CAFCA BRIEF UPDATE

April 19, 2004

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty, well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, “WOW, what a ride!” ~ Anonymous

THANK YOU to Brad Bawmann and Neil Brown for their informative “How to Prepare for the Media” presentation at this month’s General Membership meeting and to Arapahoe House for being such a terrific host.

Legislative and SFY 2004-05 Budget Update
The Long Bill, which is the budget that the legislature proposes to the Governor towards the close of the session has been reviewed by both chambers. There is so little money that the House Republican caucus did not debate the budget, but passed it and sent it to the House Democrats, who began debating it.  Budget bills introduced in the House include HB 1411, regarding Title IV-E funds and how we count these for the federally required Maintenance of Effort (MOE) for child welfare funding, and HB 1421, which would dedicate $39 million in tobacco settlement funds annually to balance the budget and fund specific programs, including House Bill 99-1116 (the Child Mental Health Treatment Act program). Senate bill 203 is a tobacco settlement funds securitization bill supported by Governor Owens.  This bill would securitize the entire remainder of Colorado’s tobacco settlement by annuitizing or obtaining a percentage of the present value of the future stream of funds.  The Governor proposes using some of these funds to fill in the gaps in the budget and placing the majority of the funds in a reserve.  The Medicaid audit bill, HB 1284, will be heard in Senate HEWI on April 22^nd.  CAFCA strongly supports this bill, which gives all Medicaid providers some choice and protections in the audit and recovery process. CAFCA is also supporting a bill to create an Office of the Child’s Ombudsman to investigate complaints regarding the state’s, counties’ and providers’ actions or lack thereof in the child welfare system.

CDHS and HCPF Rules Recap
Peg and several CAFCA CPA representatives have been meeting with other CPA representatives and the CDHS Audit Division Director since January to develop rules regarding allowed costs and misuse of funds. Draft rules will be reviewed at the April 21^st meeting. The group hopes these will meet the statutory requirements and will give CPAs the information necessary for full compliance. RTC audit and recovery rules have been revised by HCPF since Peg, Stephanie, and the nursing homes met with HCPF staff. Peg testified at the April 9^th Medical Services Board meeting on the program integrity and quality assurance rules applicable to all Medicaid providers. The revised rules contained many of the changes we requested, but still included a change from “working” days to “calendar” days, which effectively reduces provider response times to roughly 2/3 of what they would be using “working” days for computation of time. The MSB did agree to change the deadline for requesting an extension of time from 7 calendar days to 10 calendar days. The appeals rules will be presented at the May 7^th MSB meeting.

CAFCA Committee Notes
Minutes of the various CAFCA member committees are sent to committee members.  If you would like minutes of meetings but aren’t currently receiving them, please let Peg or Mary know. 

Adoption: 
The committee has invited representatives from the Intercountry Adoption Congress and Diverse Management Solutions to present on intercountry adoptions and the development of an accreditation process at the May 13^th Adoption Committee meeting.  The location is Adoptions Options, 2600 S. Parker Road, Suite 2-320, in Aurora. Committee members will also be reviewing current statutes regarding regulation of adoption facilitators and possible development of a parentage registry.

Foster Care
Reminder: The CAFCA-county meeting is April 20^th, 11:30-1:00 at Jefferson County Social Services, 900 Jefferson County Parkway, 3^rd floor conference Room A-D. The committee has invited Theresa Spahn, Office of the Child Representative to meet with interested foster parents and CPAs to discuss the role of guardians ad litem (GALs) and obtain input on how to better work with GALs on behalf of children in the system. The meeting is this Thursday, April 22^nd from 9:30 – 12 p.m. at Volunteers of America (26^th and Larimer).  Please contact Mary Simons (720 570-8402) if interested in attending. The April committee meeting will immediately follow.

