2020-2024 child and family services plan (cfsp)

2020-2024 CHILD AND FAMILY

SERVICES PLAN (CFSP)

Illinois Department of

Children and Family Services

Submitted June 28, 2019

FY 20-24

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Table of Contents

Acronyms.................................................................................................................. 2

Chapter 1 – General Information............................................................................ 5

State Agency Administering Programs ..................................................................... 5

Collaboration………………………………………………………………………………. 6

Chapter 2 - Assessment of Performance.............................................................. 21

Child and Family Outcomes ..................................................................................... 21

Systemic Factors ..................................................................................................... 41

Statewide Information Systems…………………………………………………………. 41

Case Review System................................................................................................ 44

Quality Assurance System........................................................................................ 52

Staff and Provider Training ....................................................................................... 55

Service Array and Resource Development............................................................. 61

Agency Responsiveness to Community .................................................................. 64

Foster Parent Licensing Retention and Recruitment............................................... 68

Chapter 3 – Plan for Improvement........................................................................ 74

Chapter 4 – Update on Service Description......................................................... 111

A. Safety Intervention Services........................................................................... 111

B. Permanency Services...................................................................................... 135

Populations at Greatest Risk of Maltreatment…………………………………. 146

C. Well-Being Services.......................................................................................... 150

Title IV-B Federal Fiscal Year Programs………………………………………. 171

D. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP)........................................ 173

Education and Training Voucher Program………………………………………… 196

Chapter 5 – Program Support................................................................................ 200

Learning and Professional Development ................................................................... 200

Updates to Research ……………………………………………………………………… 203

Chapter 6 – Consultation and Coordination Between States and Tribes ......... 209

Chapter 7 – Monthly Caseworker Visit Formula Grants ..................................... 214

Chapter 8 – Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments................. 215

Chapter 9 – Child Welfare Waiver Demonstration Activities............................... 217

Alcohol and other Drug Abuse Title IV-E Waiver ....................................................... 217

IB3 Research Project………………………………………………................................ 218

Immersion Sites……………………………………………………………………………. 219

Chapter 10 - Quality Assurance/Continuous Quality Improvement...................... 220

Chapter 11 – Financial Information…………………………………………………… 227

Addenda – A Training Plan

B Disaster Plan

C Healthcare Oversight and Coordination Plan

D Diligent Recruitment of Foster and Adoptive Homes

E CAPTA

F Citizen Review Panel

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Acronyms

Acronym Translation

ACF Administration for Children and Families

ACR DCFS Administrative Case Review

AFCARS Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System

ASFA Adoption and Safe Family Act

AIP AFCARS Improvement Plan

AOIC Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts

APT Agency Performance Team

BMN Beyond Medical Necessity

BSF Be Strong Families

CAC Children’s Advocacy Centers

CANS Child and Adolescents Needs and Strengths

CAP Community Assistance Programs

CAPTA Child Abuse and Prevention Treatment Act

CASA Court Appointed Special Advocate

CAYIT Child and Youth Investment Teams

CBCAP Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention

CCAC Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center

CCA-I Child Care Association of Illinois

CCC Continuity of Care Center

CCPP Community College Payment Program

CDRT Child Death Review Team

CERAP Child Endangerment Risk Assessment Protocol

CFCIP Chafee Foster Care Independence Program

CFRC Children & Families Research Center

CIPAC Court Improvement Program Advisory Committee

CIPP Clinical Intervention for Placement Preservation

CLSA Casey Life Skills Assessment

COA Council on Accreditation

CPCT Child Protection Circuit Teams

CPDC Child Protection Data Courts Project

CQI Continuous Quality Improvement

CRMR Case Review Monthly Roster

CSSP Center for the Study of Social Policy

CWAC Child Welfare Advisory Council

CWEL Child Welfare Employee Licensure

CYCIS Child and Youth Centered Information System

DASA DHS Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse

DCFS Illinois Department of Children & Family Services

DHR Illinois Department of Human Resources

DHS Illinois Department of Human Services

DHS/DD DHS Office of Developmental Disabilities

DMH DHS Division of Mental Health

DQE Division of Quality Enhancement

DVIP DCFS Domestic Violence Intervention Program

EAP Educational Access Project

EFSP Extended Family Support Program

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

ETV Education and Training Voucher

FAC Family Advocacy Centers

FCURP Foster Care Utilization Review Program

FISP Field Implementation Support Program

FOIA Freedom of Information Act

FPSS DCFS Foster Parent Support Specialist

FTS DCFS Family-Centered, Trauma-Informed, Strength-Based

GAL Guardian ad Litem

HMR Home of Relative

IB3 Illinois Birth to Three Waiver

ICC Interagency Coordinating Council

ICPC Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children

ICWA Indian Child Welfare Act

IF/R Intact Family Recovery

IIAA Illinois Inter-Agency Athletic Association

ILO Independent Living Option

IPS Intensive Placement Stabilization

ISBE Illinois State Board of Education

LOS Length of Stay

MAC Maintaining Adoption Connections

MARS Management Accounting and Reporting System

MCH Maternal and Child Health

MIECHV Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home-Visiting

MPEEC Multidisciplinary Pediatric Education and Evaluation Consortium

MY TIME Mentoring Youth to Inspire Meaningful Employment

NCTSN National Child Trauma Stress Network

NPP Nurturing Parenting Program

OCFP DCFS Office of Child & Family Policy

OER Outcome Enhancement Review

OETS DCFS Office of Education and Transition Services

OIG DCFS Office of the Inspector General

OITS DCFS Office of Information Technology Services

PAS Permanency Achievement Specialists

PAT Parenting Assessment Team

PEP Permanency Enhancement Program

PHP Psychiatric Hospital Program

PII Permanency Innovations Initiative

PIP Program Improvement Plan

POS Purchase of Service

PRIDE Parent Resources for Information, Development, and Education

RYAB Regional Youth Advisory Boards

SACWIS DCFS Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System

SAF Substance-Affected Families

SCAN Statewide Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect

SOC System of Care

SPD Statewide Provider Database

STEP Supervisory Training to Enhance Practice

SYAB Statewide Youth Advisory Board

TARGET Trauma Affect Regulation, Guidance for Education and Therapy

TFFH Treatment Foster Family Home

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

TI-EBP Trauma-Informed Evidenced Based Practices

TLP Transitional Living Program

TPR Termination of Parental Rights

TPSN Teen Parent Services Network

TRPMI Therapeutic Residential Performance Monitoring Initiative

UIR Unusual Incident Report

YHAP Youth Housing Assistance Program

Additional frequently used terminology:

Abbreviations

What they mean

DCFS, IDCFS, The Department

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

P 300, Procedures 300

Child Protection procedures/processes

P 315, Procedures 315

Permanency Planning procedures/processes

POS, private agencies

Purchase of Service, our private agency partners

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Chapter 1 – General Information

State Agency Administering Programs

Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is the state agency designated to

administer and supervise the administration of child welfare services, Title IV-B, subpart 1 and 2

and the Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. In addition, the Department is designated to

administer the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program and the Child Abuse Prevention

Treatment Act.

DCFS provides comprehensive social services and child welfare programs that include protective

services, protective child care, family services, foster care and adoption. In addition, DCFS

licenses and monitors all Illinois child welfare agencies and more than 14,000-day care centers,

homes, group homes and day care agencies in the state.

The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) consists of a central office, and four

regions, Cook County, Northern, Central and Southern. Each region is divided into field service

areas. The general statewide management and support functions of the agency are currently

performed at the central office level. The State Central Register (which includes the child abuse

hotline) is also a central office function.

Unique to Illinois is the volume of care provided by private agencies. More than 85% of the care

and services offered to Illinois child welfare cases are provided by the private sector. Private

agencies provide services via contracts with DCFS. DCFS selects community-based agencies

and organizations to provide a full continuum of services.

An array of service provision is available for children and families. DCFS makes contract dollars

available to private agencies to provide day-to-day operations. These can include case

management services, family preservation and support services, family foster care, kinship care,

adoption, respite care, institutional care, group care, independent living skills and transitional

living skills. This arrangement allows voluntary agencies to assume the traditional responsibilities

of the state, while keeping ultimate responsibility and oversight with DCFS and the Illinois General

Assembly.

DCFS was intentional about including stakeholders at every level throughout the process of

preparing for round 3 CFSR and developing the PIP. Those efforts evolved into workgroups to

plan for improvement. DCFS is prioritizing efforts to make data more accessible and to use data

to drive decision making at all levels. There is agreement that meeting compliance objectives has

not resulted in improved practice and outcomes and that a balance with quality work is critical.

As the Illinois Child Welfare community of DCFS, private agencies, judicial partners, university

partners, community providers and many more stakeholders to the child welfare system continue

the implementation and work of the Program Improvement Plan (PIP) and the 5-year Strategic

CFSP, there is ongoing commitment to improve safety assessments, early and often engagement

with families and rigorous ongoing training and support for staff.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Link to the DCFS Organizational Chart:

https://www2.illinois.gov/dcfs/aboutus/director/documents/dcfs_orgchart.pdf

Link to 2019 APSR:

https://www2.illinois.gov/dcfs/aboutus/newsandreports/Documents/APSR_FY19.pdf

Mission, Vision and Values

Mission: To promote prevention, child safety, permanency and well-being. We bring the

voices of Illinois children and families to the forefront, building trusting relationships that

empower those we serve.

Vision: Communities strengthening families to ensure every child is safe, healthy and

productive at home and in school.

Values:

We value Trust.

We value Compassion.

We value Accountability.

We value Responsiveness, Relationships and Respect.

We value Empathy.

We value Safety.

Collaborations

DCFS has long standing collaborations with a number of agencies and entities across the State.

In preparing for the CFSR (Child and Family Services Review) numerous private child welfare

agencies, court systems, federal partners, service providers, biological, foster and adoptive

parents, and youth were called upon to participate. In the year that has passed since the Review,

these groups and individuals have continued to be active partners as our work together has

involved the Illinois PIP (Program Improvement Plan), the BH Implementation Plan, the FFPSA

(Family First Prevention Services Act), as well as other endeavors. A description of some of these

collaboration efforts will begin below. Others will be found in the following chapters.

Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC)

The Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) is invaluable in our joint work toward

improving the work shared in child and family safety, permanency and well being.

The AOIC assists the Supreme Court with its general administrative and supervisory authority

over all Illinois courts. The AOIC's Court Services Division - Courts, Children and Families Unit

(CCFU), on behalf of the Supreme Court of Illinois, is responsible for administering the federally

funded State Court Improvement Program (CIP) Basic, Data and Training grants. The purpose of

the CIP is to: "1) promote the continuous quality improvement of court proceedings in child

welfare proceedings and 2) enhance and expand collaboration between the judicial branch of

state government, the title IV-E/IV-B agency and tribes to improve child welfare outcomes." The

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

CCFU also works to support the mission, vision, and core values of Illinois' CIP of ensuring safety

and stability for children and families involved in juvenile abuse and neglect court system and to

improve timely permanency in Illinois. The unit includes four staff positions: CCFU Manager, CIP

Coordinator, CIP Grants Program Developer, and CIP Administrative Assistant.

The AOIC's CCFU works with statewide and local court partners, such as: juvenile abuse and

neglect court judges and attorneys, educational institutions, governmental agencies, nonprofit

organizations, legal services providers and other child welfare stakeholders to initiate statewide

and local interagency collaboration and support court improvement efforts as it relates to children

and families involved with the judicial system. These efforts focus on improving the quality of legal

representation for children and parents, promoting coordination between local courts and child

welfare stakeholders, developing judicial and attorney trainings, building capacity to collect local

child protection court data, and ongoing collaboration with state level IDCFS partners.

Current initiatives continuing into FY20:

Illinois CFSR Round 3 Program Improvement Plan: In 2018, the CCFU continued its' working

relationship with the Department by assisting with the third round of the Child and Family Services

Review (CFSR). The onsite review occurred in May 2018 and the CIP Coordinator participated

as a state reviewer where the CCFU Manager assisted with the organization of court related

stakeholder interviews. CCFU staff also participated with DCFS representatives in a facilitated

process with the Capacity Building Center for Courts with the purpose of developing court related

interventions for the Program Improvement Plan (PIP) aimed at addressing compliance issues

identified during the CFSR. The AOIC is contributing to Illinois' current drafted PIP proposal as it

relates to Goal #7: Effectively engage mothers, fathers and youth during the early stages of a

case (TC Hearing to Disposition) through quality hearing practices in order to establish a vision,

culture and specific practices that center on asking "what needs to happen to return the child

home today?" AOIC will determined detailed activities and timelines once the drafted PIP

proposal is approved by the Children's Bureau.

Title IV-E/IV-B Review: CCFU staff will continue to collaborate and participate in the upcoming

Title IV-E/IV-B review with IDCFS’s Office of Federal Financial Participation. Detailed activities

and timelines are yet to be determined.

Family First Prevention Services Act: In November 2018, Illinois submitted a request to delay

implementation of the Title IV-E provisions for 2 years, with the option of beginning

implementation sooner upon statewide readiness. CIP is required to provide training for judges

and attorneys on the FFPSA. The CCFU Manager is Co-Chair of the FFPSA Legal & Policy

Committee, which is one of eight workgroups developing and implementation strategy for Family

First. Also, the CCFU Manager and CIP Coordinator are co-leads on two subcommittees, working

closely with IDCFS and justice partners to create court-related forms and training development.

By Septeber 2019, CIP will begin to provide initial FFPSA training to juvenile abuse and neglect

court judges and attorneys throughout Illinois. FFPSA CIP Judicial and Attorney training will be

on-going and with varied delivery methods. A detailed training schedule will be finalized once

IDCFS is ready to implement FFPSA.

AOIC-IDCFS Joint Court Report Pilot Project: CIP federal funding requires AOIC and the

Department to identify a joint project to address court reform issues and work to improve the

safety, well-being, and permanency of children in foster care and strengthen the legal and judicial

system. In 2017, based on the size and quality of court reports provided by the caseworkers, the

AOIC and IDCFS identified the need for a uniform court report that provides the number of days

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

the child has been in placement and other key information for the court to make appropriate

findings and decisions. The Mt. Vernon Immersion Sites participated in the development and

testing of the new service provider court report. Changes in leadership at IDCFS slowed down

the original timeline. In December 2018, Lake County Immersion Site agreed to pilot the court

report. Prelimary discussions and planning are taking place. Once the pilot process is completed

in Lake County the court report will continue to be rolled out to addiitonal counties. Detailed

timeline is to be determined.

Court Improvement Program Advisory Committee (CIPAC): CIPs are required to establish and

operate a statewide multi-disciplinary task force to guide and contribute to CIP activities and to

create opportunity to promote and enhance "meaningful and on-going collaboration" between the

courts and IDCFS. Several representatives of IDCFS are members of the Court Improvement

Program Advisory Committee, as well as judges, state's attorneys, parent and child attorneys,

trial court administrators, CASA, etc. The CIPAC convenes on a quarterly basis each year and as

needed. Recent meetings have included joint review of the 2018 CFSR findings and explaination

of the PIP/CFSP/APSR/OER. Although the APSR is a built-in mechinism to annually assess and

report progress of the CFSP 5-year-plan, as a result of CIP and IDCFS joint attendence at the

Children's Bureau State Planning Team meeting (Apr. 22-24th) in Washington, DC, it was

determined to also utilize the CIPAC quarterly meetings as an opportunity to collaboratively

update and assess progress.

Child Protection Data Courts (CPDC) Project: Through the CPDC Project, the CCFU continues

to collect and analyze child protection court performance measures, demographic information and

case characteristics in child abuse and neglect cases. Currently, ten counties collect CPDC

Project data, including a multi-disciplinary team to review data and determine system change.

The CPDC Project sites track case demographic information as well as 18 of 30 nationally

recognized child protection court performance measures. Data coders perform manual data

collection on all closed juvenile abuse and neglect cases within the current calendar year. The

CPDC Project sites bring their teams to an annual CPDC Project Networking meeting. CPDC

teams engage in collaborative learning, information sharing, and receive their CPDC data reports.

