CAFCA
BRIEF UPDATECAFCA
BRIEF UPDATE
June 2004
Recently some 20,000 law enforcement personnel converged on the Georgia coast to provide the best protection money could buy for the G8 Conference. Money is no object when it comes to insuring that Americans are safe, healthy and protected from harm. Best practice is required for most endeavors that involve the health, safety and wellbeing of Americans. Policy, regulation and laws are passed and apply to many activities. The list is endless and includes medical procedures, prescription drugs, food preparation, highway safety, airline safety, homeland security, and even pedicures and manicures.
When it comes to child welfare, best practice is at the mercy of what resources are available (read: left over.) We can put the welfare of children at the mercy of a caseworker who has 25 cases when the recommended standard is 15. We can require that our private foster care agencies meet certain specific health and safety standards, but our foster children in governmental foster care have no such external accountability. Sick people in the country can get the finest health care in the world, but mentally ill foster children languish with inadequate services because we will not pay for them. Services for the support of families and children are cut when they are needed the most to keep children from coming into State custody. Therapeutic residential care for foster children is inadequately resourced when the needs are the greatest.
Something is wrong here. Are not these children worth our investment? Are they not as important as road safety, health care, or nail care? Are not these our children when we decide they are wards of the State? Isn’t our responsibility to them as important as the care of our own (biological) children? Will we ever acknowledge that these foster children are our children? If we were as committed to best practice in child welfare as we are in other areas, we would be committed to external accountability and certification and the funding to carry these out. Only when we move child welfare to the same standards that we demand for other health and safety will we ever make a difference in the outcomes for children in out-of-home placement.
This is not an indictment of Colorado alone, but every state in the country and the Federal government. No state had substantial compliance with the Federal Standards for child welfare, yet legislation is being introduced to freeze child welfare spending. The Pew Commission on Foster Care highlighted only two areas of concern and recommended modest increases in child welfare spending in an effort to gain support for improving the condition of children in foster care. We will do better by children only when we want to do better by children. We cannot blame the Department of Human Services for our failure to provide the tools that they and we need. We have to blame ourselves.
This summer CAFCA will embark on a public policy campaign to raise voter’ consciousness. The Public Policy Committee will lead the charge beginning with members obtaining the necessary signatures to get the TABOR and Amendment 23 initiatives on the November ballot. We will be announcing other opportunities for you to involve yourselves, your board members and your communities so stay tuned!
CAFCA Committee Reports
Committee members are focusing on potential legislation to restrict adoption facilitation by individuals and agencies that are not licensed in Colorado as Child Placement Agencies. Although current rules prohibit an unlicensed facilitator to operate in Colorado, there is only a minimal fine and no criminal penalty or enforcement attached to the rule. The committee is struggling with whether the state should make unlicensed facilitators illegal or just regulate them. A significant issue is the fees charged by some facilitators. When the fee is paid for connection only does this become baby brokering? The committee is working with Dana Andrews to obtain separate listings for Colorado licensed adoption agencies and other” (unlicensed) adoption services in the next edition of the Qwest/Dex yellow pages.
Committee goals for 2004/2005 are:
Next Meeting Date: Thursday, July 8, 2004, at Adoption Options, 2600 S. Parker Rd., Suite 2-320. Please allot 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM. Topics to be discussed: Update on the Lt. Governor’s Group on Adoption by Virginia Appel.
A subgroup is working on the possibility of piloting the concept of professional foster parents. Others are working on recruitment and retention activities including acting on suggestions from current foster parents about recruitment and having a table set up at Sam’s Club, Home Depot & Costco to inform and recruit potential foster parents. The committee will also develop a flyer that outlines what it means to be a foster parent and other FAQ’s. The flyer will also have on it agencies names and contact information and will be distributed at the above locations and beauty shops, etc.
PATH, Catholic Charities, Adoption Alliance, Denver County, Jefferson County, Mesa County and Elbert County are working on a pilot Structured Analysis Family Evaluation Program with Sharen Ford of CDHS to evaluate this assessment tool. The pilot will run from 7/01/04 to 12/31/04 and will then be evaluated by CDHS and other stakeholders to determine statewide implementation. Next Meeting Date: Tuesday, July 20th 11:45 AM The Hornet!
