Facilities

Connecticut Children’s Place (CCP)

Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS)

High Meadows

Riverview Hospital for Children

Wilderness School

Improvements/Achievements 2007-08

POSITIVE OUTCOMES FOR CHILDREN

Accountability and Performance

The Department is achieving or nearly achieving 20 of the 22 performance measures established in the plan to end federal court jurisdiction. For eight consecutive quarters the Department has met outright 16 or 17 of the measures, and fourteen of the goals have been met consecutively during the same two-year period. This consistent quality of work has brought the Department to a final phase where it is addressing the two remaining unmet outcomes.

Fewer Children In State Care, More Intact Families Served

The number of children in care has declined by 971 children or 15.1 percent in four years. This reflects a number of positive developments including a reduction in the number of children entering care and an accompanying increase in the number of families served with their children at home. Whereas 2,930 children entered care in 2002, the three-year average for 2005 through 2007 was 2,515.7, and the total for 2007 was 2,137. In-home cases have increased 41 percent from July 2002 when there were 2,849 in-home cases to August 2008 when there were 4,018 in-home cases. An increase in the percentage of children exiting care to a form of permanency in a timely manner as evidenced by the three permanency outcomes is another positive factor contributing to this overall downward trend in the number of children in care.

More Family Care

Another important trend is that family care is growing as measured by the percentage of children first entering care being placed into a foster home, relative home or special study home. Whereas 57 percent of children first entering care were placed in a family setting in 2002, this has grown to 72 percent in both 2006 and 2007.

TIMELY PERMANENCE: ADOPTION, GUARDIANSHIP, REUNIFICATION

Meeting Goals For Timely Permanency

Over the past eight quarters, the three measures of timely permanency, which include adoption, subsidized guardianship, and reunification, have met the goal in 20 of the 24 possible occasions. Timely adoptions, which represented just 10.7 percent of all adoptions in the first quarter of the Exit Plan, has been at or over 33 percent in each of the last seven quarters.

More Permanent Homes

During state fiscal years 1997 to 2005, an average of 615 permanent homes (both adoptions and subsidized guardianships) were found annually for children in foster care -- more than four times the number in 1996. In FY2008, 634 adoptions were finalized and 234 subsidized guardianships granted for a total of 868 new permanent homes.

APPROPRIATE LEVELS OF CARE FOR CHILDREN

Reducing Reliance on Residential Care

The movement away from congregate settings for children in care is one that has been underway since the inception of the Exit Plan in 2004. The outcome measure for reducing reliance on residential care reached its best levels in the final two quarters of FY2008 and has met the goal for nine consecutive quarters. As of August 11, 2008, the number of children in residential care has declined by 318 children or more than 35 percent since April 2004. The number of children in residential care, 571 as of August 11, 2008, is at its lowest level on record.

In Home and Community Based Services

The reduction in children in residential care overall is attributable to a number of factors. One clear improvement is that Connecticut now has the capacity to serve nearly 2,300 children a year in intensive home-based programs, which largely did not exist only a few years ago. Some of the initiatives that help children and families with mental health and substance abuse treatment needs in their homes include:

· “Family support teams” (serves 340 families annually) and therapeutic foster care;

· In-home family therapy services (serves more than 1,900 families annually);

· “Wrap around” services that help both children and parents in whatever way is required, including non-traditional help such as mentoring and respite (serves 1,150 families annually); and

· Intensive in-home psychiatric services (serves 500 children annually).

Therapeutic Group Homes

Another key initiative has been the development of new therapeutic group homes. These group homes provide intensive clinical services and allow children who would otherwise need a more institutional treatment setting to live in a home-like environment and attend school in the community. By fall of 2008 DCF will have contracted for 54 therapeutic group homes with a capacity to serve 273 children and adolescents. This initiative has been instrumental in enabling children to reside in home-like community based settings.

POST SECONDARY EDUCATION/PREPARING YOUTH TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL ADULTS

Post-Secondary Education

In the 2007-2000 academic year, DCF provided financial assistance to 671 youth for their participation (full or part time) in post secondary education, including technical school, two or four-year college, and graduate school. That represents an increase of nearly 10 percent compared to the previous year. DCF continues its support until the youth reaches age 23.

In FY 2008, over 1,036 service slots teaching independent and transitional living skills were offered to youths preparing to transition to adulthood. In particular, the Department provided 507 service slots to youth participating in the independent living and transitional programs. Components of these programs included housing, life skills instruction, and educational and training services (tutoring and, career and job exploration). The Department provided community-based life skills instruction to 248 youth residing in foster care. Youth were also provided with the opportunity to participate in one of the 246 contracted slots where they received job training, work and business development experiences, in addition to investment opportunities. Also, the Department offered additional opportunities to participate in a financial literacy and/or computer design class for 35 youth.

JUVENILE SERVICES

A variety of new community-based services have been developed between 2005 through 2008 through the Emily J. Settlement Agreement, and expanded Parole treatment services. Services include:

· The Emily J. gender-specific therapeutic group;

· Specialized treatment foster care;

· In-home family therapy (“Functional Family Therapy” and “Multi-Dimensional Family Therapy”);

· Increased flexible funding

· STEP school re-entry services have been established for delinquent girls and boys returning to their communities in Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport.

