May 22, 2000

SPECIAL NOTE: Copyright 2000. The Monday Report is produced each week as a benefit to the agencies that are members 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.

CCA will once again sponsor a Barbecue at the Springfield Island Bay Yacht Club on the evening of June 1st. This annual event has become a tradition with the membership and allows the opportunity to unwind and socialize with your peers. (Casual dress a must!!!)

THE SECOND DAY'S AGENDA (JUNE 2) HAS CHANGED TO INCLUDE A CCA BOARD MEMBERS/AGENCY MEMBER EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS BREAKFAST AT 8:00 A.M. This will replace the small break-out sessions that was earlier scheduled. CCA Board members will be meeting with his/her "link" agency Executive Directors/CEO to dialogue on the mission and ends of the Association and specifically on the needs and concerns of the membership in relation to the Association's agenda and the role of the CCA Board of Directors. Executive Directors of CCA member agencies were mailed a letter on Friday about the Breakfast meeting. After the Breakfast meeting, the Annual Business Meeting will start at 10:00 a.m. The two-day meeting will adjourn after lunch and the CCA Board of Directors will meet at 1:00 p.m. If you have any questions about the two-day meeting or need a registration form please call the CCA office.

CHILD WELFARE ADVISORY COMMITTEE REPORT
CWAC met via teleconference in Springfield and Chicago on May 16, 2000. Highlights of the final DCFS budget were shared. The final budget of $1,411,837,300 includes the COLA of 2.5% effective July l, $600,000 for increase and expansion of Child Advocacy Centers, headcount reduction of 41 DCFS positions, mostly from Central Administration (no layoffs required) and a $2 million transfer to a training fund for POS training. Please refer to the Monday Report of May 8 for a complete report on this proposal under the CWETAC report. The group discussed the parameters of any proposed training requirement for new workers. At this time, DCFS plans to require a 4-week training for new caseworkers in private agencies, prior to assigning a case. The $2 million will offset the total cost of training and be allocated to agencies according to headcount and incentives for controlling turnover. Yet to be finalized is a way to fully fund the cost of salaries/benefits for a new worker whom an agency carries until the worker can accept cases. Two committees will address the issues: 1) a curriculum committee which will look at the training principles, core components, etc. (the CCA Training Committee will form the core of the private agency representation to this committee) and 2) a financing committee which will grapple with the decisions about distribution of funds, access to federal funds, etc.

The Foster Care Infrastructure Work Group provided its report. Please refer to the Monday Report of May 15 for a complete report on the contractual changes for performance based foster care programs. Director McDonald expressed great concern that the goal of moving to one worker per family may take a year to implement. He is strongly suggesting more immediate action on this goal in order to satisfy the concerns of the courts. Agencies should be alert to the fact that although the final contract may not require evidence of movement in this area, the department will be taking extra care to review agency progress on this goal. The 2 performance based work groups will review any systemic problems in meeting this goal.

CWAC will reconvene a Family Preservation Committee under the leadership of Richard Calica and Ed Cotton. The group will look at a number of immediate issues with family preservation and support, safety and risk assessment and best practice issues.

All other sub-committee reports from CWAC have been fully reported to CCAI members in previous issues of the Monday Report.

DOWNSTATE PERFORMANCE BASED WORK GROUP
The downstate performance based work group met in Springfield on May 18, 2000. Decisions affecting downstate contracts generating from the Foster Care Infrastructure Work Group were discussed. (For a complete report of this group, refer to the Monday Report of May 15.) Downstate HMR and TFC caseload ratios will be at 19:1 and remain paid on a per diem basis. There will continue to be differing rates because of the recruitment and respite add-ons to the rate in traditional care. The cash bonus will remain for agencies with performance above 33% and with at least a full caseload. Intake will be based on proportional market share by site office in terms of performance relative to other agencies in the area, size, and staffing.

Although there is not officially a requirement for no-decline intake, downstate agencies are strongly encouraged to accept referrals when they are provided for site offices. Agencies declining referral will lose their place in the rotation. The need for increased stability for children in downstate care remains a DCFS concern. Although there has been progress in this area, a key reason for a performance based system downstate remains the need for improved stability. Non-permanency outcome language will be removed from the contract, in order to advance the philosophy of stability and to show improved compliance with federal requirements. Department staff stressed that they are always willing to work with agencies to put special services in place in order to keep a child in the current placement. Stability is still defined by remaining in the same placement.

All agencies will be offered the opportunity to provide post-permanency support services to clients previously served in the agency. The extent of the contract will depend on size of caseload and location. Agencies with smaller caseloads in sites may need to partner with other agencies in order to provide the service. There will be a need for individual referral to community services as well as potential support groups. This service will not impact or interfere with the adoption preservation services in place for some families. Excess revenue will be recovered by contract and there will be increased scrutiny of caseworker staffing patterns.

