July 29, 2002

SPECIAL NOTE:  Copyright 2002. 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.

Table of Contents

CHILD WELFARE.. 1

LEGISLATION SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.. 1

CWAC MEDICAID WORKGROUP � ADDITIONAL REPORT. 2

PART 132 INTERPRETATIVE VARIANCES. 2

EDUCATION.. 3

EDUCATION GOVERNING BOARD APPOINTS NEW SCHOOL CHIEF.. 3

RATE-SETTING RULE TO BE SENT TO ALL APPROVED NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS.. 3

REPORT ON PRESIDENT�S COMMISSION ON EXCELLENCE IN SPECIAL EDUCATION AVAILABLE ON WEBSITE.. 3

GENERAL.. 3

WELFARE ROLLS: ON THE RISE AGAIN.. 3

TANF AMENDMENT ADOPTED BY ILLINOIS DEPT. OF HUMAN SERVICES.. 4

WHAT ARE THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CHILD WELFAFE AND TANF.. 4

SACWIS ADVISORY COMMITTEE.. 5

SACWIS AND RESIDENTIAL. 5

CCA Outcome Survey 2002 forms are in the mail. 5

UPCOMING EVENTS.. 6

Fall Membership Meeting - SAVE THE DATE! 6

Retooling with Wraparound Services - SAVE THE DATE! 6

Who should attend?. 6

FREE FIRST NONPROFIT SEMINAR �Unemployment Taxes: An Untapped Treasure� 6

SACY TRAINING for August. 7

Adolescent Assessment         Aug. 5  7

Individualized Treatment Planning             Aug. 15  7

CALENDAR.. 8

LEGISLATION SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

One of the bills being tracked by CCAI that had passed both houses was House Bill 4208 sponsored by Rep. Feigenholtz  in the House and Sen. Lisa Madigan in the Senate.  The bill basically provided that efforts be made to consider and attempt to notify adoptive parents of biological sibling when placing child for adoption based on best interests of the child.  This was signed into law as PA 92-0666. 

House Bill 4129 was also signed into law as PA 92-0665.  This bill allows a minor that would normally be tried as an adult to be dealt with as a delinquent minor with an offense related to controlled substance except for those minors with a Class X felony violation of the Illinois Controlled Substance Act.  CCAI joined with the Juvenile Justice Initiative in support of the bill.  (JMS)

CWAC MEDICAID WORKGROUP � ADDITIONAL REPORT

Additional agenda items from the July 18, 2002 Medicaid Advisory Committee to be reported included:  Suspension, Termination and Appeal Procedures, Certification of Campus-Based Programs and Residential Program Plan Update. 

Brief discussion of the above items reported that changes to the Medicaid rule would allow appeals by agencies directly to DCFS rather than through DHS as provided in the currently wording of the rule.  DCFS still needs to develop an internal appeals process for Medicaid Service providers which will be contingent on how DHS amends rule 132.

For certification of campus-based programs, only one DPA number is required for billing purposes.  Each individual cottage does not need a separate DPA number. 

An update on the status of the residential program plan process was provided by Mike Oliver, co-chair for the workgroup. He indicated that it was being tested at some agencies and was requiring an extensive amount of time to develop.   Efforts by DCFS at this time related to further implementation of the residential program plan was not considered a priority. 

PART 132 INTERPRETATIVE VARIANCES

As was reported in last week�s report DCFS has identified several issues where there is a difference in interpretation of how the Medicaid rule is applied to DCFS Medicaid service providers and how it is applied to DHS Medicaid service providers.  DCFS asked for additional comments on some of the issues that were listed from the CWAC Medicaid workgroup. 

Under Billing for Report Writing, DCFS has considered report writing a non-billable activity. DHS allows providers to bill for report writing if the report is for external purposes e.g. a court report.  DCFS� conclusion about report writing being non-billable was based on statements in the Crosswalk.  In the future, the Crosswalk may need to be revised to describe more specifically which documentation time is billable and which documentation time is not billable.  DCFS may consider the possibility of changing its position on report writing.  The change would have a direct impact on the payments for fee-for-service contracts only.  The cost factor would need to be evaluated.  If this type of billing were allowed, caps on the amount of billable time may be required.  In addition, it may be necessary to look at the report that was generated to determine whether the amount of time billed was justified. However, for now providers billing under a DCFS Medicaid contract will not be able to bill for any report writing. 

