an overview georgia program improvement plan - Department of ...

policy require that the case manager’s visits with children occur in the home. When children are in family foster homes or relative home placements, contacts with the
child must occur in the home at least every other month.
To ensure ongoing monitoring, reviewers using the E & R Review Guide sample county department records and track a 3-month period to determine if and where contacts
occur.
ICPC approved placements are tracked to better assure that quarterly reports have been submitted. Such tracking occurs on two levels: (1) State level via the ICPC
Automated Reporting and Tracking System, which generates an exceptions report (“Unfulfilled Requests”); and (2) County level via supervisory tracking and review
responsibilities as set forth in the Social Services Supervisor’s Handbook.
The following need has been identified with respect to Social Services Case Managers – Child contacts:
The QCR (Cumulative Report for October 2003 –September 2004) revealed that in 79.61% of the cases reviewed, the agency was maintaining meaningful face-toface
contacts with the child. Where this was not happening, the child was either not being seen monthly or the child was seen at school and not in the home and there
was no documentation of interaction between the child and the case manager. The policy is in place to set forth expectations, as is the ongoing monitoring piece via E
& R Reviews.
Item 20: Worker Visits with Parents
The following steps were taken to have meaningful and purposeful visits between parents and case managers:
Contact standards were established in policy, which was revised January 2003. Specifically, contact with the parent (when reunification is the goal) is no less frequent
than once each month. Otherwise, contacts occur as needed to provide services to the parent. Other related policy requirements are:
1. Every other month, the contact with the parent must take place in the residence of the parent.
2. Documentation requirements are strengthened so that the contact is recorded in sufficient detail to reflect when and where the contact occurred, who was there and what
happened (purpose in relation to case plan goals/steps).
3. Quality of visits is enhanced by policy that outlines “activities” which may occur as part of a purposeful visit between the case manager and the parent.
Safe Futures – A Plan for Program Improvement
Georgia Department of Human Resources
November, 2004 Quarter 8 – Table of Contents Page xv