MONDAY REPORT

September 16, 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.

URGENT ALERT TO RESIDENTIAL AND GROUP HOME PROGRAMS. 1

WRAPAROUND SERVICE PLANNING SKILLS ESSENTIAL FOR CCAI DIRECT SERVICE WORKERS AND SUPERVISORS. 1

CHILD WELFARE. 2

CCAI POLICY COMMITTEE RECONVENES. 2

DOWNSTATE ILO PROVIDERS MEETING.. 3

FAMILY CENTERED SERVICES STEERING COMMITTEE. 3

FAMILY CENTERED SERVICES FUNDING TOTALS BY REGION. 4

GENERAL. 5

SENATE MAY NOT TRY SECOND BIG WELFARE REFORM NOW.. 5

UPCOMING EVENTS. 5

DOWNSTATE PERFORMANCE BASED CONTRACT MEETING�NOTE CHANGE IN ADDRESS. 5

SED WAIVER MEETING CHANGE OF DATE. 5

FALL MEMBERSHIP MEETING � OCTOBER 23-24--Starved Rock Lodge. 5

SACY TRAINING FOR SEPTEMBER. 6

Reunification Issues with Sexually Problematic Children                Sept. 26  6

Calendar. 6

URGENT ALERT TO RESIDENTIAL AND GROUP HOME PROGRAMS

Rule 384 mandates that Agency Behavior Treatment Plans be submitted to DCFS by 10/1/02.  Requirements of the plan are detailed in section 384.20.  Plans are to be submitted to your Agency Licensing Representative with a copy to DeAnn Mulbauer, 100 W. Randolph, Chicago, IL  60601. 

Agencies with questions should contact Marge Berglind immediately by email ([email protected]) or phone (312/819-1950). (MB)

WRAPAROUND SERVICE PLANNING SKILLS ESSENTIAL FOR CCAI DIRECT SERVICE WORKERS AND SUPERVISORS

Is your staff successful in formulating or obtaining good Wraparound plans for their clients? There is increasing emphasis within the child welfare system for developing individualized wraparound service plans for children in community-based care. Part of the philosophy involves creating success for children in less restrictive forms of care and decreasing the need for multiple placements into more restrictive care. We can debate the philosophical merits of those principles and agree or disagree with the rationale. What is clear, however, is that the system is moving in this direction and the onus is on our agencies to assure our field staff possesses the skills to matriculate through a system built on these principles.

Staff must obtain a good clinical understanding of the key concepts of Wraparound Service Planning and basic skills needed to help formulate plans and advocate for their clients involved in the plan. They must know what the proper components are and what should be included in this plan. As many of our staff will work across various LAN areas with different System of Care providers, there may be some variation on the way the Wraparound plans are formulated. It is imperative that our staff understand the basics to be sure their clients are receiving good services no matter what LAN they are in and that staff feel comfortable in advocating in various types systems for the services their clients need. 

Who are the workers most in need of these skills?

We even have staff from juvenile court systems registering for this training. They are building their knowledge level on this and urge you as agencies to be sure our workers can compete.

We urge you to register staff today for the upcoming sessions on �WRAParound Services Planning & Delivery� on September 23 in Springfield or September 24 in Chicago.  If you need additional copies of the brochure or registration, go to the CCAI web site at www.cca-il.org or call the Springfield CCAI office for a fax copy at 217-528-4409, Ext. 21. (MB)

CCAI POLICY COMMITTEE RECONVENES

The CCAI Policy Committee met in Naperville on September 9. The group analyzed the challenges and outcomes of last spring�s legislative and budget session. All information points to the 2003 budget session being even more difficult, since the budget in Illinois is still not on track. The group also reviewed the progress of screening of Gubernatorial candidates. CCAI staff reported that both candidates have received the CCAI survey on key issues, have been requested to meet with several CCAI representatives to discuss the issues further, and to submit comments in writing for distribution to the CCAI membership. Marge Berglind has met with policy directors of both campaigns to discuss the issues in detail and to keep the CCAI organization in front of the candidates.

The committee reviewed the policy areas of most concern to CCAI members. It is critical with a new General Assembly and administration in January, that we have our policy framework ready soon.

�       Juvenile Justice: The first area incorporates various Juvenile Justice issues, including BARJ and the need for consistent delivery in all counties, treatment of lockouts by DCFS and treatment of 13-year-old adjudicated delinquents. The group will need to review pertinent sections of the Juvenile Court Act and Child and Family Services Act. Additionally, there needs to be more study of the issues so we can properly frame our policy statement in this area. A work group was formed to look at this issue in more detail.