Under Personnel Review, DHS reviews personnel records to verify whether the provider has checked the Nurses Aid Registry to any violations. [Reference: 132.70c)]  DCFS has not included this element in the Personnel Review.  DCFS providers currently check other databases for background checks (CANTS, LEADS, fingerprints) but DCFS Medicaid programs may also need to start checking the Nurses Aide Registry website to comply with 132.70c).  If this requirement were instituted for DCFS Medicaid programs, then DCFS Medicaid reviews would check personnel records to see if the provider has documentation of obtaining clearance from the Nurses Aide Registry.  DCFS Medicaid reviews will not check personnel records to see if the provider has documentation of obtaining clearance from the other databases � e.g. CANTS, LEADS and fingerprints.   (JMS)

EDUCATION GOVERNING BOARD APPOINTS NEW SCHOOL CHIEF 

The Illinois State Board of Education has appointed Dr. Robert Schiller as the new State Superintendent of Education.  Schiller will start August 1 and leaves his position as superintendent in Shreveport, Louisiana.  Schiller was the former  chief education officer for the state of Michigan and is attributed with turning around the failing Baltimore, Maryland public schools when he served as interim CEO in that state.  Schiller has also served as a teacher, vice-principal, and assistant superintendent in New Jersey.  Both Illinois gubernatorial candidates have expressed their dissatisfaction that this appointment was made prior to the election.  Clashes between the governor and the state�s chief education officer created problems for the last superintendent and may do so again (BRH).

RATE-SETTING RULE TO BE SENT TO ALL APPROVED NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS 

The Illinois Purchased Care Review Board will send each approved nonpublic school a copy of the current proposed rate-setting rule.  CCA�s comments on this proposal and an alert to notify the Illinois Purchased Care Review Board was sent to all members last month.  The IPCRB proposed rule has not been sent to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR), and therefore there is currently no specific time limit for obtaining the rule and submitting your comments to the IPCRB.  The rule will be sent to JCAR only after comments have been received and the IPCRB has made its decision to modify the rule or to send it as is.  At that time prescribed time limits will apply.

In addition, since the IPCRB currently has a hiring freeze, they may have problems filling the vacancy that will be left by the planned early retirement that will be taken by the current Executive Director, Paul Fiorenza.  That retirement is planned for December 2002 . How rates will be set without sufficient staff has yet to be determined (BRH).

REPORT ON PRESIDENT�S COMMISSION ON EXCELLENCE IN SPECIAL EDUCATION AVAILABLE ON WEBSITE 

This excellent report clearly articulates both challenges and proposed solutions in the 21^st century for students who are at-risk of academic failure and who require modifications and/or placements in order to succeed academically.  It is available at www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister or from the CCA office (BRH).

WELFARE ROLLS: ON THE RISE AGAIN

The Washington Post had a recent article discussing the increases that are occurring with the welfare rolls.  Between March 1994 and July 2001 the welfare rolls had fallen 59% so everyone was talking about the success of the welfare reform initiative.  However, between July 2001 and December 2001 the caseloads rose 2.3 percent.  In some states the increase were even larger than the 2.3 percent.  Between December 2000 and December 2001, Nevada�s caseload rose 44 percent, Indiana�s and Montana�s 21 percent and South Carolina and Arizona 20 percent.

Although New York and Minnesota reported a continued decline from July to December of 17 percent and 11 percent, these declines actually reflected a shift from the state�s basic welfare program to its Safety Net Assistance program because welfare recipients had hit the federal time limit for benefits.  In Minnesota 4,682 two parent families were shifted to a separate state program to avoid the federal welfare law�s stringent work requirement for two-parent families.  If one counted these families Minnesota�s rolls would show a one percent increase rather than an 11 percent decline. 

Caseloads are increasing due to the weakening economy.  Between December 2000 and December 2001 the unemployment rate for single mothers rose 60 percent from 5 percent to 8 percent.  By April of this year, unemployment for single mothers was at 8.6 percent.  However, the discussions that are occurring around the reauthorization of welfare reform at the federal level are only considering the financial savings from earlier caseload declines.  Republicans are pushing to redirect resources to work fare programs and the Democrats are recommending resources be redirected to child care.  If final legislation does not take into consideration more recent caseload changes, states could be forced to restrict programs further in order to fund benefits.  (JMS)