Committee members heard from Jo Blum of Families First and Kay Willis of Family Pathways of Colorado about their respective agency experiences with Medicaid audits and their Tips for surviving an audit. Members then reviewed and discussed the proposed volume 8 rules regarding RTCs and the recent requests from HCPF/CMS for PAM audit documents. Feedback on the Volume 8 rules should be sent to Peg ASAP for sharing with CDHS. They seem plagued with inconsistencies and vagueness. All CAFCA RTCs have received sample customer satisfaction surveys developed by Mark Peterson and his workgroup. Some RTCs have already distributed customer satisfaction surveys and all CAFCA members are encouraged to do so in compliance with the outcome measures CAFCA RTCs have agreed to collect during the coming fiscal year. The next CTS committee meeting will be Friday, July 16th, location TBA.
Public Policy
See the description above of the committee’s planned summer and fall campaign activities. There will not be a Public Policy Committee meeting on July 6th as both Cyndi and Peg will be out of town. Next meeting is Tuesday, August 3rd at 1120 Lincoln St., second floor conference room. At that time we will work on aspects of the fall campaign, which will include mobilizing a coordinated letters-to-the editor effort.
Membership/Communications
Committee members have reviewed the surveys sent to selected legislators, advocates and state/county child welfare policymakers regarding their perception of CAFCA as an entity in the child welfare public policy arena. Committee members are also visiting CAFCA’s other committees to share research on membership categories, potential admission of for-profits and other options for restructuring membership. Chair Jim Worthen will be bringing a proposed draft ethics statement to the board for its consideration in July. Next meeting is Thursday is July 15th. Time and location TBA.
CAFCA’s June 11th educational conference was a huge success thanks to all who attended and especially to our sponsors—Children’s ARK, Savio House, Excelsior Youth Center, Kidz ARK, Lost & Found, Beacon Center, Namaqua Center, Shiloh Home,Third Way and Adoption Alliance.
All three white papers (Adoption, Residential Treatment Services and Foster Care) are now available. Check the CAFCA website at: www.cafca.net.
The Colorado Association of Family and Children’s Agencies (our 501(c)(3) entity) has received grants from the Gay and Lesbian Fund ($3,000) and The Denver Foundation ($5,000 challenge grant) to support development of the online child welfare provider directory. In addition, the Association will be holding its inaugural art auction at the Abend Gallery on August 6th. Mark your calendars and look for more information about this exciting event in next month’s Brief Update.
Do you know someone who has
· made one or more outstanding contributions to advance the lives of others in a creative or meaningful way?
· Is a visionary in setting standards for leadership and generosity?
· Personifies the values inherent in self-determination and produces outcomes that enable others to realize their unique potential?
Nominations for the Bill Daniels Award are due to the Denver Police Activities League by August 1, 2004. For complete criteria and nomination forms, contact Russell Parisi, PAL Director, at 303 937-1223.
The Community CBHC providers are seeking photographs of artwork by consumers of mental health services. The winning four pieces of artwork (must be a minimum of 9”x12”) will be awarded to Legislators of Merit. Winning artists will receive transportation and lodging to the CBHC conference in Keystone this October to make the presentation in person. Entries must be postmarked by June 30, 2004 and should be sent to: Helga Meyer, Consumer Art Coordinator, Spanish Peaks Mental Health Center, 1340 Chinook Lane, Pueblo, CO 81001. Call 719 545-2746 or email Helga at helgam@spmhc.org if you have questions.
The Pew Commission Report “Fostering the Future: Safety, Permanence and Well-Being for Children in Foster Care” may be accessed from their website: http://pewfostercare.org.
JVA Consulting invites you to learn more about their program evaluation package that is designed to make reporting on outcomes easier and more efficient. JVA is hosting a no-cost look at this package of services, including evaluation tools, database for tracking, data collection and other features. RSVP to JVA Consulting at 303 477-4896 for this July 29th presentation, (8:30 a.m.coffee; 9-11 a.m. presentation) at Mile High United Way, 2505 18th St., Denver.