DCFS reports that as of July 1, 6400 people have taken the child welfare direct service employee exam; 4000 from private agencies and 2400 from DCFS. Of the total, there were 75 staff who failed the exam: 60 from private agencies and 15 from DCFS. DCFS should have notified the employee, supervisor and the executive director of the private agency about any employee who has failed the exam. In the next few weeks, all agencies should receive a print out from DCFS which lists all agency employees and their testing status. Agencies are asked to review this report and submit a count of staff who are required to be licensed and are still in need of passing the test. This will be important information so the state can plan the remaining preparation and testing sessions for staff who must be licensed. Additionally, by next week all agency executives should have received the latest mailing from DCFS with the most recent and updated testing schedule and additional registration materials. This mailing was addressed to the executive director, with a sticker marked "Training Coordinator" on the envelope. If your agency does not receive this material, contact the DCFS training office at 217-785-5689. (MB)

CWAC met in Chicago on July 19. Director McDonald announced the submission of another IV-E waiver to DHHS regarding training. The waiver requests permission to waive certain restrictions on the use of IV-E funding to better prepare all child welfare staff (including those in private agencies) and ensure timely and safe decision making for all families and children. The project would target new private agency staff in Cook and surrounding counties. Since this is a waiver demonstration project there is a research and evaluation component, so there would be control groups. Additionally, the state must show the project is cost-neutral in the long run. The project predicts that a highly trained work force will result in shortened length of stays in care, and thus reduced spending on child maintenance. The waiver must be reviewed at many layers at DHHS before approval and there is no guarantee of approval at this time. Illinois is the first such state to submit such a waiver request for training. The fact that a waiver request is submitted to the executive branch of government does not preclude the need for advocating for legislation that would change IV-E restrictions and definitions. Illinois public and private staff will continue to work on legislative action, as well.

Director McDonald also stressed the critical importance of private agency cooperation with an upcoming series of federal audits. The first round of audits will occur beginning in September. Eighty cases will be chosen by DHHS at random from private agencies and DCFS. The purpose of the first audit is to assure Illinois compliance with IV-E eligibility requirements. The random case sample will demonstrate whether the Illinois system collects and maintains the required elements and documentation to establish wards' eligibility for IV-E payments. The majority of DCFS' federal funding--$340 million per year-comes from a reimbursement process from IV-E. The financial eligibility audit will look for the following elements in the file: the court order that directed removal of a child from the home and which includes both the "reasonable efforts" and "best interest" language within 60 days of case opening; AFDC eligibility forms from the beginning of the case to the present time; documentation of reasonable efforts toward the permanency goal in each permanency hearing and proof of placement in a licensed substitute care living arrangement. As soon as the eighty cases are identified, DCFS will be in contact with those agencies at which the case is served. Staff from the DCFS federal claiming unit will be required to come to the agency to conduct a pre-review of the child's file in tandem with the agency staff. The required elements will be tagged. An action plan for immediately obtaining any required elements that are missing will be developed. Once the federal auditors set the exact dates for the actual audit, agencies will be required to forward the child's file to the DCFS office for the audit review. Director McDonald requests that all executive directors enforce the need for complete cooperation with the audit process.

The Front End committee reported on the key issues discussed in their first round of meetings regarding family preservation and intact family work. The group will focus on review of the existing programs with emphasis on targeted population to be served, typical services offered, expected length of involvement, staff qualifications and identified outcomes. The group will also review models from other states, and will provide feedback on Best Practices material involving family preservation topics.

The SED committee report (see Monday Report of June 19) generated discussion on the nature of seclusion and restraint for children with serious behaviors. The CWAC group was concerned that recent incidents highlighted in the media would generate restrictive policies and/or legislation. A small ad hoc group under the auspices of the SED chairs will convene to address this issue and prepare a timely public/private response.

Independent Living approvals were discussed by CWAC. Reports of the smaller working group show some progress in identifying barriers to ILA placements and the regional variations. There is still a way to go to get the sluggishness of referrals removed. DCFS staff stated their intent for ILA approval to be a planning process and not a set yes/no process such as the PRT involves. The work group on ILA will continue to be part of the SED committee until problems are resolved.