CAFCA received a query regarding foster parents and payment for respite care out of their foster care allowance.  The foster parents have been taking care of several medically fragile children for more than a decade and arranged and paid for their own respite care, using people who are trained to care for children with significant medical and physical needs. They wanted to know if they paid for the respite care out of their foster care allowance, did the respite care provider have to report the payment as taxable income.  I sent the question out and heard from a number of people, including accountants.  It is well-established that the foster care allowance is not taxable income to foster parents.  However, respite care payments do constitute reportable, taxable income, regardless of the source of funds for paying the respite care provider, even if the provider is another foster parent. One option that was noted to avoid this problem is to “trade” respite care assignments with other foster parents, somewhat like a babysitting co-op.

CTS
CAFCA sent a letter to CDHS requesting that the new rate application process be postponed, that no provider be assigned a SFY 2004-05 rate below its current B level and, if the application process is not delayed, that a small group of providers and counties meet regularly to evaluate the new process and make recommendations for the SFY 2005-06 rate setting process. RTCs received a response from Judy Rodriguez indicating that the new rate setting process would be piloted during SFY 2004-05, with rates based on actual costs rather than the scoring system

Public Policy
The Committee identified the following objectives for 2004-05: (1) Identify legislation for 2005 session; 2) TABOR reform strategies and “message box” development with Mendez Steadman for fall election; 3) positive publicity for providers; and 4) improving administrative agency relationships. All CAFCA members are reminded to do post-luncheon follow up with legislators by inviting them to visit their facilities either on a Friday afternoon during the session or once the session ends May 5^th.   The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 4^th, noon-2:00 p.m. in the 2^nd floor conference room at 1120 Lincoln St. There will be a 2004 Session Wrap-up by Mendez Steadman including the SFY 2004-05 Budget and status of CAFCA-supported bills.

Membership/Communications
Committee members will be meeting with each of the CAFCA committees to obtain input and answer questions regarding CAFCA membership issues. The group is working on a draft ethics statement for current and new members, possible revisions to membership categories and other activities.  

Training
Almost 300 people attended the April 14^th  “Methamphetamines and Its Effect on Children” workshop, which CAFCA co-sponsored with the Colorado State Foster Parent Association. The location was changed to Ft. Logan to accommodate demand and we still had to turn away would-be registrants due to space limitations. Next up is CAFCA’s June 11^th annual education conference, “Staying on Track.” Over 1,000 brochures have already been mailed or hand distributed to potential participants.  Please encourage staff to get their registrations in early to avoid being closed out. More information, including a registration form, can be found at the CAFCA website at www.cafca.net - to go the Upcoming Events/Training page.

Cyber News from the Executive Director
I am very excited about the Association’s (the 501(c)(3) entity) Online Provider Directory Project.  If you have not already heard, the Association has written several grant proposals to fund the development of a web-based, searchable directory of Colorado child welfare providers. In a recent survey, child-welfare administrators from across the state reported that they needed more resources and a centralized web site that contained information about the specialties of all of the various placement options and the availability of services or openings. The Association’s proposed web-based searchable database of child-welfare providers and online application process would address the need for a centralized clearinghouse by providing up-to-date information about the range of services offered by all of the state’s providers and the availability of services in a state-of-the-art format.

The searchable directory could impact nearly 14,000 children involved in Colorado’s child protection system, one-third of whom reside in Denver, and the families of these children.  The directory will help insure that children are quickly able to access the placement and treatment services most appropriate to their individual needs. It will allow movement to less restrictive, less costly placements to occur more quickly when appropriate, and will create greater efficiency in the child welfare system by freeing caseworkers to spend more time seeing children on their caseloads and less time making phone calls to locate placements or services. The Association is working with the Colorado Department of Human Services to address several of the State Performance Improvement Plan goals through this online database and has the Department’s commitment for assistance with stakeholder contacts and marketing. 

We are partnering with 5 other state child welfare associations to share the costs of developing the software platform. Each state will separately fund its own state-specific modifications and enhancements.  An important feature of the database will be an online application process that will allow a caseworker to submit an application for a child to multiple providers simultaneously. Providers will be required to maintain the accuracy of their information, including availability.

