MONDAY REPORT

November 11, 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.

LAST HIPAA REMINDER!!!!! 1

CHILD WELFARE.. 1

COOK PERFORMANCE BASED CONTRACT MEETING.. 1

CORRECTION IN MEETING DATE.. 1

COOK AGENCIES MEET WITH PRESIDING JUDGE.. 1

CCAI POLICY COMMITTEE.. 3

PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING ADOPTION AND SAFE FAMILIES ACT. 3

GENERAL.. 3

ROD BLAGOJEVICH ELECTED GOVERNOR.. 3

CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL POLICY � TANF AUDIO SERIES.. 3

IWPR: WELFARE REFORM NO HELP FOR POOREST CHILDREN.. 4

WELFARE CASELOADS CONTINUE DOWNWARD TREND REPORTED BY HHS.. 4

MEMBERS IN THE NEWS.. 4

MARILYN GLEAVES FINALIST FOR 2002 TRIESCHMAN AWARD.. 4

UPCOMING EVENTS.. 5

�SUBSIDIZED GUARDIANSHIP-EXPERIENCES� 5

�SYSTEMS OF CARE� 5

CALENDAR.. 5

LAST HIPAA REMINDER!!!!!

The HIPAA Seminar organized by CCAI is Thursday, November 14, 2002 at the Wyndham Lisle.  If you haven�t registered by now, you will need to call the CCAI office at 217-528-4409 ex. 22 and ask for Sandy Armstrong.  This seminar will conduct a review of privacy requirements and provide participants with sample forms and policies to use in meeting HIPAA requirements.  You can also get information about the seminar on the CCAI web site at www.cca-il.org.  (JMS)

COOK PERFORMANCE BASED CONTRACT MEETING

CORRECTION IN MEETING DATE

Previous report of the Cook P/B work group meeting listed an incorrect date for the next meeting. Please note the correct date is Tuesday, November 19, 2002, at 9:30 a.m., LSSI, 10 W. 35^th Street, 15^th floor. (MB)

COOK AGENCIES MEET WITH PRESIDING JUDGE

Cook area agencies held their quarterly meeting with Judge Patricia Martin Bishop on November 7 at Juvenile Court.  Representatives from thirty agencies attended.  Judge Bishop commended voluntary agencies on their hard work in helping bring down the caseload. The court is bringing in fewer children today while dispositions are at a historic high. We are seeing many more cases go to permanency. Judge Bishop commented that many of the judges relate they are pleased with the overall work of the voluntary agencies. There are some exceptions. The judge suggested that submission of a written report from the caseworker at every hearing is a good way to track the worker�s efforts on the case and avoid negative perceptions being formulated by the judge or hearing officer.  She also related her concern about all of us continuing efforts at reunification and maintenance of family contacts for children in the system.

Judge Bishop mentioned that in her national contacts, the Cook court is frequently cited as a model state. Other states are impressed that in Cook the court, voluntary sector and state frequently talk to each other about the cases, policies and progress of the system.

CCAI President and CEO welcomed agencies. She thanked Judge Bishop for the continuing opportunity for voluntary agencies to meet regularly with the Presiding Judge and to exchange information and concerns. She noted that we will be facing severe challenges to the child welfare system in Cook and statewide over the next year. The state budget crisis will pose immediate challenges to the child welfare budget and our ability to protect the funding for services of quality. Next September, the feds will conduct the child and family service review, which can have a potential programmatic and fiscal impact on the state. Since so many cases are placed in the voluntary agencies, the likelihood that our agencies will be selected for the audit is great. Since Cook represents a significant volume of cases, the likelihood that a high number of the selected cases will be in Cook voluntary programs is high. Marge also commented on the conclusion of the Court Improvement Grant pilot program. She thanked Judge Bishop for her support and Judge Otaka for agreeing to let her calendar serve as the pilot venue. The project identified some key recommendations that CCAI hopes will be acted upon in the future by both agencies and the court system.

DCFS Director McDonald welcomed agencies. He noted that the system will face a critical period in the next few months as additional budget cuts hit all agencies, including DCFS. This will probably be the worst budget the state has seen in 30 years. He thanked the agencies present for their help in making progress on court performance but noted there is still a need for diligence in court performance. He added that DCFS would move cases from agencies if necessary, to guarantee satisfactory caseworker performance for judges. He encouraged executive directors to spend time in the courtrooms. He also underscored the expectation that the only valid substitute when a caseworker must miss court is the immediate supervisor.  Director McDonald also encouraged agencies to read the upcoming Chicago Reporter/Catalyst article, which connects foster children to poor performance of schools. The article demonstrates the current issues surrounding the connection with child welfare and education.

