CFSP 5 Year Plan - RI Department of Children, Youth & Families

CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT ACT (CAPTA)
Strengthening Child Protective Services
GOAL I –
Establish a continuum of family-centered, high quality,
culturally relevant, community and neighborhood-based
resources in an integrated service delivery system that
partners with natural, formal and informal supports to
promote safety, permanency and well-being for children,
youth and families.
The Department’s Child Protective Services Division (CPS) uses standardized tools and
procedures to assess child safety. This past year, the implementation of the Family Care
Community Partnerships (FCCPs) marked a substantive shift in the community-based
collaborations between child protection investigators and intake staff. Changes in operation that
were put in place in recent years; e.g., the establishment of a Case Monitoring Unit (CMU) in
2006, positioned the Child Protective Services Division well to make this adjustment which is
designed to avert families from becoming opened to DCYF.
The CMU was established to maintain children at home without seeking Family Court
involvement or transferring cases to the Family Service Units. It was estimated that about 400
cases monthly were held in CMU and Intake combined. DCYF provides oversight for differing
levels of community-based prevention and family preservation services and duration before the
cases are closed. Regular meetings are held with the FCCP community provider agencies,
particularly in the Northern Region, where a collaborative network of providers known as the
United Family Support Initiative is comprised of about 15 agencies working together with
DCYF to identify “best matched” services for families – both with legal and non-legal status.
The FCCPs began operation in January, and as of late June 2009, there have been 240 referrals
made through CPS/Intake to the FCCPs. Of this, 150 required a risk management plan be
returned to the Department which allowed these cases to then be closed. To date, six (6) of the
referred cases have needed to be reopened to DCYF. Four (4) are continuing to be held in the
Monitoring Unit, and two (2) have had petitions filed in Court and were transferred to the
Family Service Unit (FSU).
During this past year, there has not been any substantive change in State law that affects
DCYF’s eligibility for CAPTA funding. As reported previously in the Child and Family
Service Plans, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) requirements are
aligned with the Department’s efforts to strengthen its Child Protective Services Division. The
PIP safety outcomes and indicators are integrated into the activities outlined in the CAPTA plan.
CAPTA Plan -
The CAPTA Plan focuses attention on strategies to support improvement in the CFSR
Safety Outcomes 1 and 2. At present, DCYF has met its objective for improvement on all of the
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