Other CWAC committees presented reports. A full report of Finance and Administration can be found elsewhere in this week's Monday Report. SACWIS and Foster Care Infrastructure have been reported in detail in previous issues. (MB)

The CWAC Finance and Administration Committee met in Chicago on July 18. The topics of critical interest to CCAI agencies are as follows:

DCFS will file Revisions to the Rate Setting Rule 356 to clarify that interest on a line of credit is not an allowable expense.

� Ongoing costs of regular staff should not be billed as part of COA reimbursement or future SACWIS billings unless the agency can clearly show that the staff's time is not being allocated elsewhere in public contracts. This may lead to increased scrutiny of, or requirement for submission of staff matrices. Private providers suggested an alternative could be a certification by the CFO (similar to that of the audit requirement) that the staff time is not being allocated in excess 100%. DCFS will review this request. The costs of an outside consultant can be detailed as part of the reimbursable costs.

� DCFS agreed to look at the possibility of reimbursement for CARF and JCOH but need time to examine the long term implication on licensing and programming. They will have a response at the next meeting.

� SASS and ITS contracts did not receive the COLA adjustment. DCFS staff report that SASS and ITS are cost-based programs, and, as such are not subject to regular COLA adjustments. Agencies do have the right to get these contracts reconciled for increased contract maximums. If the cost reports show that the agency expended more dollars than it received, the contract maximum can be considered for adjustment. DCFS needs to know if there is increased demand for such services. A cost report that shows that the agency has not yet expended the funds it was advanced will need to submit a plan for expenditure of allowable costs in the next 2 quarters. Agencies should submit cost reports as soon as possible to begin the reconciliation process. Private providers pointed out to DCFS that this process has never been applied to SASS and ITS contracts. Agencies are asked to alert Marge Berglind of CCAI if they encounter difficulty during the contract reconciliation process on these 2 programs.

� SASS and ITS contracts that were forwarded to agencies contained an error. There should be no line which specifies "Contract Maximum." These words should be lined out, and the words "Estimated Amount" written in and initialed.

� Contracts should have been received by all agencies by now. Many have already been returned to DCFS and are in the process of approval and forwarding to the controller's office. DCFS is processing current funding payments as soon as contracts are received-they are not waiting or batching any. Once DCFS staff get the signed contract from the agency, it takes a few days to process and get a voucher on-line. It will then take about 5 days for it to reach the Controller. Medicaid splits should have gone out with all Medicaid contracts. DCFS encouraged all agencies to thoroughly read all parts of the contract and all attachments and amendments-especially pertaining to excess revenue.

� Excess Revenue recapture was discussed in detail. DCFS has still not submitted the second version of the proposed excess revenue rule, although they stated their intent to recapture all excess revenue from FY'00 forward. Private providers suggested DCFS look at an allowable threshold of excess-similar to the threshold allowed in for-profit contracts. Essentially, non-profits would be treated the same as for-profits with respect to retained earnings. There would be no excess revenue exemption per se, but there would be an allowable "profit" retention of up to 7% included in the 20% administrative cap. After much debate, DCFS agreed to present this idea for executive approval at DCFS. CCA will keep its members posted on the progress of this discussion.

� ILA costs are increasing with expectations to provide up-front service prior to case acceptance as well as the expectations that agencies carry the case for 90 days after closure. DCFS finance staff will review this issue in further detail.

� The Turnover Penalty for performance based contracts was reviewed. The current draft of the plan suggests a 4 tiered system based on total caseload size and separated by type of program (since there are different staffing ratios for each type of contract.) Agencies that fall under the minimum 80% mark would be assessed a penalty equivalent to l% of the cost of becoming staffed times the amount of the percentage under 80% for each quarter out of compliance. For example, an agency with a caseload of less than 95 children could incur as much as $10,000 per quarter to become fully staffed. If the agency was at 72% compliance, the penalty for one quarter would be l% of the $10,000 times 8 (80% -72%=8). When the total system is approved by the Foster Care Infrastructure Committee full details will be sent to all members by CCAI and DCFS.

