCY EQUIPMENT

The SACWIS Workgroup dealing with the funding for private agency equipment met on July 6^th to continue review of the issues raised at the last meeting.  A cost add on strategy and a cost per seat would be used to determine the allocation to each agency.  Beyond the three year availability of initial funding, the issue was raised as to what happens after the first three years.  Further discussion needs to occur to identify the long term means to support the maintenance and upgrades for the system for private agencies.  The agenda included a review of the specs for equipment to be purchased by private agencies as part of the integrated model, discussion of those issues surrounding the development of agency plans in the allocation of funds, timelines for contract implementation and what types of task can be identified for agencies to begin in preparation for the private agency equipment.  It was recommended that an amendment process to contracts be developed with effective dates of July 1, 2000.  The timeline discussion generated discussion on what can be done in August to help agencies prepare for the tight timelines.  A communication effort through e-mail needs to begin to keep all agencies informed that are impacted by SACWIS.  A reminder to agencies that you can view copies of the minutes of the SACWIS Advisory Committee on the CCA Web Site. (JMS)

SACWIS PRESENTATION ON OBJECT ORIENTED SYSTEM

A meeting was held on Friday, July 14^th by American Management Systems to review the process which will be used to develop the SACWIS application.  There will be a series of meetings with users to identify what are called �use cases.�  From the use cases, detailed steps will be identified on what happens and what the system needs to do.  This will be used by the designers in actually writing the code for each of the programs or objects that will be relational.   Representatives from the private agencies that will be attending future design meetings will need to receive this type of overview in order to understand the steps in the development process and how the information of the program experts will be solicited from the design team.  The SACWIS private agency representatives continue to work on a means to incorporate ongoing private agency representation in the process.   (JMS)

NEW INFORMATION ABOUT THE STATUS OF THE WELFARE-LIMIT CLOCK IN ILLINOIS

It was reported by the National Center on Poverty Law that more than 23,000 families of a caseload of 90,000 receiving welfare benefits in Illinois have been able to stop the clock on their five-year limit by having an under-18 parent as head of household, having a wage earner work at least 30 hours a week, or having an adult full-time student in a postsecondary degree program and earning at least a 2.5 grade average.  All three circumstances stem from rules adopted by the Illinois Department of Human Services to allow families to receive assistance without counting toward the lifetime limit on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. 

If the current picture remains more or less the same, the pace of families exhausting their eligibility will be 2,000-3,000 per month, reaching 20 percent of the caseload by the beginning of calendar year 2003.  In Illinois the first group of families will run out of their lifetime limit in July 2002.  (JMS)

ILLINOIS TO RECEIVE $21.6 MILLION WELFARE-TO-WORK BONUS

It was reported by the Department of Human Services that the federal government ranked Illinois among the top states in the nation in moving people from welfare to work and ensuring their success in the workforce.  Due to these efforts the state will receive a Fiscal Year 1999 High Performance Bonus award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services totaling $21.6 million.  Forty-six states competed for the money.  Illinois� $21.6 million is more than 10 percent of the $200 million in bonus money to be shared by 27 states.  The money is awarded to states based on their annual results in four categories: job placement (including job retention and earnings), biggest improvement in job placement and biggest improvement in job success.  Illinois ranked 10^th in the nation in job placement and fifth in most improvement in job success.  Illinois was one of only 11 states to receive bonuses in two categories and placed a respectable 13^th and 14^th in the two categories in which it did not receive a bonus.  As of March 2000, 77.4 percent of Illinois� cases with earnings were working at least 30 hours a week.  Of those leaving welfare, 92.5 percent did not return to assistance within 12 months and 82.5 percent and did not return after 24 months.  The state plans to reinvest the bonus funds in the same types of programs that helped earn the 1999 award.  (JMS)

For Monday Report, July 17, 2000

WEBSITES WE LIKE

WEBSITES WE LIKE will be a regular feature in the Monday Report. If you have a website you are using for policy research, media information, or other purposes, please send it on to CCA so that we can share it with other members in the Monday Report and consider it for addition to the CCA Link Library online. Send submissions via e-mail to: [email protected].

Tell us what you think of the WEBSITES WE LIKE. Were they helpful? Were they easy to find? E-mail Linda Lenzini at [email protected] with comments, suggestions, and questions.

This week�s WEBSITES WE LIKE was submitted by Mason School at ChildServ, who recommends www.connectforkids.org. Published by the Benton Foundation, this site is a resource for adults who want to build better communities for kids and families. The site provides links to articles relating to children and poverty, data about the state of children, state by state information on what is happening to children, juvenile justice issues, parenting issues, and information on legislative and public policy. Mason indicates that visitors can also signup online for a weekly newsletter.

