Recent Changes to Foster Care and Adoption in the CommonwealthChild Welfare Oversight and Advisory Committee

Department for Community Based Services (DCBS)August 19, 2019

House Bill 1 (HB 1)

• Landmark child welfare legislation passed in 2018

• Established the Child Welfare Oversight & Advisory Committee

• Prioritized keeping children in proximity to their families, schools, faiths, and communities

• Required consistency between public and private agency foster home standards

• Focused on services for relative and fictive kin caregivers

House Bill 1

• Required the development of a diligent recruitment plan consistent with federal law

• Required family preservation services

• Eliminated the fee paid by a child in the cabinet’s custody or on extended commitment to obtain their birth certificate

• Enhanced notice to foster parents prior to a child’s removal from placement

House Bill 1• Authorized a fee for child abuse and neglect background

checks

• Expanded caseload reporting

• Included procedures to ensure timely permanency

• Streamlined processes for prospective foster and adoptive parents

• Established the putative father registry

• Expanded rights for foster parents

• Mandated the cabinet designate study groups to make recommendations regarding performance-based contracting (PBC) and privatization

CWT Workgroups

Workforce Supports

Foster Care and Adoption

Transition Aged Youth

Prevention Supports

Relative Placement Supports

Fiscal Modernization

PermanencyService Region

ImplementationIT

Steering Committee Stakeholder Advisory Group

• Safely Reduce the Number of Children Entering OOHC

• Improve Timeliness to Appropriate Permanency

• Reduce Caseloads

• Culture of Safety• Aligned Service Array• Shared Focus on Outcomes• Collaborative Practice Model

CQI/Quality Assurance

House Bill 1 FFPSA PIP/CFSP Decoupling

Uniting Kentucky

Child Welfare Transformation

Consistent with the goals of HB 1:

1. Safely reduce the number of children entering foster care

- Family Preservation Program

- Relative and fictive kin service array

2. Improve timeliness to appropriate permanency

- Case reviews for foster child in care six months or more

- Court and DCBS timelines

- Study and implementation of performance-based contracting

- Putative father registry

- Home study standards

3. Reduce caseloads

- Enhanced caseload reporting

DCBS Implementation of HB 1• KRS 199.474 required uniform home studies

o Standards between child-placing agencies and DCBS were further aligned in emergency administrative regulations, effective April 1, 2019

• KRS 605.120 authorized the cabinet to establish kinship care, monetary provisions, guardianship assistance program, and other services for relative and fictive kin caregiverso New administrative regulation went into effect on May 31,

2019, outlining a new service array

o New foster home type for child-specific recruitment was deployed on April 1, 2019

DCBS Implementation of HB 1

Policies streamlined or added:

•DCBS worked with the Department for Public Health to streamline the process for requesting birth certificates for youth

•Additional grounds for termination of parent rights added

•Changed the five day case conference to a ten day case conference

•New procedures around court case reviews implemented

•Permanency plan submitted to the court no later than 30 days post-TPR (including presentation summary packet)

•Added foster parents’ rights to be heard verbally or in writing at hearing

•Added notification to the school when the cabinet has custody

DCBS Implementation of HB 1

• Diligent recruitment

o Specific to needs in each service region

o Targeted recruitment strategies

o Increased focus on retention strategies

o Ensuring access to informational meetings, trainings, and home studies

o KY FACES portal - kyfaces.ky.gov

DCBS and PCP Foster HomesAugust 2014 – August 2019

4,372

5,455

4,000

4,200

4,400

4,600

4,800

5,000

5,200

5,400

Au

g-1

4

Oct

-14

Dec

-14

Feb

-15

Ap

r-1

5

Jun

-15

Au

g-1

5

Oct

-15

Dec

-15

Feb

-16

Ap

r-1

6

Jun

-16

Au

g-1

6

Oct

-16

Dec

-16

Feb

-17

Ap

r-1

7

Jun

-17

Au

g-1

7

Oct

-17

Dec

-17

Feb

-18

Ap

r-1

8

Jun

-18

Au

g-1

8

Oct

-18

Dec

-18

Feb

-19

Ap

r-1

9

Jun

-19

Au

g-1

9

DCBS Implementation of HB 1

• Adoption process changeso Include putative father registry

o Recruitment of adoptive families

o Expand the definition of relative, impacting independent adoptions

o Ensure sibling connections are maintained

o Incorporate adoption review committee

o Remove max limit on children in adoptive homes

o Combine required meetings to streamline processes

Adoption DataSFY2015 – SFY2019

914

10531086

1026

1257

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

Average CPS CaseloadsCY2017 – CY2019

*CY2019 is partial year to date.

18.3 19.0 19.0

23.3 24.0

27.0

23.3 24.022.0

29.831.0

30.0

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

2017 2018 2019

CPS Current CPS with Past Dues

CPS Not at Full Capacity Current CPS Not at Full Capacity with Past Dues

Months to Permanency - ReunificationsSFY2015 – SFY2019

8.99.6

9.0 9.2 9.4

6.7 6.9 6.67.0 7.1

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

# o

f M

on

ths

Mean (Avg.) Median

Months to Permanency - AdoptionsSFY2015 – SFY2019

36.9

37.9

37.0 37.037.5

32.5

35.7

33.5

35.2

34.2

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

# o

f M

on

ths

Mean (Avg.) Median

Children in the Custody of or Committed to the Cabinet

September 2014 – August 2019

7,607

Aug-19, 9,660

7,000

7,500

8,000

8,500

9,000

9,500

10,000

Legislation in Action

• Regular Session 2018

o House Bill 1

o House Bill 200

• Regular Session 2019

o House Bill 2

o House Bill 158

o House Bill 446

Not treating the symptoms, implementing a cure!Child Welfare Belongs To All Of Us…..

Family and child

Prevention Services

Kinship and Relative

Placements

Foster Care (Public and

Private)

Reunification)

Adoption

Post Adoption Supports

Schools Courts

DJJ

FPP START K-STEP

First Steps HANDS

Mental and

Behavioral Health

Faith Based Community

Conclusion

• Implementation of House Bill 1

• Family First Prevention Services Act

• Child Welfare Transformation

• Reviewing the data

• Other changes spurred by legislation

• Questions?

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