The Downstate Performance Based Work Group met in Springfield on October 25. DCFS did not yet have final permanency results for FY'00 for downstate. They reported they were in the final stages of reconciliation, looking at the aggregate data as well as analysis of team-sites. Because of the new requirement as downstate moves to rotation referral systems, there is a new need for the detailed team analysis. They promised all data analysis would be complete by 11/3 and then out to agencies by the following week. Target for issuance of bonus checks is December 1. If final results are available earlier, DCFS will forward these to CCA and we will alert members on the Monday Report of how to access the results on the web site.

The final draft of the proposed Referral Rotation system for downstate was reviewed. The goal of the system is to establish a referral rotation system for TFC/HMR new placement cases at the field office level so that the system is based on the needs of children and reflective of best child welfare practice, based on geographical boundaries of the DCFS field offices, fair and equitable to both POS and DCFS teams, reflective of the comparative size and permanency performance of POS agencies and DCFS teams, and be as practical and efficient as possible to administer. The proposed model includes definitions, listing of required elements, other principles, description of decisions allowed to be made at the local field office location, after-hours rotation plan guidelines, and a detailed implementation plan. DCFS staff noted their statistics showed about 33% of new placement cases downstate occur in the after hours range. The group noted it will also be important to monitor that the systems in each field office are working properly. Each field office will be responsible for convening regular meetings with the private sector to review the process. On a quarterly basis, each region with both DCFS and private agency staff will report to the overall downstate group on progress. It should also be noted that this system is only for traditional and home of relative performance contracts only-not for specialized foster care or very small non-performance contracts. The group arrived at consensus to proceed with the system as outlined. Copies of the plan will go out to all agencies. A copy of the process outline can be found by early next week on the CCAI web site. The process is outlined in 2 documents: Recommendations RE: Rotating Referral Process and Downstate Performance Contracting Implementation Plan.

The current functioning of educational liaisons was addressed by Angela Baron-Jeffries. She noted that the department did not required plans for use of the educational liaison this year since it was believed there would not be significant changes from last year. Ms. Jeffries noted the following concerns expressed by agency educational liaisons as she talks with them: 1) they have challenges due to the pinch of time allotted for the job, 2) liaisons are typically ex-caseworkers and do not have educational expertise for working with school systems, 3) many feel the feedback they provide to administration is not taken seriously, 4) executive staff don't demonstrate interest in the educational function, 5) case- workers will often try to get the liaisons to do their tasks relating to education of the child for them and 6) they have problems getting new workers to attend the training they are supposed to do on educational requirements. The group recommended DCFS provide refresher training for the educational liaisons. Additionally, the group reminded Ms. Baron-Jeffries that there is very little funding for the position in many downstate locations so agencies are making the best of it. The group suggested it was time for a review of how well the educational liaison is working, along with the funding level before next year's contracts are developed.

The group discussed the new Post-Permanency addendum to the contract. Some agencies reported they had not yet received their letter from DCFS offering the addendum and listing the requirements. Any agency that has not received this should contact Davida Newson at 312-814-5503 for a fax copy of their materials. All plans are due December 1.

The group addressed problems relating to case transfers in downstate regions. Many agencies report extensive delays in DCFS accepting cases back and getting the worker assigned. Agencies are being called to reviews, court dates and asked to do case tasks up to 6 months following closure of a case in their agency. Particular problems arise in kids going to residential, youth in transition cases, interstate compact cases, and youth in extended detention. The group raised 2 issues: either the department needs to act according to its own procedures and transfer the cases in a timely way or determine with the private sector that it might be best for the child's case to remain with the foster care agency provided a reasonable system for reimbursement is developed. DCFS questioned whether it was feasible with all providers to allow the "worst" cases to remain with the agencies. They did agree to look into the delays in the regions and report back at the next meeting. In the meantime, the strategy of allowing cases to remain with foster care agencies when transferred to other forms of care should be discussed in detail in the proper CWAC venue. The next meeting is scheduled for January 12 in Springfield. (MB)

Judge Bishop's Child Protection Advisory Committee met October 27 in Chicago. The court continues progress with new petitions numbering only 180 and closed cases in the 500+ range. The various sub-committees of this group are working on many projects surrounding the following themes: increasing the role of the community in juvenile court proceedings and the child's case; using other models, such as mediation, to address complex cases; looking at benchmark stages of development of the adolescent in care and holding special permanency hearings to help the teen plan his future and expanding opportunities for children to receive mentorship and for mentors to have a role in court decisions.