Child Protection

· The Department received approximately 93,000 calls to the Hotline. These included over 43,000 reports of suspected abuse or neglect, of which over 36,000 were accepted for investigation.

· At any point in time, the Department provided child protection treatment services to more than 3,000 families whose children were living at home after a Department finding of abuse or neglect.

· In addition, more than 6,300 children in the Department’s custody because of abuse or neglect also received services.

Intensive Safety Planning

· Intensive Safety Planning (ISP) was designed to provide intensive services immediately upon removal so a child can be safely returned home before the trial that takes place 20 days after a removal. Staff use the Structured Decision Making assessment and GAIN quick scale to guide the removal decision. Concrete services that mitigate safety factors are provided to enable the child to be safely returned home.

Office of Foster Care Services

· In June 2006, the Office of Foster Care Services (OFCS) and Area Office Foster and Adoption Services Units (FASU) underwent structural changes to enhance statewide foster care efforts through the management and day-to-day oversight of all area office foster care activity. Five program supervisors now are assigned to manage FASU in the DCF area offices. These positions report to DCF’s Central Office Director as a means to better ensure operational consistency.

· The primary areas of focus for OFCS include: standardizing foster care policy, procedures and practice; refining and delivering training for foster parents and DCF staff; foster parent recruitment, retention and support; and maximizing the effectiveness of private agency provider contracts.

· Activities to support statewide uniformity in foster care practices included enhancing safety checks for relatives prior to placements, creating a streamlined relative/special study application packet, and requiring more comprehensive quarterly home visits and assessments.

· OFCS enhanced its quality assurance efforts through the generation of detailed monthly LINK reports. This data is used to monitor the timely licensing of prospective foster and adoptive parents, including relatives and special studies, and ensure that subsequent licenses are renewed in a timely manner. One Quality Improvement position has also been assigned to OFCS. This position is assisting with the maintenance of a data base regarding foster care related complaints and investigations. This position also supporting OFCS in the general review and monitoring of DCF contracted foster care services.

· The University of Connecticut (UConn) conducted a consumer survey of existing foster and adoptive families to determine their satisfaction with the Department’s foster and care and adoption system. The results from the survey indicated, “an overwhelming majority of current foster parents are satisfied with being a foster parent”. UConn also identified target audiences for the Department’s foster care recruitment efforts. The findings and recommendations from this research also will inform its partnerships with licensed foster and adoptive families.

· OFCS, together with the Bureau of Adoption and Interstate Compact and the Bureau of Adolescent and Transitional Services, launched a statewide media campaign to recruit foster and adoptive homes, and mentors. The campaign features radio advertising, print materials, and a website (www.helpachildshine.com) and is based on recommendations from the above-mentioned UConn foster care study. The Department will have an active presence at many widely attended events this summer (e.g., baseball games, concerts and festivals, etc.) to raise awareness of the need for foster, adoptive and mentoring resources for DCF children.

· OFCS engaged in a comprehensive review of the current post-licensing training that all foster parents are required to complete, and a modification in the training requirement is planned. The changes will make the training more convenient for foster parents and more effective by being responsive to the learning styles and time constraints of foster parents. Internet-based trainings and trainings captured on DVD recordings will be used as well. Support group meetings and other community forums will count toward the required post-licensing training hours.

· The Connecticut Association of Foster and Adoptive Parents fielded 1,998 inquiries from individuals interested in potentially becoming foster or adoptive parents during SFY 08. OFCS held over 350 Open Houses to orient interested families to foster care and adoption through DCF, and 383 families completed the required PRIDE training needed to become a licensed foster home during SFY 08.

· The Department licensed 194 new foster homes, 121 adoptive homes, 442 relative homes, 52 independent foster homes, 174 Special Study homes for a total of 983, 151 more licenses than last state fiscal year. These new “resource” homes are available to provide temporary or permanent care for children.

Bureau of Adoption and Interstate Compact Services

· Connecticut administers four distinct interstate compacts through the Bureau of Adoption and Interstate Compact Services to facilitate the placement and movement of children across state lines. The most frequently used is the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, which monitors the placement of children crossing state lines for the purposes of foster care, relative care, adoption, and residential care. The Bureau also administers the Interstate Compact on Juveniles, the Interstate Compact on Mental Health and the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance.

Adoption and Subsidized Guardianship

· Connecticut supports the adoption of children from the public child welfare system by providing a financial and medical subsidy to those children deemed "special needs." Connecticut also supports the permanent placement of children with relatives by providing a financial and medical subsidy to relatives willing to provide a home to their relative children in the public child welfare system.

· Timely permanency continues to be a primary focus for the Department, and measurements indicate a positive trajectory in the areas of adoption and guardianship. The Department met goals for timely adoption in three of four quarters.

· The timeliness of guardianships also continues to show significant improvements, and the Department met the goal in this area in each of the four quarters of FY2007.

· A total of 868 children achieved permanency either through adoption (634) or a transfer of guardianship (234).

Voluntary Services

· Voluntary Services were provided to approximately 1,100 children at any one time. These children received residential and community based services to address complex behavioral health needs. Parents whose children qualify can ask for assistance and receive services from DCF funded programs without relinquishing guardianship to the Department.

