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Monthly Update 200902 PDF

The document provides updates from the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, including: - March is recognized as Social Work Month and one of the department's supervisors won a national award for her work reducing disparate outcomes. - The FY09-10 budget will see reductions for the department, consolidating appropriations, and information technology is proposed to be consolidated across state agencies. - A strategic plan was developed through regional input to achieve safety, permanency, and well-being goals. - An upcoming safety conference will address staff safety and trauma.

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Mark Reinhardt
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48 views4 pages

Monthly Update 200902 PDF

The document provides updates from the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, including: - March is recognized as Social Work Month and one of the department's supervisors won a national award for her work reducing disparate outcomes. - The FY09-10 budget will see reductions for the department, consolidating appropriations, and information technology is proposed to be consolidated across state agencies. - A strategic plan was developed through regional input to achieve safety, permanency, and well-being goals. - An upcoming safety conference will address staff safety and trauma.

Uploaded by

Mark Reinhardt
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF

Children
& Families
Supporting Children Strengthening Families


Department of Children & Families Monthly Update

Volume One Issue One

In This Issue:

March is Social Work Month!


Supervisor Wins National Award
FY09 10 Budget Summary
IT Proposed Consolidation
Strategic Plan
Preview: Safety Conference

March is Social Work Month!


On behalf of the entire Department
of Children and Families community,
wed like to express our thanks and
deep appreciation for our social
workers. In a time with fewer
resources, and greater hardships, our social workers
are essential to the hope and well-being of the
agency, children, and families we serve. Their
dedication and passion is unmatched. [ back ]

Supervisor wins national award


Michelle Gordon, one of our central office recruitment
supervisors, was recognized as one of the Star
Awardees for completing the 2007-2008 Minority
Adoption Leadership Institute from the National Child
Welfare Resource Center for Adoption. Her Action
Research was entitled Reducing Disproportional and
Disparate Outcomes for the Loneliest Children in the
Child Welfare System. Her work was presented on
her behalf during the 4th Annual MALDI Institute in
Washington, DC on December 1-3, 2008. [ back ]

FY09-10 Budget Summary


On January 28th, amid a deep and unprecedented
national recession, Governor Deval Patrick submitted
his Fiscal Year 2010 budget proposal and an emergency plan for closing a $1.1 billion budget gap in the
current fiscal year.

Rosie D Implementation
Delay Request
Transitional Care Unit
DCF Style Guide
PayInfo
Contact Information

What does this mean for DCF?


FY09 estimated spending (with 9C cuts): $816.4m
(reduction of $20m from approved July 1, 2008
funding level of $836m.

FY10 House 1 is funded at: $791.4m


An estimated $16.9m reduction compared
to FY 09 estimated spending.
Includes a transfer of $8m to Executive Office
of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) for
the consolidation of information technology
at the secretariat level.
There are no significant funding increases for
DCF in FY10 House 1; the domestic violence
account is level funded at FY09 levels.

FY10 House 1 consolidates DCFs twelve existing


appropriations into five.

DCF is working with the House and Senate Ways


and Means Committees as the FY10 budget
moves through the Legislative Appropriation process.

To learn more about the Governors Emergency


Recovery Plan and his FY2010 Budget
Recommendation, visit:
www.mass.gov/governor/recoveryplan
[ back ]

IT Proposed Consolidation
One of the provisions in Governor Patrick's 2010
budget proposal is to consolidate information technology (IT) planning, budgets, staff and applications
across all agencies at the Secretariat level, for each
Secretary. This means the IT infrastructure, data
centers and Commonwealth wide applications will be
consolidated at EOHHS.
EOHHS is at the beginning of this process, and has
convened an IT governing board to steer the overall
consolidation; Commissioner McClain is a member of
the governing board. DCF will be contributing to the
development of the plan, however at this time, we
are not certain how this will be operationalized at
the agency level, and will need to wait for further
development of the plan. Commissioner McClain is
working with DCF CIO Mary Ellen Bennard to identify
DCF's information technology needs for 2010, 2011
and beyond.
DCF relies on our IT staff to ensure that our technology needs are met and to enhance our technology
abilities to better meet the needs of our clients.
We are confident that the decisions made to address
this consolidation of IT infrastructure will support the
ongoing mission and operations of the Department.
[ back ]

Strategic Plan
The Department began a strategic planning process
in June, 2008. Five teams were convened to provide
recommendations on DCFs agency goals of Safety,
Permanency, Well-being, Community-Connected
Practice, and Effective Leadership. The teams were
comprised of DCF social workers, supervisors and
managers, as well as family and community
representatives. Each team identified opportunities
for improvement and made recommendations for
strengthening our core practice functions and
incorporating innovative approaches. The Strategic
Planning teams offered more than five hundred recommendations which were integrated and prioritized,
and then presented at Regional forums involving over
900 staff and external stakeholders. The result of the
diligent work of our planning teams and input from
the Regional forums is the Departments Strategic
Plan for Strengthening the Safety Net.

2.

