MONDAY REPORT

December 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.

CCAI HOLIDAY SCHEDULE

Seasons Greetings!! The staff of the Child Care Association of Illinois extends our best wishes for all members to enjoy the holiday season. We hope whatever holiday you celebrate or religious period you observe brings much satisfaction and comfort.  We wish you peace in 2003.

The Monday Report will not be published on December 30 or January 6. We will return to regular publication on January 13.

The CCAI offices will be closed on December 24 and 25, and on December 31 and January 1.

CHILD WELFARE.. 1

CHILD WELFARE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CWAC) REPORT. 1

RESIDENTIAL SERVICE NETWORK COMMITTEE (RSN) 2

EDUCATION.. 4

NO ACTIONS TAKEN REGARDING NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS DURING FALL VETO SESSION.. 4

GENERAL.. 4

SACWIS UPDATE.. 4

MEDICAID AND SACWIS. 4

DUAL IP ADDRESSING ISSUE.. 4

FY03 AMENDMENTS FOR GRANTS. 4

COLLECTION OF INFORMATION TO IMPLEMENT SACWIS FOR POS. 5

CERTIFICATION OF POS SITES. 5

DATA TRANSFER FROM SACWIS TO POS SYSTEMS. 5

CHANGE MANAGEMENT. 5

CONTINUED FUNDING FOR SACWIS BEYOND YEAR THREE.. 5

FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.. 5

"THERAPEUTIC CRISIS INTERVENTION TRAINING OF TRAINERS". 6

UPCOMING EVENTS.. 6

MARK YOUR 2003 CALENDAR.. 6

CALENDAR.. 6

CHILD WELFARE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CWAC) REPORT

CWAC met in Chicago on December 11.

Director�s Report: Director McDonald commented that the state budget scenario continues to look grim. No firm decisions have been made by the current governor about further cuts. The new governor has asked department directors for various budget scenarios as part of the transition plan.

Recent media attention to residential care is resulting in various reform suggestions by external advocates. Some are advocating for a state-run residential facility. Some feel children with mental illness should not be placed in residential facilities. There may be further follow-up by the media on individual cases.

Co-chair Report: Tom Vanden Berk, co-chair initiated a discussion on whether CWAC should support the appointment of a panel of experts to review recent developments in residential care. He also suggested a publicity campaign by CWAC to point out the challenges of all agencies providing residential care and to highlight success stories. After much discussion, it was determined that a work group of 5 CWAC representatives will review the options of the expert panel and the media campaign and develop concrete suggestions to bring to the total CWAC group to use in making a final decision.

Finance and Administration Committee: (See Monday Report of 11/25/02 for complete report.) FAS is working on parameters for Transitional Living Program billing, cash assistance in family preservation, Financing arrangements for the residential services network, potential expansion of Medicaid and review of the excess revenue rule.

Seriously Emotionally Disturbed Committee: (See Monday Report of 11/18/02 for complete report.) SED work groups have worked with DCFS to review the process for evaluation the Agency Behavior Treatment Plan process, Level III reviews and possible web-based Unusual Incident Reports. At this time, due to constricting resources that make development of a new curriculum improbable, and a lack of agreement in the work group about use of possible existing models, the decision has been reached that there will not be a residential training program developed. Agencies are expected to continue training their own staff as they do now. Development of the RSN continues. Agencies are expected to submit revised program plans by March 1, 2003. The program plans must demonstrate a program plan consistent with type of children the agency is serving.

Integrated Assessment: DCFS clinical staff presented a summary of the Integrated Assessment Process in development by DCFS. Traditional models of case assessment have traditionally focused on adults and not on children�s behavioral health needs. The DCFS model allows the department to intervene and evaluate client functioning within the context of the individual�s family and social environment. All clients entering into custody will receive, in collaboration with the permanency worker, clinical and functional screens by a licensed clinical professional. Results will provide needed information to assess casework staff by identifying client service needs in a variety of domains early on in the case. The process will provide decision-making criteria; treatment paths and objective findings to assist staff ensure clients� safety, permanency and well-being. The clinical expert will work in conjunction with the caseworker in the first 30 days. The process should take about 16 hours to complete.

A copy of the full executive summary of the Integrated Assessment can be obtained by calling the CCAI office.

Next Meeting: Next CWAC is scheduled for February 20. (MB)

RESIDENTIAL SERVICE NETWORK COMMITTEE (RSN)

The RSN committee (formerly known as PPO and PPN group) met in Chicago on December 10.

Population Severity: DCFS staff shared information about the current population in residential to aid in planning for children in tiers I, II and III. The information shows CFARS scores in 13 areas. Based on these rankings, program plan expectations are being developed for providers serving the various tiers. Of most difficulty with highest need will be tier I.