Behavioral Health and Medicine

In Home and Community Based Services

A 35 percent reduction in children in residential care overall is attributable to a number of factors. One clear improvement is that Connecticut now has the capacity to serve nearly 2,300 children a year in intensive home-based programs, which largely did not exist only a few years ago. Some of the initiatives that help children and families with mental health and substance abuse treatment needs in their homes include:

· “Family support teams” (serves 340 families annually) and therapeutic foster care;

· In-home family therapy services (serves more than 1,900 families annually);

· “Wrap around” services that help both children and parents in whatever way is required, including non-traditional help such as mentoring and respite (serves 1,150 families annually); and

· Intensive in-home psychiatric services (serves 500 children annually).

Therapeutic Group homes

· To provide intensive clinical treatment in a community-based, home-like setting for children who are appropriate for a less restrictive environment, the Department continues to develop therapeutic group homes. This Department initiative, which began in FY2005, now serves children and youths in 52 sites across the state. An additional 2 are anticipated to open during FY2008-09. These homes, each caring for five to six children, allow children and adolescents who are either not ready or appropriate for foster homes to be served in small home-like settings, thereby reducing the dependence on larger residential placements. The youth served have a wide variety of behavioral health and or developmental disabilities. Virtually all youth have a history of some sort of trauma. These therapeutic group homes have helped to reduce the number of children in residential placement and in temporary congregate care settings such as hospitals, shelters, safe homes, permanency diagnostic centers, and sub-acute units.

Supportive Housing for Recovering Families

· The Supportive Housing for Recovering Families Program (SHRF) offers family support services and safe housing to families involved with DCF. The program serves families statewide through a network of contractors managed by the Connection, INC. Case management services are funded through DCF. Housing is funded through a combination of DCF funds, DSS Rental Assistance Program (RAP) certificates, and federal section 8 housing vouchers. The program currently serves approximately 450 families.

Connecticut Community KidCare

Connecticut Community KidCare is an innovative reform and restructuring of the state’s behavioral health services for children that operates according to the nationally recognized and endorsed system of care model. KidCare services are centered on the best interest of the child in the context of their family and community. Family involvement and cultural competence are key values. KidCare enhances and develops community-based, group home and residential services to ensure that children get access to the appropriate level of service when they need it and, whenever possible, to receive those services in their home or community.

Connecticut Community KidCare provides a variety of family-focused community-based, mental health programs for children throughout the state including: emergency mobile psychiatric services; care coordination services; parent advocacy services, child guidance clinics, extended day treatment programs and substance abuse treatment programs for youth, including innovative family-focused treatment and supportive housing programs. Beginning last year, and based on systematic reviews of the best practice literature, the Department has focused on improving the quality of care and outcomes of the Extended Day Treatment and Emergency Mobile Psychiatric Service Programs. A significant expansion of intensive in-home treatment services in the last several years prevents or reduces the need for out of home care.

Several evidence-based treatment models have been established including:

Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST) is an intensive, in-home therapy and counseling service that treats the whole family. Studies show it is a clinically effective and cost-effective alternative to residential care.

Multi-Dimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) is an intensive in-home therapy and counseling service that treats adolescent substance abuse with a focus on parenting, family dynamics and adolescent developmental issues.

Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is a family-focused, intensive in-home therapy and counseling service that understands problem behavior in terms of its function within the family. The emphasis is on reducing known risk factors and promoting known protective factors.

Intensive In-Home Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Service (IICAPS) is an intensive in-home therapy and counseling service that treats children and youth with serious emotional disturbance. IICAPS is informed by the field of developmental psychopathology and is driven by family-identified needs and strengths.

Family Support Teams (FST) are an intensive, in-home therapy and counseling service for children and youth in foster care, and for children and youth that either are returning from or at risk of being placed in out of home care. A multidisciplinary team of professionals and paraprofessionals operate with a “whatever it takes” philosophy to support and strengthen families so that children can remain safely in their homes and communities.

Bureau of Adolescent and Transitional Services

The vision of the Department of Children and Families, Bureau of Adolescent and Transitional Services is to provide each youth in our care with the skills, supports and resources to succeed as adults. To address this goal, the Department has developed a holistic, strengths-based and culturally competent service system to meet the needs of youth in every facet of out-of-home care.

Programs

1) Mentoring: Mentoring provides youth with a contract to their community other than the Department of Children and Families (DCF) Social Worker. Mentors and youth work together on a one-to-one basis to resolve issues identified by the youth. There are currently eight federally funded, mentoring programs. The agency is in the process of centralizing all foster care mentoring services.

2) Youth Advisory Boards: Every area office has a Youth Advisory Board that is comprised of youth in out-of-home care. The Youth Advisory Boards will address Department policies and procedures involving youth issues and the unique problems of youth transitioning from out-of-home care.

3) Life Skills Program: The Department offers community based life skills education and training programs for youth in foster care and community settings. There are thirteen contracted Life Skills Programs across Connecticut.

4) Preparing Adolescent for Self Sufficiency (PASS): Group Homes provide an environment that fosters the maximization of individual outcomes in areas of education, vocation, employability, independent living skills, health, mental health, community connections and permanent connections.

5) SWET Program: The Department provides a Supportive Work, Education and Transition Program. Youth in this program, focus primarily on the development issues associated with the acquisition of independent living skills, including but not limited to: interpersonal awareness, community awareness and engagement, as well as maximization of educational, vocational and pre-employment, and job placement opportunities.

