2014 -- S 2504 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 04/03/14
S
E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N
Introduced By: Senators Sheehan, Nesselbush,
Cool Rumsey, Satchell, and Miller
Date Introduced: February 27, 2014
WHEREAS, State health and human service agencies increasingly turn
to robust data systems to support their strategic planning, actions, and
investments. Targeted data collection and analyses have allowed these agencies
to identify gaps in services, to monitor the status of children and other
vulnerable populations served in publicly-funded health and human services
delivery 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 Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS)
currently compiles a great deal of information related to the activities of the
health and human services agencies, and the Department of Children, Youth and
Families (DCYF) compiles data related specifically to child welfare, 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. Some, but not all, of this data is submitted on a
regular basis to EOHHS data warehouse to be integrated with information on
services provided by other EOHHS agencies; 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 if
collected have not been shared with EOHHS data warehouse; 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 EOHHS work in
collaboration with the DCYF to enhance EOHHS' capacity to aggregate, collect,
and utilize data to inform programmatic and policy decisions for children,
youth, and families and all health and human service agencies that assist
children and families at risk; and be it further
RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby respectfully requests that EOHHS
work in collaboration with DCYF to build the analytical capacity to 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, timelines 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 hereby respectfully requests that EOHHS
collaborate with all state health and human service agencies, the Family Court,
the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and other
agencies 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 hereby respectfully requests that EOHHS
provide direction to DCYF and Department of Behavioral Healthcare,
Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals (BHDDH) to 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 their 21st
birthday or before their 21st birthday if transition from DCYF to BHDDH is
approved by the Family Court; and be it further
RESOLVED, That this Senate hereby respectfully requests that EOHHS
facilitate DCYF's development of 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 hereby respectfully requests that EOHHS
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; and be it further
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, and the Commissioner
of Education.
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LC004738/SUB A
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