Understanding Claiming Under Family First

Session Three

CDHS/CHSDA Series

August 2021

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Presenters

Kendra Dunn, CDHS, Division of Community & Family Support Director

Yumiko Dougherty, CDHS, Director of Strategic Planning & Implementation

Angelina Callis, CDHS, Family First �Project Manager

Gretchen Russo, CDHS, Judicial & Legislative Administrator

Hava Simmons, Larimer County, Social Casework Manager

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Agenda

• Vision of prevention services in Colorado
• Federal requirements for prevention services
• How Colorado is operationalizing the requirements
• Case Study: Prevention services and the juvenile justice population
• Questions & resources

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Vision of Prevention Services

“We must re-envision child welfare in the United States as a system that strengthens families and breaks harmful cycles of trauma and family disruption, rather than waiting until the children are hurt to respond.”

• Jerry Millner, Associate Commissioner at the Children’s Bureau, testifying before the US House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, July 24^th, 2018

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Commitment to Service Equity

• Equity in access of services
• Colorado supports services that may not be on the clearinghouse, but that means...
• Blending & braiding of funds (session 2!)
• Identification of a successful service
• Cultural relevance

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Candidacy in Colorado

• Meeting the definition of candidacy is the first of two parts that determine a child’s/youth’s eligibility under Family First Title IV-E.
• Factors that should be considered when determining candidacy are:
• Substance use disorder or addiction
• Mental illness
• Lack of parenting skills
• Limited capacity or willingness to function in parenting roles
• Parent’s inability to, or need for additional support, to address the serious needs of a child/youth or related to the child/youth’s behavior or physical or intellectual disability
• Developmental delays
• Reunification, adoption or guardianship arrangements that are at risk of disruption

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Candidacy in Colorado

• Who makes the determination?
• Federal guidance can be found here.
• The identification of an individual’s prevention service plan.
• Coordination between intermediaries & providers, and CDHS
• For Family First Title IV-E, identification of an evidence-based service is required.
• Remember blending & braiding of funding

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Service Model Requirements

• Title IV-E Prevention Service Clearinghouse
• New process for child welfare of service review to determine efficacy.
• Watch a video reviewing the standards and procedures.
• Clearinghouse FAQs
• Services must have a rating on the Clearinghouse
• Transitional services opportunity
• What it means to draw-down
• Connection with the Children’s Trust Fund & Prevention Task Group

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Service Selection in Colorado

• How services get selected for the State prevention plan
• Prevention Task Group
• Children’s Trust Fund
• Service expansion strategy
• Strategy for the Evidence-Based Aspects of the Family First Service Continuum
• Current state and future plans
• What does this mean at the county level?

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Trauma-Informed Care Requirements

Family First Language

Requires the Title IV-E agency to provide services or programs to or on behalf of a child under an organizational structure and treatment framework that involves understanding, recognizing, and responding to the effects of all types of trauma and in accordance with recognized principles of a trauma-informed approach and trauma-specific interventions to address trauma’s consequences and facilitate healing.

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Trauma-Informed Care Requirements

• True trauma-informed care service provision is a process, CDHS is committed to providing support as best we can.
• Facilitated sessions with stakeholders, led by the Office of Behavioral Health
• Long-term recommendations
• Short-term recommendations are currently under review by the State
• Getting updated and ready for public feedback

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Continuous Quality Improvement

• Federal Requirement: Continuously monitor each service to ensure fidelity to the practice model, and use information learned to refine and improve practices (CQI)
• Service-Level
• Tools, metrics and processes vary across services
• Role of state intermediaries
• Some services do not have any existing infrastructure
• State-Level: CQI Platform to standardize CQI data across services
• Identify trends by geography, service type, or provider
• May inform future decision-making around services expansion

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Reporting Requirements

• Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS)
• Traditional IV-E
• Prevention specific data
• Coordination with CDHS or an intermediary
• State’s claiming process
• Review session 1!

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Case Study: Juvenile Justice Prevention

• How do youth involved in the Juvenile Justice population fall under Colorado’s definition of candidacy?
• County example of coordination to support youth
• Future state

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Case Study: Juvenile Justice Prevention

“Family First and Juvenile Justice Reform only works if we double down on services in the community. The current funding and services in communities across Colorado is not enough to support families and juveniles. Money for excellent services should not be a barrier when it comes to our children, our communities, and our future.”

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• American Indian/Alaska Native Workgroup service recommendations.
• Prevention Service Matrix (July 2021)
• Federal program instruction for State prevention program requirements.
• Federal program instruction for Tribal prevention program requirements.

Resources

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• Find guidance from the Children’s Bureau on data collection for Title IV-E Prevention Services here.
• Child Welfare Policy Manual, Section 8.6 Title IV-E Prevention Services Program
• Link to previous sessions: https://co4kids.org/community/four-part-discussion-series-financial-claiming-under-family-first

Resources

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