DRAFT - FY23 NU - SOW.docx

1. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES AND SERVICES

1.1 SUPPLIES AND/OR SERVICES REQUIRED: DCFS FY23 Trauma/Behavior Health Contract

Vendor:

Northwestern University 750 N. Lake Shore Drive, 7th Floor Chicago, IL 60611

Primary Contact:

Richard A Epstein, PhD, MPH Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Mental Health Services and Policy Program 710 N. Lake Shore Drive, 9th Floor Chicago, IL 60611 Phone: (Office) 312-503-5454; (Cell) 615-957-7522 Email: richard.epstein@northwestern.edu

This document summarizes the scope of contractual work to be performed by Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Mental Health Services and Policy Program (NU/MHSPP) for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). Included are justifications why the set of duties should remain with NU/MHSPP.

Due to the likely continuation of some public health precautions related to COVID-19, technology shall be used as much as/is practical to protect NU/MHSPP staff, DCFS staff, and the public by minimizing in-person meetings to the greatest extent possible. This shall continue until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (DCD), Illinois Department of Public Health, and/or Illinois Governor's Office declare the situation safe to resume in person meetings at will. For purposes of this Contract, Videoconferencing, Teleconferencing, Zoom, and WebEx are used interchangeably and have the same meaning as Video(ing) in the scope of work below. The following is a list of the 14 projects:

1. Technical Assistance for Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths Implementations (CANS)

2. Technical Assistance for Evidence Based Practice and Trauma Service Provider Learning Community (EBPTLC)

3. Trauma Training and Consultation (TTC)

4. Technical Assistance for Residential Treatment and Performance Measures (RT/PRM)

5. Technical Assistance for the DCFS Provider Portal and Service Provider Identification and Exploration Resource Databases (DPP/SPIDER)

6. Technical Assistance for the Intensive Placement Stabilization and Screening, Assessment, and Support Services Programs (IPS/SASS)

7. Technical Assistance for the Office of Delinquency Prevention and Restorative Justice (ODPRJ)

8. Data Collection and Analysis (DCA)

9. Technical Assistance for Placement and Community Services (PACS)

10. Asthma Management Training and Consultation (AMTC)

11. Technical Assistance for Youth in the Psychiatric Hospital Beyond Medical Necessity (BMN)

12. Technical Assistance for FFPSA Prevention Services Implementation (FFPSA)

13. Support of B.H. Consent Decree Initiatives (BH)

14. YouthCare Evaluation (YCE)

1. Technical Assistance for Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths Implementations (CANS):

NU/MHSPP will provide technical assistance to support DCFS’ implementations of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS). NU/MHSPP currently supports implementations with Intact Family Services child welfare specialists and their supervisors, Permanency Services child welfare specialists and their supervisors, DCFS clinical division staff, and several DCFS contracted clinical programs by providing training, reporting, and other support. The DCFS clinical division staff that are supported are Integrated Assessment (IA) assessors, Qualified Residential Treatment Provider (QRTP) assessors, Clinical Intervention and Placement Preservation (CIPP) facilitators, and regional clinical staff. The DCFS contracted clinical programs that are supported are the Conscious Community Network (CCN), Intensive Placement Stabilization (IPS), Pregnant and Parenting Teen (PPT), and Wraparound (WRAP) programs. Although most CANS assessments are entered directly into SACWIS, IPS and PPT staff continue to submit CANS assessments directly to NU/MHSPP which maintains a server, manually enters these data, and then combines them with other DCFS administrative data for reporting purposes. NU/MHSPP facilitates communication between DCFS and the University of Kentucky / Praed Foundation, which holds intellectual property rights to the CANS. Specific deliverables include:

a. NU/MHSPP will convene an Implementation Committee to include representatives from the different DCFS divisions with a CANS implementation to discuss version control, training / certification, and meaningful use.

b. NU/MHSPP will continue to deliver existing and/or develop new reports to assess implementation fidelity and track change over time for the various CANS implementations. Reports will include information that can assess training and certification, use, quality, and individual youth progress.

c. NU/MHSPP will participate with DCFS (including the Office of Learning and Professional Development as needed) and the Praed Foundation to support CANS training/certification, including remediation activities.

d. NU/MHSPP will implement a “meaningful use project” with DCFS clinical division staff.

e. NU/MHSPP will continue to provide quality assurance by reviewing CANS that are electronically entered SACWIS, CANS collected through the surrogate website, and provide technical assistance, when indicated.

f. NU/MHSPP will continue to maintain the “DCFS CANS Use Mailbox” by answering technical questions, giving final approval for caseworker supervisors to score a CANS in SACWIS, and answer any other related questions.

g. NU/MHSPP will develop training materials for and convene monthly and ad hoc trainings tailored to provide technical assistance for the CANS implementations. Training and other materials are collected and shared by developing and sharing materials through maintenance and updating of CANS training website.

