MONDAY REPORT
November 25, 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.
DOWNSTATE
AGENCIES�SAVE THE DATE FOR BEST PRACTICES/SACWIS MEETING
CWAC
FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE REPORT
Family
Preservation Cash Assistance
DOWNSTATE
PERFORMANCE BASED WORK GROUP
MEET
THE NEW LEGISLATORS ON WEB SITE
CELEBRATE
NATIONAL FAMILY WEEK NOVEMBER 24-30
CCAI
MEETS WITH NEW STATE EDUCATION SUPERINTENDENT
MARY
IVORY RECEIVES THE �EXCELLENCE IN TRAINING AWARD�
THE
STATE TAX CUTS OF THE 1990S, THE CURRENT REVENUE CRISIS, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR
STATE SERVICES
COST
OF PROTECTING VULNERABLE CHILDREN
93rd
GENERAL ASSEMBLY LEGISLATIVE DIRECTORIES
HIPAA
SEMINAR WITH MISSOURI COALITION � DECEMBER 12, 2002
Downstate
agency Executive Directors/CEO�s along with Training Managers are asked to
save the date of December 4, 10-2 for a meeting with DCFS in Bloomington.
The
meeting
will take place at: CSS/Project Oz Office, 502 South Morris, Bloomington,
Illinois. (309-820-7616.) Office manager contact is Julie Edley. Lunch will be
served.
The meeting will include information on the Best Practices training to be rolled out in downstate areas next spring, and information relating to Best Practices/SACWIS. Development of a research-based child welfare practice model has been a top priority in Illinois for the past several years. This effort, commonly referred to as �Best Practice�, promotes a system wide journey toward continuous quality improvement that accompanies other system wide achievements. Implementation has involved both the public and private sector in a joint effort to advance practice.
Training is seen
as a critical component to the system wide improvement efforts.
Foundation Training and the Illinois Title IVE Training Waiver for new
workers have set the stage for the next phase of these efforts.
DCFS will soon offer the availability of Phase II Best Practice Training,
for workers already in the field. The core components of Phase II relate to
permanency work through the use of integrated assessment, concurrent planning on
all cases and the use of family meetings. A
more detailed invitation letter will be mailed by DCFS, along with location
instructions sometime this week. (MB)
CWAC-FAS
met in Des Plaines on November 19, 2002. The following issues were addressed:
As reported previously, rate methodology cannot be implemented at this time. Conversations have taken place around the Residential Services Network and the potential funding mechanism for that new structure. The Committee agreed that rate methodology discussions should occur in that context. DCFS staff raised the question of suspending bedhold payments ($5M in FY �02) in order to reinvest in rate. All agreed that this was appropriate to the overall discussion. Further work on the RSN financing proposal will be brought to the full CWAC group in December.
There is
confusion about whether the Bedhold policy is in place and effective. The
Bedhold policy as issued for I/GH is effective and is being applied. There were
some conflicts in language between the bedhold references for foster care and
TLP. Some of the confusion surrounds payment for bedhold versus the case
management fee. There was a policy update on the 0118 policy that went out to
providers last week. Providers
expressed concern about TLP being covered under the 0118 policy, although it is
still listed as covered in the bedhold policy as well.
There was discussion about differentiating between a TLP and an ILO.
The ILO work group has worked on a policy guide and resource matrix that
would distinguish the TLP program. DCFS
staff report that TLP programs don�t all look the same�some have fixed
staffing costs and some do not. DCFS will look at the impact of the application
of the existing policies. The ILO work group will examine the implications for
TLP programs. Providers should be cautioned that they must follow all
existing bedhold policies/procedures, since they are all still in effect.
The work group presented draft contract language for restoration of cash assistance in the Family Preservation contracts. Agencies would receive a sum per year for use as cash assistance to spend according to case needs. The maximum amount allowed per family would be $1500. Agencies would need thorough documentation of receipts, and would distribute the funds themselves as opposed to giving the cash to the family. Agencies requested that the funds would be retroactive back to July 1. DCFS staff was comfortable with the proposal and agreed to pursue it within the department. Agencies are cautioned that until this proposal is actually approved, the current procedures are in place.
DCFS must receive the required financial documentation as agreed to in the contract. Some providers have not yet complied. No 3rd quarter payments will be made in January to any provider that hasn�t submitted the required financial material. All providers who are not in compliance will receive this notice. The voluntary provider members of the group supported DCFS in this decision.