The group discussed the best process for arriving at a recommended referral system for downstate. DCFS still needs to develop more specific data by agency site locations regarding size, permanency rates, and staffing patterns. There may need to be some type of survey by agency in order to assemble all the data. Concurrently, the sub-committee on program changes will begin to study the best type of referral system to recommend. The goal is to have some initial reports by the July downstate meeting, and to have the official system in place by mid-summer.

Other points of discussion on the new contract surrounded reconciliation. DCFS will still reconcile the downstate contracts by type of care separately. Additionally, a training meeting for downstate agencies on the reconciliation process for the end of the fiscal year is to be conducted by DCFS on May 22 in order to expedite the process and collection of results.

The specialized programs will receive a 6-month contract. The infrastructure group continues to work on recommendations for standardized program plans and rates. This will include a standardization of the LOC process and form. Agencies are able to obtain specialized contracts for children in traditional or relative care if they are able to stabilize the child in the same home but the child needs specialized services.

The department has advanced the goal that all cases will have a one worker per family assignment. Members of the downstate group who are members of CWAC summarized the discussion with the Director about moving to this goal in a much shorter time frame. There was considerable discussion about how practical this will be, especially when some children in a case are in specialized care or when cases are split across agencies. There is already a "lead worker" protocol for such cases. The department stressed, however, that there is still concern even with this protocol that in certain cases there is no one worker assuming such lead responsibilities. This will continue to be stressed as a goal until there are no further complaints from court personnel or judges. Necessary changes to the program plan and rate will be made to the contract. The department hopes to get all contracts out to agencies by the end of May. The next meeting is July 12, 2000 from 1:00-3:30 p.m. at DCFS, 628 E. Adams, Springfield.

ISBE has hired a consulting firm to develop guidelines for alternative assessments. If a student cannot take the ISAT or PSAE, he or she will get an alternative assessment that may include portfolios, structured interviews with parents, director observation, etc. ISBE anticipates that only 1-2% of the special education population will need alternative assessments.

Dennis Williams described the changes in continuing professional development. A copy of the proposed rules and the specifications for training entities will be sent to all Education Committee members this week. Staff of nonpublic schools are EXEMPT from the continuing professional development activities. They MAY participate if they wish. As soon as new teacher certificates are issues, 5 years of professional development are required. The plan for Local Professional Development Committees will not be completed until January 1, 2001. Local Professional Development Committees (LPDC) will work under the auspices of Regional Superintendents of Education or their designees. If nonpublic schools want to participate, Mr. Williams encourages them to talk with their Regional Superintendents now so they can be included in the planning. For this massive training effort for teachers, training providers are needed. The approval process to be a training provider is a simple completion of a form that is sent to ISBE (requirements are in the proposed rule on certification that will be mailed to all CCA members). Since behavior and discipline problems are a major training area, CCA members are encouraged to consider becoming trainers under these new requirements. Training can include a number of different modalities, including peer review and peer coaching. This is an excellent opportunity for CCA members to become involved in public sector training. We will monitor this closely and provide you with all necessary information as it is available.(BRH)

SURVEY ON NONPUBLIC SCHOOL RATE-SETTING:
In preparation for the public comments period on the IPCRB proposed rules, CCA wants to measure the magnitude of current school deficits. Please complete the form when it arrives so we can provide an accurate depiction of current deficits. (BRH).

CCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETS
The Child Care Association's Board of Director met on Wednesday, May 17. At the meeting the Board considered a presentation of a Proposed Member Agency Health Care Plan--a self-insured plan developed and prepared by Better Business Planning, Inc. This plan would be available only to enrolled member agencies of the Association and would be managed and governed by those same agencies under a structure yet to be developed. Based on the results of a survey that was conducted about six months ago, it appears that there is sufficient interest and enough covered lives for the Association to move forward with the next steps on this effort. The results of the initial survey were strong enough for a re-insurer, Lloyds of London, to express interest in covering this effort--that is an essential component of being able to proceed with this type of self-insured effort. The Board approved moving ahead with the next steps which will be getting interested agencies together to do a fuller presentation of the content of this effort, to obtain commitments from agencies relative to this effort, and to move ahead with the organizational structure necessary to begin to implement this effort. A date for such an organizational meeting will be set in the near future for those agencies which have expressed interest as well as for any additional agencies who may wish to get additional information. Following this meeting the ability to enroll in this effort will be capped until a next enrollment period. While we are still a long way from putting this in place, we are off to a good beginning. The Board also reviewed and passed on to the membership the proposed Board of Directors slate for next year--this will be presented to the full membership at our Annual Meeting in June for their approval. The Board also reviewed and will recommend to the full membership the FY 2001 budget for the Association. This will also be approved at our June membership meeting.

