Dodge County
Minnesota Child and Family Service Review
Program Improvement Plan
I. General Information
County/Tribal Agency:
Dodge
Address: 22 East 6th Street, Mantorville, MN 55955
Telephone Number: 507-635-6239
Primary Person Responsible for PIP:
Scott Maloney, Stephanie Burton
E-mail Address: [email protected]
[email protected]
Telephone Number: 507-635-6239
DHS Quality Assurance Contact:
Shari Kottke
To be completed by DHS:
Date of Agency/DHS PIP Meeting: 2/24/12, 6/1/12
Due Dates for PIP Updates:
Update 1: 10/15/12
Update 2: 1/15/13
Update 3: 4/15/13
Update 4: 7/15/13
PIP Completion Date:
E-mail Address: [email protected]
Telephone Number: 651-431-4706
Date PIP Approved: 7/18/2012
Date PIP Progress Reviews Received/Occurred:
II. MnCFSR PIP Recommendations (as identified in the MnCFSR Report)
PIP RECOMMENDATIONS
Safety Finding 1: The Timeliness of Child Contact report indicates a need for improvement in making face-to-face contact with children in response to child
maltreatment reports.
Conduct timely face-to-face contacts with children in response to child maltreatment reports (MnCFSR Item 1)
Safety Finding 2: The thoroughness of risk assessment and safety management practices varied across cases; 62.5 percent of cases reviewed were rated as a
Strength.
Address barriers to comprehensive assessment of risk and safety on an ongoing basis (MnCFSR Item 4)
Permanency Finding 1: Annual performance data indicates a need for additional efforts to reduce foster care re-entry.
Reduce the rate of children entering foster care for reasons other than safety (MnCFSR Item 3)
Permanency Finding 2: Annual performance data and case review findings indicate additional efforts are needed to promote placement stability, and more timely
achievement of permanency, for older youth and children in care for extended periods.
Analyze and address factors contributing to foster care re-entry (Federal Data Indicator C1.4)
Analyze and address barriers to placement stability, focusing on children/youth that are in care less than 24 months (MnCFSR Item 6, and Permanency Composites
C4.1 and C4.2)
Address barriers to achieving permanency for older youth and children in care for extended periods of time (Permanency Composites C.2.3, C2.4, C2.5, C3.1, C3.2
and C3.3)
Conduct ongoing comprehensive relative searches to ensure placement with kin is fully explored and utilized (MnCFSR item15)
Well-Being Finding 1: Additional efforts are needed to assess and address all family members’ needs, including non-resident parents, and to engage all appropriate
family members in case planning.
Ensure that all parents’ receive visits by caseworkers and their needs are assessed and addressed, ensure all family members are engaged in case planning
1
(MnCFSR Items 17, 18 and 20)
Well-Being Finding 2: Case review findings and broader child welfare performance data indicate a need for additional efforts to ensure frequent caseworker visits
with children at least once a month while in foster care.
Conduct face-to-face visits with children at a frequency sufficient for ongoing assessment of risk and safety, and ensure caseworker visits with children in foster care
occur each and every month they are in placement (MnCFSR Items 4 and 19)
Systemic Factor:
Strengthen the Quality Assurance System to ensure that case reviews occur consistently, and that a feedback loop exists with child welfare stakeholders.
SAFETY
Goal #1: •
Improve timely face-to-face contacts with children in response to child maltreatment reports.
Barriers: Data entry expectations and knowledge of CP rules regarding timely contact.
Baseline (Performance at the time of the review):
Case Review Data (if applicable to PIP development)
Annual/Quarterly Performance Data (if applicable to PIP development)
Q3, ‘11
Q4,
Q1, ‘12
Q2, ‘12
Q3, ‘12 Q4, ‘12
‘11
SCE
66.7%
-0% (0/1)
NSCE-INV
--FA
83.3%
70%
16.7%
(1/6)
Performance Goal/Method of Measurement:
Performance Goal/Method of Measurement:
90% of child maltreatment reports will be responded to within statutory
timeframes, CW Data Dashboard quarterly updates.
Action Steps
(include persons responsible)
Supervisors will review MN Statutes and CP Rules regarding
contact timeframes and will review data entry expectations with
staff.
Date
Completed
Q1
Supervisors or designee will pull SSIS “Timeliness to First
Contact” report on a monthly basis. Supervisors will review and
share group and individual data with child protection staff.