�       Homeless Youth: The second area concerns Homeless Youth. Last session, the Homeless Youth Coalition presented a bill regarding shelters that contained some provisions of concern to ICOY and CCAI. The  CCAI group wants to get a head start on looking at this issue in preparation for possible revised legislation. A work group was formed to explore these issues further.

�       Special Education: The third area involves Special Education issues, including the rate-setting proposal for non-public schools, attrition impact of early retirement on key ISBE functions, and possible increase of the dropout age. ((This issue was raised by the Blagojevich campaign.) The existing Special Education group will continue to work on these issues and will link to the policy group.

�       Child Welfare Financing: The fourth area concerns Financing of Child Welfare.  A work group convened last spring reviewed possible alternatives to present for financing child welfare services. The group determined that we needed more information from our own providers about the costs, use of funds and patterns in the system. CCAI will collect cost reports from our members and work with the existing finance work group on analysis. When a proposal is ready, it will come to the policy committee for review, support and strategy planning.

�       Child Welfare Workforce: The fifth area concerns the Child Welfare Workforce. Last spring, CCAI worked to propose legislation regarding loan forgiveness for child welfare workers. In the process we learned that a vast majority of our caseworkers/supervisors carry high educational loan balances. The fiscal implication of the bill made it unfeasible during a budget crunch year. However, the work force challenges still remain. Although some agencies report fewer turnovers right now due to shrinking programs and cutbacks, CCAI staff suspects this is a downward blip in the ongoing pattern of high turnover. We should not drop the issue due to a temporary period of better turnover. The group will need to review these issues in more detail and think through a solid policy framework. We should continue to track the federal legislation pending on training and educational development for child welfare staff.

�       National Family Week: A final area concerns National Family Week in November. CCAI has been awarded a grant for the second year to help promote the value of families in our society. We hope to use this grant as a linkage to our advocacy efforts. Bridget Helmholz will be the point person on this project and welcomes ideas from the membership.

The work groups will meet over the next 3 weeks in order to report their progress at the next meeting. Volunteers for the Policy Committee or to serve on the work groups are still welcome. Contact Marge Berglind at [email protected] if you are interested. The next meeting is scheduled for October 2, from 10-2 at Our Children�s Homestead in Naperville. (MB)

DOWNSTATE ILO PROVIDERS MEETING

Bill Steinhauser of Bethany asks that Downstate providers of ILO services mark October 29, 10-12, at the Peoria Field Office on their calendars. Training will be provided on the revised protocol for ILP approvals. Providers will meet after the training to discuss other issues of concern.  A letter should be coming out from DCFS about the training in the near future. (A Cook area training is tentatively scheduled for November 12. We will share this when we have confirmed details from DCFS.) (MB)

FAMILY CENTERED SERVICES STEERING COMMITTEE

The Family Centered Services Steering Committee met on September 12, 2002 to review the role of the Steering Committee and the composition.  A brief update was also provided on the status of funding programs with the $5 million for FY03.  At this point the final recommendations for funding have been submitted to the Director.  Following is a brief summary of the review process that had been completed to date.

Regional Level

1. The LAN/DCFS Partnership Group made recommendations based on need in the LAN and the Department region about what programs to fund.
2. Applications were received from the LAN based on those recommendations.
3. The review of regional level resulted in application being approved, approved with conditions or denied.
4. Only those applications that were approved or approved with conditions were reviewed at the Central Office level.
5. The Region is working with the LAN to resolve all outstanding conditions at the regional level and to move applications from the denied status to either approved or approved with conditions.
6. FCS Steering Committee Members participated in the reviews at the regional level.

Central Office Level

The Department had 7 reviewers at the Central Office Level and each application was discussed for concerns or problems and were approved, approved with conditions or denied with sign-off from the two FCS Co-chairs.

Recommendations to the Director

The Director will make the decision about the providers to be funded and those that we need to work with to move them to the approved status.

Next Steps

1. The providers and the LAN and the Region will be told the status of the review of the FCS applications and the conditions to which a written response will be needed.
2. Those providers who received a denied status will receive assistance from the Region and from DCFS Central Office to make the changes necessary to move the applications to approved status.
3. The boilerplate will be sent to each provider for signature.