Justification: NU/MHSPP has provided Illinois DCFS with technical assistance to support their CANS implementations since 2008. It would be impractical, cost intensive, and time consuming to discontinue ongoing work in favor of a new vendor. Additionally, NU/MHSPP staff are critical to this effort and have expertise that would be difficult, if not impossible, to replace. Dr. Richard Epstein, the NU/MHSPP faculty lead for this project, has existing professional relationships with the national CANS collaborative and an established record of providing implementation support to State child welfare systems. Dr. Epstein is deeply involved supporting DCFS’ effort to transition to a version of the CANS that is consistent with Illinois DHFS’ version of the CANS, and to use the CANS for Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) decision support. Similarly, the lead NU/MHSPP staff for this project, Mr. Robert Hjertquist, LMFT, has provided technical assistance for Illinois DCFS’ CANS users for many years. Mr. Hjertquist has worked directly with DCFS and child welfare systems for more than 25 years, has served as an administrator / project manager for more than 20 years, facilitated work groups with upper level DCFS and POS agency leadership for more than 10 years, and served as an administrator for various DCFS initiatives, including its CANS implementations, for nearly 10 years.

2. Technical Assistance for Evidence-based Practice and Trauma Service Provider Learning Community (EBPTLC):

NU/MHSPP will support DCFS’ efforts to ensure that DCFS counseling contract providers maintain and expand their knowledge about best practices for evidence-based and trauma-informed services to youth in care. In partnership with DCFS Chief Consulting Psychologist Dr. Erin Alexander, NU/MHSPP will help DCFS establish and maintain a virtual learning community. Specific deliverables include:

a. Developing materials for a quarterly meeting of counseling contract providers to deliver information about best practices for evidence-based and trauma-informed services to youth in care;

b. Convening a quarterly virtual meeting of providers with counseling contracts to deliver these materials and answer questions;

c. Exploring the creation and maintenance of a professional listserv, document storage needs, and other requirements;

d. Creating a professional listserv of counseling contracts and their individual service providers;

e. Producing and distributing a quarterly newsletter;

f. Monitoring quarterly meeting attendance and newsletter “downloads;” and

g. Follow-up with providers as appropriate to encourage participation in the learning community.

Justification: NU/MHSPP has been involved with this project since its inception, including developing the standards for evidence-based and trauma service provider credentialing (e.g., levels of training, the evidence-based practices accepted, the renewal process). As DCFS transitions this project towards developing a clinical learning community, the knowledge and experience of NU/MHSPP staff will be critical, making it time- and cost-prohibitive to change vendors, as existing standards will support these future efforts by informing learning community activities.

3. Trauma Training and Consultation (TTC):

NU/MHSPP will provide trauma training and consultation related to the "Think Trauma." Specific deliverables include:

a. Offer Think Trauma Training and Implementation Program (TTTIP) for child welfare residential agencies, psychiatric facilities, shelters, and ILO/TLP programs who are referred by DCFS staff, to build local capacity for trauma training and trauma-informed practices across the state.

i. Offer a Training of Trainers (TOT) program for agencies to expand capacity for agency-level training and support in Think Trauma; this will include engaging agencies previously trained in Think Trauma to become re-trained if the trainers at their agency are impacted by staff turnover.

ii. Offer a training option for agencies who choose to be trained in the curriculum but do not have the capacity support the development of trained trainers at their agency.

iii. Expand the number of trainers that participate in the Think Trauma training via videoconference to support agencies maintaining a stable cadre of trainers and widespread dissemination

iv. Maintain a flexible approach to training and support based on agency needs; we adopted this approach to address the increased demands on agencies during the pandemic

b. Training components for TTTIP will include the following:

i. Offer 2 training sessions as a part of the TOT (approximately 2-3 days per session) with up to 12 residential agencies, to take place virtually or in-person; one training session will be offered for those agencies who choose to be trained in the curriculum (but not as trainers).

ii. Facilitate 2 pre-work calls prior to training and 6-8 monthly follow-up consultation/implementation support calls to support implementation of Think Trauma in practice.

iii. Collect evaluation data to identify both the reach and impact of training activities on staff attitudes, knowledge, skills, and practices.

iv. Support logistics for training activities (both in-person and virtual), consultation support calls, and development of training materials

c. Offer Think Trauma sustainability conference calls every other month (up to 6 calls per fiscal year) with all residential agencies previously trained in Think Trauma through DCFS. These calls will be focused on discussing additional challenges and successes, as well as to support continued implementation efforts.

i. Offer on demand access to Zoom recordings of Think Trauma training sessions and consultation calls to continue to boost knowledge and support current and previously trained cohorts (this is a practice we have been using in current fiscal year as well)

ii. Offer periodic content booster sessions as needed for agency staff previously trained as trainers in Think Trauma

d. Support the application of Think Trauma with agencies in conjunction with residential monitors, as it relates to or augments their monitoring practices with agencies. This will be facilitated by:

i. Invite residential monitors to participate in Think Trauma trainings with agencies and other staff, to increase their knowledge and understanding of Think Trauma.