There was lengthy discussion around altering the claiming of Medicaid FFP for expansion of Medicaid services. DHS has begun doing this based on new legislation passed last spring. Providers agreed that it was worth pursuing anything that would bring new revenue into the system. There will be a joint workgroup among FAS, the Medicaid Workgroup and CCA Executives to pursue this opportunity. We caution agencies against decertifying from Medicaid because Specialized Foster Care was removed. Agencies may want to keep the certification intact in the event there are future opportunities to enhance revenue.
DCFS staff was asked to detail what the Department had submitted in response to the Governor�s request for a 2% cut. The cut ($16.7M) would consist of a reduction in personal services and the movement of 250 youth out of residential placement into CILA�s. Providers asked to be kept apprised of the CILA issue.
DCFS staff reported that the Department is currently looking into being considered a hybrid agency under HIPAA as opposed to trying to avoid any HIPAA obligations. They are unsure of what privacy controls will be required under this designation. MBS will need to be updated to comply with the new code sets. DCFS is working on making the required changes within the specified time frames.
There was confusion about the federal awards letters that were distributed to agencies. DCFS staff explained that the sub-recipient column includes the amount of federal recovery that DCFS received via expenditures to agencies. The federal column also includes amount sent to DHS for recovery. It is unknown whether DHS has recovered the entire percentage of this. Providers should receive letters from DHS soon, informing them of the amount recovered.
The upcoming federal audit will examine whether cases are in compliance with federal requirements for permanency hearings and that language in court orders demonstrates requirements for reasonable efforts. If Illinois does not pass this portion of the audit substantial federal funds could be lost. Agencies should be diligent in looking at the legal status of cases and assuring files contain the required legal documentation and language. A guide will be sent to all CCAI agencies with this information.
The next FAS meeting will be January 21, 2003 in Bloomington. (MB)
The
Downstate Performance Based Work Group met in Springfield on November 6. The
following issues were addressed:
Best
Practice/Sacwis: Diane Yost
of the Department�s Best Practice staff did a presentation on Phase II of Best
Practice and SACWIS. She reviewed
the basic steps of implementation, including a � day orientation for workers, a
1-day orientation for supervisors, a 5-day �fundamentals� training, and
SACWIS training. Phase II will be
implemented with DCFS staff first and will not include the PPOS agencies until
sometime next year. A joint committee with DCFS, co-chaired by Dave McClure, CEO
of Youth Services of Illinois Valley will be guiding implementation. Any one interested in being on the committee or recommending
a best practice trainer should contact Ms. Yost.
Performance
Contracting: Performance
Based Reconciliation data should be mailed to agencies during the week of
November 11-15, 2002. DCFS
distributed data for the period from May 13, 2002 through the end of September
2002. Meetings with APT should be scheduled in each region to
discuss the data.
Rotation
Committee: In efforts to
strengthen the rotation�s ability to direct cases to performing agencies, the
committee decided that performance of at least 33% at the field office level
would be necessary to receive non-directed referrals beginning 1/1/02. The committee is considering removing intact families and
disrupted permanencies from the directed referral definition as of January 1st
as well. After careful
consideration, the committee made a decision to continue to use one-year
performance, not two-year, for determining PRO�s. The committee will be
looking at the # of cases entering Traditional or Relative foster care from the
home of parent and comparing it to the number of cases that are going through
the APT rotation. They will be
looking at and publishing a multi-year comparison of performance. They will be
looking at how the average age of children served by an agency impacts stability
and they will be looking at agencies� ability to accept placements when they
are first on rotation.
POS agencies need to be aware that a combined Traditional Relative
rotation is still being considered.
Sibling
Visitation: Jeff Buhrmann
reported that he had communicated with Melissa Ludington and ACR staff about POS
agency concerns with the sibling visitation penalty and reconciliation process.
DCFS agreed to ask staff involved in the penalty and reconciliation
process to attend the next Downstate Provider�s meeting. POS providers asked
that this topic be included in the next Infrastructure Agenda as well.
Educational
Outcomes: Agency directors
should have received a letter and 2 attachments concerning educational outcomes
that need to be tracked and reconciled. The
information will only be reconciled once a year in April, but agencies need to
be sure tracking mechanisms are in place now.