The CPDC data reports help drive discussions on identifying strengths/areas needing

improvement and helps foster local data-driven court improvement efforts. The CPDC Project

Networking meetings will occur September 2020 (reporting 2019 data), 2021 (reporting 2020

data), 2022 (reporting 2021 data), 2023 (reporting 2022 data), 2024 (reporting 2023 data).

BH Consent Decree

In April 2015, the Court appointed a panel of experts to evaluate the services and placements

provided to plaintiff class members with psychological, behavioral or emotional challenges. In

July 2015, the Expert Panel submitted a report to the Court outlining specific findings and making

six recommendations for systemic change at DCFS. In October 2015, the Court adopted the

Expert Panel’s findings, subject to certain revisions, and reappointed an Expert Panel. The DCFS

B.H. Implementation Plan was submitted to the Court on February 23, 2016. The Implementation

Plan sets forth the specific steps DCFS will take to begin addressing the six recommendations

and the specific needs of children and youth in care with psychological, behavioral or emotional

challenges. The BH recommendations are as follows:

Recommendation #1: Institute a children’s system of care demonstration program that permits

POS agencies and DCFS sub-regions to waive selected policy and funding restrictions on a trial

basis in order to reduce the use of residential treatment and help children and youth succeed in

living in the least restrictive, most family-like setting.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Recommendation #2: Engage Department offices in a staged ‘immersion’ process of retraining

and coaching front-line staff in a cohesive model of practice that provides children and their

families with access to a comprehensive array of services, including intensive home-based

services, designed to enable children to live with their families.

Recommendation #3: Fund a set of permanency planning initiatives to improve permanency

outcomes for adolescents who enter state custody at age 12 or older either by transitioning youth

to permanent homes or preparing them for reconnecting to their birth families reaching adulthood.

Recommendation #4: Retain an organizational consultant to aid the Department in “rebooting” a

number of stalled initiatives that are intended to address the needs of children and youth with

psychological, behavioral or emotional challenges.

Recommendation #5: Restore funding for the Illinois Survey of Child and Adolescent Wellbeing

that uses standardized instruments and assessment scales modeled after the national Survey of

Child and Adolescent Wellbeing to monitor and evaluate changes in the safety, permanence, and

well-being of children for a representative sample of DCFS-involved children and their caregivers.

Recommendation #6: The implementation plan will provide for the Department to contract with an

external partner to perform an effective residential and group-home monitoring program. The

Department shall use an external partner for that function until such time as the Department has

sufficient staff with the necessary experience and clinical expertise to perform the function

internally and further has developed an in-house program that can monitor residential and group-

home placements effectively.

Within these 6 recommendations, there are multiple projects that DCFS continues to implement

and evaluate whether they are meeting desired outcomes for children and youth in the class.

The BH Consent Decree is heard before federal Judge Hon. Jorge L. Alonso. DCFS interfaces

with the BH Experts, Dr. Mark Testa and Marci White, and the Plaintiffs attorneys to review

progress towards implementation and evaluate outcomes.

Each project in the BH Implementation Plan has an assigned project manager. Contracts have

been developed with various vendors to assist DCFS project managers with implementation.

DCFS collaborates with youth in care, private child welfare providers, courts, other state agencies,

law enforcement, hospitals and community based service providers in the implementation of the

plan. Many of the projects are being formally evaluated by university partners.

In December 2018, retired Judge Hon. Geraldine Soat Brown was appointed as a Special Master

in the BH Consent Decree. The Special Master's role is to facilitate the exchange of informaton

between parties and to resolve disputes. In January 2019, the parties began meeting regularly

with Judge Brown. At this time, there is not a specified end date to Judge Brown's appointment.

The work associated with the BH Implementation Plan will be ongoing until DCFS can show

improvement in the agreed upon outcome measures. DCFS is using 6 of the safety, permanency

and wellbeing outcome measures that are currently utilized by the federal government in the Child

and Family Service Review (CFSR) to assess progress for children and youth in the class. DCFS

is also using wellbeing measures developed by the Illinois Child Welfare Advisory Committee

(CWAC) Sub-Committee on Wellbeing:

• Maltreatment in Foster Care

• Permanency in 12 months for children entering foster care

• Permanency in 12 months for children in foster care 12 to 23 months

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

• Permanency in 12 months for children in foster care 24 months or more

• Placement Stability

• Re-entry to foster care in 12 months

• Health and educational wellbeing indicators

There is alignment between DCFS' PIP for the CFSR and the BH Implementation Plan. One of

the key permanency strategies included in the PIP is the implementation of the Core Practice

Model (CPM) throughout the state. While the CPM is currently being implemented in the 4

Immersion Sites and the Southern Region, the plan is to achieve statewide implementation by

2020. Given the current challenges with implementation, however, the target completion date will

need to be reassessed. Another key permanency strategy in the PIP that aligns with the BH

Implementation Plan is the use of Subsidized Guardianship as the first permanency option once

reunification is ruled out. This strategy may also require addressing adaptive challenges

(attitudes, assumptions, etc) before we see systemwide improvement.

As it relates to Family First, both Traditional Residential Monitoring and TRPMI(Therapeutic

Residential Performance Monitoring Initiative) will be significantly impacted. Currently there are

various workgroups meeting to determine statewide readiness and to plan for implementation.

Office of Strategic Planning

The IDCFS’s Office of Strategic Planning has begun several projects with a prime incentive of

engaging stakeholders in the work to support Illinois children and families.

Voice of Customer: In order to better understand and meet the needs of the people served, staff

is engaging and building relationships with the Department’s primary consumers: youth in care,

birth parents, (especially birth fathers), foster caregivers and adoptive parents, with a listening

tour. The plans include forming focus groups to gather qualitative data regarding what does and

does not work, areas for improvements, and identifying trends per region. The ideas and

opinions of the consumers will then inform service providers for re-evaluating, amending, creating

and/or promoting programs, services and initiatives.

Illinois Heart Gallery: This is an Illinois adoption listing service that identifies youth with terminated

parental rights who are available for adoption. At this time, staff plan to revisit a 2017 project

review and analysis of the Illinois Heart Gallery, and partnering with key stakeholders, work

towards increasing the number of youth displayed on the photo listing service. One goal of this

project is to help to ensure older youth (14+) have an opportunity to achieve permanency despite

a DCFS goal of independence. Over the coming months, stakeholders will be working together

to develop ways to better promote the Illinois photo listing, and children and youth available for

adoption to prospective forever families.

Legislative Shadow Day: Several DCFS offices work together to support and encourage older

youth to participate in this day to experience the legislative process and meet some of the

lawmakers who establish the rule of law for citizens in the State of Illinois. Since 2016, both youth

in care and alumni from across the State have been able to share their experiences directly with

legislators to help inform and improve child welfare policy.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Partnering with Parents – Birth Parent Council: Various offices throughout DCFS assist in working

with the Birth Parent Councils across the state. Currently, the Councils are working on several

initiatives:

1) To amend/develop and create policy establishing a more comprehensive Birth Parent

Rights and Responsibilities that mirrors DCFS foster parent and youth bill of rights.

2) To educate and inform birth parents on their rights and responsibilities and how bridge

communications gaps with field staff and the Advocacy Office to help birth parents

navigate the child welfare system to improve customer experience.

3) To utilize a peer-to-peer approach in revising the existing Birth Parent Reunification

Handbook to ensure birth parents are knowledgeable about their involvement with

DCFS and to share best practices.

4) To help facilitate and establish an agenda that offers birth parents the value they

deserve when they participate and attend the DCFS Birth Parent Summit(s).

Illinois Planning for FFPSA

Illinois has established an FFPSA Steering Committee and several other committees to guide

planning and decision making for FFPSA, including four substantive committees (Prevention,

Intact Family Services, Residential & Congregate Care, and Licensing) and four support

committees (Data & Performance, Financial & Federal Compliance, Legal & Policy, and

Technology). More than 300 DCFS and private agency stakeholders are represented on these

committees. In November 2018, Illinois submitted a request to delay implementation of the Title

IV-E provisions for 2 years, with the option of beginning implementation sooner upon statewide

readiness.

Progress in Committees

Residential & Congregate Care

Purpose: To provide guidance, recommendations, and support for implementation of Family First

provisions related to congregate and residential care facilities serving Illinois youth in care.

The Residential & Congregate Care Committee has worked with committee members to assess

readiness of congregate care agencies in meeting provisions for Qualified Residential Treatment

Programs (QRTPs) of FFPSA. This Committee has also worked with the Technology, Legal,

Financial & Federal Policy, and Data & Performance Committees to begin building support

structures for implementation of necessary documentation for QRTPs. This Committee has

provided recommendations regarding:

1. Assessment procedures and documentation practices for clinical report by a qualified

individual within 30 days of placement in a Qualified Residential Treatment Program

2. Coordination with court personnel to complete determinations within 60 days of youth

placement in a Qualified Residential Treatment Program

3. Procedures for placement continuation after 12 consecutive months and 18 non-

consecutive months for youth in Qualified Residential Treatment Programs

4. Supports for QRTPs to implement trauma-informed treatment models, assess fidelity of

implementation, and provide ongoing training for effective trauma-informed care to be

implemented.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

5. Building capacity for implementation of evidence-based, trauma-informed treatment

models within QRTPs

6. Development of strengthened practices for discharge and post-discharge planning

among QRTPs, including appropriate staffing, training, administrative capacity, and

evaluation/documentation.

7. How to address the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion, which

prohibits the use of federal Medicaid financing for care provided to most patients in

mental health and substance use disorder residential treatment facilities larger than 16

beds.

8. Strengthening of programming for family-centered residential substance use disorder

treatment for parents and their children

9. Changes to the Child Care Act (Illinois Administrative Code, Title 89, Ch. III, Subch a,

Part 301.100) to frame placement in residential care facilities and group homes as based

on child’s clinical needs, desire for close proximity to child’s identified family members,

and availability of appropriate trauma-informed intervention.

10. Assurance that all QRTPs are accredited by an approved accreditation body.

11. Supports for QRTPs to maintain and implement available licensed nursing staff 24/7 for

youth in QRTP placements.

12. Strengthening of practices and procedures regarding the implementation of Child and

Family Team meetings with youth in QRTPs to foster maximum permanency, safety, and

wellbeing of participating youth.

Additionally, this Committee has worked with liaisons who are focused on FFPSA provisions

related to:

1) programming to serve victims of and those at-risk for human or sex trafficking

2) strategies to limit increases to juvenile justice involvement among Illinois youth in care

Prevention

Purpose: To develop a continuum of care that maximizes the state’s use of existing evidence-

based resources and builds that capacity, that provides comprehensive and coordinated support

to families to prevent them from entering the child welfare system.

There are 6 Sub-Committees within the Prevention Committee:

Target population: FFPSA defines foster care candidacy as the qualifier for FFPSA prevention

services. This group is working on recommending the specific targeted populations (e.g.

screened out calls; repeat reports; reunified families). Data analysis has been completed by Dana

Weiner at Chapin Hall Center for Children and Lina Millett, Senior Advisor, Performance

Management and Accountability for DCFS. Lead is Maria Nanos, Executive Director of the Center

for Law and Social Work.

Pregnant & Parenting Families: This group was not originally a subcommittee within the proposed

structure, but was a response to this aspect of the legislation beginning in December 2018. Leads

are Kimberly Mann and Robin LaSota. The work of this team has focused largely on utilization of

home visiting as a primary intervention for preventing DCFS involvement.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Evidence-based and supported interventions: The goal of this group is to determine interventions

that are already in use in Illinois, and recommend inclusion/adoption of others utilizing the

guidance of the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse. Lead is Carie Bires, MSW, Senior

Policy Manager, Illinois Policy Ounce of Prevention Fund. There are 11 initial recommendations

based upon the interventions identified for the first round of review by the Title IV-E

Clearinghouse.

Measurement & Evaluation: This group provides recommendations on how to measure outcomes

under FFPSA. Co-Leads are Amy Dworsky [Research Fellow-Chapin Hall] and Tracy

Fehrenbach [Co-Director, Center for Child Trauma Assessment, Services and Interventions;

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Northwestern University, Feinberg

School of Medicine]. Three designs are currently being offered with different levels of rigor in

evaluating the effectiveness of interventions employed for FFPSA Prevention Services, that

include a comparison group receiving services as usual.

Alternative/ Differential Response: This group reviews lessons learned from Illinois’

implementation of differential response, and proposes considerations for the Alternative

Response Model under FFPSA. Leads are Lori Welcher-Evans, Agency Performance Team

Supervisor, Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and Audrena Spence, Executive

Director-Metropolitan Family Services-Calumet Center. The primary focus has been given to the

adoption of the Red Team which utilizes a multidisciplinary team to screen cases for the

determination of alternative response vs. investigations.

Other Economic Interventions: This group recommends non-traditional interventions that involve

an economic response to support deflection/ prevention of state custody. Lead is Diane

Scruggs, Executive Director- Healthy Families Chicago. The group developed “Resources and

Barriers of Children and Youth in Care (by Age Group).

Intact Family Services

Purpose: To strengthen programming for children and families at high-risk of child maltreatment,

serious injuries, and death, including kinship navigator, family finding, and prevention services.

Intact Family Services has a separate Committee from Prevention, even though prevention is a

function of Intact Family Services. The goal is to rework the existing services provided through

Intact Family Services to align with new Title IV-E requirements. This committee is also focused

on how to strengthen efforts for family reunification, among families who previously received Intact

Family Services with children are currently under DCFS care.

• The Intact Family Services committee has identified a target population who would be

considered candidates for Intact services. The committee also identified desired services

to support the identified clients.

• The Intact Family Services committee identified specific data needs to assist in identifying

clients and assessing their presenting needs, concerns, and geographic locations. Data

is needed to ask to better identify services identified and provided; the reason for case

opening; the reason for case closing (successful/unsuccessful); the length of time case is

open; how long after case opening do disruptions occur; and demographics of the children

and families. Chapin Hall Center for Children conducted an audit of Intact Family Services

for the Illinois Governor’s Office providing data-informed recommendations on serving at-

risk families.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

• The committee has created a survey to be distributed to agencies with Intact Family

Services. The survey will collect data that will help map services and identify how the

services are provided. Where the services exist needs to be determined, and where they

do not exist. How are the services provided? Do the agencies provide services

internally? If so, which services do they provide? Do they pay for services/contract with

outside resources to provide services? Do they refer to services with a sliding

scale? Accept the medical card? The survey has been pilot tested, formatted, and will be

distributed in June 2019.

• The Intact Committee has partnered with the Prevention committee to work on

recommendations for an Alternative Response program. Illinois previously implemented a

Differential response program, but there are some minor proposed changes, now being

referred to as the Alternative Response program.

Licensing

Purpose: To support the adoption of updated Illinois foster care licensing rules and procedures in

alignment with national foster care licensing standards, including meeting federal requirements

for background checks for foster care families.

The comprehensive proposal to include changes based on Family First to Rule 402, i.e., Licensing

Standards for Foster Family Homes, was submitted to the DCFS Office of Child & Family Policy

(OCFP) in March 2019. OCFP has since formatted all of the proposed changes into a draft

rule. The Licensing Committee will meet with Stacey Simek-Dreher from OCFP in June 2019 to

review progress made towards promulgating the changes into rule. A bill has been passed in both

houses to amend the Child Care Act to state a family foster home cannot have more than 6

children, instead of 8. There are provisions for waivers to expand the capacity based upon certain

criteria. The Child Care Act requires that character references have to be non-family related

persons; actions to address this requirement are forthcoming. The Licensing Committee has

reviewed and approved the Health & Safety standards that cannot be waived. The standards that

can be waived are listed in a proposed Appendix to Rule 402.