ii. Share and disseminate an abbreviated version of Think Trauma with residential monitors; this will be developed by our Center for Child Trauma Assessment, Services and Systems Integration at NU to support widespread dissemination of Think Trauma with a variety of staff in residential settings.

iii. Develop Think Trauma agency progress reports to track implementation efforts, and enhance communication between agencies, respective monitors, and NU team; these will be shared quarterly with agencies and their respective monitors.

e. Identify collaboration and training opportunities to support trauma-informed best practices with a focus on raising awareness of the impact of historical and racial trauma and structural racism.

i. Engage in ongoing collaborative meetings with DCFS Office of Racial Equity Practice to explore current and planned efforts within DCFS and how we can share resources that both support and align this work.

Justification: NU/MHSPP staff are uniquely qualified to do this work given their nationally recognized expertise in childhood trauma and as longstanding partners in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) through CCTASI, funded by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration. Further, NU/MHSPP faculty and staff are both key developers of the new Think Trauma curriculum and master trainers of the curriculum. NU/MHSPP staff have also partnered with DCFS to assist in improving Residential Placement services for over a decade. Building a trauma-informed system requires understanding and addressing the adverse experiences and consequences of racism on multiple levels of the system. Our existing focus on anti-racist practices and racial justice and equity within MHSPP and in collaboration with the NCTSN over the last 2 years has allowed us the opportunity to both integrate and continue to build our expertise in this work.

4. Technical Assistance for Residential Treatment and Residential Performance Measures (RT/RPM):

NU/MHSPP will support Residential Treatment (RT) and Residential Performance Measures (RPM) by engaging in the following activities:

a. Support the development and implementation of RPMs:

i. Producing and distributing periodic RPM-related residential provider performance reports, including measures capturing interruptions, discharges, length-of-stay (LOS), and additional measures addressing priorities of the FFPSA and Monitoring Redesign for congregate care settings;

ii. Producing and distributing quarterly and annual RPM-related residential provider performance reports;

iii. Refining the risk adjustment (RA) strategy for RPMs in coordination with the Child Welfare Advisory Committee (CWAC) Data Test Workgroup as needed;

iv. Participating in the monthly High Performance/Data Test Workgroup CWAC Committee meeting;

v. Participating in as-needed calls with DCFS to review and refine RPMs and reporting issues;

vi. Developing an annual Residential Treatment Summary of system-wide progress on RPMs;

vii. Providing regular and as requested reports on LOS in residential and providing data to support the preparation of reports looking at LOS for DCFS Administration;

viii. Providing ad hoc analysis related to RPMs/ residential administrative data, not to exceed 1 per quarter;

ix. Providing as-needed trainings, webinars, and other training materials on RPMs to monitoring staff and residential provider staff, not to exceed one training per quarter; and

x. Participating in additional CWAC subcommittees as requested.

b. Report on administrative data for the entire residential/group-home population to DCFS administrative staff:

i. Tallying youth in residential care - admissions, discharges, transition status, shelter/out-of-state;

ii. Tallying admissions, admissions from IGH discharge, admission from hospitals, and interruptions;

iii. Reporting residential discharges, transition phase I/phase II status, planned discharge date compliance, and contract counts and types;

iv. Leading monthly meetings to share administrative reports with DCFS administrative staff;

v. Maintaining, reviewing and updating congregate care contract data (Residential List “RL” Admin) to support accurate reporting and categorization for data processing and reporting through Residential Treatment Outcomes System (RTOS) and other applications;

vi. Collaborating with DCFS Payment Unit to develop/provide child- and contract-level bed utilization data;

vii. Producing monthly reports for Independent Living Option/Transitional Living Program (ILO/TLP), including agency count, team assignment, and agency detail list;

viii. Facilitating timely transition to the system replacing Illinois Outcomes through data testing and support;

ix. Supporting the transition of reporting on administrative/placement data from manual reports to automated reports in the system replacing Illinois Outcomes; and

x. Once item xi is complete, generating new reports to address special topics/questions, as requested;

xi. Once item xi is complete, assisting monitoring in utilizing the new tools and capabilities in the system replacing Illinois Outcomes, including generating data and developing new reports.

c. Support for Facility Observation Reports (FORs) and RTOS:

i. Producing monthly/quarterly summaries of residential monitor activities by agency (FOR reports);

ii. Advising DCFS Education & Transition Services team with best practices for data collection and reporting in replacement of RTOS School Attendance data collection; and

iii. Supporting DoIT/OITS for migration of Illinois Outcomes services, including: (1) RTOS with improved data collection and reporting systems in accordance with DCFS procedures and operations; (2) Develop/test an interim replacement for the FOR application using REDCap for data collection and reporting in accordance with DCFS procedures and operations; and (3) Supporting/training monitoring and residential staff/management in using replacement data/systems.