The Board also decided to hold a special breakfast for the Executive Directors of our member agencies on the morning of June 2--the second day of our Annual Meeting. This breakfast will be for Executive Directors only and will be an informal but focused discussion on the Association's goals and objectives--present and future. It is a dialogue that is critical to the Association's present and future agenda.

The Board also considered a set of recommendations from the Membership Committee relative to member agency expectations and responsibilities. This effort is aimed at standardizing the membership process in regards to membership criteria, expectations, dues, and responsibilities. The material presented by the Membership Committee provides an excellent background to these issues and will be supplemented by additional staff work on the issues for presentation to the Board at the November meeting for approval and action.

The Board decided to have a joint retreat with the CCA Public Policy Committee (the new name we are giving to our Governmental Affairs Committee--seems to more concretely capture the mission of this Committee) to look at the critical public policy issues facing the membership of the Association. We will prioritize these issues in order to be able to focus our energies and resources more productively. This retreat will be held in mid to late summer. (RHM)

FEDERAL CHILDREN'S HEALTH ACT OF 2000
The Alliance for Children and Families reported that as part of a nation-wide coalition the House of Representatives passed the Children's Health Act of 2000 (HR 4365). This bill to strengthen and improve America's health care system for children and families resulted from a bipartisan effort led by the bill's sponsors, Reps. Michael Bilirakis (R-FL) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) with Commerce Committee Chairman Tom Bliley (R-VA) and ranking member John Dingell (D-MI).

The bill was passed overwhelmingly on May 9th and addresses long-orphaned childhood diseases, including autism, fragile X, juvenile arthritis, juvenile diabetes, asthma, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, early hearing loss, and various birth defects. The bill also included important provisions regarding safe motherhood and the promotion of infant and child health. It also takes significant steps to expand numerous other programs that will provide a dramatic improvement to the quality of life of millions of children. (JMS)

RELATED STATE LAWS TO ADOPTION AND SAFE FAMILIES ACT
It was reported in the Child Protection Report from a summary of the Second National Roundtable on implementing the Adoption and Safe Families Act that new proposals and laws are needed related to ASFA in order to move children through the system quickly in order to meet the requirements of the federal law. These secondary issues relate to parental substance abuse, post-adoption services and subsidized guardianship.

Some states are already looking at legislation that ties alcohol and other drugs to child welfare. In New York and California, new laws prioritize AOD services for parents whose children are in danger of entering foster care or are already there. In Maryland, legislation that passed would require a statewide protocol for integrating child welfare and AOD services. Under this legislation, the Governor would be able to allocate up to $16 million annually to support its provisions. Arizona also has a new law that would attempt to coordinate child welfare and AOD services. It would authorize $10 million annually from the state's share of TANF federal funds and contains language targeting funded services to child welfare parents whose substance abuse is a barrier to family preservation or reunification. (JMS)

THE CHARTER FOR ILLINOIS CHILDREN
The Charter for Illinois Children was formally launched on March 14th this year through a statewide campaign with co-chairs First Lady Lura Lynn Ryan and Chris Zorich. CCA supports the Charter and participated in the event held in Springfield. Since its creation last year, over 450 groups, organizations, churches and businesses have endorsed the Charter. Organizers of the Charter continue to promote efforts of communities to build on the goals of the original campaign. Ways to continue the Charter campaign include: 1.) Share the Charter with others such as youth clubs, religious organizations, and business associations; 2.) Incorporate the Charter into your organization's activities or curriculum to support the Charter goals of promoting family, education, health, economic security, arts, recreation & culture and safety for children. 3.) Organize a local Charter Steering Committee to plan action steps your community can take to improve conditions for kids. If you have any questions or need additional copies of the charter, please contact Kim Fitzgerald at Voices for Illinois Children � 312-456-0600 or e-mail at [email protected]. (JMS)

KIDS SHARE AND THE TOBACCO SETTLEMENT FUNDS
During the legislative session this year, the General Assembly decided how to spend $660 million of the tobacco settlement funds. Kids Share was not included on the list, nor was any other community-based programs for young children or youth. Following is a list of how the tobacco funds were allocated: 1.) $280 million for a one-time property tax rebate of 5% capped at $300. 2.) $225 million for a rainy day fund. 3.) $41 million for technology initiatives regarding medical and biotech research. 4.) $35 million for tax credits to help low income families equal to 5% of the federal earned income tax credit. 5.) $35 million to expand programs to help low-income seniors pay for prescriptions, property taxes. 6.) $30 million for smoking prevention, enforcement and cessation programs. 7.) $14 million for medical research. $660 million represents the first two years of the tobacco settlement revenue through June 30, 2001. Meetings will be scheduled over the summer to discuss the next steps in moving the Kids Share agenda forward. (JMS)

Copyright � 1997-2000 Child Care Association of Illinois. All rights reserved.