TANF AMENDMENT ADOPTED BY ILLINOIS DEPT. OF HUMAN SERVICES

The Dept. of Human Services adopted an amendment for TANF effective July 1, 2002.  A companion emergency amendment became effective 2/19/02.  The rulemaking provides that under certain circumstances a client my be granted an exception to the 60 month lifetime Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash benefits limit.  These circumstances include likely eligibility for Social Security supplemental security income for which an application is pending, medical disability that prevents a client from working at least 30 hours/week, enrollment in an approved education or training program that will be completed within 6 months after the client�s final TANF-eligible month or participation in an intensive rehabilitation program to overcome a barrier to work when it prevents the client from working at least 30 hours/week.  Having custody of a severely disabled child who is approved for a waiver or having primary care responsibility for a child under the age of 18 or a spouse with physical or mental health problems that preclude employment are also allowable circumstances for granting an exception to the 60-month limit.  The rulemaking requires DHS to notify the client of the right to request the exception, specifies that the client shall file a written request for such an exception, and provides time frames for these activities.  Excepted cases will be periodically reviewed, and all other TANF eligibility factors must still be met.  For questions or copies of this rule contact Susan Weir, DHS, 100 S. Grand Ave. E., 3^rd Fl., Springfield, ILL  62762, 217/785-9772.  (JMS)

WHAT ARE THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CHILD WELFAFE AND TANF

On Friday, July 26, 2002, the Center for Law and Social Policy held a teleconference on Child Welfare and TANF as part of its continuing series dealing with the reauthorization of TANF.  There was a brief review of the areas of overlap of families between the TANF population and child welfare.  Although the percentage of AFDC recipient children entering foster care is only 3%, of the number of children in foster care 60% came from families who received AFDC.  The overlap of needs of families in the child welfare system and/or barriers to TANF requirements are: substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence and poverty.  These same barriers to employment in TANF are the same barriers that lead to inadequate parenting and causing families to end up in the child welfare system. 

Kinship care families are increasing and these families often turn to TANF or child welfare for help in caring for the children.  When looking at kinship care and the type of assistance received through foster care or TANF, there are advantages and disadvantage for both.  With foster care there is usually higher financial support and services; however, foster care is very intrusive and creates adversarial roles with families.  Although TANF is less intrusive, the grants paid are less and family grant recipients are subject to work requirements and time limits.  One of the questions then becomes how to provide support services for those in the TANF system in order to prevent them from coming into the child welfare system.  (JMS)

SACWIS ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The SACWIS Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet August 22, 2002 in Springfield with some changes to the structure.  Meetings of the Committee had been suspended by DCFS early in 2002 as DCFS went through final preparation for implementation of Phase I and with budget cuts the scheduled meetings of the JADs were suspended until summer.  DCFS had proposed that CWAC Finance and Administration take over the responsibilities of the SACWIS group since most of the planning for SACWIS had been completed and the JADs had been suspended.  After several discussions and recommendations of the SACWIS Steering Committee is was agreed that a smaller group would continue with a focus on the technical issues for SACWIS and that it would probably only meet quarterly.  Other outstanding issues that are still being addressed are the Medicaid/SACWIS issue, residential and SACWIS, communications, change management, and the bridge for private agencies.  Phase I (related to intake and investigation) has been up and running since May 2002. (JMS)

SACWIS AND RESIDENTIAL

At a meeting with DCFS in June to discuss the integration of Medicaid documentation into SACWIS for the foster care services, the issue was raised by DCFS with regards to residential services.  This was an issue that had been identified by the private agencies from the beginning of design development for the system with the initial response from DCFS that residential would not be included in SACWIS.  Under this latest discussion a preliminary meeting was held with POS representatives from the SACWIS Advisory Committee and the CWAC Medicaid Workgroup.  After an additional review of the issue it was recommended that DCFS would need to determine the minimal data set that needs to be maintained for every child and what type of funding could be available to access the system by residential providers.  As plans are being developed now, the DCFS caseworkers would have to re-enter any and all information provided by the residential agencies.  (JMS)

CCA Outcome Survey 2002 Forms are in the Mail 

Forms are in the mail this week for your agency to report program outcomes for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2002.  The survey is an important step in the collection of critical data by the Association. 

The information required is the similar to last year with only a few additions to Foster Care and Special education.  Reporting has been made as simple as possible while collecting and aggregating the most critical factors related to quality of services provided to the children and families in the care of CCA member agencies.   

Outcome measures have been identified for Institutions/Group Homes, Foster Care, Special Education, and Community Based programs.  The information generated by this project will be used by CCA on behalf of the membership in policy, education, and public relation endeavors.

The deadline for your agency to report Fiscal Year 2002 outcomes is Friday, September 13, 2003.  For your convenience these forms and instructions are posted on the CCA web site.  To access the forms and instructions from the CCA Internet site, WWW.CCA-IL.ORG, choose (Members Only), enter password, and click on (Outcome Measures).  Now you can print or down-load the instructions and forms.  You still have to mail or fax back your completed outcome information, but this feature should help you access the forms quickly. 

Information will be aggregated and an outcome report issued in November 2002.

Fall Membership Meeting - SAVE THE DATE!