6) CHAP Program: The Department offers a Community Housing Assistance Program (CHAP) that is a semi-supervised, subsidized, housing component for youth ready for less supervision and more independence. The goal of this program is to increase competence, self-reliance and self-sufficiency as youth transition into the least restricted out of home placement within the agency.

6a) CHAP Employment Pilot Program: The Department shall offer a pilot program to

provide financial and case management services to youth 18 years of age or older who have graduated from high school or obtained a GED and completed at DCF approved Life Skills Program and have been approved to pursue a career goal. Youth approved for this pilot will be required to demonstrate their ability to devote 40 hours a week to the pursuit of an approved career.

Youth approved for this one-year program will be required to abide by a CHAP contract and meet monthly with their DCF social worker.

7) Re-Entry Program: A youth who is between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one and who has left the care of the Department may be eligible to re-enter the Adolescent Services Program on a case-by-case basis in order to continue their education.

8) Post Secondary Education: DCF offers our entire youth turning 18 the opportunity to continue with service on a voluntary basis. This allows for youth to participate in educational and training programs (e.g. college, vocational/trade schools, Job Corps, AmeriCorps) and receive continued support from DCF.

9) Post Secondary Educational Support Program: DCF has recently hired two Pupil Services Specialists to work within the Bureau to provide support to all DCF youth participating in the Post Secondary Educational Program outlined in item 9. Positions will support our youth and assist in maximizing their outcomes toward becoming successful adults.

10) Driver Education Program: DCF youth must successfully complete a certified driver's education program in order to obtain a driver's permit or license. The Department will pay fifty percent of the cost of the driver's education program.

11) Connecticut Youth Opportunities Strategy: This program is designed to insure that youth aging out of foster care have increased opportunities for a successful transition to adulthood in the following areas: youth leadership, youth engagement, employment, housing and physical and mental health.

12) Department of Labor: The Department works in collaboration with the office of Workforce Competitiveness and the Workforce Investment Boards, which assist youth and community stakeholders in the planning and creating of employment opportunities for youth across Connecticut. DCF Adolescent Services has recently become a strong partner with the Department of Labor.

13) Parenthood Program: The Department is developing an initiative to work with young mothers and fathers to improve the well being of their children by increasing the proportion of children growing up with involved, responsible and committed mothers and fathers. Focus groups are the primary driving force behind identifying and addressing gaps in services. This information will later serve as a blue print for developing a comprehensive service system for youth parents including: independent living skills, academic and vocational interventions, service system, resources and support to increase parenting skills.

14) Fatherhood Program: The Department is developing an initiative to work with young fathers to improve the well being of their children by increasing the proportion of children growing up with involved, responsible and committed fathers.

15) Black Greek Alliance: BGA is a group of DCF employees who are members of Black fraternities and sororities. The employees seek to enhance youth engagement practices and to provide advocacy towards educational achievement, job readiness/vocational skills and social stability. This work targets youth of African American heritage in an attempt to impact culturally relevant services including the disproportionate number of African American youth n the child welfare system. The BGA engages in the following activities:

a) Historic Black College and University Tour.

b) General College and Trade School Tour.

c) Information Technology Training.

d) Cultural Affirmation events.

e) Rites of Passage for African origin youth.

16) Wilderness School: The Wilderness School offers high impact wilderness programs in order to foster positive youth development. The school is designed as a journey experience, which is based on experiential and therapeutic learning models.

17) Safe Harbor Program: A collaboration between the Department and True Colors, Inc. The program was created to provide culturally competent, affirming service training for foster parents, adoptive parents and providers on issues regarding Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Questioning and Inter-Sex youth. This program also provides continued support to foster homes that provide care for LGBYQI youth.

18) Job Corps Program: A no cost educational and vocational training program, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor that helps youth ages sixteen through twenty-three by providing comprehensive job training and job placement. The Department presently has twenty-five slots between the two Connecticut sites for DCF involved youth. There are other locations in the New England area that can be accessed for youth who are interested in training not offered at the Connecticut sites.

19) Medicaid: Youth are eligible to obtain Medicaid up until the age of twenty-one in Connecticut. Medicaid eligibility entitles young people to the full Medicaid benefits package. This includes a broad array of health care screening, diagnosis and treatment services.

20) Sibling Connections: The Department has undertaken an initiative to Work with DCF committed youth, ages 14-21, who are in different out of home placement locations from their siblings for clinical and/or non-clinical reasons. The program will develop services to increase contact between siblings in an effort to support permanent family connection(s)

21) The DCF Latino Youth Coalition engages in a variety of activities to strengthen the ethnic identity of Latina youth in care as well as building skills and enhancing educational opportunities. The chief mechanism for this effort is The Quinceañera Committee, a group of DCF employees that collaborates with the Bureau to develop annual rites of passage programs for Latina youth in DCF care. These programs are designed to teach Latina youth about their rich cultural heritage while building individual skills and improving long terms outcomes. Among the activities include:

§ Tours to HACU Colleges and Universities.

§ Latino boys Rites of Passage.

§ Cultural Affirmation events.

