1. FIRST PLACEMENT IS THE RIGHT PLACEMENT
Recommendations for Discussion
July 24, 2002
Governor’s Action Group for Safe Children

2. Initial charge to group:
Inventory existing assessment instruments and methodologies
Recommend a comprehensive assessment methodology
Apply assessment results to future placement decisions
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3. DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY DRAFT
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Issues of confidentiality should not impede helping children.
Placement decisions should be child-focused and family-centered.
Assessment instruments should be developmentally appropriate and culturally sensitive.
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4. PATHWAY TO RECOMMENDATIONS
Review of research literature
Issue Paper on Assessment Methodologies
Phone consultation with national experts
Phone consultation with other states
Presentations and review of current process by DFCS, DJJ, and GAHSC
Survey of Frontline Workers
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5. DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY DRAFT
PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENT
Safety and need for out-of-home placement
Risk assessment: self, family, community
Screening for need for futher assessment
Level of care for residential placement
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6. METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Theoretical basis
Validity
Reliability
Empirical support
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7. DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY DRAFT
ASSESSMENT EXAMPLES
Children’s services
State-centralized phone center (Kansas)
Juvenile justice
Community assessment centers (pilots in Florida, Colorado)
Case classification and service needs system (Multnomah County/Portland)
Collaborative child welfare and juvenile justice
Regional assessment units (Tennessee)
Children’s placement teams (Connecticut)
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8. IMPLICATIONS FOR A COMMON ASSESSMENT
Who completes assessment?
No state has a single point of entry
Federal requirements for child welfare and juvenile justice can differ
Child welfare services typically include younger children
For child welfare system, Federal system counts the first removal/ placement as 1 out of 2 allowed placements
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9. SURVEY OF CURRENT GEORGIA SYSTEM WORKERS
234 DJJ, DFCS, GAHSC, MH frontline workers and managers
Most important information needed:
Behavior/mental health needs (26%)
Child history/issues (25%)
Lacking on current assessments:
In-depth child info (particularly mental health) (37%)
Placement resources (23%)
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SURVEY CONCLUSIONS
FPBP and other assessments provide good recommendations but arrive too late to assist in placement decisions.
Respondents stress the need for assessment to have more in-depth knowledge about the child, specifically behavioral and mental health needs.
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SURVEY CONCLUSIONS
Respondents need to know type of available placement resources, admission criteria, and space availability.
Overall, more placement resources are needed, especially for children who are sexually acting out, setting fires, and exhibiting other aggressive behaviors.
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12. COMMON INITIAL ASSESSMENT COMPONENTS
Require all state agencies that come into
contact with a family or child for out-of-home
placement to use and make available to
authorized users common components including
assessment information, demographics, and
family history. Existing data sources will be
reviewed prior to authorizing expenditures on
collection of new information.
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13. COMMON INITIAL ASSESSMENT COMPONENTS
All common component information should be:
Automated
Web-based, and
Populate appropriate agency-specific assessment records.
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14. COMMON INITIAL ASSESSMENT COMPONENTS
Common data components would include safety, risk factors, resources (strengths) and family dynamics.
There will be standard time frames for collection of common components, e.g. immediately, 24 hrs, within one week; within one month.
After collection of common components, individual agencies may have a ‘menu’ of assessment instruments to use in specialized situations.
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15. CROSS-AGENCY COLLABORATION
Require agencies (DJJ, DFCS, DOE, Mental Health, Community Health) that deliver services to children to accept one another’s assessment findings once the assessment measures have been found to be culturally sensitive, developmentally appropriate, and methodologically sound.
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16. CROSS-AGENCY COLLABORATION
Provide cross-training to DJJ, DOE, DFCS,
Juvenile Court Judges, Community Health,
private and non-profit service providers,
SAAG’s and MH/DD/AD staff on the benefits
and limitations of assessment process,
interpretation of information, and knowledge
of available resources to serve children and
families.
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17. FIRST STAFF IS THE RIGHT STAFF
Involve a sufficient number of experienced staff (24/7 “real time”) as early as possible in the assessment process.
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18. FIRST STAFF IS THE RIGHT STAFF
Community intervention managers will provide coordinated case management cutting across agencies/providers. The manager can be from any agency but will take the lead in coordinating services with other agencies.
The system of coordinated case management needs to have a consistent framework, including appropriate ‘release’ points.
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19. FIRST STAFF IS THE RIGHT STAFF
The knowledge and skill set of the intervention managers should be defined and consistent across agencies.
Trained and experienced staff should be involved in making critical intake decisions.
In order to attract the most qualified staff, an incentive system should be set up including smaller caseloads (15-17 DFCS, 15 DJJ) and job rotation.
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20. PREVENTING OUT-OF-HOME PLACEMENTS
Provide comprehensive assessments (including family conferencing) at initial contact with agencies (i.e. CPS) to prevent out-of-home placements.
Track the number of prevented placements and redirect any saved revenue to services to children at risk of out-of-home placements.
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21. PREVENTING OUT-OF-HOME PLACEMENTS
Evaluate current work in Community Partnerships for Protecting Children counties
Share outcomes and implications for implementation in other communities.
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