Justification: NU/MHSPP created detailed analyses of residential performance standards that DCFS administration relates are necessary to continue, using the level of expertise provided by NU/MHSPP. Members of the NU/MHSPP team have extensive experience in residential treatment, residential data systems, and the risk adjustment model necessary to develop, enhance, and run regular reports on residential performance metrics. Additionally, the team possesses decades-long institutional knowledge of legacy data systems. The reports offer insight into youth safety and stability, length-of-stay in residential treatment, post-discharge outcomes, the quality of care provided to youth in residential treatment, and other key performance trends. These reports also promote the achievement of specific child-level outcomes, identify priority areas for investing resources, and set the groundwork to evaluate programs and services. NU/MHSPP staff also bring this expertise to multiple CWAC subcommittee meetings to address system performance and youth outcomes. Interrupting this work by changing the vendor will impact multiple processes and the delivery of information that is used by DCFS administration on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

5. Technical Assistance for DCFS Provider Portal and Service Provider Identification and Exploration Resource Database and Webtools (DPP/SPIDER):

NU/MHSPP will provide implementation support to maintain, expand, and support end-users in their efforts to use the DCFS Provider Portal (DPP) and Service Provider Identification and Exploration Resource (SPIDER) databases and webtools. Specific deliverables include:

a. NU/MHSPP will coordinate with DCFS leadership by:

i. Convening monthly meetings with the DCFS contact(s) and other key stakeholders.

ii. Compiling a quarterly end report including recommendations for future directions.

iii. Consulting to help DCFS use DPP and SPIDER information to identify gaps in resources, in support of statewide initiatives, including (but not limited to) the Program Improvement Plan (PIP), B.H. Consent Decree, and FFPSA as specifically requested by DCFS contact.

b. NU/MHSPP will maintain records in DPP and SPIDER databases by:

i. Validating and reconciling information about service providers to be included in DPP and SPIDER as directed by DCFS.

ii. Facilitating the migration of information in the SPIDER database into the DPP database.

c. NU/MHSPP will train and support DPP and SPIDER webtool end-users by:

i. Conducting live trainings for service provider DPP webtool end-users on a pilot basis and deliver finished product to DCFS for use by OLPD.

ii. Conducting live trainings for SPIDER webtool end-users.

iii. Facilitating DPP access as needed, until another end-user supports are available.

iv. Maintaining social media presence for DPP and SPIDER.

v. Developing and maintaining user support materials and references for DPP and SPIDER.

vi. Providing ad hoc technical assistance to trainees or other end-users.

d. NU/MHSPP will support the enhancement of the DPP and SPIDER databases and webtools by:

i. Providing subject matter expertise, requirements/data definition, and operational guidance with focus on service provider data validity with DCFS contracted services, service provider data migration from SPIDER to DPP, and per DCFS request, other areas where SPIDER experience can guide DPP design or operations.

ii. Triaging DPP and SPIDER webtool end-user issues to appropriate DCFS/OITS/DoIT solution group.

iii. Assisting with testing of new versions of the DPP, with specific focus on service provider user experience, functional/workflow issues and improvements, and verifying correct operation.

Justification: NU/MHSPP was partner to the original Statewide Provider Database (SPD) and its current iteration, SPIDER. As a result, NU/MHSPP was also partner to all discussions and efforts to create the DPP, including validating FFPSA prevention service provider information into DPP in SFY22 and onboarding POS Agency end-users. NU/MHSPP health interviewers and business analysts are essential to validating information in both databases and business processes surrounding end-user use of the webtools for accessing that information. It would be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and cost-prohibitive to transition these functions to another vendor.

6. Technical Assistance for the Intensive Placement Stabilization and Screening, Assessment, and Support Services Programs (IPS/SASS):

NU/MHSPP will provide technical assistance for the Intensive Placement Stabilization (IPS) and Screening, Assessment, and Support Services (SASS) programs. Specific deliverables include:

a. For the IPS program, NU/MHSPP will:

i. Guide the use of IPS resources by engaging in strategic planning, overseeing DCFS’ contracts for IPS services, and providing agency- and case-level consultation on issues affecting clients who have experienced trauma and are manifesting trauma/mental health symptoms. Staff will represent the IPS Program on the Interagency Clinical Team, which is part of the Specialized Family Support Program (SFSP), and other DCFS Clinical Division teams, meetings, and workgroups as needed.

ii. Develop and/or revise the manual and other descriptions of the IPS program’s target population(s) and important program elements.

iii. Continue to implement the annual caseworker, caregiver, and youth surveys.