Bureau of Juvenile Services

The Connecticut Juvenile Training School

§ The Connecticut Juvenile Training School (CJTS) established a Positive Peer Culture program and significantly reduced the number of restrictive measures.

§ CJTS has expanded the innovative Boys and Girls Club program assisting boys returning to Hartford and New Britain successfully re-integrate into their communities. In the fall of 2007, the Boys and girls club will expand services to Waterbury, New Haven and, in 2008, to Bridgeport. The Boys and Girls Club also offers regular programming to all the boys at CJTS.

§ A mentoring program stocked with volunteer CJTS staff and other caring adults offers the boys an opportunity to create relationships that have a positive impact on their lives even after the boys leave CJTS.

§ A re-entry initiative has begun with the Department of Labor and Trade unions to link boys to career opportunities in painting, carpentry and masonry.

§ CJTS continues efforts to prepare boys for successful community re-entry through innovative educational, treatment and rehabilitative services.

§ The facility completed the FY2006 strategic plan that included the following goals:

§ Create, cultivate and maintain a therapeutic environment;

§ Develop and implement a comprehensive re-entry system that builds upon each child’s unique strengths and needs;

§ Promote family partnerships and enhance family participation;

§ Promote a commitment to continuous quality improvement through the implementation of a comprehensive quality improvement program; and

§ Develop, implement and maintain a comprehensive staff development program.

§ The facility is working with the CJTS Community Advisory Board on a new three-year strategic plan.

§ Of the 215 admissions in calendar year 2006, 28 percent were admitted directly from court, 32 percent came from a residential placement, and 28 percent from home.

§ Critical indicators are nationally accepted indicators, which can be used to measure the stability of a facility. No change or reductions over time in the indicators reflect a stable facility that is capable of sustaining good programming. Instability or increases in the indicators reflect facility problems, which need to be addressed before effective programming may occur. CJTS has demonstrated a dramatic reduction in these indicators over the past three years. The following percentages have been adjusted for differences in population:

§ Population -18%

§ Assaults/ Fights

§ Between Boys -28%

§ Assaults on

§ Staff -58%

§ Instances of

§ Seclusion -38%

§ Instances of

§ Restraint -20%

§ Instances of

§ Restraint W/

§ Handcuffs -29%

Coordinating Services with Judicial Branch

· The Emily J. settlement agreement has resulted in the development and implementation of $6 million in new or expanded community-based services over the next two years. These services began as a pilot in Hartford in FY 2006 and expanded statewide in FY 2007. Services include:

· Multidimensional treatment foster care;

· A gender-specific therapeutic group home for girls;

· Family based substance abuse treatment;

· Therapeutic mentoring: and

· Flexible funding.

· The Department -- working closely and steadily with Court Support Services Division (CSSD) of the Judicial Branch, and numerous stakeholders including parents, advocates, providers, and other state agencies – completed development of a joint juvenile justice strategy plan. The implementation of the plan is ongoing.

· DCF and CSSD continue cooperative work as outlined in the protocol for Families with Service Needs (FWSN) cases. DCF has created a team that includes management and liaison staff to work with the juvenile court system at all levels to provide a coordinated response and earlier services to families with service needs.

Girls’ Programs and Services

· The Department has continued progress with the development of Girls’ Services. The Director of Girls’ Services now reports to the Bureau of Behavioral Health to ensure best practices for girls are implemented statewide. Program monitoring has included a comprehensive evaluation process with multi-bureau and multi-agency expertise. Preliminary results of the 18-month follow-up demonstrate significant improvement. The development of gender specific residential guidelines, a DCF and CSSD collaboration, is in the final stages. The development of alternatives to residential care using models such as “Functional Family Therapy” and “Multi-Dimensional Treatment Foster Care” continue to reduce the number of girls in residential care. An ongoing focus is the development of group homes for girls committed delinquent and addressing the need for a secure program for a small number of delinquent girls.

Reintegration Services

· The “STEP” (Support Teams for Educational Progress) Program provides comprehensive transition and reintegration services for committed delinquent children and for Family with Service Needs (FWSN) involved children. Key components include a reintegration team with case management, educational re-entry assistance, and delinquency prevention. The goals of the program include reducing recidivism, school suspensions, expulsions and truancy, as well as improving school attendance and achievement. The program is designed to increase the number of children on parole who are serviced in the community and reducing the need for secure treatment. The program will increase collaboration between local community schools and providers in the juvenile justice system as well as increase support and services to engage families in treatment. The goal is to increase positive social behaviors and positive goal attainment activities by delinquent and FWSN children. The program began in Hartford in August 2006, expanded to New Haven in FY2007, and will open in Bridgeport in FY2008.

Parole Services

· Parole services reorganized to provide an array of services that are child-centered, community-oriented, and that will enhance children’s ability to successfully and safely re-integrate within their families and communities. The reorganization will enable social workers to concentrate in specific geographical areas, and each of the nine parole units will have a gender-specific social worker. In an effort to maintain children in the least restrictive setting, in-home therapy and counseling services are being incorporated to allow more children on parole to remain in the community. Additionally, parole is implementing an evidence-based risk and needs assessment system to ensure that children on parole receive appropriate services that take into consideration their strengths and needs. This will guide parole services from initial commitment through treatment planning and allow improved tracking of recidivism and success.