Data & Performance

Purpose: 1) To support the development of FFPSA readiness assessment surveys and

summarize the findings from these surveys, in partnership with substantive Committees; and

2) To support the development of FFPSA-related performance metrics and performance

management systems, in partnership with substantive Committees.

• Congregate Care FFPSA Readiness Assessment Survey: All 46 agencies with

congregate care programming completed the survey, giving a 100% response rate. Lina

Millett and Robin LaSota are working to support Alex McJimpsey in Michael C. Jones’

office on the aggregate and individual analysis of the survey responses. The survey has

been sent mostly to prospective QRTP providers to revisit whether and how the survey

should proceed with additional providers, those specializing in programs with parenting

youth, victims of sex trafficking, or family-based substance abuse treatment. The analysis

of survey data will be presented at the June 2019 meetings of the Congregate Care and

Data & Performance Committees.

• Intact Family Services FFPSA Readiness Assessment Surveys: (Administrator and

Supervisor versions). These surveys have taken longer than anticipated for pilot testing

due to the length of the surveys, and work with OITS on Survey Monkey formatting of

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

questions based upon feedback from the pilot testing. Once the final versions of the

surveys are distributed, it will take a couple of weeks for survey completions, additional

follow-ups to obtain a full response rate, and then analysis. Intact Family Services

Committee does not have any analytic support within their group, so our workgroup will

need to support them. Lina Millett has already secured support to make maps for their

different services, and arranged for OITS to support survey finalization. The survey will be

ready for distribution in June 2019.

• Follow-Ups to FFPSA Readiness Assessment Surveys: Once survey data is analyzed,

the next steps will be to partner with Congregate Care and Intact Family Services

Committees to relate back with providers about areas of strength and weaknesses, and

develop strategies to support problem-solving and capacity-building among providers to

meet requirements for Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) and FFPSA

Prevention Services.

Report on FFPSA-Related Performance Metrics:

A number of conversations have been held with substantive Committees about potential outcome

metrics to be considered for various FFPSA provisions, and proposals from other Committees

have been reviewed (such as subcommittee on Assessment/Documentation for Congregate

Care, and subcommittee on Data/Evaluation for Intact Family Services). Conversations have

been held with Derek Hobson and Deborah Kennedy on strategies for evaluating implementation

and outcomes achieved under Family First. Performance metrics follow from the defined scope

of work in the FFPSA Prevention Services Plan, plans for implementing QRTP provisions,

implementation of foster care licensing standards, and recruitment of high-quality foster care

families and kinship navigator programs. The goal is work with substantive committees, contract

monitoring, and program leads to support the design and implementation of a robust performance

management system, supported by OITS, etc.

Financial & Federal Compliance

Purpose: To support fiscal and compliance discussions; address and research questions; provide

information; correct FFPSA interpretations; and facilitate needed changes. Different members of

the committee attended all other committee meetings, including subcommittees, to stay abreast

of what was being discussed and any decisions that were being contemplated. Many decisions

are yet to be made.

Primary items completed:

• Laying out a timeline of the elements of FFPSA that need to be addressed.

• Providing a summarized version of the Act.

• Taking any of the groups policy questions to DHHS-ACF.

• Getting the basic system requirements / changes needed to OITS to give them an

opportunity to plan their approach while waiting for key decisions to be made.

• Reaching out to other states who have been impacted by the IMD exclusion. As a result

of many states’ concerns, it does appear that federal CMS and ACF will have discussions

to provide a possible compromise.

• Developed initial picture of what our maintenance of effort for prevention services

spending might look like. As it turns out, Maintenance of Effort (MOE) may be as low as

zero.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

• Considered options with the Residential & Congregate Care Committee to expand

programming that would prevent sex trafficking among youth in congregate care, who are

disproportionately at risk for sex trafficking.

Continuing work:

• What will be the prevention population we intend to serve?

• What evidence-based prevention services will be utilized and will new services will be

funded with new dollars?

• Into what programmatic buckets do all of our current residential programs fall? (ie.

ILO/TLP; Parenting support; Sex Trafficking; QRTP = Qualified Residential Treatment

Program; or, non-qualified program such as a group home) and how well will agencies be

able to adapt if necessary?

• Overall approach to shortening residential length of stays and approach to necessary

resource development to better facilitate step downs.

Legal & Policy

Purpose: To support coordinated implementation of FFPSA provisions by Illinois courts and

DCFS. Family First requires training of judges in Family First standards and provisions for

Qualified Residential Treatment programs. A key component of this group’s work is addressing

practices and procedures for courts to complete approval within 60 days of a congregate care

placement (necessary for federal claiming), with review of a new independent assessment (by a

third party unless use of staff, such as DCFS Clinical, is approved by Children’s Bureau) after

congregate care placement. This group is also exploring ways for DCFS and Illinois courts to

strengthen family supports for preventing DCFS involvement and promoting family reunification,

in alignment with Family First provisions.

The Legal & Policy Committee is largely waiting on the other FFPSA Committees to submit their

draft policy for Office of Legal Service (OLS) Review and Office of Child and Family Policy for

Rule and Procedure-making expertise. This Committee has finalized proposed amendments to

the Juvenile Court Act and The Child Care Act to align Illinois Statutes with FFPSA, which has

currently made it out of House Committee and is currently in Senate Committee. Additionally, the

Judge and Judicial Training Committee is awaiting finalization of other committee’s work to finalize

their training and schedule training dates.

Technology

Purpose: To work with all substantive and support committees on the design and implementation

of technology-enhanced supports for Family First provisions associated with FFPSA Prevention

Services, Qualified Residential Treatment Programs, foster care licensing standards, supports for

DCFS coordination with courts around FFPSA provisions, etc. Additionally, this group leads the

effort to implement requirements for digital interstate case processing by 2026.

The Family First Technology Committee is continuing to elicit information from all the committees

and stakeholders. The Technology Committee has established a process and templates in

conjunction with the Office of Policy and numerous other committees to facilitate the building of a

holistic view of the system impacts related to the Family First initiative. The Technology

Committee is actively driving meetings with other committees to gather the necessary information

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

to form a roadmap for the delivery of system changes related to Family First. The Technology

Committee has two significant concerns: 1) coordinating FFPSA system changes with upcoming

CCWIS changes; and 2) early assessment of the effort necessary to realize the system changes

will exceed October 1

DCFS is continuing to plan for Family First. DCFS has identified the target population and has

created its vision statement. DCFS will ask for increased prevention funding to be included in the

FY21 Budget. FY21 contract program plans will be amended to reflect the requirement of

evidence based, well supported, supported or promising interventions identified in the

Plan. These interventions must be submitted to and approved by the Children’s Bureau to get

reimbursed for prevention services. DCFS is working towards an implementation start date of

July 2020 if the FY 21 budget is approved. DCFS is also working with DHS and HFS to integrate

sister agencies into the Family First plan. A Family First Technology Committee has been

established to support the design and implementation of technology enhancements related to

Family First.

Leaders and Committee Members of FFPSA

Jason Keeler Allendale for Kids

Judy Griffeth Allendale for Kids

Heather Dorsey AOIC

Kristie Schneller AOIC

Dora Maya Arden Shore

Vicky Tello Arden Shore

Iris Williams Aunt Martha’s

Michelle Padula Aunt Martha’s

Angelica Jimenez Aunt Martha's

Audrey Pennington Aunt Martha's

Clete Winkelmann Aunt Martha's

Gary Bevills Aunt Martha's

Jessica Cummings Aunt Martha's

Keith Tyrka Aunt Martha's

Kenny Martin Ocasio Aunt Martha's

Mia Collins Aunt Martha's

Natasha Stumpf Aunt Martha's

Philoniese Moore Aunt Martha's

Raul Garza Aunt Martha's

Rocco Biscaglio Jr. Aunt Martha's

Shante Roberson Aunt Martha's

Christina Bruhn Aurora University

Karen Major Baby Fold

Nina Aliprandi Be Strong Families

Dee Restrepo Caritas

Mark Becker Caritas

Mary Savage Caritas

Mike Philbin Caritas

Paula Valencia Casa Central

Laura Kuever Catholic Charities

Laura Rios Catholic Charities

Maria Nanos Center 4 Law/Social Work

Kim Zang Centerstone

Deb Roberts Chaddock

Matt Obert Chaddock

Molly Bainter Chaddock

Amy Dworsky Chapin Hall

Fred Lee CHASI

Stephanie Herink CHASI

Donna Kasper Childrens Home and Aid

Melissa Ludington Childrens Home and Aid

Arlene Happach Childrens Home and Aid

Keith Polan Childrens Home and Aid

Stefanie Polacheck Childrens Home and Aid

Cathy Krieger Children's Place

Alpa Patel Cook County

Hon. Francis Martinez Court

Hon. Linda Abrahamson Court

Alan Morris DCFS

Alex McJimpsey DCFS

Amara Smith DCFS

Angela Hassell DCFS

Angelique N. Momon DCFS

Anika Todd DCFS

Anne Gold DCFS

Annette Stafford DCFS

Ashley Deckert DCFS

Berry, Kathleen DCFS

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Beth Solomon DCFS

Birdell Fry DCFS

Bruce Dubre DCFS

Carol Melton DCFS

Carol Morris DCFS

Carole Ruzicka DCFS

Carolyn Spann DCFS

Carolyn Thomas DCFS

Cindy McCleary DCFS

Corey Wiegand DCFS

Coty E. Corcoles DCFS

Cynthia Richter-Jackson DCFS

Dallas (Jay) Crome DCFS

Darlene Feliciano DCFS

Darryl Johnson DCFS

David Nika DCFS

Deann Muehlbauer DCFS

Deborah Perkins DCFS

Deborah Wilson-Gord DCFS

Debra Dyer-Webster DCFS

Delores Wilks DCFS

Derek Hobson DCFS

Desiree Silva DCFS

Diane Cottrell DCFS

Director Smith DCFS

Edie Washington DCFS

Erica Cabrera DCFS

Faith Seals DCFS

Franklin, Tina DCFS

Gail Simpson DCFS

George Vennikandam DCFS

Glendora Thomas DCFS

Grove, Michelle DCFS

Harriet Kersh DCFS

Heather Blancke DCFS

Heather Vose DCFS

Hilary Melbourne DCFS

James Daugherty DCFS

Hon. Martin Mengarelli Court

Hon. Patricia Martin Court

Hon. Valerie Boettle Court

Nydia Molina Court - Casa Kane Co

Jessica Bryar Court - Cook Co

Larry Grazian Court - Cook Co

Danielle Gomez Court - Cook Co

Chantelle Porter Court – DuPage Co

Kim Guest Cunningham Home

Angela Adams-Martin Cunningham Home

Patricia Ege Cunningham Home

Shawn Peterson Cunningham Home

Amy Dralle CYFS

Chris Kelly CYFS

Kris Kelly CYFS

MaryKay Collins CYFS

Scott Hassett CYFS

Kristy (Kristine) Herman DHFS

Wendy Nussbaum DHS

Andria Goss Erickson Institute

Brigid Luke Evangelical CFS

Melissa Frydman Family Advocacy Clinic

Diane Redleaf Family Defense Center

Rachel Retenburg Family Defense Center

Candice Their FCURP

Jennifer Eblen-Manning FCURP

Alan Novick Frontier

Emmanuel Jackson Garden of Prayer

Michael Maloney Garden of Prayer

Mikkal Harris Garden of Prayer

Jim Woywod Hephzibah Home

Shaun Lane Hephzibah Home

Julie Dvorsky Hephzibah Home

Merry Beth Sheets Hephzibah Home

Brice Bloom-Ellis Hoyleton

Destin Mays Hoyleton

Kristen Shinn Hoyleton

Amanda McMillen ICOY

Andi Durbin ICOY

Chris Boyster ICOY

Deb McCarrel ICOY

Jack Kelley ICOY

Kacy Anderson ICOY

Louis Bedford ICOY

Cecilia Contreras-Dard Indian Oaks Academy

Chase Zajc Indian Oaks Academy

Christopher Bintz Indian Oaks Academy

Mary Ann Berg Indian Oaks Academy

Jan Hooks DCFS

Janet Ahern DCFS

Janet Miller DCFS

Jason House DCFS

Jeff Osowski DCFS

Jennifer Kitzmiller DCFS

Jennifer Marett DCFS

Jennifer Seward DCFS

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Jill Tichenor DCFS

Jim Daugherty DCFS

Jimi Adeniyi DCFS

Joanna Su DCFS

Joe McDonald DCFS

John Egan DCFS

Jolonda Parker DCFS

Judy Yeager DCFS

Julia Miller DCFS

Julia Monzon DCFS

Juliana Harms DCFS

Julie Barbosa DCFS

Kara Teeple DCFS

Karen Wagner DCFS

Karen Wilkerson DCFS

Kathleen Duvall DCFS

Kathy Clyne DCFS

Kathy Lane DCFS

Kim Mann DCFS

Kim Taylor DCFS

Kristina Engel DCFS

Lania West DCFS

Laura Coffey DCFS

Lauren Williams DCFS

Lee Annes DCFS

Lesley Schwartz DCFS

Lina Millett DCFS

Linda Karfs DCFS

Linda Moore DCFS

Liz Kepler DCFS

Lori Welcher-Evans DCFS

Lucy Atsaves DCFS

Luke Hinds DCFS

Lynda Petrick DCFS

Maggie Pouteau DCFS

Marc Smith DCFS

Marci Malnar DCFS

Marielisa Ramos-Jime DCFS

Marshae Terry DCFS

Meryl Paniak DCFS

Rachel LaGesse Indian Oaks Academy

Rebecca Nestor Indian Oaks Academy

Robin Motz Indian Oaks Academy

Norman Brown Individual Advcy Group

Bari Rothbaum Infant Parent Institute

Candyce Booker Infant Parent Institute

Kathy Grzelak Kaleidoscope

Jackie Sharp Lakeside Community

Melissa M. Curtis Lawrence Hall

Carly Jones Lawrence Hall

Mitchell Sandy Lawrence Hall

Renee Lehocky Lawrence Hall

Christina Naujokas LCFS

Douglas Cablk LCFS

Trisha Booker LCFS

Susan McConnell Let It Be Us

Emily Rawsky Little City Foundation

Rich Bobby Little City Foundation

Mike Wojcik LSSI

Murray, Jere LSSI

Ruth Jajko LSSI

Ellen Rosendale Lurie Children's Hosp

Monica Heene Lurie Children's Hosp

Evelyn Smith Maryville Academy

Sarah Melgarejo Maryville Academy

T Hemphill Maryville Academy

Teresa Maganzini Maryville Academy

Thelma Hemphill Maryville Academy

William Fletcher Maryville Academy

Audrena Spence Metro Family Services

Viviane Ngwa National Advocate

Chidima Okorie Northwestern Univ

Jen Prior Northwestern Univ

Tracy Fehrenbach Northwestern Univ

Wendi Wilkins Northwestern Univ

Amanda Cunningham NYAP

Darnise Horne NYAP

Dorcye McCarthy Omni Youth Services

Donna Ryan Onarga Academy

Margaret Vimont One Hope United

Melissa Webster One Hope United

Carie Bires Ounce of Prevention

Carmen Garcia Ounce of Prevention

Amanda Buchanan Our Children's Home

Annette Gannaway Our Children's Home

Jeff Serrano Pavilion

Joey King Pavilion

Michael Adams DCFS

Michael C. Jones DCFS

Michael Deschamps DCFS

Michael Ferenbach DCFS

Michael Jones DCFS

Michelle Jackson DCFS

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Mike Ferenbach DCFS

Monica Mosley-Cantrell DCFS

Monico Whittington-Es DCFS

Nancy Reeves DCFS

Nicole Suhm DCFS

Norma Machay DCFS

Paula Truitt-Alohan DCFS

Pedro Mendoza DCFS

Pfeffer Eisin DCFS

Ralphael Longmire DCFS

Rocell J. Cyrus DCFS

Rodrigo Remolina DCFS

Roselyn Harris DCFS

Royce Kirkpatrick DCFS

Sajad Husain DCFS

Sam Gillespie DCFS

Schwartz, Edward DCFS

Scott Manuel DCFS

Shawn Eddings DCFS

Shelia Riley DCFS

Shirley Davis-Barsh DCFS

Stacey Simek-Dreher DCFS

Stany D'Souza DCFS

Susan Webster DCFS

Sylvia Woods-Thomas DCFS

Tawnya Hooper DCFS

Theresa Matthews DCFS

Tiffany Johnson DCFS

Tiffany Jones DCFS

Tina Franklin DCFS

Traci Massey DCFS

Tracy Hewitt DCFS

Tracy Marshall DCFS

Tracy Vincent DCFS

Vel Ojugbele DCFS

Victoria Jones DCFS

Mary Ford DCFS

Kristen Hammel Pavilion

Christine Achre Primo Center

Patrice Vining Sequin

Joanna Wells Southern Illinois Univ

Ashley Albrecht Spero Family Svcs

Mandy Bernard Spero Family Svcs

Michelle Moreno Spero Family Svcs

Marc Fagan Thresholds

Andrea M. Chua UCAN

Milbrook, Nacole UCAN

Robin LaSota UIUC

Christina DeNard University of Illinois

James Ronayne University of Illinois

April Curtis Youth Advocate

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Chapter 2- Assessment of Performance

Child and Family Outcomes

NOTES:

During the 2015-2019 CFSP, DCFS has experienced change in directors and executive

leadership. The Plans for Improvement identified in the 2015-2019 CFSP were developed under

the leadership of an Acting Director (Gregg) who was not in place at the time the CFSP was

submitted.