Q1, Q2, Q3,
and Q4
Supervisors will develop and utilize a monitoring tool to capture
information for investigations and assessments that has the
capacity to identify patterns/themes on an ongoing basis.
Q1, Q2, Q3,
and Q4
Supervisors will make ongoing efforts to develop strategies to
address barriers to timely contact when patterns/themes are
identified.
Q1, Q2, Q3,
and Q4
Updates
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
PERMANENCY
Goal #2: •
enter.
Children will be safely maintained in their homes whenever possible and appropriate; children who are discharged from foster care will not re2
Barriers: Limited exploration of alternatives to child placement.
Baseline (Performance at the time of the review):
pment)
Item 3: 80% of cases rated “Strength”
Performance Goal/Method of Measurement:
90% cases rate as “Strength”
Action Steps
(include persons responsible)
Continued/increased use of Family Involvement Strategies (FIS)
including conferencing models.
C1.4: 30.8% (4/13) 2011 Charting & Analysis
Performance Goal/Method of Measurement:
C1.4: 23%
Date
Completed
Q1, Q2, Q3,
and Q4
Explore existing internal decision-making processes to review
cases for potential court involvement or for child placements.
Q1
Develop/revise internal group decision-making processes as it
relates to utilizing the leverage of the court, placing children in
out-of-home care and ongoing review of placements.
Q3
Develop/enhance transition strategies for children transitioning
from out-of-home placement to ensure that adequate support
and services are available to meet the needs of the child(ren)
and parents. Each case that involves a placement will be
reviewed in group consultation forums on a monthly basis
Supervisors will extend an invitation to Juvenile Corrections to
discuss strategies to reduce foster care re-entries.
Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4
Q1, Q2
Updates
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
PERMANENCY
Goal #3: •
Children who are in out-of-home placement will have stability in their placements.
Barriers: Availability of relatives/kin/foster care homes in the community, attention to matching substitute provider skills to child needs
Baseline (Performance at the time of the review):
ble to PIP development)
C4.1: 83.3% (10/12)
Item 6: 60.0% cases rated as “Strength”
C4.2: 50% (2/4) 2011 Charting & Analysis
Performance Goal/Method of Measurement:
Performance Goal/Method of Measurement:
Item 6: 80% cases rate as “Strength”
C4.1: 86%
C4.2: 55%
Action Steps
Date
Updates
(include persons responsible)
Completed
Review use of Concurrent Permanency Planning (CPP) and
Q3
1:
clarify expectations with staff. One staff member (ZB) attended
2:
a state training on concurrent permanency planning. ZB will
3:
3
provide information to the child and family team and facilitate a
group discussion.
4:
Utilize Family Group Conference to establish concurrent
permanency plans with families in all cases where children are in
out-of-home placement. Referrals for FGC will be made by 30th
day of placement.
Develop a training manual for foster parent recruitment, training
and ongoing support and have on-going monthly/quarterly
trainings for foster care staff.
Q1, Q2, Q3,
and Q4
Explore strategies to increase foster parent recruitment efforts in
the county specifically for placement of children with special
mental or behavioral health needs, specifically adolescents.
Q1, Q2, Q3,
and Q4
Q1, Q2, Q3,
and Q4
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
PERMANENCY
Goal #4: Ongoing comprehensive relative searches will be conducted for all children in out of home placement. Further assess, identify and address barriers to
achieving permanency for older youth and children in care for extended periods of time.
Barriers: Lack of ongoing exploration of relatives or alternative options
Baseline (Performance at the time of the review):
C2.4: 0% (0/4)
C2.5: 50% (2/4)
C3.1: 0% (0/2)
C3.2: 50% (1/2)
C3.3: 40% (2/5) 2011 Charting & Analysis
Performance Goal/Method of Measurement:
C2.4: 10.9%
C2.5: 53.7%
C3.1: 29.1%
C3.2: 75%
C3.3: 37.5%
Item 15: 50% of cases rated as “Strength”
Performance Goal/Method of Measurement:
Item 15: 75% of cases rate as “Strength”
Action Steps
(include persons responsible)
FIS team will utilize recent access to Lexus Nexus to increase
capacity to explore relative options.
Date
Completed
Q1, Q2, Q3,
and Q4
Supervisors will clarify “ongoing comprehensive relative/kin
search” expectations and resources with staff.