Continuous Quality Improvement

· The Department’s Quality Improvement Division collaborated each quarter with the Court Monitor's Office to review and assess cases statewide to determine the extent to which the agency is meeting its performance mandates in regard to treatment planning and needs met of children and families as outlined by the Juan F. Exit Plan. Areas of strength and those needing improvement are identified and utilized to improve agency practice and govern resource allocations in these key areas.

· Quality Improvement staff conducted case study reviews to evaluate specific child welfare outcomes as required by the Exit Plan.

· The Bureau established procedures for an implemented consultation and technical assistance to residential service and Therapeutic Group Home providers regarding compliance with the federal private non-medical institutions (PNMI) initiative.

· The Bureau is conducting monitoring reviews of all residential and therapeutic group home facilities to evaluate their compliance with PNMI regulations.

· The Program and Evaluation Unit has assumed responsibility for the Department's Credentialing of agencies and individuals providing services to DCF involved children and families in six specific service areas. The unit will also be assuming responsibility for the Department's Certification of Medicaid eligible in-home services which is scheduled for implementation in the fall of 2008.

· The Program Review and Evaluation Unit provides oversight for the initial approval and continued utilization of out-of-state residential facilities.

· Development efforts and activities continued to enhance the structure, action plans, learning forums, and goals of the quality improvement teams established in each area office and facility.

· The Department continued to meet the six-month periodic review of the status of each child/youth requirement through the Administrative Case Review (ACR) process. Strengthening of the program infrastructure was a critical focus, including: sustained efforts to ensure that the administrative reviews are open to the participation of both parents; initiation of the quality improvement aspect of the Administrative Case Review program resulting in the piloting and implementation of new procedures to further reinforce the review program; review and assessment of staffing needs toward building capacity; and the initiation of a training plan to concentrate on staff development in specific areas by quarter.

· The Department continues to collect restraint and seclusion data from both in-state and out-of-state providers. Comparisons will be made on frequencies of restraints and seclusions for all programs, in and out of state, that serve Connecticut children. Performance-based contracting data also is collected on in-state residential facilities.

· A quality improvement study was completed to examine the characteristics and factors related to families who are frequently engaged by the agency, in order to help improve agency practice and intervention strategies.

· In collaboration with other state agencies, the Bureau has enhanced and conducted regional training exercises with the statewide behavioral health response teams that provide disaster and trauma recovery to communities following critical events and emergencies resulting from natural disasters or from acts of terrorism. Training regarding disaster planning and response, including the FEMA mandated national incident management system, was offered and provided on a number of separate occasions.

· The Bureau has assisted in the planning and implementation of the ongoing restraint reduction plan for one of its childcare facilities, including the collection and analysis of data to support this initiative.

· The Bureau’s Licensing Division has now licensed 35 therapeutic group homes.

· The Licensing Unit has begun the process of licensing four residential treatment facilities as Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facilities (PRTF). PRTF is a federal designation given to facilities that meet federal regulations regarding restraint and seclusion and treatment planning. In addition, revised regulations for the licensing of child caring facilities have been drafted and submitted for the legislative review process.

· The Bureau played a major role in the drafting and implementation of Public Act 05-207, which established criteria and a formal hearing process for the management of the Child Abuse and Neglect Central Registry.

· The Risk Management Unit continued to receive, triage and coordinate responses to significant events that occur at congregate care settings in which our children are placed. Additionally, the unit tracks and monitors critical incidents and special investigations. Unit management developed a new risk management logic model and a series of reports to facilitate more timely and appropriate responses to incidents.

· The Decision Support Unit (DSU) facilitated the adoption of an agency-wide logic model to articulate what outcomes the Department seeks from its private service providers. Members of the DSU continue to provide training and support to other DCF units regarding logic model implementation.

· The Training Academy strives to provide timely training programs that assist the DCF staff and community providers to respond effectively to children and families needing services. Through the implementation of a competency-based system, training programs and other initiatives relate specifically to the work tasks and ongoing development of DCF staff. Last year, the Department hired 173 new child welfare social workers who are required to complete 35 days of training spread over a period of a year. On-going training for experienced workers is also offered. An on-line catalog was developed last year to assists staff with efficient planning for attendance at training.

· In January 2007, a major training initiative on Structured Decision Making was implemented. This evidence-based model includes a series of tools to be used at critical decision-making points in the life of a case that will assist workers in their ability to assess and provide appropriate services to children and families. Over 2,000 employees attended this two- ½ day training program. The Training Academy was charged with the responsibility of scheduling, managing the logistics and conducting a portion of the computer application training of this initiative. The training began in January and ended in April.

· In 2006, a comprehensive training plan for supervisors was developed by the Training Academy with assistance from The Child Welfare League of America and the Center for the Study of Social Policy. The training plan included a series of projects aimed at supporting supervisors in their critical role. These projects have played an instrumental role in advancing the skills and abilities of the supervisors.

· The Training Academy offers a variety of educational support programs and other workforce development programs designed to reinforce on-going educational and professional growth of DCF staff. These workforce development programs include the graduate education stipend program, the master of social work field education program, tuition reimbursement, the internship program, staff mentoring programs, and several post-masters certification programs.

· The Medical Review Unit implemented interpretive guidelines for Level Three Group Homes in July 2007.

