STATE OF NEVADA - Division of Child and Family Services

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visitation. The Panel understands that the statewide practice guidelines were formerly included as an attachment to DCFS Policy 0205.0. The Panel believes the guidelines should be part of the policy, and necessary training should be provided accordingly to caseworkers. Several Panel members noted cases where reduced visitation was used as leverage against parents in various areas of the state, especially for those with substance abuse disorders. They noted the specific statewide policy barring this practice in DCFS Policy 0205.0: 0205.5.6 – A(1): The caseworker shall not limit visitation as a sanction for the parent’s lack of compliance with court orders or as a method to encourage a child to improve his/her behaviors. Visitation is determined by the best interest, health, safety and well-being of the child. Visitation shall only be limited or terminated when the child’s best interest, safety, health or well-being is compromised. Using reduced visits as punishment for parents who use drugs increases the likelihood of relapse. The Panel expressed serious concern regarding feedback from the rural areas that judges may be using the punitive removal of visitation rights against parents with substance abuse disorders, and that gaps in visitation may be up to three months in duration. The Panel members questioned the legality of this, and will refer related concerns to the Attorney General’s Office. In cases of alleged sexual abuse, the Panel members want to ensure the approval and guidance of visitation by mental health professionals. They believe that existing statewide practice guidelines describe the required approach well, and recommended that these be made clear to caseworkers. Recommendation 5: Caseworkers need to complete timely data entry through the visitation windows in UNITY in order to provide consistent case documentation of visitation frequency and outcomes. Discussion: Per the discussions in Recommendations 2 and 3, the Panel members continue to find inconsistent case documentation and data entry in the UNITY system, which hampers its ability to distinguish between practice concerns and documentation problems. Use of existing data entry windows in UNITY is critical to demonstrating compliance with laws, policies, and procedures, as well as successfully documenting the key milestones of a case. Part of improving visitation practice includes recording necessary information about family visits across the life of a case. In addition to frequency and outcomes, the information recorded should also tie to the visitation plan made as part of the CFT process. CRP ANNUAL REPORT 2009 11
UNITY Data System Changes Recommendation 6: DCFS should consider changes to UNITY such that data entry requirements more closely match the flow of casework. Discussion: The Panel members have heard considerable feedback over time that UNITY is an “unfriendly” data system that is difficult for caseworkers to use. The time consumption and navigation challenges of using the system appear to be a primary cause of poor case documentation. Because federal laws, state laws, policies, and the Nevada Initial Assessment (NIA) process all specifically outline various investigative requirements, steps, and case milestones, it makes sense that UNITY should match these more closely. The Panel members believe that systemic improvement may lie partly in caseworkers’ better understanding of the case flow and the interaction between people and the process. In turn, UNITY should include check boxes and data entry screens that are reasonable in number and reflect this flow. Improvements to the data system may help workers see the long-term positive effects of timely and appropriate referrals when they are made visible to them in a logical way through the case information available. CRP ANNUAL REPORT 2009 12
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STATE OF NEVADA Department of Healt
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SECTION V: CHILD AND FAMILY WELL-BE
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SECTION I: INTRODUCTION Nevada Demo
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Title IV-E, Title IV-B, Subpart I (
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District provides services to Carso
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Legislative Activities Nevada’s l
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4. Review and Improvement of Existi
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particular strengths that CCDFS is
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Figure 06: Number of Total Removals
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In addition, WCDSS individually con
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Table 08: CFSR Data Profile Informa
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Relatives who care for their kin ty
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etween standard of care concerns an
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CFSP Goals and Objectives for Perma
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Table 14: SFY 2010 Data for Item 7
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Figure 11: Average Months to Adopti
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eport. Compliance with this require
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SECTION V: CHILD AND FAMILY WELL-BE
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Agency Level Policies: In addition
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Caseworker-Child Contact report is
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SECTION VI: SYSTEMIC FACTORS Each o
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Another objective under this goal i
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Item 27: Permanency hearings Goal:
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This item refers to quality standar
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multidisciplinary processes and rec
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charged with developing a standard
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A third objective for this item is
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Table 37: Advanced Foster and Adopt
Page 61 and 62: Intensive Family Services staff, wh
Page 63 and 64: • Case management services for fa
Page 65 and 66: community assets to make significan
Page 67 and 68: to provide safe, quality care to ab
Page 69 and 70: meeting occurred on December 2, 200
Page 71 and 72: • SAPTA (Substance Abuse Preventi
Page 73 and 74: as well as foster parents, are trai
Page 75 and 76: programs: $244,633 was allocated to
Page 77 and 78: Overall the DR program has been wel
Page 79 and 80: development of the brain for Indian
Page 81 and 82: IV-E or IV-B funds, including IV-E
Page 83 and 84: Item 45: State use of cross-jurisdi
Page 85 and 86: Figure 19: ICPC Number of Incoming
Page 87 and 88: APPENDIX A: Child Abuse Prevention
Page 89 and 90: Substantive Changes There are no su
Page 91 and 92: 1) Child Protective Service (CPS) p
Page 93 and 94: designated to be the Chafee recipie
Page 95 and 96: Presented NYTD to two annual Youth
Page 97 and 98: Specialist by telephone, mail, or e
Page 99 and 100: APPENDIX D: Health Care Services Pl
Page 101 and 102: ATTACHMENT A: Citizen Review Panel
Page 103 and 104: TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Page 105 and 106: During 2009, the Statewide Panel’
Page 107 and 108: with regular and ongoing updates of
Page 109 and 110: Additionally, DCFS Policy 0511.0, R
Page 111: Visitation Recommendation 4: Statew
Page 115 and 116: about referrals and services. To ad
Page 117 and 118: Results of the study identified sev
Page 119 and 120: Meeting Dates and Activities During
Page 121 and 122: The Division of Child and Family Se
Page 123 and 124: amount in the future. Therefore, it
Page 125 and 126: Establishes a Legislative Committee
Page 127 and 128: Emergency shelter for a child. The
Page 129 and 130: APPENDIX C: PANEL MEMBERS Statewide
Page 131 and 132: Southern CAC Members Member Affilia
Page 133 and 134: Division will be collaborating with
Page 135 and 136: • UNITY’S positioning as a case
Page 137 and 138: SAFF SB SWA TALCIT TANF TPR UNITY U
Page 139 and 140: B. Children’s Justice Act Task Fo
Page 141 and 142: ATTACHMENT D: Assurances and Certif
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STATE OF NEVADA - Division of Child and Family Services

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