Program Plans: DCFS staff summarized the draft expectations for the program plan for tier I children. These include areas of new employee training, employee development, staffing, treatment modalities and interventions, milieu programming, procedures/protocols, physical plans and communication. Agencies will need to bring their program plans into compliance with the expected standards. There will be further expectations regarding level of risk, length of stay, intake and discharge policies along with financing included in the final contract. There was little comment or question to the proposed program plan standards, although a written copy is not yet available for review. Once DCFS has refined its draft, copies will go out to all agencies. A draft standards checklist with the key components is available. Agencies must submit their program plans by March 1. DCFS staff will be providing training on the program plan components on January 10 in Chicago and January 13 in Bloomington for clinical staff and residential program managers. This training should acquaint them with the program plan expectations for mental health treatment and theoretical foundation of the agency plans. Program plan should specifically target tier I, II or III.

Principles and Operating Framework: The group discussed the current principles for providers in the network:

Provider agencies expressed concern about the potential of a no-decline system.  Intake and acceptance must be based on clinical appropriateness. Weekly updates of available beds should assure more appropriate referrals in the first place.  A decline of referrals should address the �why�s� (i.e. no girl�s unit bed, milieu issues.)

DCFS noted there would be further discussion on this topic. Tier II children will mainly be group home referrals so there are more options for selection.

Proposed Performance Measures: The draft of the proposed performance measures was reviewed. The performance measures include expectation of submission of outcomes, placement status and length of stay.

Level III Reviews: The work group met to review the proposed monitoring and review tool to be used in Level III reviews. Few comments were received from providers. There will be few changes to the proposed tool. A peer review component may be available upon request of the agency being reviewed. As part of the Level II review, several agencies were prioritized for immediate review. These reviews will begin in the near future.

Important Dates:

�      March 1, 2003: Absolute deadline for submission of program plan

            January 10, 2003: Chicago Training on program plan (Place TBA)

            January 13, 2003: Springfield Training on program plan (Place TBA)

The following documents are available to CCAI members by calling the Springfield office: Proposed Residential Performance Measures, Draft Principles and Operating Framework and Tier I, II, III samples of CFARS scores.  Next meeting of the RSN workgroup is February 6. (MB)

NO ACTIONS TAKEN REGARDING NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS DURING FALL VETO SESSION

The fall veto session days came and went without a budget reconciliation bill that would amend the statutorily required activities of the Illinois State Board of Education.  Due to significant staff shortages, ISBE has considered several changes that would affect nonpublic special education facilities.  The considered changes include elimination of the Private Tuition line item and changes in how districts receive funding for special education services.  No such legislation was submitted by ISBE during the fall session.  CCA will continue to monitor how ISBE intends to deal with its significant staff shortages and will watch for any legislation it will submit regarding this (BRH).

SACWIS UPDATE

In a meeting of representatives from the Best Practice Training Steering Committee and the SACWIS project last week, several issues were reviewed in determining action steps needed during the next year to prepare POS agencies for implementation of the SACWIS system by 2004.

       MEDICAID AND SACWIS

A request was made regarding information about Medicaid integration in SACWIS.  What was included in the final design related to Medicaid?  Additional contacts would need to be made with SACWIS and best practice staff to determine to what extent Medicaid information was integrated based on the proposals submitted by the CWAC Medicaid workgroup and the SACWIS committee.

       DUAL IP ADDRESSING ISSUE

It was noted that the solution of dual IP addressing proposed by the POS agencies where a Network Address Translation router could be used would work and was tested.  Information would be distributed to POS agencies regarding this solution.  This solution would mitigate the need to do manual addressing and would place all administration in one place.  This would eliminate the need for larger agencies to manually enter configuration information into each SACWIS workstation.

       FY03 AMENDMENTS FOR GRANTS

This is a reminder that agencies need to submit their amendments for the FY 03 SACWIS grant as soon as possible.  As of this week only 50% of the agencies have returned the amendments for SACWIS funding to assist in preparing agencies to become SACWIS ready.  Agencies also need to be sure and spend the SACWIS funding allocated for FY 2003 as early as possible during 2003.

       COLLECTION OF INFORMATION TO IMPLEMENT SACWIS FOR POS

During the next calendar year, Steve Bradshaw, the POS liaison for SACWIS, will be collecting information from agencies in preparation for implementation of the SACWIS system by 2004.  DCFS will need to confirm the sites at POS agencies that will need access to SACWIS and also a contact person with a phone number.  DCFS will also need to compile a list of names of the POS users in order to begin to set up accounts for people that will be accessing SACWIS.  This information will also include the identification of roles of staff in order to organize who will be trained and at what training sites throughout the state.  We have asked that an updated schedule for the remainder of Phase II of SACWIS be developed and made available to the private agencies which would also include the training time line for best practice.  Included in this time line should be any activities planned related to change management for POS agencies and certification date requirements.

