CAFCA
BRIEF UPDATECAFCA
BRIEF UPDATE
October/November 2004
CAFCA Annual Membership Meeting
Friday,
November 12, 2004, at: Maggiano’s Little Italy in the Denver Pavilions
Business meeting and elections 10:30 -11:30 a.m., followed by LUNCH!
Agenda will include: The Year in Review, President’s and Treasurer’s Reports, Update on the Association Activities and Preview of CAFCA’s 5-year strategic plan for Public Policy
Lunch
Keynote by Joel Johnson, Midwest Regional Director, CWLA
“The National Child Welfare Scene: What Providers Can Expect”
Cost:
$25 per person
RSVP to Peg or Mary by Friday, November 5th!
Committee Highlights
Adoption Committee
Dana Andrews of CDHS sent a letter to the attorney of the DEX Yellow pages regarding listings of in-state and out-of-state adoption agencies, but has not heard back from them to date. If we’re too late for 2004 we will attempt again in 2005. The adoption rules revision task force continues to meet and is focusing now on international adoptions. CDHS may also bring legislation to amend the statute to read “agencies licensed in Colorado” rather than the current requirement of simply being “licensed.” Progress towards a putative fathers’ registry have stalled due to a potential significant fiscal note for the costs to the Department of Public Health and Environment, the designated keeper of the registry. Committee members identified the following issues for the public policy strategic plan:
§ Promotion of adoption as a positive choice – this will also be in line with the Lt. Governors Commission on Adoption and recommendation #8 – Improve the public perception of adoption.
§ Clarify the rules / regulations regarding adoption – this is in line with the current efforts to revise the rules and regulation and again with the Lt. Governors Commission on Adoption and recommendation #5 Clarify the issue of when a child is legally free for adoption
§ Prevention of children from coming into the “system.” Identifying resources and support for families
Next Meeting Date: Thursday, November 11th - Adoption Options, 2600 S. Parker Rd., Suite 2-320, Aurora, CO. Please allot 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM.
Public Policy Committee
Despite the fact that the September revenue report exceeded projections, Colorado is facing a $263 million structural budget deficit, which the JBC analysts believe may grow to $500 million during fiscal year 2004-05. This will occur simultaneously with tax year refunds in the $114 + million range. We can thank TABOR for this anomaly. Rep. Debbie Stafford will likely sponsor the Child Fatality Prevention Act, which establishes a tiered process for reviewing all child deaths in Colorado, whether from accidental or intentional causes. The report of the Lt. Governor’s commission, Strengthening Families One Child at a Time, contains 16 recommendations for promoting adoption in Colorado and highlights the adoption of 700 children in foster care whose parental rights have already been terminated. Recommendations include encouraging churches to recruit foster and adoptive families. The Volume VIII RTC rules will likely be on HCPF’s December 10th 2004 or January 2005 agenda. RTCs will be asked to attend the hearing in large numbers and several may be asked to testify against the per diem recovery. RTC workgroup liaisons will report to CAFCA members on group activities through annotated minutes and will take input back to the workgroups as CDHS moves forward with its FY 2005-06 rate setting and clinical changes.
The System of Care (SOC) workgroup met with the Governor’s office and has drafted an Issue Brief for distribution to legislators, counties and administrative agency personnel. A summit meeting by invitation only will be held November 8-10 to explain the concept of a system of care and showcase several existing successful, integrated, collaborative programs in Colorado. The group is hoping to achieve buy-in from the Governor’s office, the legislature and other policymakers in order to move forward with implementation of HB 1451. Peg is active with this group and will keep CAFCA members informed.
Mendez Steadman and Associates has been awarded CAFCA’s lobbying contract for calendar year 2005, following an RFP And interview process.
Next Meeting: CAFCA will conduct its Public Policy Strategic Planning Session on December 7th, 1-4 p.m. in lieu of a regular Committee meeting. All are welcome to attend. Location: 2660 Larimer St., VOA building, basement conference room.
Foster Care
Linda Osborne will represent CAFCA at the CPA Network legislative committee in the future. CPAs are discussing the possibility of supporting legislation excluding them from the requirement that they use the Trails child abuse registry as CPAs are able to obtain this information in other ways without incurring the additional costs. There is concern that the database in Trails only goes back to the year 2000 and does not provide the assurance or protection that is needed. Proposed rules are expected regarding group homes, receiving homes, and dedicated family homes. Legislation in 2005 may include a bill requiring continuance of foster care payments pending finalization of adoption. Committee members are working on revisions to the Foster Care White Paper originally published in November 2002. Members noted that Steve Bates from DYC has been selected as Jane Beveridge’s replacement when she retires in early 2005. Child Care and Child Welfare will be consolidated into a single division. Many CPAs are beginning or plan to have treatment foster homes as the level of children in foster care has increased. Many are moving towards outcome-based initiatives to monitor success vs. just permanency.
After a short discussion regarding creating best practice standards of foster homes and treatment in foster care (based on the Foster Family Treatment Association guidelines) and the consistency of interpretations of rules & regulations it was decided that the foster care committee would propose the following issues to be included in the Public Policy 5-Year Strategic Plan:
Next Meeting: November 10th 11:00 AM at the Imperial (great Chinese!) on South Broadway in Denver! Adoree Blair will discuss the purposes behind SB 04-137 and its impact on CPA contracts.
