State
TEXAS LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
CPS Case Management Outsourcing Pilot
Arrow strongly supports restoring the scope of the Outsourcing Pilot Project to the original 10% of the foster care population. We believe the pilot should include all of the children within a limited geographic area and should include the entire spectrum of CPS services resulting from investigation of reports of abuse and neglect - from Family Based Safety Services through Post Adoption Services.
Texas currently does not follow the best practice model which allows for integrated case management services to children and their families. This diminishes successful reunification of children with their families within statutory timelines and contributes to poor case outcomes. The pilot project must allow providers to manage and coordinate provision of services to parents and their children in order to maximize the effectiveness of those services in restoring families. If families cannot be restored, integrated case management is essential to set the ground work for terminations of parental rights and for adoptions to be accomplished as cleanly as possible.
Data collection for pilot evaluation should be carefully considered so that data will provide a meaningful evaluation of provider performance. The data should document quality of case management and outcomes as well as quantity and timeliness. The data should provide meaningful comparison of performance between participating providers and between providers and prior CPS performance.
House and Senate Interim Charges
Aging-Out Children - Texas is to be commended for allowing children who have aged out of foster care, left the system, and then realized they still need help, to return to foster care. We encourage DFPS to make sure all children who make the decision to leave care at age 18 know that they have the option to return if they are enrolled in school. However, this is not enough. The new transition centers, like the HAY Center in Houston, are doing a wonderful job in assisting children who live close to them. Sadly, they are geographically out of reach of many children who need them. Housing assistance, job training, PAL services, and health insurance need to be available to these young adults until they are able to provide for themselves. And we still need to do everything possible to find them families or adult mentors who can give them stability, encouragement, guidance, and family support so essential to their success and well being.
Caseworker Retention and Workloads - We must increase cooperation, communication, and transparency between public and private agencies in addressing these issues. Research based best practices for case management must be our standard.
Capacity - The adequacy of Texas's foster care capacity is being examined by both the House and Senate. We assert that the volume aspect of capacity - which seems to be most frequently addressed - is not the critical question. We believe that quality of placement and flexibility in the system to adjust to varying demands and to changes in children's service are more important issues. In assessing capacity, we encourage our legislators to examine all of the factors affecting capacity, including the procedures for and effects of initial placement decisions, treatment level assessments, payment rates, licensing standards, contract terms, and minimum standards. These factors all work together to determine the flexibility and effectiveness of the system. We cannot expect positive change from piecemeal decision-making.
Medicaid - Ensuring availability of quality medical and mental health care to children who have been victims of abuse and neglect is essential. In order to provide this care, quality services must be available. This can only be accomplished by reasonable reimbursement rates. Quality providers will not remain in the system if Medicaid payment rates are less than their cost to provide services. Therefore we must critically review Medicaid provider reimbursement rate methodologies, and aggressively pursue new models, including outcome-based reimbursement.
Children's Mental Health - Public mental health, criminal justice, juvenile justice, abuse and neglect, education, and health care systems are all involved in providing services to children. Continuity of services and ready availability of complete case records are critical to successful outcomes for children. Unfortunately, because so many government entities and social welfare agencies are involved in any one child's life at varying times, continuity doesn't happen and complete records are not available to guide decision makers. We must develop means to increase cooperation, facilitate record sharing, and increase cost sharing flexibility in service provision between agencies and providers.