During the 2015 – 2019 CFSP period, Illinois adjusted its Outcome Enhancement Review (OER)

process to align it with CFSR Round 3 changes. Illinois chose to use the federal Onsite Review

Instrument (OSRI) as its main review tool for the OER, and the federal Online Monitoring System

(OMS) as its database to ensure that the state was using completely comparable tools.

During this 2015 – 2019 CFSP period, Illinois completed several case reviews using the OSRI,

and completed it’s 2018 CFSR (Round 3): In 2016, a total of 100 cases were reviewed (70 Foster

Care; 30 In-Home); in 2017, a total of 54 cases were reviewed (43 Foster Care; 11 In-Home; in

2018, 65 were reviewed as part of Illinois’ Traditional CFSR Round 3 (40 Foster Care; 25 In-

Home) and 7 cases (4 Foster Care; 3 In-Home) were reviewed post-CFSR.

In 2018 and 2019, in terms of its data collection processes that mimic the CFSR, Illinois has been

focused on:

1) training reviewers and (review) QA staff on the OSRI and supporting tools to maximize

accuracy and consistency during the PIP Baseline (and beyond; this has included the

enhancement of the Initial QA/”Coach” function),

2) developing “Supplemental Questions” (as a complimentary tool to the OSRI; also stand-

alone) to assess the quality of specific practices of interest to the state (Child and Family

Team Meetings, Transition Planning, and Supervision), and

3) developing an (unofficially) approved PIP Measurement Plan (Baseline, 2-year PIP

Implementation Period, and non-overlapping year as needed)

A. Safety

SAFETY OUTCOMES: Children are first and foremost protected from abuse and neglect (S1),

and Children are safely maintained in their homes whenever possible and appropriate (S2).

Outcome Enhancement Review

(OER) data for Outcome S1 and S2 during the 2015-2019 CFSP

indicates differences in performance before and after the federal CFSR, which is attributable to

the state’s interpretation and application of the OSRI:

The Outcome Enhancement Review (OER) is Illinois’ internal qualitative case record review process that mimics

the federal CFSR.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Outcome S1: Children are First and Foremost Protected from Abuse

and Neglect

Item 1 evaluates the timeliness of initiating investigations or reports of child maltreatment.

OUTCOME S1 DATA

OER data related to the timeliness of investigations (Item 1, the only Item in Outcome S1) remains

a relative strength for the state. Meeting the state mandates for initiating reports of abuse/neglect

in a timely manner is a historical strength for DCFS. State policy requires one of three conditions

to be met within 24 hours of the state receiving the report in order to meet the initiation mandate:

1. Investigator must meet face-to-face with alleged victim(s)

2. Investigator must make a good faith attempt to meet with the alleged victim(s)

a. Good faith attempts must be made every 24 hours or sooner, including weekends

and holidays, until the child victim is seen, unless a waiver is granted by the Child

Protection Supervisor

3. Law enforcement makes a face-to-face contact with the alleged victim(s) due to

exceptional circumstances (e.g. weather issues, disaster, or other extreme circumstance)

DCFS is the only entity in the state that is responsible for conducting child protective

investigations. There are no Priority Levels assigned to cases. All assigned investigations must

be initiated within 24 hours of assignment. There is the provision for a more urgent response as

needed, but these are infrequently occurring.

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

Outcome S1, CHILDREN ARE FIRST AND FOREMOST

PROTECTED FROM ABUSE AND NEGLECT

100.00% 42 42 100.00% 30 30 92.86% 26 28 83.33% 5 6

Outcome S2: CHILDREN ARE SAFELY MAINTAINED IN

THEIR HOMES WHENEVER POSSIBLE AND APPROPRIATE

76.00% 76 100 79.63% 43 54 50.77% 33 65 57.14% 4 7

2018 IL CFSR:

40 Foster Care

25 In-Home

(65 Total)

COMBINED DATA

2018 OER Plus:

4 Foster Care

3 In-Home

(7 Total)

COMBINED DATA

2016 - 2018 STATE Data

COMBINED DATA

2016 TOTALS:

70 Foster Care

30 In-Home

(100 Total)

COMBINED DATA

2017 Running Totals:

43 Foster Care

11 In-Home

(54 Total)

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

Outcome S1, CHILDREN ARE FIRST AND FOREMOST

PROTECTED FROM ABUSE AND NEGLECT

100.00% 42 42 100.00% 30 30 92.86% 26 28 83.33% 5 6

Item 1: Timeliness of Initiating Investigations of Reports of

Child Maltreatment

100.00% 42 42 100.00% 30 30 92.86% 26 28 83.33% 5 6

2018 IL CFSR:

40 Foster Care

25 In-Home

(65 Total)

COMBINED DATA

2018 OER Plus:

4 Foster Care

3 In-Home

(7 Total)

COMBINED DATA

2016 - 2018 STATE Data

COMBINED DATA

2016 TOTALS:

70 Foster Care

30 In-Home

(100 Total)

COMBINED DATA

2017 Running Totals:

43 Foster Care

11 In-Home

(54 Total)

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Prior to the CFSR 3, Item 1 was assessed based on meeting the 24-hour initiation mandate, and

neglected to equally consider the frequency of ongoing efforts per state policy in situations where

the child victims were not seen during an initial attempt (called “Good Faith Attempt”). During the

CFSR 3 the Item was comprehensively assessed not only for meeting the 24-hour mandate, but

also for the ongoing attempts when initiation was made by a Good Faith Attempt. In 2 cases

during the CFSR, the ongoing attempts required per policy were not made (nor was there a

supervisory waiver) resulting in an ANI rating for those cases. Subsequent to the CFSR 3, Illinois

has ensured accurate interpretation of the instructions during its reviews and hence has observed

in 1 case where the Item is also rated an ANI due to the lack of ongoing efforts to see alleged

child victims per state policy.

In the Fall of 2018, Illinois conducted a review of 500 cases that had been opened for investigation

during a specific week in October 2018. The review was conducted to determine compliance with

initiation of investigations and the Good Faith Attempts ongoing requirements to determine the

scale of the problem. From the review of the 500 cases, the state could observe that in 99% of

cases the initiation mandate was made, and that in 66.7% of cases the children were seen within

24 hours of a report being received. The state was unable to determine through documentation

whether ongoing Good Faith Attempts were made as required for the 33.3% of children who were

not seen within 24 hours. Interviews were not a part of this review.

The state then also compared this data to historical data, which supported that historically 1/3 of

all investigations meet the 24-hour initiation mandate through the Good Faith Attempt condition.

The volume of investigations received annually (see table below) and persistent investigative

workforce turnover (between 25-30% monthly, over the last 12 months) combined with the

stringent state policy requirements governing ongoing efforts to see alleged child victims following

a Good Faith Attempt are identified as the reasons for the inability of staff to meet the state policy

requirements regarding ongoing efforts.

To address the area needing improvement specific to Item 1, the state will develop a PIP Strategy.

In the 3

round of the CFSRs, Item 2 (Repeat Maltreatment) was removed from the evaluation of

Outcome S1 in the case review portion of the process, and is evaluated for each state via

performance on two (2) national safety indicators. The table below reflects Illinois’ most recently

available performance per the CFSR 3 national indicator safety measures and illustrates that

there is improvement to be made:

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Federal Safety Indicator: Maltreatment in Foster Care

CFSR 3 Safety Indicator: Maltreatment in Foster Care, Illinois performance

(as of 1/19 Data Profile)

CFSR National Statewide

Indicator

National

Performance

Illinois

Observed

Performance

Illinois RSP*

IL Performance

Trend

(S1) Of all children in foster

care during a 12-month period,

what is the rate of victimization

per day of foster care?

9.67 victimizations

(preference is

less)

*state result

multiplied by

100,000

7.98

(FFY13)

9.88

(FFY14)

11.22

(FFY15)

11.29

(FFY16)

11.17

(FFY13)

12.90

(FFY14)

14.65

(FFY15)

14.75

(FFY16)



Wrong

Direction

(S2) Of all children who were

victims of a substantiated or

indicated report of maltreatment

during a 12-month period, what

percent were victims of another

substantiated/indicated report

within 12 months of their initial

report?

9.5%

(preference is

less)

7.9%

(FY12-13)

8.7%

(FY13-14)

10.7%

(FY14-15)

11.0%

(FY15-16)

11.6%

(FY16-17)

10.1%

(FY12-13)

11.2%

(FY13-14)

13.6%

(FY14-15)

13.9%

(FY15-16)

14.7%

(FY16-17)



Wrong

Direction

*Risk Standardized Performance. For much more information about how these Indicators, national standards, and state

performance are determined, please visit the Children’s Bureau’s CFSR Round 3 Resources page:

https://training.cfsrportal.org/resources/3105#Data Indicators and National Standards

Illinois has not met the federal national standard for either of the above indicators. During the

2015-2019 CFSP period, two qualitative case record reviews of children maltreated in foster care

were conducted

and revealed that the practice of “placing” children with their parents while

retaining legal guardianship instead of discharging to reunification with an order of supervision

had a significant impact on the number of children who became a part of the numerator for this

indicator. More significantly, the frequency and quality of assessments of safety and risk (and

follow-up on identified concerns) is an area for improvement within the population of children

maltreated in foster care. Additionally, supervisors of caseworkers were not providing needed

support, direction, and monitoring/following up on identified concerns. Last, continued data

quality issues were observed around the use of the incident date.

Maltreatment in foster care is a measure that is monitored by the Department’s Agency

Performance Team (APT) and by private agencies on a regular basis. The performance goal is

Previously reported in the 2017 and 2018 APSRs; no reviews were conducted in FFY18 or FFY19.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

100% (no maltreatment in foster care ever). The chart below illustrates annual state performance

for FY15 – 19:

The Absence of Maltreatment data in the above chart indicates that improvement is needed

toward achieving less maltreatment in foster care. Cook County data tends to be marginally better

than other regions (i.e., there is less maltreatment in Cook than elsewhere in the state).

The table below illustrates that maltreatment in foster care occurs less often for children/youth in

specialized foster care, and performance has been very consistent:

Absence of maltreatment is more challenging in Intact Family Service cases as illustrated below:

In an effort to improve these statistics, Illinois child welfare has begun the following projects:

UIUC Children and Family Research Center is redoing a 2015 study that looked at variables

associated with maltreatment in care. In the 2015 study, the variables that were more closely

associated with maltreatment in care were casework contact within the last 60 days and whether

the child was in an unlicensed HMR home. Their redo of this study should be completed in

November 2019. DCFS is also reviewing the recommendations from two prior research projects

on how to better license and support of Home of Relatives.

FY'13 FY'14 FY'15 FY'16 FY'17 FY'18 FY'19

Measure

Description

Dash-

board

Goal*

(as of 8/14

run)

(as of 7/15

run)

(as of 7/16

run)

(as of 8/17

run)

(as of 7/18

run)

(as of 4/19

run)

Absence of Maltreatment While In Foster Care 100% 98.7% 98.5% 98.5% 98.4% 98.3% 98.3% 98.3%

Traditional/Relative Foster Care - STATE

(All Regions Combined)

FY'16 FY'17 FY18 FY19

Measure

Description

Dash-

board

Goal*

(as of 7/16

run)

(as of 8/17

run)

(as of 7/18

run)

(as of 4/19

run)

Absence of Maltreatment While In Foster Care (% of Case

NOT Experiencing an Episode of Indicated Maltreatment

While in Agency Care)

100%

99.1% 99.4% 99.3% 99.3%

Specialized Foster Care Data Site - STATE

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Agency Performance Team Monitors are meeting monthly with agencies to discuss performance

on key dashboard measures, including casework contact. Corrective action plans are developed

if an agency is not meeting performance expectations and improvements must be made.

All DCFS and POS placement workers are required to go through a Safety Reboot training to

refocus the attention of front line staff on the importance of safety. The refocus will include: timely

safety assessment, drawing logical conclusions based on the evidence presented and making

appropriate decision to control immediate safety threats. Approximately 2,700 staff have been

identified to go through a 2-day training. DCFS will offer 78 in-person trainings between July and

December 2019. Investigations and Intact are scheduled to complete the Reboot training

between July and September and Permanency and Adoptions staff will complete between

October and December 2019. To date 650 staff have completed the training and 1,576

participants are enrolled to receive training by December 2019. The Office of Learning and

Professional Development is working with Operations and POS Monitoring to continue enrollment

for the reminder of the target population.

Outcome S2: Children are Safely Maintained in Their Homes Whenever

Possible and Appropriate

Item 2 evaluates services to families to protect children in the home and prevent removal or re-

entry into foster care.

Item 3 evaluates risk and safety assessment and management of the child(ren) in any

environment.

OUTCOME S2 DATA

As with Outcome S1, data specific to Outcome S2 during the 2015-2019 CFSP indicates

differences in performance before and after the federal CFSR. Illinois’ performance in Outcome

S2 and related Items continues to highlight the need for improvements in the areas of

engagement, assessment, ongoing monitoring and adequate service provision generally (here

specific to safety, but also elsewhere as will be noted further along in this document):

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

Outcome S2: CHILDREN ARE SAFELY MAINTAINED IN

THEIR HOMES WHENEVER POSSIBLE AND APPROPRIATE

76.00% 76 100 79.63% 43 54 50.77% 33 65 57.14% 4 7

Item 2: Services to Family to Protect Child(ren) in the Home

and Prevent Removal or Re-Entry Into Foster Care

88.37% 38 43 95.45% 21 22 30.77% 4 13 100.00% 1 1

Item 3: Risk and Safety Assessment and Management 78.00% 78 100 79.63% 43 54 50.77% 33 65 57.14% 4 7

2018 IL CFSR:

40 Foster Care

25 In-Home

(65 Total)

COMBINED DATA

2018 OER Plus:

4 Foster Care

3 In-Home

(7 Total)

COMBINED DATA

2016 - 2018 STATE Data

COMBINED DATA

2016 TOTALS:

70 Foster Care

30 In-Home

(100 Total)

COMBINED DATA

2017 Running Totals:

43 Foster Care

11 In-Home

(54 Total)

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Much of the change in the OER data between what was reported in previous APSRs and this

Final Report is attributable to a more enhanced understanding of how to more appropriately apply

the items in the CFSR 3 review tool following a site visit by our federal partners in April 2017 and

the CFSR 3 itself. The 2018 OER Plus data for Item 2 reflects 100% because only 1 case was

applicable. Thus the 2018 OER Plus data is not comparable to any previously reported data due

to the small number of cases reviewed to-date.