CTS Committee
CAFCA member Juli Alvarado of PATH Inc. spoke to committee members about the Professional Association of Treatment Foster Homes (PATH) Treatment Foster Care Model. PATH has approximately 25 Treatment Foster Homes in Colorado and utilizes the Stress Model (www.brianpost.com) in transitioning extremely high needs youth out of institutional care. Criteria/profile for placement includes:
- Minimum 2 years of institutional care
- Minimum of 1 failed adoption
- Minimum of 5 failed placements
- Hospitalization
- Diagnosis of Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD)
PATH treatment foster parents go into the RTC and work with the staff for approximately 1 month to assist in the transition from the RTC placement to their home. Additionally, they build on the RTC’s treatment plan and structure to allow for a smoother transition with less disruption for the child. The staff includes Licensed Family Therapists and a 24-hour on-call system that has staff directly responding to the family home within 15 minutes of the call. Approximately 78% of discharged clients have returned to less restrictive environments. See www.pathinc.org for more information.
In order to limit the time RTC Workgroup CAFCA member representatives would need to spend in communicating the information from these meetings to CTS committee members, they have been asked to comment and add their points to the minutes that are distributed by Kathy Chase and Larry Marsh. Additionally, they are asked to point out action items and collect input to take back to the workgroup. Few members were in attendance that sit on any of the workgroups, therefore the members present noted if anyone from their agency was on a workgroup and were going to approach them to ask for help in getting information to CAFCA members.
Volume VIII RTC rules are likely to go to the Medical Services Board in December or January. RTCs will need to be present in large numbers and some may need to testify against the provision of a full per diem rate recovery for any undocumented RTC service. CAFCA is coordinating testimony and RTC presence, please contact Peg if you or a Board member will be attending. Fofi will contact Vivianne Chaumont to see if she will meet with us one last time to discuss the full per diem recovery before we move forward with our plan to oppose these rules.
Next Meeting: Friday, November 19th, 10:30-noon. Location: TBA. Agenda will include a discussion of the RTC RFP process and the issues for the Public Policy 5-Year Strategic Plan.
Food Collection Efforts for Families
To assist low income families negatively impacted by the State’s change to a new database, CBMS,
please contribute to local food collection efforts. In Denver, drop food off at: the Webb Municipal Office Building; City and County Building;
all Denver police and fire stations; all Kaiser Permanente medical centers; all Salvation Army thrift stores; Food Bank of the Rockies
(10975 E. 47th Ave.); district offices for Denver City Council members Rick Garcia, Jeanne Faatz, and Rosemary Rodriguez.
You can also donate online at www.foodbankrockies.org/donate_now.cfm or www.imsalvationarmy.org.
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Regis University Presents
A
Speaker Series on Children and Violence
Tuesday Evenings 6:00 -9:30 p.m., November 9 -- December 7
Regis
University, Lowell Campus, 3333 Regis
Boulevard
Science Bldg. Amphitheater (seating capacity, 180)
There is No Charge to the Public to Attend the Speaker Presentations,
but Reservations are Required (seating is limited)
RSVP to Dr. Mirich at: dmirich@regis.edu
Facilitator and Course Instructor: Don E. Lindley, Sgt. Denver Police
Facilitator: David G. Mirich, PhD, Psychologist, Sex Offender Evaluator and Provider
NOVEMBER 9
· David Mirich Ph.D. -- Overview of Series; Children and Violence
· Detective James Dempsey, Denver Police Gang Unit -- Gang Violence
· Denver Police Officer Scott Hughes -- School Violence, Columbine
NOVEMBER 16
· Diane Balkin, Denver Deputy District Attorney -- Linking Cruelty to Animals in Youth to Adult Violence
· Keri Fitzpatrick, Department of Criminal Justice, Juvenile Standards Coordinator, Sex Offense Management Board -- Juvenile Sex Offenders
NOVEMBER 23: Expert Panel Discussion--Children and Violence
· Dr. Donald Bross, Kempe Children's Center
· Cheryl Millikin, Director, Domestic Violence Board
· Jill McFadden, Director, Sex Offense Management Board
· Detective James Dempsey, Denver Gang Unit
· Ray Slaughter, Director, Department of Criminal Justice
· Keri Fitzpatrick, Juvenile Standards Coordinator, SOMB
· Skete Johnson, Public Defender
Ray Nelson, LPC, SOMB listed Polygrapher: The Use of the Polygraph with Juveniles -- Force and Coercion in Sexual Offenses
· Dr. Donald Bross, Kempe Children's Center
· Debbie Reno-Smith, Asst. Director, Rocky Mountain Behav. Health
DECEMBER 7: Pedophilia and Child Molestation
· David Mirich, PhD, Licensed Psychologist, Sex Offender Evaluator and Provider, Regis Professor
· Investigator Diane Obbema, Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in the Crimes Against Children's Unit
The Campus Writing Program at the Colorado School of Mines is seeking projects that benefit Colorado nonprofits and will provide technical assistance for funding proposals or a report leading to a funding proposal. The project brings technical expertise to nonprofits that are seeking funding for a project that involves such concepts as safety issues, computer hardware or software, databases design, ADA compliance, other structural modifications, etc. Requests for project support must be received by December 15, 2004 with assistance provided between January and April 2005. Submit requests to: jleydens@mines.edu or via mail to: Dr. Jon A Leydens, Writing Program Administrator, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Liberal Arts 7 International Studies, Stratton Hall—Suite 301, Golden, CO 80401-1887.