DCFS staff provided an overview of the Legal Screening for TPR/Adoption, Expedited Adoption and Subsidized Guardianship, including a list of Legal Screening contacts at DCFS.  These documents are available by contacting the CCAI Springfield office. They also reminded agencies of the next Legal Screening Training: �How to Get Your Case Through Legal Screening the First Time.� This training is scheduled for Friday, February 7, 2003, 8:45 a.m. �1:00 p.m., Juvenile Court Auditorium.

DCFS staff distributed a list of children who are involved in both the child protection and delinquency sides of court. Workers are required to work with probation as services are planned to avoid duplication but to assure all necessary resources are in place. Workers must be present at all delinquency court hearings.

Judge Bishop and DCFS Director and staff enforced the requirement that the assigned follow-up caseworker must be present at the T/C hearing. This is happening only 60% of the time. This is required in the Cook foster care contracts. Much valuable time is lost when the case cannot proceed at the first hearing. DCFS intends to develop and enforce a policy that will remove the case from the agency and the slot from rotation when agencies do not have the follow-up worker present for T/C, if performance in this area does not improve.

Two voluntary agencies were recognized for exemplary service on a case:

Leslie Walmer of Evangelical Child and Family Agency and Vincent Cole of Beatrice Caffrey Youth Services received certificates of commendation from Judge Bishop. We congratulate workers, their supervisors and agencies.

The next meeting is set for February 20, 2003. (MB)

CCAI POLICY COMMITTEE

The CCAI Policy Committee met in Naperville on November 6. Guests from the Illinois Coalition Against Homelessness met with the group to discuss current shared concerns on homeless youth and to discuss possible future collaborations. Guest, Jill Townsend, of CWLA attended to discuss the collaboration of CCAI and CWLA on a summit on Juvenile Justice in Illinois to be held next Spring. The group also continued its work on looking at the number and type of children in corrections and the services they are receiving, as well as the best steps to recommend to implement a model in Illinois similar to the Reclaim Ohio model of juvenile justice. The work groups will continue their specific work.

The full policy committee will next meet on January 14, 2003 in Naperville. (MB)

PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING ADOPTION AND SAFE FAMILIES ACT

The General Accounting Office (GAO) has issued a report on how states have implemented the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, Public Law 105-89 (ASFA) and impact of ASFA on permanency outcomes for children in foster care.

The report, GAO-02-585, "Foster Care - Recent Legislation Helps States Focus on Finding Permanent Homes for Children, But Long-Standing Barriers Remain", can be accessed from the Internet as follows: http://www.gao.gov. Search for GAO-02-585. (MB)

ROD BLAGOJEVICH ELECTED GOVERNOR

Last Tuesday, Illinois voters elected Rod Blagojevich as our next Governor. We congratulate the Governor-elect and look forward to working with him and his new administration. CCAI will be following up with the Governor-elect and the transition team in the next few weeks to assure the role of the voluntary sector in Illinois is familiar to the new administration, to share our concerns, and to become acquainted with new administrative staff. (MB)

CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL POLICY � TANF AUDIO SERIES

The Center for Law and Social Policy held its final audio conference this year related to TANF on Friday, November 8, 2002.  The original topic for the conference was the new law related to TANF but since no action has been taken on the law this session the topic was revised to work related issues and the family.  One of the speakers was former Congressman Downey who did a brief review of the implications of the elections on low-income families.  While in Congress, he served as Chairman of the Welfare Committee on the Ways and Means Committee.  It is anticipated since there is still no budget and the Senate is now in a lame duck session that when they return on Nov. 12^th they will pass a continuing resolution in order to operate the budget and return in January to address issues.  Since the people in the House have not changed it is anticipated that the House will continue to be much tougher on work requirements under TANF.  With Democrats elected as Governors and with the states facing increases in welfare rolls and decreasing budgets, states will be asking federal government for more federal revenue in order to make the state budgets balance.  Although the Democrats have lost control of the agenda in the Senate, the Senate will still remain bi-partisan in passing legislation based on the number of votes that are required. 