iv. Continue to provide and/or develop new reports to provide DCFS with information about whether the IPS program is being implemented as designed, and program outcomes. Existing reports include the Quarterly Extended Cases Report, Biannual Service Array Report, Annual Demographic Report, Annual Placement Stability Report, and Annual Caseworker, Caregiver, and Youth Survey Reports. New reports may be necessary due to IPS program expansion.

b. For the SASS program, NU/MHSPP will serve as the Illinois DCFS representative(s) on the SASS Executive Committee, with responsibility for:

i. Ensuring DCFS youth in care receive emergency specialized screening and assessment for psychiatric emergencies in a timely manner,

ii. Facilitating collaborative partnerships with Department of Human Services-Department of Mental Health and Healthcare and Family Services to maintain a functional emergency mental health system for children and families in crisis, and

iii. Developing an enhanced quality assurance and contract monitoring protocol to ensure our youth are provided comprehensive and appropriate mental health services that adhere to contractual obligations.

iv. Developing and/or revising the manual and other descriptions of the SASS program’s target population(s) and important program elements.

Justification: The IPS and SASS Programs are both designed to stabilize youth in crisis. The program administrator for both programs is Jen Marret, LCSW, who is a licensed trauma clinician and subject matter expert regarding children in crisis and the interventions delivered by IPS and SASS. She has worked with DCFS since 2006 and is well versed in the functions of the Department. She has managed IPS and SASS programs for more than 5 years. Other clinical staff are also master’s level staff with extensive experience in the fields of child welfare and children’s mental health. Domenico Carli works closely with Dr. Blaustein and Kristine Kinniburgh to support IPS agencies use of the Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC) model, an evidence-based and trauma-informed framework. He is ARC-trained and has been providing this support to IPS agencies for many years. Other staff include analysts familiar with DCFS administrative data used in reporting. Taken together, it would be time- and cost-prohibitive to transition the responsibilities of these staff to another vendor.

7. Technical Assistance for the Office of Delinquency Prevention and Restorative Justice (ODPRJ):

NU/MHSPP will provide technical assistance to the Office of Delinquency Prevention and Restorative Justice (ODPRJ) by supporting the Associate Deputy’s efforts to engage other child-serving systems and agencies that work with dually involved youth and youth involved with human trafficking, create reports and tracking mechanisms for dually involved youth and youth involved in human trafficking, engage in other analytic work designed to help prevent youth from becoming dually involved and involved with human trafficking, identify best practices, and identify available community-based resources. NU/MHSPP staff will engage in strategic planning, create reports, develop and facilitate trainings, presentations, focus groups, and process groups. NU/MHSPP staff will create and maintain databases that can be used by DCFS to track information about dually involved youth and youth involved in human trafficking. Specific deliverables include:

a. Convening monthly meetings between the NU Faculty Lead, NU Staff Lead, and DCFS Contact, as well as any other key stakeholders, to establish and follow-up on priority initiatives.

b. Attend regularly scheduled and ad hoc operational meetings

c. Review applications in response to Call for Proposals (CFPs) for ODPRJ Contracts

d. Compile ODPRJ’s annual Dually Involved Youth and Youth Involved with Human Trafficking Report

e. Compile ODPRJ’s annual report to the General Assembly about youth in detention beyond their release date

f. Compile a quarterly report of information about youth in detention or incarcerated

g. Compile a monthly release upon request (RUR) report

h. Engage in planning activities to develop a monthly human trafficking report

i. Engage in planning activities to help DCFS better monitor ODPRJ contracts

j. Develop statistical models to predict detentions and other important outcomes

k. Develop and release a newsletter, as needed

l. Develop ad hoc reports and other resources as time allows

m. Submitting a year end summary of the work accomplished in FY23 that includes recommendations for future initiatives.

Justification: NU/MHSPP staff have been at the core of this work with the identified high-risk populations since the inception of the ODPRJ. In SFY22, NU/MHSPP staff have become critical to the ODPRJ functions and new workflows, databases, and reports were developed that would be costly and time-consuming to discontinue and move to another vendor.

8. Data Collection and Analysis (DCA):

NU/MHSPP collaborates with DOIT/OITS, DCFS program staff, and other stakeholders to ensure that NU/MHSPP maintains permissions and access to DCFS administrative data including, but not limited to, information in CYCIS and SACWIS. These permissions and access are used to regularly extract, transform, and prepare these data into a database that is used by other the other projects in this program plan for production of their deliverables, preparing files for other projects with Illinois DCFS permission, and preparing files for delivery to other University partners at DCFS’ request. Specific deliverables include:

a. Convening a monthly meeting with the project’s DCFS contact.

b. Maintaining and updating data sharing agreements and other related permissions.

c. Maintaining permissions and access for NU/MHSPP staff to Illinois DCFS systems and servers.

d. Extracting, transforming, and loading DCFS administrative data into a NU/MHSPP database. This includes data validation services and reports to remove errors and improve data quality, generating spells for youth in care, congregate care placements, and other living arrangements.

e. Maintaining the surrogate website (Contegix) for CYCIS drop-off files, IPS Program and PPT Program CANS data that are not entered directly into SACWIS and preparing these data for inclusion in the NU/MHSPP database.

f. Merging DCFS administrative data with information from other sources including, but not limited to, legacy data from retired Illinois DCFS administrative data sources, the surrogate website, REDCap, and census bureau data.

g. Serve as administrator for the DCFS instance of REDCap.

h. Advising DCFS management and its provider partners where and how to make appropriate data corrections, as well as incorporating various business rules regarding data issues and corrections into work processes.

