STATE OF NEVADA - Division of Child and Family Services

community assets to make significant changes quickly related to awareness, access and array of available services.
Other potential strategies include: legislative advocacy, development of a web-based system that streamlines service
provider and client information, and refinement of service provider engagement strategies. The report also includes a
summary of Clark County Department of Family Services upcoming Request for Proposals for Family Preservation and
Support Services and Safety Team Decision Making (STDM) which has been funded through Casey Family Programs.
During 2009, Washoe County initiated their service array assessment. The NRC revised their assessment process to be
more closely aligned with the CFSR in early 2008 and this revised assessment process is currently under way in Washoe
County Department of Social Services (WCDSS). WCDSS has opted to assess service array as related to the three Well-
Being Outcomes. Once Washoe County has completed their service array process, the Rural Region will begin their
process, after having observed and participated in the Washoe County process. Completion of each child welfare
agency’s assessment process includes the creation of an action plan to address priority findings.
Item 36: Service accessibility
Goal: The State will ensure that the services in the State’s Service Array are accessible to families and children in all
political jurisdictions covered in the State’s CFSP.
In the 2009 Nevada CFSR, this item was rated as an area needing improvement. The state has one main objective under
this item that will help it to reach the overall goal for service accessibility. This objective is that the State will refine or
further develop a process to identify and assess the effectiveness of the accessibility of services for families and children
across the state, including the development of statewide or agency level plans for addressing fixable barriers identified in
the system. As was identified in the 2009 Nevada Statewide Assessment, funding constraints and provider
retention/availability present continue to present two of the most serious barriers across the state. However, despite
these challenges there continues to be ongoing efforts to increase the accessibility of services through new initiatives
statewide. During 2009 and prior to the release of the most recent Title IV B, Subpart 2, Request for Proposals (RFP) in
early 2010, each child welfare agency developed a list of priority service needs. Priority service needs, by agency,
included:
• Clark County: Family preservation services, homemaker services, substance abuse assessment and treatment,
mental health assessments, medical case management, domestic violence response, and home studies and social
summaries;
• Washoe County: In-home family crisis stabilization services and support services, facilitators to conduct safety team
meetings to facilitate timely reunification, updating home studies and social summaries, comprehensive substance
abuse and mental health assessments, family counseling and substance abuse treatment, parenting groups: and
• Rural Region: In-home family crisis stabilization services, in-home mental health assessments and treatment,
community based and in and in-home substance abuse assessment and services, community based and in-home
parenting training, community based and in-home homemaker classes, and training and classes for potential adoptive
families.
Through Title IV B, service providers across the state are funded to provide family preservation, family support, timely
reunification and/or adoption support services. Representatives from the state, Washoe, Clark and Rural child welfare
participated during 2009 in the ongoing IV B workgroup established to monitor and address issues related to service
provision and access. Several initiatives have seen ongoing progress over the last fiscal year. These focus on the
Independent Living for Youth program in the DCFS – Rural Region, Domestic Violence, Substance Abuse, Caseworker
Visitation, Differential Response and more. These programs help to ensure that services are accessible to families,
despite funding constraints faced in the recent economy. These programs are described briefly below.
• In late 2008, the Independent Living Program transferred funding for rural service provision to four rural Family
Resource Centers (FRC’s). These FRC’s are located in Elko, Pahrump, Carson City and Fallon. Each FRC agreed
to provide services to youth residing in the surrounding areas to increase access to services. Since the previous
CFSR Family Resource Centers, especially those in the rural counties, have built infrastructure and are also receiving
additional funding and have expanded the array of available services. The FRC’s continued to provide these services
during SFY2010.
• Since the previous CFSR, Washoe County embedded a domestic violence advocate into the Child Protection Unit
(CPS), through federal funding, to address domestic violence issues identified during the investigation process. The
Advocate can facilitate and link victims of domestic violence who are involved with the child welfare system to
Nevada APSR – SFY 2010
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