CAFCA Public Policy Committee Minutes

March 7, 2006

Present: Cyndi Dodds (Namaqua), chair,  Cathy Hoich (Arapahoe House), Arnie Goldstein (Excelsior YC), Jerry Yager (Denver Children’s Home), Tami Lack (Third Way Center), Ruth Ann Russell (Family Tree), Fofi Mendez (Mendez Steadman), Susannah Carroll, Katie Mason & Peg Long (CAFCA).

The meeting was called to order at 12:10 pm and introductions were made.

JBC Figure Setting Schedule

The JBC figure setting for Child Welfare is scheduled for March 8^th on adjournment. Fofi and Peg will attend.

Provisional License for Therapists

Peg has conducted research on the existence of provisional licenses for mental health providers in other states and developed conceptual language for a bill. She also received an email from Mark Suprenand regarding the 24-hour Monitoring Team’s concern regarding sufficient numbers of licensed therapists. Peg drafted a letter requesting that a provisional license specifically for therapists serving in RTCs be added to the JBC bill that will contain all of the RTC redesign elements--TRCCF and PRTF—and delivered this on March 3^rd to Eric Myers, JBC Budget Analyst, with a copy to Senator Moe Keller.  Fofi has talked with all of the lobbyists who represent the state associations of licensed mental health professionals and has not encountered any opposition. Peg has also contacted all of the executive directors of these associations and has not had any opposition. It is in the state’s best interest to add provisional licenses to the mental health statute in order for these therapists to bill fee-for-service Medicaid.  It is also good for providers and would allow new therapists to come into the field. It does not solve the funding problem regarding masters and doctoral students who must complete a practicum or internship in a residential facility. Jerry pointed out that the two biggest questions regarding the RTC redesign are: 1) How can we make sure we have enough licensed therapists and 2) will the base rate be sufficient for providers to sustain their programs and to deliver the services children need.

2006 Session Update

The Long Bill, which is the JBC’s budget for the next fiscal year, should be introduced late March, following figure-setting for all Departments. The legislature will spend much of April working on the Long Bill. Some of the bills CAFCA supports or tracks are moving from the house of introduction into the other house. HB 06-1207, the Salaried Foster Parent bill is scheduled for hearing in the Senate HHS committee this Thursday. We are waiting for SB 06-199, the Child Care Licensing bill, to be calendared. This bill contains CAFCA’s dual licensing piece and adds “cradle care” as a distinct type of foster care.

Some of the other bills of note are:

HB 1004 – Audio Textbooks – Amended to add facility schools as potential grantees

HB 1070 – Juvenile Justice Family Advocates – this bill came from the Juvenile Justice/Mental Health Task Force and would establish 6 sites in Colorado for demonstration projects based on a system-of-care approach (required family involvement) to serving youth in JJ with mental health issues. It carries a $350K fiscal note.

 HB 1145 – CO Meth Legislative Task Force – CAFCA is actively supporting the creation of this committee and its extension of the definition of child abuse to include allowing a child to be in a place where meth has been manufactured.

HB 1151 – Felony Child Abuse – CAFCA initiated a meeting with stakeholders and amended this perennial bill to require a continuous pattern of conduct and identified egregious behaviors perpetrated on the child as emotional child abuse. First offense is a Class 1 misdemeanor; subsequent offenses are Class 5 felony.

HB 1271 – Treatment Foster Care: Creates and defines a new level of foster care: treatment foster care, which is a “clinically effective alternative to residential treatment that combines treatment technologies typically associated with more restrictive settings.”

HB 1315 – Juvenile Parole for Youth Convicted as Adult for Class 1 Felony: youth who have been convicted on a direct-filing would be entitled to a parole hearing after serving 40 years; currently these youth offenders are sentenced to life in prison and kept in solitary confinement for their own protection. Peg’s letter to the editor on this issue was published in the 2/26 Denver Post Op-Ed section.

HB 1363 – Grant Program to Prevent Juvenile Delinquency: creates and provides funding for before- and after-school programs for youth in grades 6-8 within the Tony Grampsas Youth Services Program.

SB 108 – Discharge of Juveniles from Parole: allows early discharge if youth has met all of the required 5 criteria, including completing a GED and paying restitution.

SB 118 – Conforms CO SPED Law to Federal IDEA: CAFCA obtained amendments to exempt facility schools from certain provisions requiring payment of salaries and benefits because facility school staff are frequently independent contractors.

SB 122 – Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Fund: directs surcharges on underage drinking offenses to ADAD for funding substance abuse prevention and treatment programs.

The complete summary of all bills CAFCA is tracking can be found on the CAFCA web page: www.cafca.net.

Rules Update

The Volume VII TRCCF rules are in internal processing at CDHS, but Dana will be making some additional changes, e.g., to ratios for TRCCF. She is still accepting comments. Please cc Peg on any comments sent. Volume VIII rules for TRCCF and PRTF are in HCPF internal clearance and will be released for public comment soon. Peg said both sets of rules may have to be adopted as emergency rules as the statutes creating these provider types must be passed prior to rules being adopted.

RTC Redesign Update

 Preliminary models for TRCCF and PRTF have been developed. The rate methodology work group will be very small, 3 providers, 3 counties, a DYC person and several CDHS people. It is not yet clear whether CDHS will allow a small group of provider “consultants” to be observers.  The Department is concerned that a large open meeting could delay the workgroup’s progress towards crafting a rate methodology by mid-April. There is not agreement between CDHS and CAFCA on the issue of whether these meetings fall under the Sunshine Act’s open meeting requirements. We will wait to hear from CDHS regarding provider observation before deciding what position to take. Peg has contacted attorney Fred Yu for his input

Strategic Plan Review & Activities for 2006

Cyndi reviewed the Goal #2 activities of identifying potential foundation funding for an outcomes study. Susannah shared the progress on her draft outcomes study proposal and the need to get feedback from stakeholders on what outcomes they feel should be collected. The proposal will request a 3-year funding cycle to allow for collection of longitudinal data.

Old Business

Cyndi asked how the Legislative Luncheon went as she was out of town. The general feedback has been that it was a good luncheon and the recognition of a legislator (Senator Anderson) is a feature we should consider adding. Although we can never predict how many legislators who RSVP actually attend, the committee members felt there was value in simply talking face-to-face with legislators about their services and the children served.

New Business

Cyndi would like the April agenda to include a discussion of the CAFCA 2010 Strategic Plan activities related to the upcoming November elections for the entire House, half the Senate and the Governorship.

Meeting adjourned at 1:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Peg Long