 I did a brief presentation on this project at the February CAFCA General Membership meeting and have just begun presenting the concept to county administrators.  Mary and I will be conducting several stakeholder input groups in which we will seek county and provider input regarding the provider data screen and application, as well as Colorado enhancements.  Please contact me if you would like more information about this project.

Of Note
The Bell Policy Center will release its report: “Opportunity Lost: When Hard Work Isn’t Enough for Colorado Families” on Wednesday, April 21^st, noon-1:00 p.m. at the Legislative Services Building, 200 E. 14^th Avenue, directly across from the Capitol, hearing Room A on the 1^st floor, left-hand side as you enter the building. Their study, funded by the Rose Community Foundation, used 230+ indicators to measure the status of poor and low-income families. Following a brief presentation of the study’s major findings, there will be a discussion about the implications for policy makers, funders and those providing services to these groups.

Outward Bound and COCAF Annual Camp in Leadville
This is the third year that Outward Bound and COCAF have co-sponsored this camp for adolescents age 13-17 who are adopted or are available for adoption, and who are working through emotional or mental health issues.  Activities include rock climbing and low and high ropes courses. Dates are June 17-19, 2004, with a mandatory meeting for parents and attendees on June 11^th. Scholarships are available. Contact Deborah Cave at cocafcave@yahoo.com or 303 664-4638 for more information.

Building a Joyful Life Workshop, May 15, 2004, 9:30-4:30, Auditorium 3400 Broadway, Boulder
This workshop focuses on the emotional stresses those parents of children with special needs often experience.  It is designed to help parents develop and implement strategies to live more joyful and balanced lives. Sponsored by Boulder County Human Services’ post-adoption services program, presenters Linda Roan-Yager and Nancy Whiteman of Shifting View, Inc, are both parents of children with special needs. Space is limited. Contact Suzanne Daniels at 303 441-1533 to register or for information.

He’s BACK!!!
Internationally recognized authority on children’s brains, Dr. Bruce Perry will be one of the presenters at KIDS’ BRAINS: Healthy Connections for Our Future, a conference sponsored by Metropolitan State College and CDHS on May 20th and 21^st.  Dr. Elaine Johnson, who has developed teaching techniques based upon brain research, will join him. More than 30 workshops will focus on a variety of issues, research and strategies regarding childhood trauma, brain development, education, developmental aspects, and many other topics. Registration is $95 for adults, $85 for students. Attendees may receive 1 academic credit as MSCD or 1 professional CEU. For more information and to register, check their website at: www.kidsbrains.org or contact Dr. Michael Faragher at 303 352-4386.

DU Offering
On May 21st (4:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) and 22nd  (8:30 a.m. –0 4:30 p.m.), the Institute for Families at the University of Denver presents “Healing Traumatized Children in Substitute Care,” its annual conference for foster parents, kinship care providers and adoptive parents. Location is the Best Western Lake Dillon Lodge in Frisco, CO. Foster parents may earn 12 training hours for their participation.  Register online at: www.cocwtraining.com. For questions or information on other trainings, call 303 871-3796 or visit the IFDU web site at: www.ifduonline.org.

 Children of Incarcerated Parents
More than 2 million American children have a parent serving a prison term—up 50% from just a decade ago. During the current legislative session Representative Buffie McFadyen introduced a bill to address the educational needs of children whose parents are incarcerated.  The bill died for lack of funding, but the issues and concerns are still very much alive. The San Francisco Partnership for Incarcerated Parents has created a Bill of Rights for children who are in the custody of social services due to their parents’ incarceration. The bill, based on legal cases and interviews with children and their families, was created in the hopes that both the criminal justice and human services systems would consider the unique needs of this population. To view the text of this Bill of Rights, go to: www.cwla.org/programs/incarecerated/cop_billofrights.htm.

Check out this website for tons of information on consumer health: www.coloradohealthguide.org.