Illinois’ performance on Item 3 reflects the need for improvements in the areas of engagement,

assessment, ongoing monitoring and adequate service provision generally, especially for children

in Intact Family Service cases. There are efforts underway and under consideration by the

Department to address concerns specific to Intact Family Service cases.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

B. Permanency

PERMANENCY OUTCOMES: Children have permanency and stability in their living situations

(P1), and the continuity of family relationships is preserved for children (P2).

Outcome Enhancement Review (OER) data for Outcome P1 and P2 during the 2015-2019 CFSP

indicates declining performance in both outcomes

There are several items that inform overall outcome performance for each of the Permanency

Outcomes:

P1 and P2 Items:

P1, associated Items (CFSR 3)

P2, associated Items (CFSR 3)

Item 4: Stability of Substitute Care Placement

Item 7: Placement with Siblings

Item 5: Permanency Goal for Child

Item 8: Visiting with Parents and Siblings in

Substitute Care

Item 6: Achieving Reunification,

Guardianship, Adoption, or Other Planned

Permanent Living Arrangement

Item 9: Preserving Connections

Item 10: Relative Placement

Item 11: Relationship of Child in Care with

Parent(s)

OUTCOME P1 DATA: Children Have Permanency and Stability in Their

Living Arrangements

In P1, the evaluations of three (3) items support the overall outcome achievement rating.

Data specific to Outcome P1 during the 2015-2019 CFSP indicates differences in performance

before and after the federal CFSR in May 2018. Illinois’ performance in Outcome P1 and related

Items continues to highlight the need for improvements in the areas of:

• Stability of children in foster care (reducing the number of unplanned moves),

OER Plus data for P2 is noted at 100%. This is attributable to the incomparable sample size and potential

interpretation issues for Items 9 and 10 in 1 of the 4 cases

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

Outcome P1: CHILDREN HAVE PERMANENCY AND

STABILITY IN THEIR LIVING SITUATIONS

31.43% 22 70 11.63% 5 43 2.50% 1 40 0.00% 0 4

Outcome P2: THE CONTINUITY OF FAMILY

RELATIONSHIPS AND CONNECTIONS IS PRESERVED FOR

CHILDREN

82.61% 57 69 69.77% 30 43 62.50% 25 40 100.00% 4 4

COMBINED DATA

2016 - 2018 STATE Data

COMBINED DATA

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

• Assigning appropriate permanency goals in a timely manner (IL has a history of retaining

a return home permanency goal well beyond 12 months regardless of progress made

toward case goals), and

• The need for a more timely, urgent, concurrent, and coordinated (between the agency

and the courts) approach to achieving permanency for children in foster care

OER and CFSR data across the 2015-2019 CFSP period suggests inconsistent performance in

the stability of children in foster care (Item 4), and a continued decline in performance related to

the appropriateness of the current permanency goal (Item 5), timely achievement of permanency

(Item 6), and the outcome overall:

% of cases rated a

“Strength”

OER II

R1-6

(reported

in the

2015 -

2019

CFSP)

(9/11 –

2/14)

OER II

(reported

in the

2016

APSR)

(3/15 –

5/15)

OER 3

Round

(reported

in the

2017

APSR)

(4/16 –

5/16)

OER 3

Round

(reported

in the

2018

APSR)

(9/16 –

11/16)

OER 3

(updated

for the

CFSR 3

SAI)

(9/16 –

9/17)

CFSR 3

(May

2018)

OER

Plus

(9/18 –

12/18)

Item 4: Stability of Substitute

Care Placement

87.10%

100%

73.33%

84%

82.35%

75%

100%

Item 5: Permanency Goal for

Child

63.30%

75.00%

46.67%

34%

29.41%

25%

Item 6: Achieving Reunification,

Guardianship, Adoption, or

Other Planned Permanent

Living Arrangement (new,

CFSR 3 combined item)

53.33%

40%

36.73%

15%

(CFSR 2) Item 8:

Reunification/Guardianship

22.20%

7.1%

(CFSR 2) Item 9:

Adoption/SCpTPR

16.30%

15.4%

(CFSR 2) Item 10:

Independence/HENA

/Continuing Foster Care

87.30%

92.3%

OUTCOME P1 overall

33.30%

35%

28.89%

24%

20.59%

2.5%

Some of the observed is attributable to changes in the definitions of how to rate items (CFSR 2

versus CFSR 3), and learning how to more appropriately apply the items in the CFSR 3 review

tool. Some of the decline may also be attributed to systemic issues such as changes in leadership

at DCFS as previously noted, the impact of two years during this CFSP period in which IL did not

pass a budget, and the staff turnover rate (c. 50%).

DCFS and its POS partners track stability of children/youth on the APT dashboards for children

placed in traditional or relative foster care and for children in specialized foster care via the

following measure:

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

In addition to the OER 3/Plus data, the state also evaluates its performance regarding stability

with data from the CFSR national indicator:

CFSR 3 Safety Indicator: Placement Stability, Illinois performance

(as of 1/19 Data Profile)

CFSR National Statewide Indicator

National

Performance

Illinois

Observed

Performance

Illinois RSP*

(age at entry,

State entry

rate)

Performance

Trend

(P5) Of all children who enter foster care in a 12-

month period, what is the rate of placement moves

per day of foster care?

4.44 moves

(preference is

less)

*state result

multiplied by

1,000

10.69 moves

(FY13-14)

10.47

(FFY14)

8.67

(FY14-15)

6.72

(FFY15)

4.69

(FY15-16)

5.00

(FFY16)

4.51

(FY16-17)

5.77

(FFY17)

4.41

(FY17-18)

4.51

(FFY18)

11.38 moves

(FY13-14)

11.08

(FFY14)

9.27

(FY14-15)

7.30

(FFY15)

5.10

(FY15-16)

5.45

(FFY16)

4.96

(FY16-17)

6.33

(FFY17)

4.87

(FY17-18)

5.01

(FFY18)



Improving

DCFS and its POS partners also track achievement of permanency on the APT dashboards for

children placed in traditional or relative foster care and specialized foster care. For foster care

FY'13 FY'14 FY'15 FY'16 FY'17 FY'18 FY'19

Measure

Description

Dash-

board

Goal*

(as of 8/14

run)

(as of 7/15

run)

(as of 7/16

run)

(as of 8/17

run)

(as of 7/18

run)

(as of 4/19

run)

% of Children Placed With Less Than 2 Paid Providers Over 12

Month Period

90% 83.4% 82.9% 82.9% 85.0% 83.5% 82.8% 82.9%

Traditional/Relative Foster Care - STATE

(All Regions Combined)

FY'16 FY'17 FY18 FY19

Measure

Description

Dash-

board

Goal*

(as of 7/16

run)

(as of 8/17

run)

(as of 7/18

run)

(as of 4/19

run)

% of Children Placed With Less Than 2 Paid Providers Over

12 Month Period

90% 86.44% 85.69% 87.84% 87.72%

Specialized Foster Care Data Site - STATE

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

(traditional, relative or specialized) cases, the measures reflect permanencies achieved on active

caseloads as of 7/2 of a fiscal year. Counted permanencies are reunification, adoption or

guardianship only:

In the table above, the reader can observe that the goal is to achieve permanency in 40% of

cases. Since the data site was created in 2012, only one region (Southern) met or exceeded that

goal (in SFY15; Central region nearly achieved the goal in FY18 at 39.71%). The state as a whole

came closest to achieving the goal also in FY15 (that year there were several concerted statewide

efforts to increase the achievements of permanency). FY19 to-date (as of March 2019) is at

23.8%, and this is slightly above average for this time of the year compared with previous years.

Overall, trend-wise, annual performance on this measure is improving. Achievement of

permanency in Cook County significantly impacts the state performance.

In the current state fiscal year (SFY19), most regions were more than halfway toward achieving

the 40% goal as of Quarter 3 (March 2019; downstate regions averaged 27.05% permanencies

achieved, Cook was at 16.28%).

The state also tracks achievement of permanency for children/youth in specialized foster care.

Performance data is provided for three types of children in specialized foster care, children/youth

with: Medically Specialized (MD), Mental Health (MH) or MH/MD, or in Adolescent Foster Care

(AFC).

FY'13 FY'14 FY'15 FY'16 FY'17 FY'18 FY'19

Measure

Description

Dash-

board

Goal*

(as of 8/14

run)

(as of 7/15

run)

(as of 7/16

run)

(as of 8/17

run)

(as of 7/18

run)

(as of 4/19

run)

% of Children Achieving Legal Permanency 40% 26.2% 28.8% 33.3% 30.2% 31.3% 32.2% 23.8%

Traditional/Relative Foster Care - STATE

(All Regions Combined)

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

In addition to the OER 3 and APT data, the state also evaluates its performance regarding

permanency with data from the CFSR national indicators. The table below reflects Illinois’ most

recent performance per the CFSR 3 permanency measures (data received January 2019):

CFSR 3 Permanency Indicator: Permanency Achievement, Illinois performance

(as of 1/19 Data Profile)

CFSR National Statewide Indicator

National

Performance

Illinois

Observed

Performance

Illinois RSP*

(age at entry,

State entry

rate)

Performance

Trend

(P1) Of all children who enter foster care in a 12-

month period, what percent discharged to

permanency within 12 months of entering care?

42.1%

11.3%

(FY13-14)

12.3%

(FFY14)

12.6%

(FY14-15)

11.9%

(FFY15)

11.4%

(FY15-16)

10.3%

(FFY16)

12.5%

(FY13-14)

13.6%

(FFY14)

14.2%

(FY14-15)

13.4%

(FFY15)

13.0%

(FY15-16)

11.8%

(FFY16)



Wrong

Direction

(P4) Of all children who enter foster care in a 12-

month period, who discharged within 12 months to

reunification, living with a relative, or guardianship,

what percent re-enter foster care within 12 months of

their discharge?

8.4%

(preference is

less)

.3%

(FFY13B-

16A)

2.1%

(FFY14a-

16B)

1.5%

(FFY14B-

17A)

2.6%

(FFY15A-

17B)

4.5%

(FFY15B-

18A)

5.8%

(FFY16A-

18B)

1.8%

(FFY13B-

16A)

2.1%

(FFY14a-

16B)

3.5%

(FFY14B-

17A)

4.8%

(FFY15A-

17B)

7.0%

(FFY15B-

18A)

8.6%

(FFY16A-

18B)



Wrong

Direction

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

CFSR National Statewide Indicator

National

Performance

Illinois

Observed

Performance

Illinois RSP*

(age at entry,

State entry

rate)

Performance

Trend

(P2) Of all children in foster care the first day of the

year who had been in foster care (in that episode)

between 12 and 23 months, what percent discharged

to permanency within 12 months of the first day of the

12-month period?

45.9%

21.3%

(FY13-14)

21.2%

(FFY14)

22.2%

(FY14-15)

23.3%

(FFY15)

21.9%

(FY15-16)

21.2%

(FFY16)

20.6%

(FY16-17)

24.4%

(FFY17)

23.2%

FY17-18)

25.5%

(FFY18)

20.4%

(FY13-14)

20.4%

(FFY14)

21.4%

(FY14-15)

22.3%

(FFY15)

21.1%

(FY15-16)

20.7%

(FFY16)

19.7%

(FY16-17)

23.1%

(FFY17)

22.2%

FY17-18)

24.2%

(FFY18)



Improving

(P3) Of all children in foster care on the first day of a

12-month period, who had been in foster care (in that

episode) for 24 months or more, what percent

discharged to permanency within the 12 months of

the first day of the 12-month period?

31.8%

21.3%

(FY13-14)

21.2%

(FFY14)

22.2%

(FY14-15)

23.3%

(FFY15)

21.9%

(FY15-16)

21.2%

(FFY16)

26.4%

(FY16-17)

30.5%

(FFY17)

32.3%

FY17-18)

30.8%

(FFY18)

18.7%

(FY13-14)

19.9%

(FFY14)

21.5%

(FY14-15)

22.3%

(FFY15)

19.6%

(FY15-16)

21.7%

(FFY16)

20.7%

(FY16-17)

23.7%

(FFY17)

24.8%

FY17-18)

23.9%

(FFY18)



Improving

*Risk Standardized Performance. For much more information about how these Indicators, national standards, and state

performance are determined, please visit the Children’s Bureau’s CFSR Round 3 Resources page:

https://training.cfsrportal.org/resources/3105#Data Indicators and National Standards

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

As noted in the data above, Illinois meets the national performance for the observed performance

on the re-entry indicator, but not for FFY16A-18B when adjusted for risk. During this CFSP period,

there has been an increase in the percent of re-entries. The reasons for this change is not

currently known and must be evaluated.

The state is making progress toward improved performance regarding stability, permanency in

12-23 months, and permanency in 24+ months.

OUTCOME P2 DATA: The Continuity of Family Relationships and

Connections is Preserved for Children

In P2, the evaluations of five (5) items support the overall outcome achievement rating.

OER and CFSR data for Outcome P2

and related Items across the 2015-2019 CFSP period

continues to highlight the need for improvements in the areas of:

• Concerted efforts to engage and involve parents (particularly fathers) in their children’s

lives through visitation and other typical/expected parenting experiences;

• Preserving connections with extended family (particularly paternal), siblings not in care

and adherence to ICWA requirements; and

• Making concerted and ongoing efforts to identify, locate, inform and evaluate maternal

and paternal relatives

% of cases rated a

“Strength”

OER II

R1-6

(reported

in the

2015 -

2019

CFSP)

(9/11 –

2/14)

OER II

(reported

in the

2016

APSR)

(3/15 –

5/15)

OER 3

Round 1

(reported

in the

2017

APSR)

(4/16 –

5/16)

OER 3

Round 2

(reported

in the

2018

APSR)

(9/16 –

11/16)

OER 3

(updated

for the

CFSR 3

SAI)

(9/16 –

9/17)

CFSR 3

(May

2018)

OER

Plus

(9/18 –

12/18)

Item 7: Placement with

Siblings

98.00%

100%

93.94%

88.57%

91.49%

86.7%

100%

Item 8: Visiting with

Parents and Siblings in

Substitute Care

77.00%

85.3%

87.50%

73.17%

67.86%

62.1%

100%

Item 9: Preserving

Connections

85.4%

95%

88.64%

85.71%

80.60%

69.2%

75%

Item 10: Relative

Placement

90.70%

84.2%

92.68%

85.37%

77.59%

64.9%

100%

Item 11: Relationship of

Child in Care with Parent(s)

74.10%

88.9%

86.49%

70.27%

72.55%

52.4%

100%

OUTCOME P2 overall

81.3%

87.5%

88.89%

75.51%

70.15%

62.1%

100%

OER Plus data for P2 is noted at 100%. This is attributable to the uncomparable sample size and potential

interpretation issues for Items 9 and 10 in 1 of the 4 cases

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

A deeper look at the data related to the frequency and quality of parent-child visits indicates that

for the visits that did occur, the frequency and quality were sufficient for mothers (not fathers):

The data related to the frequency and quality of sibling visits is an area for improvement.

Item 8 Parent Visits Data

# % # % # % # %

More than once per week 9 17.6% 4 7.8% 5 9.8% 1 2.0%

Once per week 13 25.5% 7 13.7% 7 13.7% 0 0.0%

Less than once per week but at least twice per month

3 5.9% 2 3.9% 2 3.9% 0 0.0%

Less than twice per month but at least once per month

10 19.6% 6 11.8% 2 3.9% 0 0.0%

Less than once per month 10 19.6% 11 21.6% 5 9.8% 1 2.0%

Never 6 11.8% 2 3.9% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

TOTAL 51 32 21 2

# % # % # % # %

More than once per week

4 13.3% 2 6.7% 1 3.3% 1 3.3%

Once per week 4 13.3% 5 16.7% 2 6.7% 0 0.0%

Less than once per week but at least twice per month 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

Less than twice per month but at least once per month 3 10.0% 2 6.7% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%

Less than once per month 9 30.0% 10 33.3% 1 3.3% 0 0.0%

Never 10 33.3% 3 10.0% 3 10.0% 1 3.3%

TOTAL 30 22 7 2

68.6%

What was the usual frequency of visits between the

parent and the child during the PUR?