This plan builds upon prior planning and development


efforts and sets forth an action plan to achieve our
agencys primary objectives of:

Safely Stabilizing and Preserving Families;


Safely Reunifying Families; and
Safely Creating New Families

The approaches outlined in the plan emphasize core


practices that engage and empower families, new
structures and processes that match our intervention
to the needs of the child and family, and strategies
to ensure that as an agency we are achieving positive
outcomes with our children and families. The DCF
Integrated Casework Practice Model set forth in the
plan incorporates opportunities for extended screening, differential response, and integrated assessment
and service planning processes. Our ongoing collaboration with collaterals, community partners, and the
larger child welfare community is fundamental to
ensuring that children and families have access to
the services and supports they need.
The plan will be posted on the DCF intranet within
the next few weeks, for review and comment. There
will be multiple opportunities for learning about the
new practice model and the implementation plan
throughout the spring and summer.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.mass.gov/Eeohhs2/docs/dss/news_strate
gic_planning.ppt
[ back ]

Preview: Safety Conference


The safety of child welfare workers is paramount to
the Department. The long-awaited DCF Safety
Conference: Supporting Staff, Strengthening Practice
is being held on March 12, 2009 at the Courtyard
Marriott in Marlborough. The day long conference
is sponsored by the Massachusetts Child Welfare
Institute and the Statewide Safety Committee for
over 200 DCF and provider participants.
Commissioner Angelo McClain will give the keynote
address. Morning and afternoon workshop topics include safety planning, navigating critical incidents,
working with law enforcement, vicarious traumatization and self-care. The conference participants will
create an action plan to bring back vital skills and
knowledge to area office staff.
[ back ]

2.

Rosie D Implementation
Delay Request
MassHealth has recently filed a motion in United
States District Court seeking a partial extension of
the service implementation deadline in the class
action lawsuit known as Rosie D. v. Romney.
The proposed modification would extend the
implementation deadline for four services:
In-Home Behavioral Services, In-Home Therapy
Services, Therapeutic Mentoring and Crisis
Stabilization moving the start date twelve
months from June 30, 2009 to July 1, 2010. The
original implementation deadline of June 30, 2009
would remain for Intensive Care Coordination
(ICC), Mobile Crisis Intervention and Caregiver
Peer-to-Peer Support. (Note that all of these services
must be approved by the federal Center for Medicare
and Medicaid Services (CMS) prior to implementation.
CMS has approved ICC. Approval for all other services
is pending.)
MassHealth has made a careful decision not to
request an extension for the implementation deadline
for ICC, Caregiver Peer-to-Peer Support and Mobile
Crisis Intervention. ICC is the heart of the new
system, addressing the most significant unmet need
identified by the Court: the lack of comprehensive
care coordination for MassHealth children and youth
across the State with a serious emotional disturbance. Caregiver Peer-to-Peer Support, which is
provided by "Family Partners," is an integral part of
ICC. Mobile Crisis Intervention will be provided by
teams of mental health professionals trained to work
with children and youth and their families and will be
an essential resource for providing behavioral health
services to children and youth living at home.
MassHealth believes that these services, in combination with the current Family Stabilization Team (FST)
service, will go along way in this proposed first
wave of implementation towards meeting the needs
identified by the Court.
Currently, MassHealth is on track to implement all
services by the current June 30, 2009 deadline
and, pending the Court's action on this request,
MassHealth will continue all implementation activities
to meet this deadline.

3.

MassHealths decision to file a motion to modify the


implementation schedule comes in the wake of the
state and nation's severe fiscal crisis. Decreased state
revenues forced Governor Patrick to implement a
fiscal action plan in October, cutting $1.053 billion
from the state budget including $353.7 million from
the Executive Office of Health and Human Services
($292 million from MassHealth alone).
[ back ]

Transitional Care Unit


Transitional Care Units, or TCUs, are short term
placement programs designed to meet the needs of
latency age and adolescent youth in the care or
custody of the Department who are on the CARD list
waiting for a more permanent placement in a foster
home, intensive foster home, community group home
or kinship setting. Children for whom the discharge
plan is to return home are also eligible if more time
is needed to prepare the transition home. The
Department of Children and Families, Mass. Health
and the five Managed Care Entities (MCEs) serving
Medicaid eligible youth collaborated in the design of
TCU in order to ensure that it met both DCF and
federal Medicaid requirements for care of youth in a
community setting. The programs were procured by
the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership on
behalf of all the MCEs. The full cost of care is paid
for by Medicaid.
Children who may benefit from this service are
identified either by the regional Mental Health
Specialists or by the MCE Clinical Manager. The
Mental Health Specialist will contact the Area Office
responsible for the child and obtain agreement for
the placement. Currently there are 6 agencies
providing TCU services: YOU, Inc., St Vincents,
St. Anns, Health and Education Services,The Italian
Home, and Providence Hospital.
We expect that the program will help to reduce
the number of children on the CARD list, and is
likely to continue and possibly expand. If you have
a child that is ready for discharge from a psychiatric
hospital and meets the eligibility criteria noted
earlier, please contact your regional Mental Health
[ back ]
Specialist to discuss the case further.

DCF Style Guide

PayInfo
SUPPRESS YOUR PAY ADVICE NOW and you'll be
a winner for doing your part to reduce your carbon
footprint! Thanks for your participation! For more
information, please visit:
https://payinfo.state.ma.us/PayInfo/FirstTime.asp
[ back ]

The Public Affairs office has created a resource for


you to use regarding proper use of our new name,
logo, and state seal. Please visit the Public Affairs
page on the intranet to review this guide and to
find templates to use when creating new materials.
[ back ]

Contact Information

4.

Massachusetts Department
of Children & Families
Angelo McClain, Commissioner

Central Office
24 Farnsworth Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02210

617-748-2000
1-800-kids-508
www.state.ma.us/dcf

For general questions or comments


please contact:
[email protected]

For Intranet updates, contact:


[email protected]

For Internet updates, contact:


[email protected]

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