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Presentation to the House Human Services Committee February 22, 2011

Presentation to the House Human Services Committee February 22, 2011. Anne Heiligenstein, Commissioner. Mission.

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Presentation to the House Human Services Committee February 22, 2011

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  1. Presentation to the House Human Services CommitteeFebruary 22, 2011 Anne Heiligenstein, Commissioner

  2. Mission The mission of The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is to protect children, the elderly, and people with disabilities from abuse, neglect, and exploitation by involving clients, families and communities.

  3. Partners in Protecting Vulnerable Texans • Clients and their extended families • The courts • District and county attorneys • Law enforcement • County child welfare boards • 24-hour care providers • Foster care and adoptive parents • Schools • Physicians and other health care experts • Dedicated volunteers

  4. Statewide Intake

  5. Statewide Intake Statewide Intake is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to receive reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation. Centralized in Austin, SWI received 748,277 calls in FY 10 Of those reports: • 80.5% were received by phone • 15.0% were received by Internet • Note: others received by fax, mail, walk-in or other methods. In 2008, DFPS redesigned its abuse and neglect reporting website (www.txabusehotline.org) to make it easier to use.

  6. Child Protective Services

  7. Investigations CPS investigates reports of abuse and neglect of children to determine if a child or children in the home are being abused or neglected. • CPS completed 169,583 investigations in FY 10. • CPS confirmed 66,897 victims of child abuse/neglect in FY 10. • In FY 10, CPS has conducted more than 11,000 Family Team Meetings. • During an investigation, a Family Team Meeting is conducted with family members to find solutions to keep the child safe and avoid the child’s removal from the family and placement into foster care.

  8. Family Based Safety Services CPS provides servicesto preserve families while keeping children safe. These services may include counseling, day care, homemaker services, evaluation and treatment, and parental skills training. • In FY 10, the average number of families receiving family preservation services per month was 16,687. • In FY 10, the average number of children receiving purchased services per month was 11,948.

  9. Foster and Kinship Care CPS must explore every reasonable alternative for keeping the child safe from abuse and neglect before removing a child from his home. If remaining in their parents’ care is not possible for safety reasons, removal may be necessary. When the court grants CPS conservatorship/custody of a child, CPS places the child in a foster home or a kinship placement. As of August 31, 2010, 27,304 children were in DFPS substitute care. • 17,027 in paid Foster Care • 8,914 in Kinship Care • 815 in adoptive homes • Note: Remaining children were in other placements (independent living, etc.) Expanding Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) has led to greater family involvement in the care of children in CPS. • While a child is in foster care, FGDM involves CPS working with the family to address the health and safety issues that resulted in the child’s removal from his home. The goal is to safely reunite the child with his family as quickly as possible.

  10. Adoption When a court terminates parental rights, a child may become legally free for adoption. CPS works to quickly find a safe, loving and permanent home for the child. • In FY 10, 4,803 children were in consummated adoptions. • In FY 10, 30,788 children were provided an adoption subsidy. To be eligible for adoption subsidy, a child must meet any of the following criteria: • Be over age 2 and a minority • Be over age 6 and Anglo, • Be part of a sibling group, or • Be diagnosed with a physical or mental disabling condition.

  11. Transitional Living Transitional services for youth include: • Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) programs; • Education and Training Voucher (ETV) Program; • Formal transition planning; • Identifying caring adults and support services for youth in care prior to discharge; • Circles of Support to help connect youth with responsible members of his or her biological family; • Transition centers and networks of transition services; • Extended Care for youth up to the age of 22 to complete high school or up to age 21 to attend an institution of higher education or a post-secondary vocational or technical program; or be employed for at least 80 hours a month; • Return to Care for youth after they have aged out and decide they want to return to care; and • Continuous Medicaid for youth 18 to 21 years of age with an automatically renewing application.