OER 3 2016 Data

OER 3 2017 Data

59.4%

40.9%

Father

36.7%

Mother

2018 CFSR Data

OER Plus 2018

50.0%

76.2%

42.9%

Item 8 Parent Visits Data

# % # % # % # %

Mother YES 47 92% YES 29 91% YES 19 90% YES 2 100%

TOTAL 51 TOTAL 32 TOTAL 21 TOTAL 2

Father

YES 24 80.0% YES 15 68.2% YES 3 42.9% YES 1 100%

TOTAL 30 TOTAL 22 TOTAL 7 TOTAL 1

# % # % # % # %

Mother YES 43 96% YES 27 90% YES 17 81% YES 2 100%

TOTAL 45 TOTAL 30 TOTAL 21 TOTAL 2

Father YES 16 84.2% YES 13 68.4% YES 3 75.0% YES 1 100%

TOTAL 19 TOTAL 19 TOTAL 4 TOTAL 1

Quality of visitation/contact between the child and the parent was sufficient to maintain or

promote the continuity of the relationship

OER 3 2016 Data

OER 3 2017 Data

2018 CFSR Data

OER Plus 2018 Data

Frequency of visitation/contact between the child and his or her parent was of sufficient to

maintain or promote the continuity of the relationship

OER 3 2017 Data

2018 CFSR Data

OER Plus 2018 Data

Item 8 Sibling Visits Data

# % # % # % # %

Siblings YES 23 85.2% YES 16 84.2% YES 9 60.0% YES 1 100%

TOTAL 27 TOTAL 19 TOTAL 15 TOTAL 1

# % # % # % # %

Siblings YES 22 84.6% YES 15 88.2% YES 8 57.1% YES 1 100%

TOTAL 26 TOTAL 17 TOTAL 14 TOTAL 1

Frequency of visitation/contact between thechild and his/her siblings was sufficientto maintain or

promote the continuity of the relationship

OER 3 2016 Data

OER 3 2017 Data

2018 CFSR Data

OER Plus 2018 Data

Quality of visitation/contact between thechild and his/her siblings was sufficientto maintain or

promote the continuity of the relationship

OER 3 2016 Data

OER 3 2017 Data

2018 CFSR Data

OER Plus 2018 Data

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

C. Well-Being

WELL-BEING OUTCOMES: Families have enhanced capacity to provide for their children's

needs (WB1), children receive appropriate services to meet their educational needs (WB2), and

children receive adequate services to meet their physical and mental health needs (WB3).

Outcome Enhancement Review (OER) data for Outcomes WB1, WB2

, and WB3 during the 2015-

2019 CFSP indicates declining performance in both outcomes:

Some of the observed change over time is attributable to learning how to more appropriately apply

the items in the CFSR 3 review tool in preparation for and in response to the 2018 CFSR. Some

of the decline may also be attributed to systemic issues such as changes in leadership at DCFS

as previously noted, the impact of two years during this CFSP period in which IL did not pass a

budget, and the staff turnover rate (c. 50%).

There are several items for each Outcome that informs overall outcome performance:

WB1, associated Items

WB2, associated Items

WB3, associated Items

Item 12: Needs and Services

of Child, Parents, and Foster

Parents

Item 16: Educational/

Develop-mental Needs of the

Child

Item 17: Physical Health of

the Child

12a: Needs Assessment and

Services to Children

Item 18: Mental/Behavioral

Health of the Child

12b: Needs Assessment and

Services to Parents

12c: Needs Assessment and

Services to Foster Parents

Item 13: Child and Family

Involvement in Case Planning

Item 14: Caseworker Visits

with Child(ren)

OER Plus data for WB2 is noted at 100%. This is attributed to the sample size.

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

%SA/S

#Substantially Achieved/

Strength

#Applicable

Outcome WB1: FAMILIES HAVE ENHANCED CAPACITY

TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR CHILDREN’S NEEDS

71.00% 71 100 61.11% 33 54 27.69% 18 65 57.14% 4 7

Outcome WB2: CHILDREN RECEIVE APPROPRIATE

SERVICES TO MEET THEIR EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

90.91% 60 66 92.31% 36 39 82.50% 33 40 100.00% 3 3

Outcome WB3: CHILDREN RECEIVE ADEQUATE SERVICES

TO MEET THEIR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS

80.68% 71 88 86.00% 43 50 56.14% 32 57 50.00% 3 6

2018 IL CFSR:

40 Foster Care

25 In-Home

(65 Total)

COMBINED DATA

2018 OER Plus:

4 Foster Care

3 In-Home

(7 Total)

COMBINED DATA

2016 - 2018 STATE Data

COMBINED DATA

2016 TOTALS:

70 Foster Care

30 In-Home

(100 Total)

COMBINED DATA

2017 Running Totals:

43 Foster Care

11 In-Home

(54 Total)

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Item 15: Caseworker Visits

with Parents

OUTCOME WB1 DATA: Families have enhanced capacity to provide

for their children’s needs

OER and CFSR data for Outcome WB1 and related Items across the 2015-2019 CFSP period

continues to highlight the need for improvements in the areas of:

• Accurate, comprehensive and ongoing assessments of all stakeholders, but particularly

fathers;

• Efforts to actively engage stakeholders in the case planning process, particularly fathers

(there is still a mindset that the parents should make the efforts to engage versus the

agency, and fathers are almost not even considered); and

• Making caseworker visits with the children and parents meaningful (to relationship-build,

engage and assess), versus to achieve compliance with monthly visit mandates

In WB1, the evaluations of four (4) items and three (3) sub-items in Item 12 support the overall

outcome achievement rating. Current data suggests a decline in performance for all Items in this

Outcome, and in the outcome, itself:

% of cases rated a

“Strength”

OER II

R1-6

(reported

in the

2015 -

2019

CFSP)

(9/11 –

2/14)

OER II

(reported

in the

2016

APSR)

(3/15 –

5/15)

OER 3

Round 1

(reported

in the

2017

APSR)

(4/16 –

5/16)

OER 3

Round 2

(reported

in the

2018

APSR)

(9/16 –

11/16)

OER 3

(updated

for the

CFSR 3

SAI)

(9/16 –

9/17)

CFSR 3

(May

2018)

OER

Plus

(9/18 –

12/18)

Item 12: Needs and Services

of Child, Parents, and Foster

Parents

69.4%

86.4%

76.56%

66.67%

32.31%

57.14%

12a: Needs Assessment

and Services to

Children

93.75%

85.51%

85.56%

63.08%

57.14%

12b: Needs Assessment

and Services to

Parents

78.57%

62.07%

61.84%

28.85%

40.00%

12c: Needs Assessment

and Services to

Foster Parents

89.47%

95.24%

93.22%

72.22%

100%

Item 13: Child and Family

Involvement in Case Planning

76.3%

83.9%

81.97%

72.31%

69.41%

34.92%

50.00%

Item 14: Caseworker Visits

with Child(ren)

82.8%

93.9%

93.75%

86.96%

83.33%

55.38%

57.14%

Item 15: Caseworker Visits

with Parents

70.3%

84.0%

60.71%

50.88%

52.00%

28.85%

40.00%

OUTCOME WB1

overall

63.4%

81.8%

75.0%

62.32%

62.22%

27.69%

57.14%

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

The current data for each Item informs the state that the issues as reported in the 2019 APSR

have shown little change. Those issues were:

• Item 12a: For foster care cases, the ongoing assessments of the child’s needs should

have been more comprehensive (for example, ensuring independent living assessments

and social-emotional-normalization needs/activities beyond mental health needs and

services) and thus impacted the ability of the reviewer to rate the case a strength. For in-

home cases, comprehensive assessments were not completed for all children in the family

(tended to include an identified child only).

• Item 12b: For foster care cases, the need for improvement of ongoing and adequate

assessments of fathers, mothers, or both parents impacted the ability of the reviewer to

rate the case a strength. In several cases the need to improve caseworker visits with

parents, and/or caseworker turnover, had a significant impact on the agency’s ability to

assess parents and provide adequate services. For in-home cases, the need to improve

ongoing and adequate assessments of mothers and fathers (and/or a paramour) and the

need to improve provision of identified services (transportation, parenting education

services, sexual perpetrator/offender services, and protective capacity assessments)

impacted the ability of the reviewer to rate the case a strength.

• Item 12c: For the foster care cases rated Area Needing Improvement for this sub-item,

the need to improve assessments of the caregiver’s possible needs as a foster parent was

the reason.

• Item 13: Rating determinations for this item are strictly based on the concerted efforts of

the agency to actively involve children and parents in the case planning process. The

OER data collected shows that when all cases are evaluated together, children are most

likely to be actively involved in case planning versus parents.

When observed by case type, a different picture emerged. Children in foster care are more

actively involved in case planning versus those in in-home cases, and parents are actively

involved in in-home cases than foster care cases. The need for concerted efforts to

actively involve parents in case planning in foster care cases directly impacts the strength

of other items such as achievement of permanency, preserving connections, and ensuring

ongoing assessments and adequate service provision are occurring.

• Item 14: Cases were rated a strength for this item because the frequency and quality of

visits was sufficient to address pertinent issues and achieve case goals for those cases.

Cases rated as Area Needing Improvement were due to the quality of caseworker

contacts. Documentation and interviews corroborated the need for substantive interaction

and observations of the child during home visits by the caseworker. For example, the

child/youth was not seen separately, insufficient efforts made to engage a reluctant child

in conversation, visits of short duration, and/or detailed notes but not substantive (details

were lacking professional depth, insight of appropriate description of activities observed

during the visits).

• Item 15: Cases applicable for this item rated a strength because the frequency and quality

of visits was sufficient to address pertinent issues and achieve case goals. In cases rated

as Area Needing Improvement the frequency and quality of caseworker contacts were

the practice concerns.

o In general, it was observed that caseworkers should actively seek out and engage

parents. It was frequently noted in case notes, or reported during interviews, that

“the parents did not avail themselves of” visits/services. Efforts to locate missing

parents (particularly fathers) was generally limited to using the Diligent Search

Service Center (DSSC) versus that and contacting known relatives/friends for

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

updates on whereabouts. Even when the goal was Return Home and the parents

whereabouts known, agency staff were not ensuring visits to the parents in their

home and using those visits to address pertinent issues and achieve case goals.

OUTCOME WB2 DATA: Children receive appropriate services to meet

their educational needs

OER and CFSR data for Outcome WB2

across the 2015-2019 CFSP period continues to

highlight the need for improvements in the areas of:

• Accurate, comprehensive and ongoing assessments of educational needs for all children

in applicable in-home cases; and

• Ensuring services for identified needs are provided

% of cases rated a

“Strength”

OER II

R1-6

(reported

in the

2015 -

2019

CFSP)

(9/11 –

2/14)

OER II

(reported

in the

2016

APSR)

(3/15 –

5/15)

OER 3

Round 1

(reported

in the

2017

APSR)

(4/16 –

5/16)

OER 3

Round 2

(reported

in the

2018

APSR)

(9/16 –

11/16)

OER 3

(updated

for the

CFSR 3

SAI)

(9/16 –

9/17)

CFSR 3

(May

2018)

OER

Plus

(9/18 –

12/18)

Item 16: Educational

Needs of the Child

90.4%

92%

90.9%

95.65%

91.8%

82.50%

100%

OUTCOME WB2

overall

90.4%

92%

90.9%

95.65%

91.8%

82.50%

100%

OUTCOME WB3 DATA: Children receive adequate services to meet

their physical and mental health needs

Outcome WB3 includes two Items, Item 17 (Physical Health of the Child), and Item 18

(Mental/Behavioral Health of the Child). OER and CFSR data for Outcome WB3 across the 2015-

2019 CFSP period continues to highlight the need for improvements in the areas of:

• Provision of appropriate services to meet identified physical, dental and/or

mental/behavioral health needs, particularly for all children in in-home cases

% of cases rated a

“Strength”

OER II

R1-6

(reported

in the

2015 -

2019

CFSP)

OER II

(reported

in the

2016

APSR)

OER 3

Round 1

(reported

in the

2017

APSR)

OER 3

Round 2

(reported

in the

2018

APSR)

OER 3

(updated

for the

CFSR 3

SAI)

CFSR 3

(May

2018)

OER

Plus

(9/18 –

12/18)

OER Plus data for WB2 is noted at 100%. This is attributed to the sample size.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

(9/11 –

2/14)

(3/15 –

5/15)

(4/16 –

5/16)

(9/16 –

11/16)

(9/16 –

9/17)

Item 17: Physical Health of

the Child

98.1%

93.8%

91.8%

90.9%

88%

62.75%

50.00%

Item 18: Mental/Behavioral

Health of the Child

89.7%

93%

78.4%

86.8%

84.62%

65.79%

60.00%

OUTCOME WB3

overall

90.4%

91.4%

82.14%

85.25%

82.93%

56.14%

50.00%

Some of the observed change over time is attributable to learning how to more appropriately apply

the items in the CFSR 3 review tool in preparation for and in response to the 2018 CFSR. Some

of the decline can also be attributed to the change in leadership at DCFS as previously noted, the

impact of two years during this CFSP period in which IL did not pass a budget, and the staff

turnover rate (c. 50%).

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Assessment of Systemic Factors

Item 19: Statewide Information System

How well is the statewide information system functioning statewide to ensure that, at a

minimum, the state can readily identify the status, demographic characteristics, location, and

goals for the placement of every child who is (or within the immediately preceding 12 months,

has been) in foster care?

Response: According to established policy and practice, every family and child with whom the

Department is involved (e.g. a case) has detailed case information captured in one or more of the

Department’s data systems (described in detail below). The Department’s primary systems for

explicitly tracking children in care are:

CYCIS - The Child and Youth Centered Information System (CYCIS) captures data for any

person or family that is or ever has received services through DCFS. The CYCIS system

tracks significant demographic information on all clients, as well as placement and

permanency goal information for all children for whom DCFS is legally responsible. Other than

the standard demographic information such as age, race and gender, CYCIS also tracks

consent decree data such as pregnant and parenting wards. CYCIS is a mainframe (IMS)

system. Some AFCARS data elements are obtained from the CYCIS system, primarily those

relating to placement and legal information. CYCIS remains the system of record for these

two data areas.

MARS – The Management Accounting and Reporting System (MARS) tracks information

regarding service providers and licensed caregivers. It is on the same platform as the CYCIS

system. Through the use of unique identifiers, MARS information allows the state to obtain

even more specific placement information on children in care, such as the age of the

caregivers, what is the licensed capacity (number of slots) in the home, and how long they

have been licensed as foster parents. Background check information in providers is also

captured.

ICWS (Illinois’ SACWIS) is the entry point into the DCFS computer systems. It has undergone

many phases of enhancements over the years to keep the system in compliance with

numerous federal and state requirements in child welfare, as well as to keep the system

relevant to the changing needs of child welfare in the areas of intake, investigations, case

management, service planning, unusual incident reporting, health and education. The

majority of AFCARS, NYTD and NCANDS reporting data come from the ICWS system.

In addition to the Department’s official information systems, there are several systems designed

to track specific requirements or functions that fall outside the purview of SACWIS, CYCIS or

MARS. Examples of these other systems include the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths

system, the Statewide Provider Database, and the Administrative Case Review system.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Strengths

As noted, the Department uses various data systems to enhance child protection and child welfare

practice and improve service delivery to families. The Department relies heavily on data to plan

for future initiatives and to support management decisions in all areas of the agency. This

capability has undergone significant improvements in the past four years, with the creation of a

unit dedicated to data management, utilization of more advanced technologies in the areas of

data warehousing and visualization, and focused attention to expanding the capabilities of

management in data-based decision making.