Q1
Supervisors will review all child placements where youth have
Q1, Q2, Q3,
4
Updates
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
1: An internal policy has been developed that mandates each placement
been in care longer than 12 months and determine if there is a
need for a comprehensive relative/kin search to fully explore
alternatives for each child.
and Q4
case require a FGDM conference
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
WELL-BEING
Goal #5: Improve the frequency of face to face visits with children and their parents to ensure ongoing comprehensive assessments of risk, safety, overall needs
and to engage all family members in case planning; ensuring caseworker visits with children in foster care each and every month they are in placement.
Barriers: Gaps in social worker visits with children (some significant), inconsistent efforts to engage non-resident parents
Baseline (Performance at the time of the review):
Item 4:
Item 17:
Item 18:
Item 19:
Item 20:
62.5% of cases rated as “Strength”
62.5% of cases rated as “Strength”
75% of cases rated as “Strength”
62.5% of cases rated as “Strength”
66.6% of cases rated as “Strength”
Performance Goal/Method of Measurement:
Item 4: 80% of cases rate as “Strength”
Item 17: 80% of cases rate as “Strength”
Item 18: 85% of cases rate as “Strength”
Item 19: 90% of cases rate as “Strength”
Item 20: 80% of cases rate as “Strength”
Action Steps
(include persons responsible)
Clarify expectations with staff that SDM contact standards will
determine expected frequency of face to face visits with all
children and parents (or more frequently if circumstances
warrant). All children in placement will have minimum of monthly
face to face contact with their worker.
Staff will receive ongoing SDM training provided by Olmsted
County. A social worker (AO) has been assigned to a dual
county SDM fidelity team to ensure integrity of instrument
completion and use in case planning.
Supervisors or designee will pull “Monthly Contact with Children
in Continuous Placement” and “Client Contact” reports monthly.
Supervisors will review and share group and individual data with
staff. Discuss data entry issues.
Supervisors will review existing policies regarding non-resident
parents and develop a Dodge County policy. Copies of the
policy will be given to staff and expectations will be clarified.
Child Welfare Data Dashboard, Caseworker has face to face visits with
children in out of home care each and every month
Q3, 2011
Q4, 2011
Q1, 2012
Q2, 2012
Q3, 2012
Q4, 2012
53.8%
53.8%
55.4%
41/74
contacts
Performance Goal/Method of Measurement:
90% of children in out of home care will have face to face contact with a worker
each and every month.
Date
Completed
Q1
Updates
1:
2:
3:
4:
Q1, Q2, Q3,
and Q4
Q1, Q2, Q3,
and Q4
Q4
5
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
A practice discussion regarding the use and value of genograms
will occur with children’s services staff. Supervisors will clarify
the expectation that family genograms be developed and utilized
in all cases.
Supervisors will provide individual (weekly or monthly depending
on need) and group supervision (weekly) consults utilizing a
framework that captures family strengths and risks to the
children. Consults will ensure that a comprehensive assessment
is completed for all family members and is utilized in case
planning.
1st
Q1, Q2, Q3,
and Q4
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
SYSTEMIC FACTOR
Goal 6: Develop/enhance/maintain an internal process for the ongoing evaluation of child welfare practices and systems, leading to program improvements.
Current process/practice(s):
Barriers:
Action Steps
Date
Updates
(include persons responsible)
Completed
Establish and maintain a process that yields valid data:
Full access is established with Olmsted County to utilize their
Q2
1:
protocols and tools.
2:
3:
4:
Will develop an internal process to review cases.
Q4
1:
2:
3:
4:
Develop/implement a process for analyzing and learning from the data:
Collect and analyze results of internal MnCFSR case
Q4
1:
instruments.
2:
3:
4:
Share case instruments with social workers in individual
Q4
1:
supervision to reinforce strong practice and consider alternative
2:
actions in areas needing improvement to ensure alignment with
3:
practice model.
4:
Use the data to effectively implement practice and system change:
Share summary information with staff on a quarterly basis as a
Q4
1:
means of communicating performance results and giving
2:
opportunities to discuss potential solutions and clarify
3:
expectations and provide guidance.
4:
Share results of performance data, case reviews and strategies
Q4
1:
adopted to improve practice and outcomes with child welfare
2:
stakeholders (i.e. CJI team).
3:
4:
6
Other:
Dodge County child and family services will be reengaging the
local CJI team, the child protection team, and redeveloping a
child mortality review team
Ongoing
1:
2:
3:
4:
1:
2:
3:
4:
7