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

6 th Quarter Federal Response: The relevance of the number of permanency goals by type is unclear. Either the State is including
permanency goals for children in closed cases or there is some other explanation as to the significant difference between the State's
AFCARS reporting (see below) and the 16 000 case plans.
Children in care on the first day of the year:
2002: 12, 812
2003: 12, 986 (preliminary)
7 th Quarter Report: Achieved - The adoption checklist is a part of CPRS. Effective April 2004, the adoption checklist now has a
link in the main navigational toolbar, which makes it much easier to find. Workers are introduced to the checklist during New Worker
Training. Supervisors are receiving instruction in regional supervisors meetings statewide - on the importance of using the checklist to
improve outcomes for children through timely finalization of adoption. The courts have agreed that the tool is helpful, and the judges
have been encouraged to request workers to utilize the checklist for any case with a TPR.
The ACF 6th quarter response points out a discrepancy of the numbers between CPRS and IDS. IDS is the official reporting system
for AFCARS information. The number of plans in CPRS is higher due to several factors. During the migration of plans from the
original CPRS to CPRSv2, duplicate cases were created. The counties were not aware that they needed to close the original plan, so
the duplicate plans remain. Other plans should have been closed when their case was closed. The Division is now providing training
to supervisors on how to identify plans that need to be closed and how to close them. Additionally, supervisors and workers are
receiving training on how to create a new plan and review existing plans. The developer for the system will review the system for
“junk plans” and delete as appropriate.
8 th Quarter Report: Achieved. In every training opportunity, including new worker training, veteran worker training, regional
supervisory training and statewide conferences, the CPRS adoption checklist has been introduced, reviewed, and staff are encouraged
to use this feature when TPR or voluntary surrender is realized. The “Prompt” is functioning as designed. The usage should increase
as workers achieved TPR or VS on new children. For many of the children who are free for adoption and have been in the system for
some time, case managers are not required to use the checklist because the older cases were “grandfathered” into the system. As
mentioned in the 3 rd quarter report, the prototype was piloted in Dekalb County and was implemented statewide.
To address the data discrepancy discussed in the 7 th quarterly report, on October 22, State DFCS received the list of cases in CPRS
that do not match an open case in IDS. After reviewing the list, the project administrator was able to determine several causes for the
unmatched cases, which include: 1. Child's name is entered one way in CPRS and a different way in IDS. 2. Case number is either
missing from CPRS or is a different format from IDS. 2. Cases where there is more than one draft plan for each child, because the
worker had a problem and started over without completing the first plan. 3. Cases where there is more than one draft plan for each
Safe Futures – A Plan for Program Improvement
Georgia Department of Human Resources
November, 2004 Quarter 8 - Work Plan E Page 9