CCA SURVEY UPDATES

The E-Communications Survey that CCA members received July 10 is now due.  Those who have already responded have indicated that it took them less than 5 minutes to fill out. If you need assistance, or would like another copy of the survey, contact Linda Lenzini at the Child Care Association, at [email protected], or by phone at 217-528-4409.  You can also obtain a copy of the survey by visiting the Library on the CCA website and downloading the survey as a Microsoft Word document.

The general Membership Survey, scheduled for distribution in late July, is currently being piloted by several members to assure that it fully represents all programs and services and can be filled out with ease.  If you are interested in receiving an advance copy of this survey and filling it out in order to provide feedback, contact Linda Lenzini at the Child Care Association at [email protected], or by phone at 217-528-4409.  This survey will capture membership data, including offered services, service sites, funding sources, and volunteer and board participation.  (LLL)

ASK CCA

Looking for information on a particular facet of legislation, association management, program or service? Chances are, if you want to know, other member agencies do, too.

Send an e-mail to [email protected], and we�ll publish your question and the answer in the Monday Report. (LLL)

CCA / DCFS QUALITY COMMITTEE

The joint CCA / DCFS partnership in Quality Committee met last week with the following report by D.D. Fischer:  The committee agreed to draft a survey instrument to check the level of QA/QI implementation of private providers statewide.  The survey will be used to supply training, technical assistance, and support and using a simple format approximating the checklist referenced in Fotena Zirps\'92 work.  The survey will capture a snapshot of the level of QA/QI implementation and be a joint project of CCA and DCFS.  The goal is to have the survey ready Sept. 22, 2000.  The committee discussed how a set of Quality Indicators could be used to measure the level of excellence for both an agency in total, as well as, individual programs.  The goal of this measure would be to identify those agencies and programs which exceed the attainment of licensure and accreditation.  The committee discussed a rating system of three levels; less than acceptable; acceptable or (Silver Seal); and superior or (Gold Seal).  The silver and gold seal would be earned following a review by an objective independent process with reviewers which would be made up of Public, Private and Community members.  The roles of the reviewers are to be determined.  The awards would differ from others because they would be based on evidence of the implementation of Quality Improvement throughout an agency or program.  Possible benefits sited by the committee for such an achievement were:

                        1) Ability to secure funding.

2) Reduced monitoring from DCFS and others.

3) Increased rate for programs with silver or gold seals.

The committee also discussed how agencies could receive funding up front to assist in achieving one of these categories of excellence.  Participants have been working in small groups to refine the definitions of the Quality Indicators and reported back to the full group.  The work included an attempt to define how each Indicator would be assessed to meet the levels of excellence system.  Members will work to refine their Indicator for the next meeting.  (DDF)

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UPCOMING EVENTS/MEETINGS

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Calendar:

July 18 � SACY Training/Advanced: Children 10 and Under, Chicago/Lisle

July 18 -- CWLA Mid-West Public/Private Policy Meeting--Chicago

July 18 -- DCFS/OASA Joint Meeting--Chicago

July 19 -- CWAC Residential Steering Committee--Chicago

July 19 -- Child Welfare Advisory Committee--Chicago

July 20 - SACY Training/Advanced: Children 10 and Under, Springfield

July 25 � CWAC SACWIS Advisory Committee Meeting � Chicago

July 25 � SACY Training/Introductory: Developmentally Disabled Youth, Chicago/Lisle

July 26 � SACWIS Intake/Assessment � Springfield

July 27 � SACWIS Case Management (Open/Close Case) - Springfield

Aug.  1� SACWIS Assignment/Caseload/Workload Management � Springfield

Aug.  2� SACWIS Staff Maintenance/Training/Personnel - Springfield

Aug.  3 � SACWIS Tickler/Other - Springfield

Aug.  8 � SACWIS Education/Placement/Adoption - Springfield

Aug.  8 � SACY Training/Introductory: Developmentally Disabled Youth, Springfield

Aug.  9 � SACWIS Court Processing - Springfield

Aug. 10 � SACWIS Interfaces (other than business practices) - Springfield

Aug. 15 � SACWIS Resource Directory/Contract/Licensing/Intake - Springfield

Aug. 15 � SACY Training/Advanced: Effective Group Treatment Modalities, Chicago/Lisle

Aug. 16 � SACWIS Payments/Children�s Accounts/Reimbursement - Springfield

Aug. 17 � SACWIS Eligibility/Claiming - Springfield

Aug. 17 - SACY Training/Advanced: Effective Group Treatment Modalities, Springfield

Sept. 27-29 - Practical Strategies 2000: Help Along the Way: A Continuum of Support for Youth and Families, Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center, Urbana, IL.  More information:  217-355-5990.

Oct. 6-7 - The 10^th Annual Retreat for Educators of Students with Behavioral Disorders sponsored by ICCBD, Monticello, IL.

For further information on any of the above, contact the staff member noted in parentheses at the end of the text:

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