IDCFS systems capture a wealth of child welfare data that is used to determine outcomes for

individual families served by the Department, as well as to validate program effectiveness,

enhance program development and project implementation. See sample data report below.

The Department provides a multitude of reports both internally and externally. On a monthly basis,

the Executive Statistical Summary, which contains data related to child protection, intact family

service and foster care as well as licensing information, is posted on the DCFS website. Child

abuse and neglect statistics are also posted on the website each month along with general

demographic information for children in substitute care. Through response to Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA) requests, the Department also responds to data needs of the community

at large. Internally, monthly performance reports at the worker level are produced for child

protection staff, intact family staff and placement (foster care) staff.

The Department provides regular data to the University of Illinois’ Children and Family Research

Center (CFRC), the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, School of Social

Services Administration and Northwestern University. The Department has a data exchange with

the Chicago Public School system and receives data from other state agencies, such as the

Department of Corrections, so that dually involved wards can be tracked. All of the above provides

Illinois with an enormous capacity to collect and disseminate data on all aspects of Department

functions including the foster care population. Staff can view data in real-time and receive reports

that are updated daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annually. Plans are underway to further

enhance these capabilities through the provision of an expanding list of useful visualizations and

reporting from the unified data warehouse. This data warehouse will also serve as a central

repository for the department’s external partners to aid in research and analysis of child welfare

practices, while maximizing the security of personally identifiable information.

Concerns

Illinois remains in the process of improving AFCARS, to include data elements previously not

being recorded in ICWS (SACWIS). Many improvements have been made, but additional work is

needed in the areas of data collection and in worker procedures and training.

Another recurring concern focuses on the difficulty of maintaining like data in two systems: ICWS

and CYCIS. Plans to move functionality from CYCIS to ICWS have not yet been realized, however

plans to implement a CCWIS are continuing to be pursued. This effort would eliminate both legacy

systems in favor of the new, unified system, but is dependent upon a variety of factors.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Sample of data re: children taken into care June 2-4, 2019

Name

Birthdate

Open

Date

Legal

Status

Placement

Type

Placement

City

Perm Goal

Gender

Race

Ethnicity

ANDERSON,

KARTEL

4/6/2019

6/2/2019

FHP

GERMANTWN

HLS

Remain

Home

TAITINGFONG,

MADDOX

#########

6/3/2019

HFK

PEORIA

Remain

Home

EADES, HALEY

9/1/2016

6/3/2019

FHP

CONGERVILLE

Remain

Home

MITCHELL,

DYLAN

#########

6/3/2019

HMR

CHARLESTON

Remain

Home

HAYES, EMIAH

#########

6/3/2019

HMR

CHARLESTON

Remain

Home

LANGE,

ARWEN

#########

6/3/2019

HMR

MATTOON

Remain

Home

HAYNES, RILEY

#########

6/3/2019

HMR

MATTOON

Remain

Home

HAYNES,

NADIA

2/7/2016

6/3/2019

HMR

MATTOON

Remain

Home

DERIXSON,

LANIKA

#########

6/3/2019

HMR

DECATUR

Continuing

Foster

Care

DUEZ, EMORY

#########

6/3/2019

HMR

WESTVILLE

Remain

Home

PIERCE, HAZEL

#########

6/3/2019

HFK

WAUKEGAN

Remain

Home

TZINIS, ARIS

#########

6/4/2019

FHP

GARDNER

Remain

Home

GREENE,

CORDAIVEN

#########

6/4/2019

HMR

WEST PEORIA

Remain

Home

GREENE,

LENZEL

#########

6/4/2019

HMR

WEST PEORIA

Remain

Home

GREENE,

AMAYA

#########

6/4/2019

HMR

WEST PEORIA

Remain

Home

JENNINGS,

KENYARI

#########

6/4/2019

HMR

BELLEVILLE

Remain

Intact

GIVENS,

ARMON

#########

6/4/2019

HMR

E SAINT LOUIS

Remain

Intact

PENA, NEAKO

#########

6/4/2019

HMR

NORMAL

Remain

Home

PENA,

KASHTON

#########

6/4/2019

HMR

HEYWORTH

Remain

Home

RIVERS,

LANYIA

8/4/2004

6/4/2019

HMR

CHICAGO

Remain

Home

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Case Review System – Items 20-24

Item 20: Written Case Plan

How well is the case review system functioning statewide to ensure that each child has a written

case plan that is developed jointly with the child’s parent(s) and includes the required

provisions?

Response: Written Case Plan: The state provides a process that ensures that each child has a

written case plan, to be developed jointly with the child’s parent(s), that includes the required

provisions. Specifically, DCFS Procedures 315 provides an outline for how the Service Plan is to

be developed through information from the investigation, the integrated assessment, in

collaboration with the parents and children, and through regular supervision.

The Administrative Case Review (ACR) Unit has the responsibility and authority to manage the

ACR process, and must ensure it complies with Department Rules and Procedures, with federal

mandates, and any State or Federal Court Consent Decrees affecting Department practices. The

Reviewer advises children and families of their rights, and may limit participation by the child or

family when needed. The Reviewer encourages participant discussion regarding the contents of

the service plan and additional case dynamics while maintaining the focus of the ACR process.

The Reviewer ensures that the goals of safety, permanency, and well-being, as well as the

evaluation of progress, are consistent with the facts of the case; that tasks and time-frames are

appropriate for the goal; that the child is placed in a safe environment that is the least restrictive

setting to meet the child’s needs; and provides a written report of the findings. An additional

responsibility of ACR is to determine if the services identified in the plan are appropriate for the

parents and children. In 86% of the cases reviewed (FY19) it was determined that the services

identified in the plan were appropriate to address the issues that brought the children into care.

ACR also issues alert feedbacks on cases where the service plan was not developed timely and

thus delayed services to the family. ACRs are conducted every 6-months.

Administrative Case Review had not previously tracked the number of youth in care placed out of

State, nor the frequency that these children are visited by their caseworkers. However, effective

April 1, 2017, ACR added a question to the Case Review Information Packet (CRIP) which

allowed tracking of out-of-state children and youth and monitor if they were being visited by their

case managers per policy and procedure. According to ACR data, when youth are placed out of

State the caseworker is seeing them per procedural requirements 73% of the time.

Parental/Stakeholder involvement: ACR data regarding parental involvement in service planning,

based upon data of those parents who actually attended the ACR and answered the question:

55% stated they had been involved in the development of the service plan, while 45% indicated

they had not.

Parents need to be more involved in case planning in foster care cases, as it directly impacts the

strength of other items such as achievement of permanency, preserving connections, and

ensuring ongoing assessments and adequate service provision are occurring.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Item 21: Periodic Reviews

How well is the case review system functioning statewide to ensure that a periodic review for

each child occurs no less frequently than once every 6 months, either by a court or by

administrative review?

Response: Periodic Reviews: The state provides a process for the periodic review of the status

of each child in care that includes the required provisions no less frequently than once every six

months, either by court or administrative review.

Two review processes are required by Rule and Procedures to ensure periodic review on the

status of every child in the Illinois substitute care system no less frequently than every 6 months:

Administrative Case Reviews (ACR) and Permanency Hearings. ACRs focus on the safety,

permanency, and well-being of children in substitute care. The first ACR is conducted six months

after a child or youth’s placement in substitute care. Subsequent reviews are conducted every 6

months thereafter while the child/youth remains in substitute care.

ACR Surveys: ACR Surveys are customer satisfaction surveys distributed at the conclusion of the

ACR. Using 12 months of the year and 4 regions, each region is assigned four survey months

during the year. Surveying take place for one week within the survey month. The ACR manager

will select which week within their month in order to take into consideration the majority or reviews.

During that week, surveys are distributed to all participants in every review. The ACR manager

will be responsible for the data entry of the completed surveys, but may use a designee if he/she

chooses. All data entry will be entered into the SharePoint site. Hardcopy surveys are distributed

to parents, youth, foster parents, other professionals, and non-professionals who attend the

review. The survey link is sent to caseworkers, supervisors and contracted providers for their

completion on-line. This link is set to provide anonymity for the respondent.

Note: Within Cook County, during the specified survey month, Cook North, Cook Central and

Cook South will each choose a week within the survey month. See survey month assignments

at the end of this section).

During FY18 there were a total of 643 surveys submitted statewide: 68 from Cook North, 152 from

Cook Central, 27 from Cook South, 40 from Northern, 124 from Central, and 232 from Southern.

The breakdown of survey completion was: Mothers 7%, Fathers 3%, Youth age 12 or older 2%,

Foster parents 16%, DCFS workers 11%, Private agency workers 50%, other professionals 5%,

and other non-professional 6%. The surveys were mostly positive and narratives from the foster

parents and parents stated that the ACR gave them a better understanding of where the case

was headed and what they needed to do in order to achieve permanency.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

June

July

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Cook

Northern

Central

Southern

ACR Data: According to Statewide ACR data obtained from all DCFS regions, Illinois continues

to perform well when it comes to ensuring that ACRs are held in a timely manner (within the first

six months of placement and then every six months thereafter) as evidenced by the information

below:

*Green highlighted areas are expected data for these time periods, and will be adjusted with actual data

The information in the chart shows statewide data and represents the percentage of children who

were eligible for a review and received a review within the appropriate time frames. There are

several reasons why all children in care may not be reviewed:

• Child went home prior to review date; review was cancelled, child then came back into

care prior to original review month and caseworker did not notify ACR of the need to

reschedule the ACR. ACR would receive notice of the child’s return to care through the

ACR system download from CYCIS that the child was back in care once the updated

paperwork is processed by the worker. This child would then be scheduled for an ACR

within the next six-month cycle date;

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

• New baby taken into care and added to the case after the ACR date, however the data

entry is back dated so it appears the child came into care prior to the ACR. Again, ACR

receives notice from CYCIS and the child is reviewed during the next six-month cycle date

Children and families are informed of their rights to appeal (in accordance with 89 Ill. Adm. Code

337, Service Appeal Process) if they disagree with any portion of the service plan resulting from

recommendations made at the ACR or from decisions made by ongoing casework services of

their worker. Appeals are conducted by the Department’s Administrative Hearing Unit.

A Decision Review is available when a service provider, caregiver, or the caseworker (with

supervisor approval) disagrees with any recommendations or usage of authority by the reviewer

for interventions to be included or excluded in the service plan. The associate deputy director for

ACR, or designee, makes a final decision within 10 working days after the Decision Review.

Neither an appeal nor a Decision Review is allowed when a judge in a juvenile court proceeding

issues a court order amending a specific intervention. There has been 1 decision review held in

the past fiscal year.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Item 22: Permanency Hearings

How well is the case review system functioning statewide to ensure that, for each child, a

permanency hearing in a qualified court or administrative body occurs no later than 12 months

from the date the child entered foster care and no less frequently than every 12 months

thereafter?

Response: During each six-month case review ACR requests that the caseworker brings a copy

of the latest permanency hearing order so reviewers can verify that permanency hearings are

occurring every six months. During FY18 ACR was able to verify that permanency hearings were

completed in 81.6% of the cases reviewed. In 18.4% of the cases reviewed a permanency

hearing was not held, or it was held but no signed court order was presented at the ACR for

verification. In those instances where ACR was unable to verify a permanency hearing, DCFS

Region Legal counsel was notified for their follow up with the agency and/or the courts.

Per DCFS Legal, Cook County has DCFS attorneys in the Court daily to help ensure the

permanency hearings are held.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Item 23: Termination of Parental Rights

How well is the case review system functioning statewide to ensure that the filing of termination

of parental rights (TPR) proceedings occurs in accordance with required provisions?

Response: Termination of Parental Rights: The state provides a process for filing of Termination

of Parental Rights (TPR) proceedings in accordance with required milestones. Typically,

caseworkers will take a case to a legal screening where the DCFS attorney will review the case

to see if there are statutory grounds under the Adoption Act to seek termination of the parents’

rights. If the case passes screening, the worker forwards that document to the Assistant State’s

Attorney (ASA) prosecuting the matter in circuit court. If the ASA files a petition for termination of

the parent’s rights, the matter is set for a first appearance. At this hearing, the parent is told what

the allegations against them are. The court may then continue the matter for one or more pre-

trials. The termination hearing itself is bifurcated (separated into two distinct parts). The first part

is often called the “grounds” or “fitness” portion. At this hearing, the State presents evidence to

show the parent is unfit, unwilling, or unable to exercise parental rights. The State must prove

this by clear and convincing evidence. If the State meets its burden of proof, the hearing

continues onto the “best interest” portion. This may occur the same day as the “grounds” portion,

but it does not necessarily have to be held the same day. At the “best interest” hearing, the ASA

will present evidence to support the statutory factors showing it is in the best interest of the

minor(s) that the parents’ rights are terminated. It is possible that a court would find a parent unfit

at the grounds hearing, but subsequently rule that it is not in the best interest of the child that

parental rights be terminated. However, if the court deems that the best interest of the child will

be served by terminating the parent’s rights, then it will enter an order to that effect.

While Illinois has a well-articulated process in place for TPR in conjunction with the juvenile court,

the timeliness of TPR in accordance with the Adoption and Safe Family Act (ASFA) continues to

be a challenge.

Efforts to address barriers and effect change in this area (i.e. the Illinois PIP) have not yet resulted

in sustainable improvement.

The AOIC implemented steps during the Child and Family Services Review Program

Improvement Plan (CFSR PIP) period aimed at improving time to child permanency; this includes

judicial training on permanency hearings and TPR proceedings. The AOIC developed the

Enhancing Permanency Practice in Illinois: a Judicial Training and Road to Permanency and Best

Practices in Termination of Parental Rights Proceedings. The AOIC continues to periodically offer

the trainings. They have been well received with high evaluation results.

Adoption Safe Family Act (ASFA) Compliance: During the past four fiscal years ASFA compliance

has averaged at 82.68. ACR has seen an increase in ASFA compliance over the past three years.

This information comes from the ACR Special Needs data.

A specific question asks, “If the child/youth was eligible (in care 15 out of the most recent 22

months), was the Adoption Safe Family Act protocol completed?” Possible answers are

Yes/No/NA. NA is reserved for those cases that are not in care 15 out of the most recent 22

months. The number of yes responses is shown along with the total with a response of Yes or

No. The form is brought to ACR to verify that the ASFA was completed, or outlines an exclusion

to completion.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

The following compelling reasons were noted through ASFA non-compliance utilizing responses

from the ACR Case Review Information Packet (CRIP) as to why TPR was delayed or not filed:

• There is a permanency goal of return home and reunification: 33.3%

• The child is being cared for by a relative: 31.6%

• The child is age 14 or older and objects to being adopted: 18.5%

• Court related delays: 6.2%

• Casework related delays: 1.6%

• The child has severe emotional/behavioral problems or serious medical condition: 1.6%

• Other not specified delays: 7.2%

Clients Reviewed

requiring ASFA

Clients meeting

ASFA

FY15

12,518

9,058

72.4%

FY16

10,941

8,687

81.2%

FY17

11,939

10,382

87.0%

FY18

11,973

10,786

90.1%

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Item 24: Notice of Hearings and Reviews to Caregivers

How well is the case review system functioning statewide to ensure that foster parents, pre-

adoptive parents, and relative caregivers of children in foster care are notified of, and have a

right to be heard in, any review or hearing held with respect to the child?

