AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PROGRAM REVIEW AND INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES.

AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PROGRAM REVIEW AND INVESTIGATIONS COMMITTEE CONCERNING THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES.

This bill implements a number of changes in statutes relating to the Department of Children and Families' (DCF) planning, programming, and reporting functions. It:

1. requires DCF to develop and regularly update a single comprehensive strategic plan;

2. expands the authority and oversight of the State Advisory Council on Children and Families (SAC) with respect to DCF programs and services;

3. requires, rather than allows, DCF to establish advisory groups for each facility it operates (The Connecticut Children's Place, the Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS), High Meadows, Riverview Hospital, and the Wilderness School) and provide them administrative support;

4. directs DCF and the juvenile court to establish a pilot program to integrate treatment plans for abused and neglected children in DCF's care with the court's orders concerning specific steps their parents must take in order to regain custody; and

5. requires state agencies cited in an Office of the Child Advocate report to respond in writing within 60 days.

The bill also eliminates several reporting requirements and advisory groups and makes technical and conforming changes.

The bill eliminates a requirement that DCF submit to the legislature a five-year master plan every two years. Instead, with the assistance of the SAC, it must develop and regularly update a single, comprehensive strategic plan for meeting the needs of the children and families it serves. In developing and updating the plan, DCF must consult with representatives of children and families it serves, service providers, advocates, and others interested in child and family well-being in the state. The plan must identify and define agency goals and indicators of progress in achieving them.

1. a mission statement;

2. goals for the department, each of its mandated areas of responsibility (child welfare, juvenile justice, children's mental health and substance abuse services, and child abuse and neglect prevention), and each of its programs and services;

3. a schedule and timeframe for achieving these goals and fulfilling its mission;

4. priorities for services and estimates of the funding and other resource needs to implement them;

5. program and service standards; and

6. relevant performance measures.

The bill requires DCF to begin the strategic planning process on July 1, 2009. Before submitting the plan to the legislature and governor, which must occur by July 1, 2010, DCF must submit it to SAC for review and comment.

The DCF commissioner must track progress in achieving the strategic plan's goals and file quarterly reports with SAC beginning October 1, 2010. She must submit annual progress reports to the legislature and governor beginning July 1, 2011.

By law, SAC makes recommendations to DCF about programs, legislation, and other matters to improve services; annually advises the commissioner on her proposed budget; explains DCF's policies, duties, and programs to the public; and issues reports to the governor and commissioner on an as-needed basis. The bill directs DCF to provide the council with funding for administrative support and to facilitate participation by council members representing families (10 of its 17 members are parents or relatives of children receiving, or who have received, DCF services).

The bill requires the council to hold its meetings at locations that facilitate public participation. DCF must post the council agenda and minutes on its web site.

1. reviewing and commenting on DCF's strategic plan,

2. receiving quarterly reports from the commissioner concerning the department's progress in carrying out the strategic plan,

3. independently monitoring the department's progress in achieving the strategic plan's goals, and

4. offering the department assistance and an outside perspective to help it achieve its goals.

In addition, the bill requires the SAC chairperson to appoint a committee composed of people knowledgeable about children who need behavioral health services and family supports. Committee members must include parents and guardians of children with behavioral health needs. Its purpose is to fulfill the state's mental health planning under three federal laws that require states to have behavioral health-related councils as a condition of receiving mental health block grant funding.

The bill eliminates SAC's Children's Behavioral Health Advisory Committee which is composed of 31 public and Executive Branch members who must fairly and adequately represent parents of children who have a serious emotional disturbance. Currently, the committee provides SAC with (1) annual status reports on local systems of care and practice standards for state-funded children's behavioral health programs and (2) biennial recommendations concerning the provision of behavioral health services to Connecticut children.

The bill requires each DCF-operated facilities to submit an annual report to its advisory group that includes:

1. aggregate resident profiles;

2. descriptions of, and updates on, major initiatives;

3. key outcome indicators and results;

4. operating costs; and

5. descriptions of its (a) educational, vocational, and literacy programs, (b) behavioral, treatment, and other services for residents, and (c) their outcomes.

DCF must serve as administrative staff and post these reports on its website. The bill directs the advisory groups to respond to their facility's annual report and recommend improvements and enhancements that they deem necessary.

The bill directs the DCF commissioner and Judicial Branch's chief court administrator to establish a pilot program to integrate (1) the department's initial plan for care, treatment, and permanent placement of children who have been removed from their homes due to allegations of abuse and neglect with (2) the juvenile court's orders directing their parents to take specific steps to get their children back. Currently, these decisions are made separately.

The commissioner must consult with the chief court administrator to designate one DCF area office to participate in the pilot program. They must administer the program within appropriations; it must end by October 1, 2011.

Under the bill, a Judicial Branch court support services officer must convene a meeting to develop the initial treatment plan and proposed specific steps for the child and family. The officer must invite the parents or guardian; child or youth, when appropriate and their respective attorneys; DCF staff responsible for developing and implementing treatment plans; and people involved in assessing the child or youth's and family's needs and providing services. Whenever possible, meetings should be scheduled and held in places that maximize the likelihood that the youngsters and families will be able to attend.

After the meeting, the court must issue an order identifying the specific steps that the parent must take to regain custody. DCF's written treatment plan for the child or youth must include an evaluation of the child's problems, proposed treatment services, and temporary and permanent placement goals (these are already required by law) as well as:

1. an assessment of the child or youth's health and welfare;

2. an evaluation of his or her problems and strengths;

3. a proposed plan of treatment services and temporary placement, and a goal for permanent placement; and

4. specific planning goals and clear, comprehensive, time-sensitive action steps for meeting educational and behavioral health needs.

The DCF commissioner and chief court administrator must report on the pilot program's results to the Children's, Human Services, and Judiciary committees by February 1, 2012. The report must include a recommendation on whether the program should be expanded statewide.

1. the quality of DCF's written treatment plans,

2. consistency between treatment plans and the court's specific steps orders, and

3. participation by all the parties who must be invited to the initial meeting.

The bill requires any state agency cited in an official report issued by the child advocate to submit a written response to the child advocate no later than 60 days after it receives the report. If the report is the product of the child advocate's in-depth investigation into the death or a critical incident involving a child, the agency must also send copies of its response to the Child Fatality Review Panel, the governor, and the legislature. Agency responses must include proposed corrective actions to address identified problems and a time frame for implementing improvements.

The bill eliminates obsolete reporting statutes and the following mandated reports:

1. annual self-evaluations by community collaboratives participating in Connecticut KidCare, the state's child behavioral health program;

2. CJTS advisory group ongoing reviews and DCF annual reports on their findings and recommendations;

3. annual child care facility reports from DCF licensees;

4. annual DCF reports containing delinquency statistics and new facility plans;

5. annual performance reports on DCF's Unified School District #2;

6. quarterly reports from hospitals to DCF concerning psychiatric services provided to children; and

7. DCF's monthly reports to the Public Health and Human Services committees concerning hospitalized children receiving subacute psychiatric care due to a lack of community-based services.

The bill also eliminates (1) an advisory committee that studies and makes annual reports to DCF on programs to promote adoption of minority and hard-to-place foster children, (2) a committee that is currently required to make quarterly reviews of safety and security issues at CJTS that affect Middletown, and (3) SAC's Children's Behavioral Health Advisory Committee.

Yea

Nay

(03/03/2009)

Yea

Nay

(03/12/2009)