� Audit Confirmations can be provided by DCFS staff. They will report on all DCFS payments from July 1, l999 through June 30, 2000 made to the agency. Finance staff will send this letter to all agencies in the next few weeks. If agencies need it earlier since audits are starting, they can contact their DCFS contract staff liaison.

� SACWIS funding was discussed. The SACWIS group previously reached agreements on how to fund general costs by calculation of allocated caseloads. The plan is a reimbursement plan-the agency must demonstrate the dollars have been expended before funding is provided within the limits and specifications. Reimbursement can be backdated to 7/l/00 once the agency's SACWIS plan is approved. DCFS is limited to $2.5 million for this fiscal year overall. Agencies need to prepare for 2 immediate phases: Phase 1 will occur by early September. Agencies will need to clarify the number of "seats" (1.44 per caseload) in the agency. DCFS will be submitting some type of spreadsheet request for this. Agencies should begin to count and clarify this number now. Phase 2 will occur by December. Agencies will need to submit their plan for becoming SACWIS compliant (according to the specifications) and chart out their expenses for the year. CCA will work with DCFS and its consultants to provide a series of SACWIS information and training meetings for executives and finance officers in preparation for the funding exchange. (MB)

Last week DCFS issued final rules on the Licensing Standards for Secure Child Care Facilities. Given the length of this rule, nearly 80 pages, we are not sending this out in a general mailing. We presume that most agencies got this directly from DCFS, but in case any agency didn�t receive a copy and would like one, they can call the CCA office and we will send them a copy ASAP. (RHM)

The OASA/DCFS Initiative Advisory Committee met on July 18^th in Springfield. Items covered included:

The Best Practices, Training, IV-E Waiver, Training, and Research and Evaluation Subcommittees also provided reports. Of particular interest to CCA member agencies is the intention of the Best Practices Committee to host a forum to explore the possibility of Youth Services AOD education programs being delivered onsite at agencies that provide services for youth. CCA has representation on this committee and will keep members informed regarding this possibility. (LLL)

The SACWIS (Statewide Automated Child Welfare System) Workgroup that has been working on the issue of funding equipment for the private agencies met again on July 18, 2000 to review various planning documents and time frames related to the allocation and spending of funding to purchase equipment for the private agencies. Documents and issues reviewed at the meeting included: the plan to be developed by agencies to secure funding, steps included in the plan process, implementation of SACWIS and training dates, conducting regional meetings, use of funding, hardware specifications and questions agencies need to consider.

To allocate funds will be a two step process. The first step will involve a process to identify the number of seats for each agency based on caseload size for staff and an additional factor for supervisory staff. Once that is established for each agency funds will be identified for each agency and agencies will be submitting a three year plan as to how they will purchase equipment in order to be ready for SACWIS in 2003. As part of the planning process, regional meetings will be organized to explain the plan, the funding, etc. Also as part of the planning process, the quality assurance consultant will be conducting site assessments of agencies to review the physical environment for installation of the SACWIS equipment. Technical assistance will also be available to assist agencies in the development of the three plan. Once the plan is approved a contract amendment will be executed.

Some of the questions agencies will need to consider will be: Does the agency expect the number of cases and/or number of workers to change significantly over the next three years? Does the agency�s current equipment meet the minimum specifications? What changes are needed to prepare the site in terms of cabling and networking? An additional list of issues also will be identified to assist agencies through the planning process.

Meetings with American Management Systems to design SACWIS have begun and will continue. Input may be requested from member agencies on documents as they are generated. AMS has generated a final report of user requirements which will serve as the basis for beginning the design. Meetings will be taking place from July 25^th through August 24^th. (JMS)

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.

For CCA members interested in Juvenile Justice issues, there is a site on restorative justice that might prove interesting. The Restorative Justice On-Line Notebook, sponsored by the United States Department of Justice, is the product of five regional symposia held on restorative justice between June 1997 and January of 1998. You can access this site by visiting the Office of Justice Programs home page at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov, selecting the National Institute of Justice from the Programs menu, and clicking on NIJJ Related Sites on the left-hand side of the page. (LLL)

CCA SURVEY UPDATES
The upcoming Membership Survey is designed to capture membership data, including offered services, service sites, funding sources, and volunteer and board participation. We�d like to thank those members who offered to pilot this survey prior to its release, and are pleased to report that participants in this pilot were able to fill the survey out in thirty to forty-five minutes, depending on their access to the financial information it asks for.