The next meeting of the FCS Steering Committee will be Dec. 5, 2002.  It was recommended that the role of the Steering Committee should focus on providing assistance to the providers regarding outcomes.  A review of the proposed applications regarding outcomes would be completed by project staff with a compilation of information for review by the FCS Steering Committee members.  (JMS)

FAMILY CENTERED SERVICES FUNDING TOTALS BY REGION

Cook Region received a total of $2,007,333.  $685,396 went to Cook North.  $548,260 went to Cook Central.  $773,677 went to Cook South.  The Northern Region received $942,181 with $329,170 going to Rockford area and $613,011 going to the Aurora area.  The Southern Region received $725,690 with $334,538 going to the East St. Louis area and $391,152 going to the Marion area.  The Central Region received $1,324,676.  $477,556 went to the Champaign area.  $536,434 went to the Peoria area.  $310,686 went to the Springfield area.  Of the $2,007,333 for the Cook Region, $1,380,118 went to the City of Chicago LANs and $627,215 went to the Suburban Cook LANs.  (JMS) 

SENATE MAY NOT TRY SECOND BIG WELFARE REFORM NOW

An article from Reuters in the Miami Herald finds that a divided and busy U.S. Senate may scale back efforts to enact a second phase of the historic 1996 welfare reform, opting instead to extend the current law for a year, Majority Leader Tom Daschle said on September 4.  Daschle told reporters he would prefer a more ambitious five year overhaul but he had come to any conclusion about what the Senate could achieve given its crowded agenda.  http://click.topica.com/maaawaaaaTsTya30MABb/.   (JMS)

DOWNSTATE PERFORMANCE BASED CONTRACT MEETING�NOTE CHANGE IN ADDRESS

The Downstate Performance Based Contract meeting is scheduled from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on September 18 at 521 S. 11^th Street, Springfield.  POS agencies will be meeting from 10:00 a.m. to 12 Noon on the 18^th at the CCAI office in Springfield, 300 E. Monroe Street, Suite 202.

SED WAIVER MEETING CHANGE OF DATE

The SED Waiver meeting that was scheduled for Thursday, September 26 at 2:00 p.m. has been canceled.  The new date is Wednesday, October 9 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.  Location to be announced.

FALL MEMBERSHIP MEETING � OCTOBER 23-24--Starved Rock Lodge

CCAI�s Fall Membership Meeting will be held October 23 & 24 at Starved Rock Lodge and Conference Center, Highway 178 & 71, Utica, Illinois.  Agenda items will include: 1) Social Entrepreneurship, 2) Retooling High End Services, 3) Working with a New State Government, 4) CCAI Advocacy Initiative: Assessing Progress & Keeping Advocacy Alive.

Registration information has been e-mailed and faxed to agencies.  Information is also on CCA�s website at www.cca-il.org.  As soon as possible a more detailed agenda will be sent to you.  Early bird fee is $125.00 before October 4^th.  Registrations can be made via fax with credit card, or by mail with check.

Rooms are being held at Starved Rock for the nights of October 22 and 23.  If you would like to make your reservation you can call 800.868.7625 or 815.667.4211.  Rooms range in price from $85.00 to $105.00.  Please be sure and tell them you are attending the Child Care Association meeting.  MAKE YOUR RESERVATION BY SEPTEMBER 22^nd.  If you need to cancel your reservation at Starved Rock, you must do so 72 hours before arrival.

If you have any questions please call Sandy at 217/528-4409, Ext. 22, or email her at [email protected].  (SKA)

SACY TRAINING FOR SEPTEMBER

Reunification Issues with Sexually Problematic Children    Sept. 26

The necessary skills and prerequisites for family reunification ∙ assessing parental skills and appropriateness of the home environment ∙ apology, reconciliation and reunification ∙ risk assessments for reunification.  Creating a system of external support: Making sure the WRAP stays wrapped.

Location: Catholic Charities of Chicago, St. Vincent Hall, 721 N. LaSalle, Chicago

Time: 9:00 am till 4:00 pm--Lunch on your own

COST:  $85.00 per person per session

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

Calendar

Sept. 17          HIPAA SEMINAR, 10:00 a.m. � 2:00 p.m., Holiday Inn Select, Naperville, IL

Sept. 18          Downstate Performance Based Contract meeting, Springfield

Sept. 23          Retooling with WRAParound Services, Springfield

Sept. 24          Retooling with WRAParound Services, Chicago

Sept. 26          SACY Training � Reunification Issues with Sexually Problematic Children

Oct.  9                    SED Waiver meeting, 2-4 p.m.

Oct. 23-24          CCAI�s Fall Membership Meeting, Starved Rock Lodge and Conference Center

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