A new diligent search center is in development and should be ready within a few weeks. Illinois Action for Children is partnering with King Technologies to develop an expansive diligent search process. Within 5 days of a child entering care, a diligent search will be done. If no material is found after the 5 days, the center will keep searching and produce a list of relatives by the 15th day. The database is capable of conducting up to 14000 searches. The database will be complemented by social work staff who will assure all bases are covered (i.e. homeless shelters) for a meaningful search. (MB)

Prevent Child Abuse Illinois was approved for provisional membership on October 17, 2000. Prevent Child Abuse Illinois is the state chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America whose mission is to create a broad-based coalition of individuals and organizations committed to prevention of all types of child abuse and neglect throughout Illinois. They are involved with educational efforts in the area of child abuse, training of professionals, advocacy to protect children and families and provision of materials to communities on prevention programs. Prevent Child Abuse Illinois is involved with Never Shake a Baby Campaign and the Healthy Families Illinois program.

If you would like to write, fax or call and welcome Prevent Child Abuse to CCA membership, you may do so at: Prevent Child Abuse Illinois, 528 S. 5^th Street, Suite 211, Springfield, IL. 62701; Phone is 217-522-1129. FAX is 217-522-0655. Roy Harley is the Executive Director.

Another continuing resolution to keep the government running was adopted as of October 20^th as very little progress was made in budget negotiations. This was the fourth CR since the beginning of October. Reports regarding the fiscal year 2001 appropriations for the Department�s of Labor-Health and Human Services-Education indicated that no progress has been made to date. Issues change continually and disagreements continue over White House and congressional spending priorities along with certain riders involving Occupational Safety and Health Administration and school construction funds. The new CR had extended funding until Oct. 25^th. (JMS)

It was reported in the Child Protection Report that Congress has passed a bill reauthorizing the Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration (SAMHSA). Since SAMHSA�s authorization expired in 1996, services for mental health and substance abuse have been funded by Congress annually. This reauthorization gives more flexibility to respond to mental health needs and more flexibility in using block grant funds. The reauthorization was suddenly inserted at the end of September into what evolved into the Children�s Health Act of 2000. The final bill also contained the Mental Health Early Prevention, Treatment and Prevention Act S. 2639 (reported in last Monday�s Report) and the Drug Addiction Treatment Act, H.R. 2634. The bill keeps in place two separate block grants, one for mental health and one for substance abuse.

Some of the key components of the Mental Health Early Prevention, Treatment and Prevention Act now included in H.R. 4365 are: 1.) $25 million for grants to train teachers and other school personnel to recognize symptoms of childhood and adolescent mental disorders and to refer family members to the appropriate mental health services if necessary. 2.) $10 million for states and communities to provide integrated child welfare and mental health services, including treatment for parents, for families already in the system, or at risk of entering it. 3.) $40 million for states and communities to develop or expand programs providing integrated treatment services for those with a serious emotional disturbance (SED) and a co-occurring substance abuse disorder. 4.) $25 million for emergency mental health centers including mobile crisis intervention teams. 5.) $10 million for grants to divert the mentally ill from the criminal justice system to community-based services.

Authorized SAMHSA programs include: 1.) $100 million to help local communities develop ways to help children deal with violence. 2.) $50 million to study evidence-based practices for treating psychiatric disorders resulting from witnessing or experiencing violence. 3.) $75 million for grants to establish programs to reduce youth suicides. 4.) $40 million to help juvenile justice agencies provide aftercare services for youth offenders who may have SED and have been discharged from detention facilities. 5.) $4 million to create centers of excellence to help states and communities provide appropriate care for SED adolescents who are involved with the juvenile justice system.