Justification: NU/MHSPP has been extracting, transforming, and preparing Illinois DCFS administrative data into a warehouse used by the other projects in this program plan for many years and it would be time and cost prohibitive to discontinue this work. DCFS does not have the capacity to complete these functions in-house and NU/MHSPP is uniquely qualified to fulfill these functions. These functions are necessary for gap analyses as well as looking at youth trends for issues such as youth beyond medical necessity in a psychiatric setting. Changing the oversight of this project could also be an impediment to DCFS preparations for Families First legislation, as NU/MHSPP has already begun adjusting definitions to adapt reporting to the new requirements. NU/MHSPP has longstanding and collaborative relationships with OITS and DoIT that make providing their administrators with important information easier than it would be with another vendor. NU/MHSPP staff serve as the DCFS administrator for the DCFS instance of REDCap. Replacing this role require an unnecessary transition of responsibilities.

9. Technical Assistance for Placement and Community Services (PACS):

NU/MHSPP provides DCFS Placement Administration with technical assistance to support placement and community services decision for youth in care. Specific deliverables include:

a. Meeting regularly with DCFS Contact and submitting quarterly report;

b. Attending regularly scheduled operational meetings including, but not limited to: (1) Meetings regarding Beyond Medical Necessity, Interim Care Centers, Legal, Release upon Request, Dually Involved Youth, YouthCare Physical Health Rounds, Therapeutic Foster Care, Residential Reconciliation, and CWAC Breakout Workgroups for Specialized Foster Care; (2) Child-specific meetings as needed; and (3) Meetings child-specific emergencies.

c. Educating and guiding DCFS and private agencies about how to find placements for children with significant emotional and behavioral and/or medically complicated needs.

d. Facilitating specialized foster care, residential, and out of state placements, by collaborating with the DCFS medical director, health services and nursing team, and coordinating with DHS and YouthCare partners to provide care for medically complicated needs.

e. Serving as a liaison for specialized foster care, residential, and other specialty programs including but not limited to Project REACH, CATU, and Maryville Medically Complex.

f. Serving as DCFS representative to external stakeholders working on developing and implementing policies and procedures for placement administration.

g. Participating in DCFS and private agency workgroups developing and implementing policies and procedures for all levels of care.

h. Triaging all youth new to care to identify special needs, determine if youth requires a higher service intensity, and ensure their appropriate placement.

i. Evaluating and assessing youth need for admission to/continuation of services in the specialized foster care placement continuum and collaborating to authorize/reauthorize those placements.

Justification: Using NU/MHSPP staff to supplement efforts by the Department to place children in the most appropriate settings is more cost-effective than hiring additional CMS staff (salary and benefits) or an Independent Contractor. The NU/MHSPP staff in these job functions are experienced in child welfare: Melissa Frank has an MSW and has been working in this unit for 14 years. She has previous experience as a case manager, supervisor, and clinical work totaling an additional 15 years. She worked in a group home for 4 years and is uniquely qualified to do this work. Leslie Berg has an MSW and has been in the unit for over 12 years. Before that, she was a supervisor in a private agency for 7 years and has worked in child welfare for over 18 years. Rachel Velez Kermath has an MSW and has worked on this unit for 1.5 years. She has been contracted with the Department, in several different roles, for a total of 18 years. Prior to that, Rachel interned for the Department for 2 years, worked as a case manager for a small private agency for 1 year and a Family Support Specialist for 1 year prior to that. Finally, in graduate school, Rachel co-authored a training curriculum for child welfare staff on The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978.

10. Asthma Management Training and Consultation (AMTC):

NU/MHSPP will partner with the DCFS Medical Director, Clinical and Child Services Division nursing staff, and other stakeholders to adapt the Asthma Management Program developed under this scope of work in prior years into a toolkit and online training for the DCFS clinical division to use with supervisors and caseworkers when they have children with asthma on their caseloads. Specific deliverables include:

xi. Monthly meetings with the project advisory board to include the DCFS Medical Director and other DCFS Clinical Division stakeholders to provide updates and for planning purposes.

xii. Adaptation of the Asthma Management Program into an online training (e.g., voiceover PowerPoint) and toolkit.