· The Medical Review Unit in collaboration with Risk Management implemented tracking and reporting of medication errors in all DCF licensed facilities in January 2008.

· In July 2008 Nursing Standards and Guidelines for all DCF licensed facilities was implemented.

· Implementation of PNMI Nursing Standards is planned for October 1, 2008.

Equal Opportunity and Diversity

· The Department is committed to an aggressive and comprehensive affirmative action plan to assure equal employment opportunity as well as to provide services and programs to the public in a fair and culturally competent manner. The plan provides quality assurance to DCF by ensuring a culturally competent and diverse workforce needed to deliver the best quality services to our children and families. Affirmative action and equal employment are immediate and priority objectives, and they play an important and necessary role in all stages of the employment process. Currently 47 percent of our full time workforce and 31 percent of top managers are persons of color.

· The Department fully supports the state code of Fair Practices and federal and constitutional mandates concerning affirmative action and equal employment opportunity

Bureau of Prevention and External Affairs

Office of the Ombudsman

· The Office of the Ombudsman continues to track and respond to requests for information from private citizens, the Office of the Child Advocate, and other state officials. The office responded to approximately 4,000 inquiries in FY2007.

· The office assigns staff to each of the DCF-operated facilities to listen and respond to concerns of residents.

· Each DCF area office and facility has appointed representatives to work with central office staff and develop a five -year prevention plan. Representatives from other public and private service providers, parents, youths, and legislators will be invited to participate in the planning process.

Prevention Division

· Positive Youth Development/Strengthening Families

Six programs around the state (West Haven, Torrington, Enfield, Hartford, Willimantic and Bridgeport) focus on high-risk families with children age 6 to 15 to support parents in their role as parents. Based on local need, community providers under DCF contract have selected their program models from available evidence-based programs. Parents learn how to become more effective in their role and how to build stronger relationships with their children and stronger families overall. The Positive Youth Development Initiative (PYDI) served 221 families and 1,421 children under the age of 18 in the nine months ending March 31, 2007. PYDI began April 1, 2005.

· Youth Suicide Prevention Advisory Board

· Parents with Cognitive Limitations Workgroup

The Parents with Cognitive Limitations Workgroup (PWCL) consists of several state agencies, service providers, and other stakeholders. The group works to develop a comprehensive, coordinated, efficient and effective system of policies, practices and services for families headed by a parent or other caregiver with cognitive limitations. Major accomplishments include the development of an assessment guide and a daylong training on identifying and working with parents with cognitive limitations (with CEUs for social workers). Over 500 DCF workers, other state workers and community providers throughout the State have been trained over the last 3-½ years.

· Positive Youth Development/Strengthening Families

Seven programs around the state (New Haven, West Haven, Torrington, Enfield, Hartford, Willimantic and Bridgeport) focus on high-risk families with children age 6 to 13 and supports parents in their role as parents. Based on local need, community providers under DCF contract have selected their program models from available evidence-based programs. Parents learn how to become more effective in their role and how to build stronger relationships with their children and stronger families overall. The Positive Youth Development Initiative (PYDI) served 105 adults and 875 children under the age of 18 in the nine months ending June 30, 2008. PYDI began April 1, 2005.

· Youth Suicide Prevention Advisory Board

Established through legislation, the Youth Suicide Prevention Advisory Board consists of members of public and private agencies as well as parents. Responsibilities include making recommendations, conducting awareness campaigns, and training. Over 700 DCF social workers, parents, school staff, and community providers were trained in 2007-2008 using the nationally recognized training, ASSIST, and a repertoire of standard training on recognizing suicide risk among youth, adolescent substance abuse and depression. Another nationally recognized training, Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR), targeted to mental health experts and emergency personnel was given to 68 professionals as a result of collaboration with Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Youth Suicide Prevention. A media campaign continues to inform the public and raise awareness about this issue and the mini-grant project has resulted in school projects across the state. Collaboration with the Interagency Suicide Prevention Network and the Departments of Education and Mental Health and Addiction Services has resulted in enhanced community contacts and expanded training opportunities.

· Multi-media Public Awareness Campaign

To give families easy access to information and resources on a wide array of topics related to family health, safety and well-being, DCF has created a fun, interactive website (www.ctparenting.com). A statewide radio campaign encouraging listeners to visit this new family information website, while also helping their parents keep their children safe in the water and near open windows during the summer season, was launched in June 2008. The primary purpose of both websites is to build awareness among parents about a vast array of resources as well as alert them to potential hazards for children. As part of this effort and in partnership with DEP, free swimming lessons were again offered to kids across the state.