The bill also reauthorizes through FY 02 the Child and Adolescent Service System Program that provides comprehensive systems of care for SED children to help them remain in community services and avoid institutionalization. In addition a number of substance abuse provisions are included in the bill. 1.) $50 million for the Children of Substance Abusers Program. 2.) $40 million to treatment services for children and adolescents. 3.) $20 million for grants to provide early-intervention services for children and adolescents. (JMS)

Rep. Nancy Johnson from Connecticut, chair of the Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, introduced legislation this session entitled the Flexible Funding for Child Protection Act of 2000, H.R. 5292. The legislation allows demonstration projects that will determine whether providing states with flexible funding for child protection has an effect on caseload levels; availability and use of services; efficiency of service delivery; and child safety, permanency and well-being. The bill also included a transferability that would give five states the option to redirect federal revenue for Title IV-E maintenance payments into their Title IV-B programs for prevention services. This bill also includes an option for block grants. At hearings held on October 3^rd testimony received indicated that additional funding was needed for Title IV-E services not different ways of using it so action on this legislation would not occur during this session; however, efforts would continue next year. (JMS)

The Healthy Families Policy and Advocacy Committee met on October 19, 2000. It was noted during the meeting that the Healthy Family grant awards for FY 2001 were made to the following agencies: Illinois Masonic Hospital, Lydia Home Association, Will County Heath Department, The Children�s Foundation, Sangamon County Health Department and Bond County Health Department.

A brief report was given by those members that had attended the Healthy Families America Conference that was held in Atlanta recently. In a discussion of possible funding requested for Healthy Families Illinois next fiscal year several issues were identified that could impact expansion of the program. It was noted that there has been significant growth in the state revenue. � 900 million. However, there is a federal Medicaid issue where the state could lose 500 million. Illinois had pursued an aggressive matching effort for Medicaid especially with hospital funds. The federal administration is cracking down in the Medicaid match because states are using it for other things than Medicaid. The second issue impacting available funds would be the expiration of the gas tax which would require 400 million to extend it. The third issue is the early intervention program in DHS has a significant shortfall from 42 � 65 million. The intent of the Healthy Families Committee is to request a 3 million-dollar increase this year during the budget development process. Members of the workgroup will be requested to write letters to the Governor requesting support for this increase. (JMS)

This is just a reminder that those agencies that have not submitted the Plan Part 1 for SACWIS need to do that as soon as possible. Submission of Plan Part 1 is being used to determine how many seats will be needed by the private agencies in order to implement SACWIS. Seats are based on established ratios of case counts per caseload, and/or BATs and BARCs. This number will be used to determine the amount of the allocation that will be available to each agency. This part of the plan will also provide the total number of sites and the number of users at each site in order to determine the connection requirements for the servers. This Plan was due back to DCFS at the beginning of October and will be used as the basis for Plan Part 2 that will be issued to agencies. If you have any questions, please contact Steve Bradshaw at DCFS � 217-747-7604 immediately. (JMS)

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].

http://www.NACAC.org

provides a wealth of publications, Adoption Month materials, and an National Adoption Month Awareness Guide, which provides tips for creating visibility for Adoption efforts in churches, schools and communities. Additional lead to still other sites on adoption, advocacy, child welfare, special needs children, and more. The National Adoption Awareness Month Guide and Posters are available from NACAC at no charge by calling 651-644-3036.

http://adoptmonth.calib.com

Even more information on the history of National Adoption Month, plus a link to the NACAC site.

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.

(LLL)

National Adoption Month provides great opportunities to build public awareness on your community about moving children toward permanency. For the third year in a row, Illinois has led the national in rate of adoption. Between July 1, 1999 and June 30, 2000, 6,261 children in Illinois were adopted, according to IDCFS figures. The large majority of these adoptions - - 80.9% -- were implemented by private agencies. The National Association of Adoptable Children (website address: http://www.NACAC.org) provides a wealth of publications, Adoption Month materials, and a National Adoption Month Awareness Guide, which provides tips for creating visibility for adoption efforts in churches, schools and communities. Additionally, it provides links to still other sites on adoption, advocacy, and child welfare, special needs children, and more. The National Adoption Awareness Month Guide and Posters are also available from NACAC at no charge by calling 651/644-3036.