Approval
and Reconciliation of 3034 Reunification Service Payments: A
letter from Roy Miller concerning 3034 payments has been mailed to providers.
Be sure accounting and program staff is aware of the procedures.
DCFS is concerned that agencies are not following these procedures
correctly for authorization or payment.
Court
Performance: DCFS again
stressed the importance of timely court reports and attendance at court; and
passed out a court feedback form being developed for feedback to DCFS from
Judges on individual cases. Providers
suggested the form be copied to the agency and supervisor and that it be
designed to include positive feedback as well as negative.
Children
Missing From Placement: DCFS
reiterated the importance of efforts concerning children absent from placement,
including implementation of the new CFS 1014, Child Absent From Placement Form.
Jeff Buhrmann stressed the importance of timely reporting of a child�s
absence and the need for aggressive efforts to locate children who are absent
from placement.
Access
to Psychiatric Services: Providers
reported continuing severe problems in accessing the services of psychiatrists
to serve children, especially as it concerns medication monitoring. It was
reported that finding a psychiatrist to serve children, especially one who will
bill Medicaid, is very difficult and in fact impossible in some areas. Providers
also commented that the Department�s procedure for Guardian consents related
to psychotropic medication was not working efficiently. Jeff Buhrmann agreed to
communicate the concerns to appropriate DCFS Executive Staff and request that
they attend the next downstate meeting.
The
next meeting date is scheduled for Wednesday, January 15, 2003 from 1-3 p.m. in
Springfield. Watch future CCA
Monday reports for the location. (We
thank Tricia Fox of Catholic Social Services of Peoria for this report. MB)
Profiles of newly elected state senators and representatives can be found on the Illinois General Assembly web site. We encourage members to review these and become familiar with the new elected state officials for your home and agency service areas. We encourage you to promote this information with your board, volunteers, staff, foster parents and voting age young clients. (MB)
CCAI,
Voices for Illinois Children and the Illinois Collaboration on Youth jointly
developed a fact sheet on policies, legislation and appropriations that would
benefit children and families in 2002 and 2003. Funded by the Alliance for Children and Families, a mailing
was sent to all legislators, the Governor�s transition team, and chief policy
officials in Illinois. Follow-up
calls to newly elected officials will be made to offer more information.
All CCAI members will receive the mailing and can also obtain information
about the selected policies by visiting the CCAI website (BRH).
CCAI
staff met with the new Education Superintendent, Dr. Robert Schiller.
The role of nonpublic special education facilities in Illinois, and their
association with many child welfare agencies were discussed with the new
superintendent (BRH).
Mary
Ivory, Training Coordinator with Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, was given the
�Excellence in Training Award� on October 24th.
The award was given by the Council On Training at their annual conference
in Springfield. Mary has been the Training Coordinator at Mercy Home since
January 1999, and has expanded and improved the training program at Mercy with
her professional expertise. Mary
has also worked with Heather Thordsen at ICOT over the past two years planning
workshops and seminars around the state. (Our
thanks to Tom Swieca for this information).
SKA
In a recent report
by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, it was reported that states now
face a gigantic revenue problem. Total
state tax revenue in fiscal year 2002 was some $38 billion lower than it was in
the previous year after adjusting for inflation.
Some 45 states lost revenue. Official
forecasts released to date suggest that state revenues at best will hold steady
after adjusting for inflation in fiscal year 2003, meaning that none of the $38
billion is likely to be recouped this year.
These revenue
problems are taking substantial toll on the services provided by state
governments. Many have to reduce eligibility for child-care subsidies for
working families or reducing health insurance benefits for low-income families.
And further cuts are likely to occur as states exhaust their rainy day
funds and other one-time mechanisms for shoring up budgets.
In the mid to late
1990�s and into 2000 and 2001, revenue collections grew substantially as a
result of unusually high � as it turned out, unsustainably high � levels of
economic activity, particularly personnel consumption and capital gains
realizations. These revenue windfalls turned out to be temporary.
Many states used those temporary levels of revenue growth to finance
largely permanent tax cuts. Now that the economic activity that led to those windfalls is
proven unsustainable, states should be reconsidering those tax cuts and in many
cases ending them or enacting tax increases.
Yet with very few exceptions, the tax cuts in 1994 through 2001 that are
costing states over $40 billion per year remain in place.