Early Childhood Program

o Early Childhood programs currently offered through the Department support the social and emotional health of families and children ages birth through six. These programs include the Early Childhood Consultation Partnership, the Parents in Partnership programs, and the Therapeutic Child Care Programs.

o The Early Childhood Consultation Partnership: It is estimated that 10 percent to 20 percent of the preschool population is in need of social or emotional support. In Connecticut, the number of children expelled or suspended from preschool has been alarming. The Early Childhood Consultation Partnership (ECCP) is a successful and nationally recognized statewide program funded by the Department and managed by a private service provider. ECCP is one of the first statewide data-driven systems of mental health consultation designed specifically to meet the social and emotional needs of children from birth to five years of age by building the capacity of those caring for young children through the provision of on-site education and consultation in early care settings. Early childhood mental health consultants promote and facilitate early identification of young children's needs and respond with appropriate social and emotional services, community-based collaboration, and referrals to other service providers. The goal of the program is to enhance the development of social and emotional resiliency and to prevent children from disrupting from their early care settings. To date, ECCP has served 7,794 children were served in core classrooms with a 98% success rate in placement retention. The first year of the ECBC pilot indicated that 835 children were served with a record of no suspensions/expulsions.

o The Early Childhood Parents in Partnership Programs (PIP): Implemented in the early 1990's, these programs have served close to 2,000 families identified as neglecting or abusing their children or to be at-risk of neglect or abuse. Participants have included parents with mental illness, parents with cognitive challenges, teen parents and substance abusing parents. Children are between the ages of birth and 6 years old. The Parent in Partnership model offers center-based playgroups, home visits, social activities and parent education as well as a link to community providers. Families participate for an average of 18 months and supports are provided several times a week through a combination of these options. After participating in the program, 96 percent of families are free of any referrals for abuse or neglect. PIP recently completed an RFP and selected two applicants to provide PIP in their communities. The program has added a focus on Results Based Accountability and has added an evaluation component to aid in the future expansion of PIP.

o Therapeutic Child Care Programs: Therapeutic Child Care Programs are offered to children between the ages of Birth through 8 years old. These children often experience significant social-emotional and behavioral challenges making it difficult for them to benefit from typical day care settings where there are many more children and fewer staff. Parents are often participating in mental health or substance abuse treatment programs. Services offered include bio-psychosocial assessment, development of comprehensive family treatment plan, a structured daily program of activities that promote gross motor and fine motor skills, language and literacy, early math and science, social skills and play skills. Therapeutic play is available for each child. Crisis counseling is available for adults and children as dictated by need. Services also include general advocacy and support for parents include parent support groups, educational advocacy, nursing services and community resourcing.

Division of Special Reviews and Staff Support:

· The Department, in conjunction with the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), is providing comprehensive case analysis and systemic consultation in the aftermath of a child fatality or critical incident. The framework for the Fatality Review is based on the understanding that a critical incident can happen anywhere, at any time; and can happen to the most experienced and sensitive professional teams. The case review, teaching and training focus is designed to generate feedback and information for professional learning, organizational development and staff support. The humanistic approach acknowledges the personal and professional trauma associated with a critical incident. The reviews offer a consistent methodology that emphasizes respectful and relevant fact-finding and identification of key dimensions in case practice determined to be excellent, acceptable or in need of improvement.

· The Department’s family-centered, culturally competent and community-based Mission, Guiding Principles and Practices serve as the basis for the Fatality Review process and as a framework for reports. Reports highlight related literature and research, and link the facts of the case with findings and recommendations that examine the following core areas: (a) status of the Department’s decentralized organizational structure; (b) case practice that encompasses family assessment, interdisciplinary treatment planning and interventions related to safety, permanency and well being; (c) quality and nature of supervision and training connected to the facts of the case; (d) related policies and procedures; and, (e) larger systems’ issues and care coordination with community partners. All reports are redacted, placed on the DCF Intranet for staff learning, and forwarded to the DCF Training Academy for integration into curriculum.

· At the heart of this revised framework is the awareness that child welfare workers will inevitably encounter trauma and secondary stress, in a similar fashion as those colleagues in law enforcement, emergency medical care and those that work with trauma survivors. Work to prevent and limit the harmful affects of primary and secondary trauma now includes: (a) psycho-education and debriefing; (b) staff preparedness and estimations of exposure; (c) clear protocols at local and statewide levels; and, (d) active inclusion of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). In addition to building crisis response teams at local levels, a Statewide Worker Support Advisory Board was established in 2005 and is facilitated by CWLA and senior leadership from the Department’s Central Office.

· The Special Review Team is collaborating with the Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate and the Statewide Child Fatality Review Panel when conducting Reviews, analyzing patterns and trends, and providing information to the public. These partnerships have included other State Agencies and community providers to expand the scope and utility of the “lessons learned” from child fatalities and critical incidents.

· In conjunction with CWLA and local Area Offices, the Special Review Team is facilitating conferences and meetings with other States across the country to research the framework and transfer-of-learning activities. Two primary outcomes has been collaboration with the States of Massachusetts and New York on Child Welfare Teaming, and participation in a Breakthrough Series with the Anne Casey Foundation with regard to safety and risk assessment.

· The Special Review Team, in conjunction with the DCF Training Academy, has incorporated Secondary Trauma Training in the in-service curriculum for interdisciplinary staff. These seminars are offered in local field offices, DCF Facilities and in Central Office, and continue to be well attended and received.

Division of Multicultural Affairs:

· The demands for the development of culturally and linguistically competent services are a major challenge facing human services and behavioral health providers today. The shifts in racial, ethnic, linguistic, religious, special needs, disability, and gender-orientation diversity have required that the Department discover approaches and skills that will enable staff to effectively work with people from diverse backgrounds.

The Division of Multicultural Affairs was created for the purpose of developing, implementing, and sustaining diversity initiatives and policies designed to support the diverse needs of staff and clients regardless of their race, religion, color, national origin, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, social economic status, or language.