The Child Care Association of Illinois� Fall Membership Meeting will be held on October 23 & 24, 2002 at Starved Rock Lodge and Conference Center, Highway 178 & 71, Utica, Illinois.  Rooms are being held at Starved Rock for the night of October 23.  If you would like to make your reservation you may call 800.868.7625 or 815.667.4211.  Rooms range in price from $85.00 to $105.00 in the Lodge.  Please be sure and tell them you are attending the Child Care Association meeting. (SKA)

Retooling with Wraparound Services - SAVE THE DATE!

Locations: Two convenient locations near you.

Springfield: Monday, September 23, 2002

Chicago: Tuesday, September 24, 2002

Mark your calendars for this important one-day session on retooling services for wraparound and community based programming.  With the System of Care initiative underway by DCFS and a vast amount of changes ahead for Foster Care and Residential services providers CCA has designed a training session to help agencies retool services to meet these challenges.  At the heart of providing services in the community and least restrictive setting, wraparound services play an important role in the community-based system of care.  Now you can learn how your agency can retool existing services and resources to take advantage of these changes.  CCA has acquired Patricia Miles from Portland, Oregon, a leading developer and initiator of wraparound services in several states to conduct this training.  Ms. Miles has years of experience in training and technical assistance and has initiated wraparound projects in schools, child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice settings.  Pat has been consultant to Illinois DCFS in regard to the System of Care initiative.  She knows the system planned by DCFS and can be a great value to you as you retool your services into a community-based framework.

Who should attend?

Residential providers wishing to understand and participate in the community-based framework.

Treatment and Specialized Foster Care providers wishing to service clients through the new System of Care initiative.

Community-Based providers wishing to integrate wraparound services into their service continuum.    

Mark your calendars and plan now to attend this important training.

Brochures and details will be mailed soon. (BMO)

FREE FIRST NONPROFIT SEMINAR �Unemployment Taxes: An Untapped Treasure�

You will learn:

Select the Chicago date best for you:

Thursday, Sept. 12

Thursday, Nov. 21

All sessions will be held from 2:00 � 3:30 p.m.; at First NonProfit Companies; 111 N. Canal Street, Main Level Conference Room.  Reservations are required.  Please call Linda Kirk at 312/930-0375 to register.  Refreshments will be served and free information packets will be given. (SKA)

SACY TRAINING for August

Adolescent Assessment                                         Aug. 5

Including adolescent development: Self-concept and abstract thinking meets sexuality, societal attitudes towards sexuality and the media, what�s �normative� and what�s �problematic�?  The importance of a comprehensive risk assessment, including assessing the adolescent: Conducting the interview, and assessment tools.  

Individualized Treatment Planning                              Aug. 15

Including placement issues and protection planning, multi-modal JSO treatment techniques, Individual, group, family and milieu.  Related Adjunct Treatment, including Social/interpersonal skills training, anger management and conflict resolution, chemical dependency issues, school-related issues, and therapy: using �fulcrums� effectively.  Case Management, including setting up the treatment plan and tracking therapeutic progress.

Location: Catholic Charities of Chicago

St. Vincent Hall

721 N. LaSalle

Chicago

Time: 9:00 am till 4:00 pm

Lunch on your own

Topics tailored to meet the current role of individuals working with sexually abusive/ aggressive children and youth.

All training meets SACY standards and presented by certified trainers.

The curriculum meets the requirements for those agencies providing SACY services with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

Complete up to 54 hours of training in less than 5 months.

CEU credit offered.

Special session for Foster Parents.

COST:  $85.00 per person per session

For registration simply go to the CCA Training site www.cca-il.org/training/htm or call Barb Oldani at 217-528-4409, Ext. 21.

CALENDAR

July 31            8^th Circuit Court Improvement Project Forum � Fulgenzi�s Restaurant, Petersburg, IL

Aug. 01            18^th Circuit Court Improvement Project Forum �DuPage County Courthouse, Wheaton, IL

Aug. 05            Cook County Court Improvement Project Forum � Session Full

Aug. 06-7              �Understanding and Enhancing Communication and Language for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder,� Dr. Amy Wetherby, Neumiller Lecture Hall, Bradley Hall, Bradley University. Contact (309) 672-6715.

Aug. 09            10^th Circuit Court Improvement Project Forum � Peoria County Courthouse, Peoria, IL

Aug. 05            SACY - Adolescent Assessment, Chicago, IL

Aug. 06              Family Centered Services Steering Committee � Chicago/Springfield Video Conference

Aug. 15            SACY � Individualized Treatment Planning, Chicago, IL

Aug. 15-16             CWLA Midwest Public Policy Committee � Chicago

Aug. 22            CWAC SACWIS Advisory Workgroup � Springfield