The net tax increase enacted to date in 2002 will raise just $8.4
billion, an amount equal to about 1.5 percent of total state tax collections.
The amount of $8.4 billion is sufficient to replace only about one-fifth
of the immediate decline in revenue that is causing states� fiscal problems.
State taxes that
have been increased are represented by increases in consumption taxes such as
cigarette, general sales, alcohol and gasoline taxes.
These represent a majority of the tax increases of 2002 at $5.1 billion
or 60 percent of the total. For
Illinois from FY2001 to FY2002, tax collections changes showed a reduction of
5.4%. (JMS)
Report highlights
from the findings from the Urban Institute�s 2001 Child Welfare Survey finds
that $20 billion was spent on child welfare services in state fiscal year 2000,
of which $2.3 billion came from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
funds. Of the $20 billion, states
spent $15.7 billion in four key areas: Out of home placements - $9.1 billion;
Adoptions - $1.9 billion; Administration - $1.8 billion; and Other services -
$2.9 billion.
Child welfare
financing in SFY2000 benefited from a brighter fiscal picture: States had
greater access to some federal funds, the economy and state revenue collections
were booming, and child welfare spending to prevent foster care placements
increased. But child welfare
financing is already changing in many states.
The last quarter of SFY 2002 was the fourth consecutive quarter of
declining state revenues, and most states have already cut social services.
Also many state child welfare administrators report that TANF funding for
child welfare services declined in SFY 2002 and they expect it to fall again in
SFY 2003. State and federal
legislators need to be aware of the fiscal constraints facing child welfare
agencies. As the budget ax
continues to fall, the full effects of welfare reform and ASFA on child welfare
financing have yet to be determined. For additional information about the findings from this
report go to: http://click.topica.com/maaaFaOaaUzC3aaaaaab/.
(JMS)
The order form for directories was mailed to member agencies last week. For your convenience the form has also been added to CCAI�s website under �members only�. If you have any questions about the directories call Sandy at the CCAI office. (SKA)
In our contacts
with similar associations in other states regarding what activities are
occurring around HIPAA, we have been informed that the Missouri Coalition of
Children�s Agencies is holding a HIPAA training session on December 12, 2002
from 9:00 to 3:30 at the St. Louis West Marriott in St. Louis.
If you were unable to attend the session on HIPAA last week that was held
on November 14th at the Wyndham Lisle by CCAI, the Missouri Coalition
of Children�s Agencies is opening attendance for the December 12th
session to all CCAI members at the Missouri member rate of $50.
If you would like additional information about the training please
contact the Missouri Coalition at 1-800-942-0326 or e-mail at [email protected].
Also their FAX number is 573-635-9848.
Jeff Bormaster from CWLA will be the speaker at the training.
When registering for this training, please indicate that you are a member
of CCAI in order to get the Missouri member rate.
Copies of the registration form are also available from the CCAI office
in Springfield if anyone is interested in attending.
(JMS)
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.
Dec. 3 �Addressing the Needs of Girls At Risk for Delinquent and Criminal Behavior�,
Hilton Hotel, Springfield; to register visit: www.youthnetworkcouncil.org/training
Dec. 4 Downstate Agencies--Best Practices/SACWIS Meeting, 10-2, CSS/Project Oz
Office, 502 South Morris, Bloomington (309.820.7616)
Jan. 15 Downstate Performance Based Work Group, 1-3, Springfield
Jan. 21 CWAC Finance and Administration Committee, Bloomington
Feb. 20 Cook Agencies Meeting with Presiding Judge, Juvenile Court, Chicago
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
|
For
further information on any of the above, contact the staff member noted in
parentheses at the end of the text: MB = Marge
Berglind 312/819-1950
([email protected])
JMS
= Jan Schoening 217/528-4409,
ext. 25 BRH=
Bridget Helmholz 217/528-4409,
ext. 24 BMO=Barb
Oldani
217/528-4409, ext. 21 |
Sandy Armstrong
217/528-4409 ext. 22 ([email protected]) CMS=Cindy
Stich 217/528-4409
ext. 23 ([email protected]) Kelly
Pantaleone 217/528-4409,
ext. 26 ([email protected]) |
[Home] [Gen. Info] [Membership] [Members Only] [Library]
[Training] [Jobs] [Links] [Search] [Members Search]
Copyright � 1997-2000 Child Care Association of Illinois. All rights reserved.