2014 -- S 2504

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND

FAMILIES TO ENHANCE THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM’S CAPACITY TO COLLECT

AND UTILIZE DATA

     Introduced By: Senators Sheehan, Nesselbush, Cool Rumsey, Satchell, and Miller

     Date Introduced: February 27, 2014

     Referred To: Senate Health & Human Services

     WHEREAS, State child welfare agencies increasingly turn to robust systems to support

their strategic planning, actions, and investments. Targeted data collection and analyses have

allowed state child welfare agencies to identify gaps in services, to monitor the status of children

served in child welfare systems, to track outcomes, and to direct resources to programs that

demonstrate their effectiveness. These activities often result in publicly available reports that

provide additional transparency in government spending; and

     WHEREAS, The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) currently

compiles a great deal of information related to its child welfare activities, through data collected

in response to Child and Family Services Reviews, Title IV-E foster care eligibility reviews, the

Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System assessment reviews, the Statewide

Automated Child Welfare Information System, and the Quarterly Program Improvement Plans to

the Federal Administration for Children and Families; and

     WHEREAS, DCYF has worked closely with the Office of Management and Budget

(OMB) and the Pew-Macarthur Results First Initiative to establish a cost-benefit model to

examine policies and procedures in the state's criminal justice system. As part of this effort,

DCYF has reported on a number of indicators related to the child welfare system, but certain

other measures that are critical to documenting children's well-being remain uncollected; and

     WHEREAS, In 2013, the Senate's Health and Human Services Committee conducted

hearings on DCYF which included extensive testimony on how DCYF's data collection and

reporting could support better policy and decision-making; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby respectfully requests that DCYF enhance the child welfare system's capacity to collect and

utilize data to inform programmatic and policy decisions for children, youth, and families

involved in the system; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate respectfully requests that DCYF include in its reporting to

the extent practicable the five measures identified in the November 2013 report of the Senate

Health and Human Services Committee oversight of DCYF, including the incidence of

maltreatment in foster care (on an annual basis), incidence of advance transition plans for youth

transitioning from care, timeliness of achieving permanent child placements (on a semi-annual

basis), median length of stay in congregate care, and average open cases per social worker; and be

it further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate respectfully requests that DCYF, the Family Court, the

Department of Behavioral Health, Development Disabilities, and Hospitals (BHDDH), the Rhode

Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and other agencies continue to work

together to identify and report common measures on youth in the foster care system, those

entering the juvenile justice system, and children and families receiving preventative services;

and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate respectfully requests that DCYF and BHDDH enter into a

memorandum of agreement by December 31, 2014, which specifically provides for youth who

are identified with Severe Emotional Disturbance/Developmental Disability to be referred to

BHDDH five years prior to their transition, and that specifically outlines the responsibilities of

both DCYF and BHDDH to ensure the effective transition of youth identified as eligible for

BHDDH services on or before their 21st birthday; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate respectfully requests that DCYF relate system-level

measures to strategies, actions, and outcomes in its annual reporting to the General Assembly, to

see how system-wide results can be strengthened; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this Senate respectfully requests that DCYF present a report to the

Senate detailing additional costs and resources that relate to the requested data collection and

reporting, for those measures that are not readily available; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the Governor, the Director of the Department of

Children, Youth, and Families, The Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human

Services, the Director of the Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental Disabilities, and

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Hospitals, and the Commissioner of Education.

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