Initial training of relevant staff within the DCFS clinical division including assessment of satisfaction with the training and knowledge acquisition.

xiii. Delivery of training materials and toolkit to DCFS clinical division liaison for use in subsequent fiscal years.

Justification: NU/MHSPP has been involved in all the development of the Asthma Management Program since its inception. NU/MHSPP staff are therefore the only vendors with the knowledge to adapt this program into an online training and toolkit for use by DCFS Clinical Division staff. NU/MHSPP staff also have expertise in program evaluation methods to assess satisfaction and knowledge acquisition.

11. Technical Assistance for Youth in the Psychiatric Hospital Beyond Medical Necessity (BMN)

NU/MHSPP will provide technical assistance to the DCFS Clinical and Child Services division to support their efforts to prevent and care for youth in care who enter the psychiatric hospital and/or stay in the psychiatric hospital beyond medical necessity. Specific deliverables include:

a. Monthly meetings between NU/MHSPP Faculty Lead and DCFS Contact.

b. Quarterly and year-end reports.

c. Receiving from DCFS historical and new lists of youth in the psychiatric hospital beyond medical necessity.

d. Cleaning and merging those lists with other DCFS administrative data.

e. Organizing the merged data files to provide information about change over time in the number of these youth, describe these youth, their families, and their communities, and describe their “outcomes.”

f. Combining the merged files with information about all youth in care to examine if a statistical model can be built to help better identify youth at risk for hospitalization and being in the hospital beyond medical necessity.

Justification: The issues of youth in the psychiatric hospital being abandoned, therefore entering DCFS care, and then staying there beyond medical necessity and of youth in DCFS custody entering the psychiatric hospital and then staying there beyond medical necessity have been challenges for DCFS for many years. These issues are also part of the B.H. Consent Decree. NU/MHSPP is well-positioned to provide this technical assistance. Dr. Epstein, the NU/MSHPP Faculty Lead for this project, is a licensed clinical psychologist and pediatric health services researcher with relevant clinical and methodological expertise and has been deeply involved in B.H. Consent Decree deliberations.

12. Technical Assistance for FFPSA Prevention Services Implementation (FFPSA):

NU/MHSPP will partner with the DCFS Deputy Director for Research and Child Well-Being to provide technical assistance to DCFS in support of its efforts to implement prevention services for Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA). Specific deliverables will include:

a. Convene quarterly meetings with the DCFS Deputy Director for Research and Child Well-Being to review meetings attended, products, tools and resources created, and implementation barriers to help focus the next quarter’s activities

b. Supervise the Manager of Evidence Based Interventions and four ‘Implementation Support Specialists’ across state responsible for implementation and monitoring of FFPSA prevention services

c. Oversee the management of FFPSA contracts held by private agencies to include ensure timely submission, review and approval of billing for services rendered, hosting Provider meetings to identify challenges and barriers to service implementation

d. Oversee and manage implementation of five evidence-based practices (liaison with model developers, ensuring fidelity activities occur)

e. Collaborate and oversee calls for proposals for FFPSA-related activities

f. Participate in the review and selection of proposals for contract awards

g. Create and edit the development of program plan language

h. Oversee the development of a communication strategy and creation of materials to support the FFPSA plan and the implementation of the 5 evidence-based interventions across the state and between state agencies

i. Schedule and attend variety of meetings statewide with key stakeholders to introduce the FFPSA prevention service array and answer any questions remaining

j. Oversee the ongoing operational contract monitoring (ensuring delivery of services, proper staffing, data sharing for evaluation)

k. Collaborate with Office of Learning and Professional Development to develop curriculum for trainings/learning collaboratives that support FFPSA implementation

l. Contribute to information technology planning for evaluation/data collection and provision of services to include creation of the algorithm that will identify eligible children and families

m. Contribute to development and execution of the implementation plan for FFPSA programs

n. Contribute to development of DCFS policy, procedure, and business rules related to FFPSA

o. Spearhead the development of a DCFS Clinical Learning Community that will support FFPSA agencies in the ongoing challenges of implementing the models with fidelity while balancing real-world application.

Justification: DCFS began implementing FFPSA prevention services in SFY22 and will continue and expand in SFY23. NU/MHSPP staff were integral to FFPSA prevention service selection, implementation planning, and initial implementation efforts, and continuity of this support is critical given the administrative and clinical complexities of implementing these prevention services. Changing to another vendor could have a deleterious effect on compliance with federal requirements and deadlines.