What will happen with welfare as part of a conservative agenda?  A guess is that when they return they will only reauthorize it for a year and then return the following year and work on it in more detail.  When TANF was originally passed, the Republicans wanted to give more authority to the States in how this was administered; however, it is unclear with the increase in Democratic Governors if they will want to give this authority to the states.  It is expected that the House will pass a similar bill that was passed this year and the Senate will try to pass a more bi-partisan bill similar to what came out of the Senate Finance Committee this year.

The remaining speakers on the audio conference spoke about programs that corporations have with employees to support the welfare to work efforts.  Burger King helps employees to apply for the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Advanced Earned Tax Credit.  Florida in conjunction with the Child Care Executive Partnership works with businesses to support partnerships to assist employees with day care services.  One third of the cost is paid by the state, one third is paid by the business and one third is paid by the employee.  They have recently partnered with Disney and Bank One as part of this effort.  (JMS)

IWPR: WELFARE REFORM NO HELP FOR POOREST CHILDREN

A new study by the Institute of Women�s Policy Research finds that welfare reform has been less than ideal for more than two and a half million children living in low-income, single-parent families.  Although child poverty improved overall, children living in poor families are less likely to receive cash assistance, Medicaid and food stamps.  Even the most disadvantaged of these already poorest kids are less likely to receive benefits now than they were before welfare reform.  For more information go to: PDF:  http://click.topica.com/maaaCtfaaUeWUa42Vv3b/.  (JMS)

WELFARE CASELOADS CONTINUE DOWNWARD TREND REPORTED BY HHS

The Department of Health and Human Services announced that the number of people receiving assistance under the TANF program declined between December 2001 and June 2002.  During that time, the number of recipients of TANF benefits declined by 267,000 to roughly 5 million people � a 5.1 percent decline.  The number of families receiving TANF assistance dropped by more than 75,000 to about 2 million � a 3.6 percent decline, according to the statistics from HHS� Administration for Children and Families.  For additional information go to:  HHS Release:  http://click.topica.com/maaaCtfaaUeWVa42Vv3b/.  For the full ACF report:  http://click.topica.com/maaaCtfaaUeWWa42Vv3b/.   (JMS)

MARILYN GLEAVES FINALIST FOR 2002 TRIESCHMAN AWARD

Marilyn Gleaves, a 25 year employee of Children's Home & Aid Society and a member of the night staff at CHASI's Rice Child & Family Center in Evanston, was selected as a Finalist for the 2002 Albert E. Trieschman Award for excellence in professional child care. The award is given by the American Association of Children's Residential Centers. This is the third time that a Rice Center employee has been recognized.  The Awards Luncheon is being held in Vancouver, BC Canada.  (Thanks to Betty Brisk, Director of Communications 312.424.6812 for this information).

�SUBSIDIZED GUARDIANSHIP-EXPERIENCES�

The African-American Family Commission will present two dates for �Subsidized Guardianship-Experiences�.  The first date and location is Friday, November 8, 2002 at Ada S. McKinley, 2907 S. Wabash, Chicago, IL from 10 a.m. to NOON.  The second date and location is Thursday, November 14, 2002 at Tri-County Urban League, 317 S. MacArthur Highway, Peoria, IL from 10 a.m. to NOON.  The intended audience is Child Welfare Staff and Foster Parents.  For more information and to RSVP � please contact Wasi Young, African-American Family Commission (312) 326-0368.

�SYSTEMS OF CARE�

The African-American Family Commission will present �Systems of Care� on Thursday, December 5, 2002 at the Juvenile Court Auditorium, 2245 W. Ogden Avenue, Chicago, IL from 10 a.m. to NOON.  The intended audience is Child Welfare Staff and Foster Parents.  For more information and to RSVP � please contact Wasi Young, African-American Family Commission (312) 326-0368.

CALENDAR

Nov. 14    HIPAA Seminar � Wyndham Lisle � 10 to 3:30

Nov. 18    Healthy Families Illinois Policy and Advocacy Committee

Nov. 19    Cook Performance Based Work Group Meeting, 9:30 a.m., LSSI, 10 W. 35^th Street,

                 15^th Floor, Chicago

Dec.  3     �Addressing the Needs of Girls At Risk for Delinquent and Criminal Behavior�,

                 Hilton Hotel, Springfield; to register visit: www.youthnetworkcouncil.org/training

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