       CERTIFICATION OF POS SITES

As part of the preparation for POS readiness for SACWIS, a certification process was to be completed by Spectrum staff during the summer of 2003.  Due to the budget cuts from the past two years, Spectrum will not be doing certification of sites for agencies in preparation of implementation of Phase II.  A different process or mechanism needs to be developed to verify that agencies are ready with their SACWIS funded equipment and that they can make the connection.  Agencies receiving funding during the fourth year of the grant period will need to be certified by Nov. 2003.

       DATA TRANSFER FROM SACWIS TO POS SYSTEMS

One of the major issues still outstanding is the bridge for POS to download information from SACWIS to agency systems.  This still has to be developed as part of the final design for Phase II.  As soon as it is verified what the status is regarding the completion of Phase II with a time line, meetings will be scheduled with representatives from POS agencies to work on the development of the data transfer of information from SACWIS to POS.

       CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Two change management activities are being scheduled for POS agencies which will occur during 2003.  One of the activities is called increment model offices where both POS and DCFS staff will go for half a day to see how SACWIS will impact work in an office.  The other activity will be a video power point presentation that will review Phase I and then present what has been developed for Phase II of SACWIS.

       CONTINUED FUNDING FOR SACWIS BEYOND YEAR THREE

Another major issue for the POS agencies is how will funding for replacement of equipment be continued after the first three years of funding provided with the current grant.  Some agencies will be reaching the end of the three-year life projected for the equipment prior to the implementation of the system in 2004.  What funding structure could be utilized in the future to allow for the replacement of equipment as it wears out each year?  This issue will be raised with the CWAC Finance and Administration Committee.  (JMS)

FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

Organizations that focus on youth development, education and social entrepreneurship can apply for grants from the Jenesis Group, a Texas-based family foundation.  The foundation�s goal is to empower poor and at-risk youth to become productive citizens, and looks primarily to preventative programs to accomplish this goal.  The foundation looks for applications from programs that prevent juvenile delinquency, provide life-skills training, build self-esteem and self-reliance, mentor, and develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills.  Applications for funding are accepted year-round.  For more information go to: http://click.topica.com/maaaG98aaUL67bb6LSZb/ or www.jenesis.org/about/index.htm.

(JMS)

"THERAPEUTIC CRISIS INTERVENTION TRAINING OF TRAINERS"

The Allendale Association will host The Residential Child Care Project of Cornell University for a week long "Train the Trainers" certification.  February 17-21, 2003, 9:00am-5:00pm.  Participants will be certified to conduct T.C.I. trainings for their agency staff.   Cornell University has a standard fee of $1,075, which includes all training material.  Additional fees for food, beverages, etc., will be minimal.  Seating is limited.  For more information regarding the training and hotel accommodations in the area please contact Dave McKenna at Allendale (847) 245-6393 or [email protected]

MARK YOUR 2003 CALENDAR

Mark your new year�s calendar for CCAI�s Spring Membership Meeting on March 20, 2003.  The location is the Marriott Hickory Ridge Conference Center, Lisle, Illinois.  Hickory Ridge is located 30 minutes west of downtown Chicago, on 26 wooded acres easily accessible to both I-88 and I-55.  Look in future Monday Reports for additional information.  (SKA)

CALENDAR

Jan. 6 � Best Practice/SACWIS Training Steering Committee � LSSI DesPlaines � 10:00

Jan. 9 � Medicaid Workgroup Meeting � The Baby Fold, Normal � 10:00

Jan. 10 � Healthy Families Illinois Policy/Advocacy Committee � Chicago/conference call

Jan. 13 � Child Abuse Prevention Month Coordination Meeting � Springfield/Conference Call

Jan. 14 � CCAI Policy Committee - Naperville

Jan. 15 -- Downstate Performance Based Work Group, 1-3, Springfield

Jan. 21 -- CWAC Finance and Administration Committee, Bloomington

Feb.  6 -- RSN Workgroup

Feb. 17-21 --  "Therapeutic Crisis Intervention Training of Trainers", a Residential Child Care

                   Project of Cornell University, hosted by Allendale Association. 9:00 a.m.-5:00

                   p.m. Seating is limited. For more information regarding the training, fee, and hotel

                   accommodations, please contact Dave McKenna at Allendale (847) 245-6393 or

                   [email protected]

Feb. 20 -- Cook Agencies Meeting with Presiding Judge, Juvenile Court, Chicago

Feb. 20 -- CWAC

Feb. 26-March 1 -- Learning Disabilities Association 2003 National Conference, Palmer

                               House Hilton, Chicago.  For information, call Learning Disabilities

                               Association of Illinois (708) 430-7532