13. Support of B.H. Consent Decree Initiatives (BH):

NU/MHSPP provides several types of support for initiatives related to the B.H. Consent Decree. There are multiple parts to this work. Specific deliverables include:

a. Provide consultation and support to the Child Welfare Advisory Committee / Child Well-Being Sub-committee efforts to generate new information about child well-being, use information about child well-being to drive practice change, and contribute to Immersion Sites by attending and participating in relevant meetings, reviewing existing literature, and – in collaboration with DCFS and the Juvenile Protective Association (JPA) – designing and conducting analyses, providing datasets to JPA as requested by DCFS, and compiling monthly and bi-annual reports of the Committee’s work for the B.H. Consent Decree.

b. Provide consultation and support to DCFS efforts to develop, revise, and implement quality improvement plans for the Implementation Plan to Address Investigator Caseload part of the B.H. Consent Decree by attending and participating in relevant meetings, reviewing documents prepared by DCFS, and consulting with DCFS Legal and Program Staff in their efforts to develop metrics and other reports.

c. Provide consultation and support to DCFS efforts to develop, revise, and implement quality improvement plans for the Superseding Implementation Plan of the B.H. Consent Decree by attending and participating in relevant meetings, reviewing documents prepared by DCFS, and consulting with DCFS Legal and Program Staff in their efforts to develop implementation metrics and other reports.

d. Participate in the development and implementation of a “gap analysis” in collaboration with DCFS and other University partners by providing and/or analyzing DCFS administrative data.

Justification: Related to sub-part a, NU/MHSPP has been part of the Child Well-Being (CWB) Committee’s efforts to develop and implement independent measures of child well-being and oversee Immersion Sites since the work’s inception. The data files used in analyses and collaborative relationships across multiple institutions would be time- and cost-prohibitive to transition to another vendor. Related to sub-parts b-d, Dr. Epstein is the only expert who is not a direct party to the Consent Decree and who has participated in all relevant meetings. Dr. Epstein is therefore the only individual who currently has the knowledge, skill, credibility, and working relationships with the Special Master, Expert panel, Plaintiff attorneys, and DCFS Legal and Program staff to engage work related to the Investigator Caseload Implementation Plan and Superseding Implementation Plan (SIP). Dr. Epstein began collaborative work on the “gap analysis” with Chapin Hall in SFY22 and his involvement continues. This work is critical to development of the SIP.

14. YouthCare Evaluation (YCE):

YouthCare is a specialized health plan designed cooperatively by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (DHFS) and Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to provide health and behavioral health services to current and former youth in DCFS care. On February 1, 2020, YouthCare became the only Managed Care Organization (MCO) for current and former youth in DCFS care. DCFS began contracting with NU/MHSPP for an evaluation of YouthCare in SFY22 during which time NU/MHSPP established the evaluation advisory board, developed the evaluation protocol, and secured permissions to implement the evaluation. Specific deliverables will include:

a. Continue convening regular meetings of an evaluation advisory board to include representatives from DCFS and other key stakeholders.

b. Continue refining the evaluation protocol. Developing an evaluation protocol includes developing an evaluation logic model, metrics, and timelines. Regarding metrics, health and behavioral health metrics will be considered. DCFS has already expressed specific interest in behavioral health services metrics including, but not limited to, the utilization of inpatient psychiatric hospital, emergency room, care coordination, mobile crisis response, and HealthWorks services. DCFS has also expressed interest in developing metrics to examine processes such as prior authorizations and denials of service.

c. Continue maintaining and securing University, DCFS and other similar research review committee permissions. The evaluation protocol specifies data sources. In SFY22, efforts to establish Data Sharing Agreements (DSAs), Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs), or similar agreements with agencies other than DCFS, for which a DSA is already in place, were initiated. These agreements are usually submitted as supporting documents to IRB or similar approval applications. DSAs will need to be established for these data to be used and the evaluation protocol to be revised.

d. Contingent upon completing the activities described in sub-sections a. through c., begin data collection, management, analysis, and reporting.

Justification: P.A. 100-646 requires DCFS to report on measures of access to and quality of health care services for children enrolled in Medicaid Managed Care plans. The State’s decision to implement Medicaid Managed Care for youth in DCFS care has been controversial. In October 2020, Plaintiffs’ attorneys for the B.H. vs. Smith federal class action testified to the Illinois legislature about information they had received indicating that YouthCare had failed to solve some of the problems experienced by youth in DCFS care when trying to access healthcare and behavioral healthcare services. Taken together, the reporting requirements and controversy suggest that it is in DCFS’ best interest to contract an independent evaluation. NU/MHSPP generally and Dr. Epstein specifically are uniquely positioned to lead this evaluation. NU/MHSSP has a long track record of working with DCFS and DCFS administrative data. Dr. Epstein is the only expert who is not a direct party to the B.H. Consent Decree who has participated in relevant meetings and is therefore the only individual who currently has the knowledge, skill, credibility, and working relationship with the Special Master, Expert panel, Plaintiff attorneys, and DCFS Legal and Program Staff to engage this work. Selecting another Vendor would delay start-up and incur cost that should not be experienced with NU/MHSPP and Dr. Epstein.