Response: Notice of Hearings and Reviews: The state provides a process for foster parents,

pre-adoptive parents, and relative caregivers of children in foster care to be notified of, and have

a right to be heard during the ACR with respect to the child and family services. Upon scheduling

completion, the Department sends official notification to all persons listed on the Case Review

Monthly Roster (CRMR) who are to be invited to the ACR. A written notice indicating the date,

time, location and purpose of the Administrative Case Review is mailed 21 days prior to the ACR

to ensure the notice is received a minimum of 14 days before the scheduled review. This notice

goes to the parents (and informs them of their rights to bring a representative to the review); the

child, if age appropriate (12 or older); the child’s caregiver; the caseworker; the child’s Guardian

ad Litem/CASA downstate, GAL and Public Defenders in Cook County and all others whom the

caseworker identifies to attend. Should any logistical changes be made to the scheduled ACR,

revised letters are generated to inform the invitee of the change in date, time and/or location. In

Cook County, the GAL and Public Defender contact the respective ACR office to confirm their

attendance and are apprised of any logistical changes at that time.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Quality Assurance System

Item 25: Quality Assurance System

How well is the quality assurance system functioning statewide to ensure that it is (1) operating

in the jurisdictions where the services included in the CFSP are provided, (2) has standards to

evaluate the quality of services (including standards to ensure that children in foster care are

provided quality services that protect their health and safety), (3) identifies strengths and needs

of the service delivery system, (4) provides relevant reports, and (5) evaluates implemented

program improvement measures?

Response: The Quality Assurance case reviewing entities for DCFS include:

1. Division of Quality Enhancement (see Ch 10 for the specific programs, interventions, and

activities)

2. Agency Performance Teams (APT) in each of the four Regions monitor private agency

Intact and Placement performance through case review and dashboards,

3. Administrative Case Review (ACR) reviews case documentation and interviews parents,

children/youth and foster parents/caregivers regarding service delivery and progress

towards permanency twice a year for every child in substitute /foster care

4. Residential Monitoring uses case review and survey to address concerns and improve

services for children/youth receiving treatment in residential facilities.

These entities charged with quality assurance, monitoring and improvement operate statewide

for both DCFS and POS agencies and utilize case reviews, administrative data, scorecards and

dashboards to identify strengths and needs, evaluate quality of service and the service delivery

system and supports continuous quality improvement activities.

Quality Assurance, Monitoring and Improvement (Assessment) Workgroup

While the system is comprised of all the components for a vibrant quality assurance system the

question and concern has continued to be “Why are we not seeing measurable improvement?”

“Where are the gaps within quality assurance and in the feedback loops?” A workgroup of all

levels of the quality assurance entities gathered together over a series of in person and

teleconference meetings to identify: the problem, root cause, and propose a theory of change. A

number of root causes were identified that included a missing: (1) shared values (2) shared vision

and (3) shared mission for Quality Assurance. It was identified that purposeful working together

is needed in order to gain momentum for improvement. The components of the Quality Assurance

system do not seem to move together but are independent rather than interdependent.

Standardized case record review tools with strong quality controls and formalized training of

reviewers need to be put into place across the Quality Assurance entities. Communication and

messaging needs to be consistent.

The Leadership team of the Quality Assurance entities will be the active workgroup to address

and improve upon the areas of need identified within the CFSR Final Report and the internal

assessment and recommendations report. Agenda items will include improving relationships,

collaboration, and communication as well as utilizing aggregated data reports generated by each

of the QA entities. The data reports will be utilized to discuss trends and areas for practice

improvement and feedback loops with direct service and administrative staff. This leadership team

will be active in the formal CQI structure

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

The Program Improvement Plan addresses a goal, strategies and key activities for improving

Quality Assurance (see Chapter 3 for PIP)

During the past year, DCFS has developed and/or enhanced standardized dashboards

scorecards and reporting to support decision making and monitoring and tracking improvement.

Executive Scorecards have been developed and validated by QE staff to track metrics at a state

and regional level. There is capability to drill down to team and agency levels that is not currently

in production but planned for the near future. The Executive Scorecard is an internal

management tool to help DCFS leadership monitor performance across the system. The

Scorecard is updated on a quarterly basis and analyzed at agency leadership meetings as part

of ongoing CQI efforts. The Scorecard has also been shared at regional level leadership

meetings. Because data is broken out by region, Regional Administrators can then work with

their teams to understand what is driving their performance. Executive Scorecards have been

helpful during stakeholder PIP development meetings to identify problem areas needing

improvement launch root cause discussion and propose strategies for improvement.

Power BI is a new software that DCFS purchased to enhance the display of the active foster care

youth, and CFSR measures. Validation of the metrics has been a collaborative effort with the

Office of Information Technology, Quality Enhancement and Chapin Hall. All QE staff have

access and received training in producing reports. All DCFS Regional Administrators and Area

Administrators participated in an in-service on May 20, 2019. Expansion to POS is planned. CFSR

data will be shared with DCFS and private providers. Currently, data is broken down by region.

Work is being done to provide data at the provider agency and team level. Performance will be

monitored by Agency Performance Team staff, who will use the information in monthly

performance check ins. DCFS has made research requests to university partners to try to

determine the factors driving performance (Maltreatment in Care).

Performance Dashboards the Agency Performance Data Site ensures that both DCFS and POS

staff are able to directly view their own agency data and case specific data at any given time for

the purposes of viewing performance for the past year, current year and last month and identifying

and rectifying data quality issues. Performance against these dashboard measures is monitored

by Agency Performance Team staff, who use this information in monthly performance check ins.

If necessary, corrective action plans are developed and tracked. An agency might be placed on

intake hold so that they have the space to make program improvements. Performance Dashboard

reports have been used during the Stakeholder PIP development meetings to identify problem

areas for improvement and used in comparison with Round 3 CFSR findings.

Permanency Enhancement (PEP) Data produced by Chapin Hall and shared with university

partners specifically interested in the disproportionality and disparity of children of color in the

child welfare system. This data has been of specific interest to court personnel and is shared

during Permanency Action Teams and Court Improvement teams. These teams are comprised of

DCFS, POS, court personnel, as well as other stakeholders specific to different teams in each of

the Regions.

AD Hoc report requests have now been automated through a DNET link. Some examples of ad

hoc reports include office level caseload reports, regional level permanency reports and agency

level child and family team meeting reports. Caseload reports are used weekly to determine

projected hiring. Regional level permanency reports are used weekly to target assistance to

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

agencies on submitting adoption and guardianship subsidy packets. Child and Family Team

Meeting reports are used to determine which cases will receive case reviews.

In addition, to the above data sets, DCFS has multiple avenues for gathering performance data

from its network of data systems which covers the life of a child and family’s time with the Illinois

child welfare system. A variety of data reports are accessible to staff via ICSW (SACWIS) system

as well as CYCIS and other legacy systems to assist the field in managing their work towards

improved outcomes.

Developing, validating, and improving access to data and the quality of the data has been a

lengthy process. With the availability of the above data reports, scorecards and dashboards, the

following questions are being integrated within the CQI statewide and regional collaborative team

meetings for ongoing assessment of the Quality Assurance system and the CQI process

effectiveness.

1. How do we use data to support decision-making?

2. What are examples of decisions that have been made based on the data?

3. How do we know that our improvements efforts are working?

4. What are examples of the improvements identified from the CQI process?

5. Have there been activities abandoned because the CQI process has shown that efforts

and activities are not effective?

Continuous Quality Improvement

In FY 2018, DCFS, in collaboration with Purchase of Service Agencies (POS) and University

Partners, launched a formal statewide Continuous Quality Improvement approach that includes

both DCFS and POS agencies. Utilizing the five essential elements outlined in the ACYF-CN-IM-

12-07 Informational memorandum, collaboration was formed starting with dedicated QA staff from

DCFS, the CQI staff within POS, and two university partners. The work kicked-off with a

commitment to building trust, relationships, and collaboration that led to establishing a framework,

re-purposing existing meetings, getting the right people to the table, identifying and focusing on

priority outcomes and the “right” data. Essential to the process has been the sharing of data,

ideas, and improvement activities in a collaborative effort.

With changes in DCFS directors and executive leadership the CQI Collaboration took a hiatus

during FY 2019 with the intention of relaunching in FY 2020 charged with a focus of overseeing

the CFSR Program Improvement Plan (PIP).

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Staff and Provider Training – Items 27-28

Item 26: Initial Staff Training

How well is the staff and provider training system functioning statewide to ensure that initial

training is provided to all staff who deliver services pursuant to the CFSP that includes the basic

skills and knowledge required for their positions?

Staff, for purposes of assessing this item, includes all contracted/non-contracted staff that has

case management responsibilities in the areas of child protection services, family preservation

and support services, foster care services, adoption services, and independent living services

pursuant to the state’s CFSP.

Areas to Address:

• staff receive training pursuant to the established curriculum and time frames for

the provision of initial training; and

• how well the initial training addresses basic skills and knowledge needed by staff

to carry out their duties.

Response: The state is operating a staff development and training program that provides

ongoing training to address the skills and knowledge that are needed to carry out duties regarding

the services included in the Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP) and State law.

Licensure in the state requires transcripts from the University where the staff attended, fingerprints

and background checks, Child Endangerment Risk Assessment Protocol (CERAP) training and

exam, Child Welfare Licensure exam (CWEL), Child Adolescent Needs exam (CANS) and the

Specialty exam for the area of practice. Staff who are not CWEL licensed must complete the nine

units of the Illinois Child Welfare Fundamentals Course and pass the quizzes with an 80%.

Foundation training is a competency-based training course that provides new career entrants and

staff transferring from other job classifications foundational training necessary to begin their work

in a specialty, whether Placement/Permanency Specialist, Intact Specialist, Child Protection

Specialist, Adoption Specialist or State Register Specialist. Courses build upon information

learned in the prerequisite Illinois Child Welfare Fundamentals Course. All Foundations Specialist

curricula are hybrid courses, including web based facilitator led, self-paced online, classroom and

on-the-job training.

New hires and transfer staff complete training in a timely manner as they cannot carry a caseload

until they are certified in that specialty. Supervisors are diligent about referring staff to the required

training and Office of Learning and Professional Development (OLPD) delivers the scheduled and

requested add on Foundations courses as needed.

Foundations trainings for intact and permanency are offered every six weeks at the Springfield

and Chicago training centers. To better meet the needs of the field, OLPD can hire trainers

outside of Springfield and Chicago headquarters to increase the number of Foundations trainings.

This occurred in both 2018 and 2019 with trainings for permanency and intact in the Southern

region.

Foundations trainings for investigations are also offered every six weeks in Springfield and

Chicago training centers. To better meet the needs of the field, OLPD also provides training in

Northern region at the Aurora field office based on the hiring pattern. By legislative mandate,

Foundations for investigations includes a week in the Simulation Labs.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Foundations for the State Central Register (Hotline) staff is offered in Springfield at their

employment site. Foundations for Adoption staff is offered in at their employment site and is

conducted by field administrators in partnership with OLPD as hiring for this population is

infrequent based on the number of statewide position and low attrition rates. The frequency of

course offerings for SCR and Adoptions staff is negotiated with the DCFS Office of Employee

Services (OES) based on hiring patterns.

Areas for Improvement:

The systems that OLPD has used in the past to evaluate trainings has needed improvement to

address the effectiveness of the training that has been delivered. Improvement is needed in this

area and is included in Addendum A to this CFSP, the Training Plan, as an area of focus for

programmatic infrastructure. Over the next fiscal year consultation will be sought to assist us in

the development of new methods to better quantify how well the initial training addresses basic

skills and knowledge needed by staff to carry out their duties. In the meantime, OLPD will

implement post-learning surveys for Foundations at the three, six, nine and one-year intervals to

get staff and supervisor’s perspectives on how well pre-service has prepared them to do their jobs

and will use a mixed methodology to gain further insight through individual interviews and focus

groups.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Item 27: Ongoing Staff Training

How well is the staff and provider training system functioning statewide to ensure that ongoing

training is provided for staff that addresses the skills and knowledge needed to carry out their

duties with regard to the services included in the CFSP?

Staff, for purposes of assessing this item, includes all contracted/non-contracted staff who have

case management responsibilities in the areas of child protection services, family preservation

and support services, foster care services, adoption services, and independent living services

pursuant to the state’s CFSP.

Staff, for purposes of assessing this item, also includes direct supervisors of all contracted/non-

contracted staff who have case management responsibilities in the areas of child protection

services, family preservation and support services, foster care services, adoption services, and

independent living services pursuant to the state’s CFSP.

Response: The state is operating a staff development and training program that provides

ongoing training to address the skills and knowledge that are needed to carry out duties regarding

the services included in the Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP) and State law. As reported

in past years’ APSR, the list of available trainings for continuing education for staff is extensive,

with additional trainings added every year, and the Office of Learning and Professional

Development is continuously improving the quality of the training programs.

Much of coming year(s) will be focused on the Illinois Core Practice Model which is comprised

three parts: Family-centered, Trauma-Informed, Strength-based (FTS) Practice; Model of

Supervisory Practice (MoSP); and the Child and Family Team Model (CFTM). The Field

Implementation Support Program (FISP) supports the Department’s efforts to train and coach the

components of the Core Practice Model.

• The Model of Supervisory Practice consists of four classroom based modules. Each

module is two days in length and occurs one module per month. In the weeks in between

modules, FISP provides individual coaching on MoSP learning content to the module

participants. The MoSP was signed into DCFS policy in January 2018. There are

currently three offerings of the MoSP to meet the needs of new and veteran DCFS and

private sector supervisors:

1. MOSP Immersion – for all Immersion Site supervisors regardless of years in the

supervisory role; full 2-days for 4-months (coaching mandatory)

2. MOSP Traditional – for supervisors with 1 to 5 years of child welfare supervision in

Illinois; full 2-days for 4-months (coaching mandatory)

3. MOSP Bootcamp – for supervisors with 6 and more years of child welfare supervision

in Illinois; truncated 4-days in one week (coaching optional)

• The Child and Family Team Meeting training and coaching was developed nationally by

the Child Welfare Policy and Practice Group. FISP staff has been developed by the

consulting group as trainers of this curriculum and as Master Coaches. Currently there

are six Advanced Master Coaches in FISP with internal capacity to serve in the role as the

consultants to coach and approve field and new FISP staff as facilitators, coaches, master

coaches and to train additional advanced master coaches. FISP has been working with

the consultants and regional staff to develop all permanency workers as approved

facilitators and each permanency supervisor as a coach who can continue to develop

newly hired staff.

Illinois Department of Children and Family Services

2020-2024 Child and Family Service Plan

Staff in all 4 immersion sites have been trained in the CFTM and in October of 2018,

Caritas (private child welfare agency) was added as an Immersion expansion site to test

a different approach of embedding the practice in a singular agency that had multiple office

locations in Southern Region. The effectiveness of this approach is being monitored by

DCFS Quality Enhancement and Chapin Hall.

Additional OLPD activities:

• Revisions are now being made to the foster/adoptive PRIDE in-service curricula.

• With a focus on customer responsiveness, a series of “How-to” short, on-demand videos

will be created on topics related to filling out various forms and frequently asked questions

on navigation of software products such as SACWIS and the DCFS I Phones.

• In addition to the Core Practice Model, FISP also facilitates twice monthly Trauma 201:

Case Management Practice for Complex Trauma.

• All DCFS staff continue to complete annual mandatory training on Ethics and Sexual

Harassment.

Areas for Improvement:

The in-service curriculum for direct service staff is being revised to address best practices serving

LGBTQ youth and families. It has been reviewed by members of the LGBTQ Round Table and

its implementation is being planned with the Clinical Division and the LGBTQ expert that was

hired under the UIUC contract for the Clinical Division to provide consultation; the expert will also

provide a training of trainers (TOT). This process will combine recommendations from a recent

audit launching by the second quarter of FY20.

The OLPD, in partnership with the Clinical LGBTQI Program and Human Rights Campaign (All

Children All Families), launched an online training series for staff in June 2019. The three 90-

minute webinars, created by the Human Rights Campaign, address LGBTQ-affirming interactions

and interventions with child welfare-involved families. A caregiver webinar was added in August

2019. Representatives from the Human Rights Campaign, DCFS, and the LGBTQ Roundtable

will continue to meet monthly to develop a sustainable, LGBTQI-affirming training practice for

DCFS and private agency partners.

The systems that OLPD has used in the past to evaluate trainings has need for improvement to