STATE OF NEVADA - Division of Child and Family Services

appropriate services and support them through their involvement with the legal system related to the domestic
violence. This project was so successful that a second advocate was added in a subsequent year.
• The Regional Partnership Grant (RPG) provides treatment options for mothers, and their children, involved with child
welfare and who are abusing methamphetamines in Clark County. The program allows the mothers to access
intensive in-patient substance abuse treatment while remaining with their children. To date, the program has served
38 families with a total of 59 children. An additional component of the program has been an extensive cross training
program with child welfare staff related to substance abuse. Multiple modules were developed and implemented to
include opportunities to staff cases with substance abuse treatment staff to facilitate appropriate referrals and
treatment expectations. The program is in Year three of a five year grant.
• During 2009, Caseworker Visitation funding was utilized to increase the frequency of monthly visitation through
enhanced technology and/or additional hours for caseworker visitation. In addition, Adoption Incentive Funding was
utilized to increase the number of social summaries and home studies completed to facilitate timely permanency for
children.
• Differential Response in Nevada was first implemented as a pilot program in two Las Vegas Family Resource Centers
beginning in February 2007. In 2008 the program was expanded to include Elko (1 location) and Washoe (2
locations) Counties and two additional centers/service areas in Clark County (total of 4 locations). The program was
further expanded in 2009 to include: Carson City, Lyon County, Storey County, Churchill County and Nye County.
• During 2009, Casey Family Programs has provided funding for a number of projects designed to address foster care
related issues with the goal of safely reducing the number of children in foster care. Projects have included several
key trainings, consultation on increasing the State’s penetration rate to maximize IV E funding, and the expansion of
the Differential Response Program.
• The Division’s Grants Management Unit (GMU) has implemented an online reporting system that is used by providers
and the Division to track performance indicators, client utilization and demographics. During the past year, this
system has been expanded to track provider services that have a waiting list.
Despite continued efforts on this item, Nevada still has challenges with accessibility to services. As mentioned this is
primarily due to funding. However, distance and other resources also play a big factor in the success of this item. The
DCFS – Rural Region in particular is challenged by lack of available providers in the small communities across the state
and significant distances to the urban and metropolitan areas that may be able to provide these services. Clark and
Washoe Counties have the challenge of lack of resources and in some cases significant waiting lists for services. This
item continues to be an area needing improvement for Nevada.
Item 37: Individualizing services
Goal: The State will ensure that the services in the State’s Service Array are individualized to meet the unique needs of
children and families served by the agency.
One objective in this area is that the State, in collaboration with the Child Welfare Agencies and service array providers,
will develop an ongoing process for assessing and addressing the needs of children and families within the system and
providing a continuous quality improvement process for ensuring that the identified needs of these individuals are met.
Several efforts have been made in this area.
For example, collaborative relationships/initiatives such as Differential Response and the RPG project enhance the
provision of individualized services. In addition, the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) has been formed to assist foster and
former foster youth to make the transition to adulthood. The purpose of the organization is to provide exemplary
leadership and empowerment opportunities for youth who have or will experience out of home care. The YAB started
meeting in January 2007 and continued to meet throughout 2009.
During 2009 DCFS developed several new UNITY screens related to service array that will provide additional information
on services that children and families are referred to, including information about access/barriers such as waiting lists.
These screens were operational in April 2009.
Several other groups are available that help Nevada to individualize services for families. For Foster and Adoptive
families there are two groups, these are the Sierra Association of Foster Families (SAFF) and the Clark County Foster
and Adoptive Parent Association (CCFAPA). SAFF is a non-profit organization in Washoe County comprised of
caregivers whose purpose is to ensure licensed foster/adoptive families have the information, tools and support they need
Nevada APSR – SFY 2010
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