an overview georgia program improvement plan - Department of ...
an overview georgia program improvement plan - Department of ...
an overview georgia program improvement plan - Department of ...
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3. Special Assist<strong>an</strong>t Attorneys General (SAAG): Training events have occurred in 1999, 2002 <strong>an</strong>d 2004 to highlight the need for family involvement.<br />
By the end <strong>of</strong> J<strong>an</strong>uary 2003, the Case Pl<strong>an</strong> Reporting System (CPRS) was implemented in all 159 counties. Policy m<strong>an</strong>dates that all counties use the CPRS for<br />
developing case pl<strong>an</strong>s with families. By design, the CPRS provides critical fields for data collection concerning participation <strong>of</strong> the parent <strong>an</strong>d child. A report function<br />
was built which could document the number <strong>of</strong> case pl<strong>an</strong>s in the system <strong>an</strong>d the number <strong>of</strong> families who participated in case pl<strong>an</strong>ning. Two such reports have been run<br />
<strong>an</strong>d are on a website so counties c<strong>an</strong> access statistics related to CPRS data fields.<br />
The following needs have been identified to achieve compli<strong>an</strong>ce with child <strong>an</strong>d family involvement in case pl<strong>an</strong>ning:<br />
In April 2004, a revised New Worker curriculum was developed to better prepare staff to learn the requisite skills <strong>of</strong> casework <strong>an</strong>d be “job ready” in their perform<strong>an</strong>ce.<br />
Completion <strong>of</strong> the training will hopefully result in certification <strong>of</strong> staff. The State has been able to achieve the benchmark <strong>of</strong> “sampling” the underst<strong>an</strong>ding <strong>of</strong> staff with<br />
respect to family-centered practice via a pretest <strong>an</strong>d post-test modality.<br />
Practice application needs more monitoring. Case m<strong>an</strong>agers test well on this indicator <strong>an</strong>d seem to have a good underst<strong>an</strong>ding <strong>of</strong> the<br />
concept on the pre <strong>an</strong>d post-test. The practice is not being applied.<br />
Use the newly developed report function in CPRS to measure family involvement.<br />
Item 19: Worker Visits with Child<br />
The following steps were taken to develop visitation opportunities in the least restrictive setting <strong>an</strong>d in compli<strong>an</strong>ce with ASFA<br />
guidelines:<br />
Contact st<strong>an</strong>dards between the case m<strong>an</strong>ager <strong>an</strong>d the child were revised J<strong>an</strong>uary 2003 with the intent <strong>of</strong> strengthening the number <strong>of</strong> face-to-face visits. Especially lacking<br />
in policy had been the contact expectations <strong>of</strong> the DFCS case m<strong>an</strong>ager when the child is placed in a private agency home or facility. Since the DFCS case m<strong>an</strong>ager is still<br />
responsible for the child’s care <strong>an</strong>d well-being, the frequency <strong>of</strong> contact (face-to-face, phone, mail, etc.,) was increased. Monitoring <strong>an</strong>d supervision <strong>of</strong> children in private<br />
settings also requires greater documentation efforts in that the DFCS case m<strong>an</strong>ager is required to obtain a copy <strong>of</strong> progress reports/notes from the private agency/facility to<br />
review <strong>an</strong>d ensure that a copy is always filed in the case record.<br />
The State exceeded its expectation in developing child friendly visitation centers throughout Georgia. To date, over 25 centers are operational. The objective was to<br />
decrease the use <strong>of</strong> the agency <strong>of</strong>fice as a visitation site <strong>an</strong>d <strong>of</strong>fer other alternatives. In order to use the least restrictive setting as <strong>of</strong>ten as possible, the contact st<strong>an</strong>dards in<br />
Safe Futures – A Pl<strong>an</strong> for Program Improvement<br />
Georgia <strong>Department</strong> <strong>of</strong> Hum<strong>an</strong> Resources<br />
November, 2004 Quarter 8 – Table <strong>of</strong> Contents Page xiv