(LLL)

Plans have begun for CHILD WELFARE DAY, which will be scheduled during the Spring legislative session once the legislative schedule is set after the election. Please share your ideas and suggestions for this high-profile event by contacting Linda Lenzini, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Child Care Association at 217-538-4409, or by e-mail at [email protected]

(LLL)

CWLA�s Kinship Care Conference is scheduled this year for July 25 � 27 at the Hilton Chicago and Towers. CCA member agency FamilyCare of Illinois is a private sector sponsor for the event, and reports that the theme this year is, "Sustaining Kinship Ties: Permanency and Beyond." Requests for proposals will be out soon, according to Carl Koerner, Executive Director of FamilyCare. CCA is supporting the event through staff involvement: Marge Berglind is Co-chair for the Program Subcommittee, and CCA will also have representation on the Publicity/Public Relations Work Group.

(LLL)

The PBS Documentary FRONTLINE is scheduled to air a Juvenile Justice broadcast on Tuesday, October 31, 2000. Program notes state, "Should juveniles who commit serious crimes be tried as juveniles or adults? What happens to young offenders who reach the �end of the line� in the juvenile court system -- and how are they rehabilitated?"

Check your local listings for exact time of this program.

(LLL)

Data from the CCA 2000 Membership Survey is currently being reviewed and aggregated for use in CCA�s Public Policy and Legislative efforts on behalf of its membership. The vast majority of surveys have been completed and returned, but for those agencies who have not yet completed their surveys, a form can be downloaded from the CCA Website�s library at http://www.cca-il.org and filled out. Agencies that participate in this mandatory survey will have their information included in a searchable database that is currently being planned. (LLL)

The Outcome Measures 2000 Survey Steering Committee met with selected members of the Board of Directors and CCA staff on October 26. The current environment for the survey was revisited, and the recommendation made that in this, the third year for the survey, questions should remain consistent with the two previous years in order to demonstrate trending in improvements and areas of weakness. The Committee this year will be supplementing the report findings with a data analysis that will indicate directions and provide recommendations for next year�s survey.

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

Hosting services and simply website development are now available through CCA. For more information contact Rommel Sangalang at CCA at [email protected] or by phone at 217-528-4409.

If your agency has a website, you can be linked to the CCA website. This will enable visitors to the CCA website to simply click on your agency�s name and access your website. Send requests for linkage via e-mail to Linda Lenzini at CCA, e-mail address [email protected]. (LLL)

JOIN CCA�s GROWING E-MAIL Directory If your agency is interested in listing an e-mail contact with CCA and has not already done so, please send the contact name, title, and current e-mail address to [email protected].

Does your agency have an innovative program or recent success story that you�d like to share? CCA is interested in sharing your recent success story or innovative program with the rest of the membership. If you would like to be featured on the CCA website with your success story, contact Linda Lenzini at CCA with the details. (LLL)

Calendar:

Nov. 1-4 - The International Adolescent Conference, Portland Oregon; Call (651) 484-5510

Nov. 3-4 � "Issues in Autism 2000", Autism Society of Illinois Annual Meeting, Wyndham Northwest

Chicago, Itasca, IL 630/773-4000

Nov. 14 � CWAC SACWIS Advisory Committee, Springfield

Nov. 15 � CCA Board of Directors Meeting, Springfield

Nov. 17 � CCA Public Policy Committee Meeting, Springfield and Chicago

Nov. 17-20 - The Teaching-Family Association Conference: "Circle of Courage" �Call: 540-370-4439

Feb. 25-28 � 14^th Annual Conference, A System of Care for Children�s Mental Health: Expanding the

Research Base, Tampa Hyatt Regency, Tampa, Fl. Call Lyn Bryan at 813/974-4649 for information.