The information from this survey will be used to develop materials that reflect the scope of membership agencies� services, the challenges they face in funding, and their relationships to their communities, and will allow CCA to do a more comprehensive job of representing the membership to legislators, the media, and the public at large. Full membership participation is critical to the success of this survey, so watch for it in your mailboxes and on the CCA website in the next couple of weeks. Please direct questions regarding to this survey to Linda Lenzini at CCA. (LLL)

If your agency is one of the very few who has not yet returned their E-Communications Survey to CCA, please do so as soon as possible. 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 CCA. 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. (LLL)

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)

At the meeting of the Juvenile Justice Forum last week, Rod Ahitow, the Deputy Director of the Juvenile Division of the Department of Corrections, reported that DOC has reinstated the utilization of juvenile parole officers. For a period of time, DOC was combining adult and juvenile parole caseloads, but has decided to return, for the most part, to prior practice. As of July 1^st, they have hired 26 juvenile parole officers to cover caseloads in the various districts around the state. There are four districts in which there are insufficient caseloads to justify the separate adult/juvenile caseloads, and in those districts, the parole agents will carry a combined caseload. DOC and DCFS are looking at ways to step down wards in the DOC system--there are about 20 such adolescents in that category. Mr. Ahitow reiterated that DOC has established a Program Resource Unit which is responsible for placements in community facilities, for assessment planning, and for step-down planning. He also indicated that for the first time there are now more children in the DOC residential placement network than there are in the DCFS residential system. Mike Mahoney, the Executive Director of the John Howard Association, indicated that the Juvenile Justice Commission will be holding a series of hearings around the state to explore resource needs--in particular the funding for step-down programs. He also expressed concern about the current practice of the courts of assigning youngsters to the DOC Juvenile Division for Court Evaluations. The result of this practice is that about one out of four youngsters are going into DOC from this practice.

Phil Stevenson of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority reported on the status of the evaluation of the Juvenile Justice Reform Act of 1998 which the Authority has been commissioned to conduct. The Authority is in the process of completing a survey of the system relative to the implementation of the Act in the Counties across the state. They have focused on four counties as a trial run of the evaluation--Ford, McHenry, Kankakee, Cook--and are surveying as many entities as possible in those counties relative to their experience with the implementation of the Act. The Authority also recently got a grant to assist counties in their efforts to develop Juvenile Justice Councils in each county in the state as stipulated in the Juvenile Justice Reform Act. Thus far there are fifteen counties across the State that have established these Councils. Reports were also given on the efforts to bring more attention to the utilization of a Balanced and Restorative Justice format in juvenile justice efforts across the state. A Media Work Group has been established with the goal of increasing awareness of this innovative approach and to position it as an alternative to current negativity and criticism of institutional safeguards. The work group hopes to develop a consistent definition of this effort, to collect feedback from key actors around the state relative to this unique effort, and to investigate the establishment of a Restorative Justice Clearinghouse in Illinois. (RHM)

The date is set and the location chosen for CCA�s Fall Retreat. The Retreat will be held on October 5-6 at The Lodge, a Hyatt hotel at McDonald�s Office Campus in Oak Brook. For the past 15 or more years the Association has gone to Starved Rock Lodge in Utica, Illinois, and while we had our hopes on going there again this year, Starved Rock could not accommodate us for the dates we scheduled and the Board approved for October. However, we think you will be very pleased with The Lodge. The Lodge has extended to us a sleeping room rate of $115 for a single room, their rack rate is $159. Like Starved Rock, The Lodge has miles of trails, with streams and forests. Also, two natural lakes are on the 88-acre property. Among the amenities are: state of the art health facilities, indoor swimming pool, three whirlpools, steamroom and sauna, paddle boats, five nature trails, and four-mile jogging trail. Although the agenda is in the developing stages, please mark your calendar and plan on joining us for an educational and relaxing two days in October. Additional information on the two-day retreat will be forthcoming in future Monday Reports. (SKA)

Calendar:

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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