  12. Prevention and Early Intervention Through contracts, PEI provides community-based services that prevent juvenile delinquency and child maltreatment. PEI also: • Paragraph text assists communities in identifying prevention and early intervention needs, and • supports programs designed to improve outcomes for children, youth and their families. In FY 10, PEI child abuse/neglect programs served 5,796 families. • In FY 10, PEI juvenile delinquency programs served 54,799 youth

  13. Child Care Licensing

  14. Child Care Licensing CCLregulates all child-care operations (child day care, school age programs, before-school and after-school programs, and residential care including child-placing agencies) to reduce the risk of injury, abuse, and health/safety-related risks. • CCL investigates all reports, which allege abuse or neglect and/or violation of minimum standards in child care operations subject to regulation. • CCL conducts inspections to determine if child care operations comply with minimum standards and licensing laws Daycare Operations • In FY 10, there were 25,250 day care centers/homes. • In FY 10, CCL conducted 15,608 child day care investigations. • In FY 10, CCL conducted 45,777 day care inspections.

  15. 24-Hour/Residential Child Care Licensing RCCL regulates: • Foster Family Homes • Foster Group Homes • General Residential Operations • Child Placing Agencies • Maternity Homes • In FY 10, there were 10,322 24-hour care facilities. • In FY 10, RCCL conducted 4,711 investigations. • In FY 10, RCCL conducted 10,488 inspections.

  16. Slide Title Adult Protective Services

  17. Adult Protective ServicesIn-Home Program APS investigates allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation of vulnerable adults in the community age 65 or older or people with disabilities age 18-64. • APS clients live in their own home, family homes or unlicensed congregate settings such as personal care homes or room and boards. • APS conducted 82,802 in-home investigations in FY 2010. If needed, APS arranges for or pays for services to alleviate abuse and neglect, such as respite, and emergency assistance with food and shelter. • Paragraph text   APS arranged or paid for services in 42,926 cases in FY 2010. APS also makes referrals to law enforcement and to guardianship programs.

  18. Adult Protective Services MH & MR Services Program APS investigates abuse, neglect, and exploitation of clients receiving services in the following state-operated and/or contracted settings: • State Supported Living Centers • State Hospitals • State Centers • Community mental health/mental retardation centers • Privately-operated Intermediate Care Facilities for Persons with Mental Retardation • Mental retardation waiver providers APS completed 9,922 MH & MR related investigations in FY 10.

  19. Summary of H.B. 1 Issues Client Services Funding for Foster Care and Adoption Subsidies • Paragraph text 5% reduction to average daily rate for foster care • 1% reduction to payment ceiling for adoption subsidies • No funding for caseload growth or to replace enhanced federal match that expires FTE Reductions total 823.6 • Paragraph text   749.5 FTEs in CPS primarily due to federal funds that expire • 22.0 FTEs in APS • 17.2 FTEs in Statewide Intake • 34.9 administration and contract management FTEs

  20. Summary of H.B. 1 Issues Elimination of funding for two programs • Paragraph text Relative and Other Designated Caregiver program • Health Care Benefit for non-special needs adoptions Reduced funding for other programs/services • APS emergency client services • Reimbursement ceiling for adoption legal expense • CPS day care services, adoption/post-adoption services, and Preparation for Adult Living services • Prevention programs Elimination of funding for operational changes to the agency’s casework management systems

  21. Implementing H.B. 1 Foster Care and Adoption Subsidies with no caseload growth and no replacement of enhanced federal match that expires • Foster care rate reduction of 7% in addition to the 5% included in the bill (12% total) • No new adoption subsidy payments CPS functional unites would be reduced by 9% or 66 units

  22. Current Foster Care System Too many children are placed outside their home communities and without their siblings • 17% of children are placed out of region • 57.6% of children are placed out of county • 18.5% of siblings groups are not placed together • Negatively impacts well-being and permanency outcomes Contributing Factors • Contracting process is not competitive, needs-driven or targeted to areas of the state where services are needed • Foster care rates are tied directly to children’s service levels; when children make progress providers are reimbursed at lower foster care rates and children are often moved to different placement settings.

  23. Foster Care Redesign Recommendations • DFPS maintains caseworker responsibilities • Redesign does not require additional foster care funding, except for what is attributed to caseload growth • Competitively procure for a full continuum of foster care services in designated geographic “catchment” areas • Performance based contract that ties financial incentives and remedies to outcomes • Single blended case rate for each catchment area • Phased roll-out of catchment areas across state with staged implementation within each catchment area • On-going evaluation of the roll-out and implementation

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