October 2023 Progress Report_Dkt 832.pdf

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS

EASTERN DIVISION

B.H., et al., Plaintiffs, v.

MARC D. SMITH, Director, Illinois

Department of Children and Family

Services, Defendant.

) No. 88 C 5599

) Hon. Jorge L. Alonso

) Judge Presiding

OCTOBER 2023 PROGRESS REPORT FOR

SUPERSEDING IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

I. The Starting Point for the Department’s Reforms

II. Progress Report

A. The Resource Development Intervention

i) Key Output – Increase Number and Percentage of Youth who Receive Intensive Placement

Stabilization Services

ii) Key Output – Increase Year-Over-Year Expenditures for Youth Who Receive Flex Funds.

iii) Key Outcome – Decrease Number of Living Arrangement Moves in Next 365 Days for

YNI Youth 14

B. The Quality Family Engagement Intervention

i) Key Output – Increase Percentage of Monthly In-Person Contacts with Caseworker that are Rated as a Strength in the Administrative Case Review

ii) Key Outcome – Increase Percentage of Youth with Case Plan Development and Content

Rated as Strength in Administrative Case Review

C. The Child and Family Team Meetings Intervention

D. The Home of Relative/Fictive Kin Licensure Intervention

i) Key Output – Increase Number and Percentage of Licensing Applications Completed within 120 days of Placement of Youth in the Home

ii) Key Outcome – Increase Number and Percentage of Homes Licensed within 270 days of

Placement of a Youth in the Home

E. The Residential Monitoring Intervention

F. The Subsidized Guardianship Intervention

i) Key Output – Increase Number of Youth in Care with Assigned Permanency Goal of

Guardianship

ii) Key Output – Increase Number of Youth Discharged to Permanency Through

Guardianship

G. The Administrative Case Review Intervention

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i) Key Output – Increase Family and Youth Attendance and Participation at ACR

ii) Key Outcome – Progressive Improvement in ACR Ratings of the Overall Quality for

Each of the Five Priority Areas

CONCLUSION

EXHIBIT A

EXHIBIT B

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The B.H. Superseding Implementation Plan (SIP) requires submission of a Progress Report every six months addressing whether key data for the seven broad strategies in the SIP reflect statewide progress toward achieving the Department’s reform goals. Dkt. 816 at 33. This is the

Department’s first Progress Report, and it is jointly submitted by the Parties with the agreement of the Expert Panel. Id. at 34.1

This Progress Report provides data available as of June 30, 2023.2 In some instances DCFS does not have complete data for a particular metric, either because data collection began less than six months ago or because the SIP required development of data in a manner the Department had not previously used. The Department, its university partners, and the Expert Panel have spent extensive time developing data sources needed for SIP-related reporting and testing their accuracy and reliability. The Parties and Expert Panel anticipate more complete reporting will be available for the April 2024 Progress Report.

Because the SIP was entered just five months ago, the information provided below is best viewed as the starting point from which the Department’s progress will be measured, and not as an assessment of progress on the key outputs and outcomes. Indeed, the Department is still building the foundation for several reform efforts envisioned in the SIP, and it will take time before it can assess whether changes in the key outputs and outcomes can fairly be attributed to the impact of the reform efforts.

1 For ease of reference, the Department of Children and Family Services is referred to herein as the “Department” or “DCFS,” and this Court’s appointed experts are referred to as the “Expert

Panel.” Dkt. 819.

2 The SIP provides that the progress report “will be developed based on data available as of the close of the latest six-month period preceding the Report due date and will be based on two review periods per year, the first running from January 1 through June 30 and the second running from

July 1 through December 31.” Dkt. 816 at 33 n.33.

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I. The Starting Point for the Department’s Reforms.

The dynamics of Illinois’s child welfare system are changing in directions favored by policymakers, practitioners, and persons with lived experience in the system. Since the Court’s approval of the 2016 B.H. Implementation Plan, DCFS has placed far more youth in the homes of relatives and fictive kin (“kinship homes”) than in institutions and traditional foster care settings.

As noted by the Expert Panel in its 2022 Observations and Recommendations Report,3 in just the last few years the number of children in kinship homes rose from 7,232 as of June 2018 to 11,186 as of June 2022. That positive change represents an expansion of the percentage of youth in kinship foster care from 41% to 52%. Dkt. 801 at 12.

DCFS nevertheless faces challenges. With the expansion of kinship care, an overall higher percentage of youth with psychological, behavioral, or emotional challenges are being placed in kinship homes. Dkt. 816 at 8. Additionally, although Illinois traditionally has had lower per capita rates of child removal than other states (generally regarded as desirable), child removal rates in

Illinois increased substantially from 2016 through the Covid-19 pandemic.4 In fact, Illinois was the only state that experienced double-digit percentage growth in children entering foster care

3 See Expert Panel’s Observations and Recommendations in Support of the Superseding

Implementation Plan (SIP) for Improving the Placements and Services Provided to Members of the B.H. Plaintiff Class with Psychological, Behavioral or Emotional Challenges, Dkt. 801 at 12.

4 During this time span, according to data provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and

Families Bureau, Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) (data as of June 28, 2022), the per-capita rate of entry into Illinois foster care increased from 1.52 per 1000 children – the lowest in the nation –to 2.76 per 1000 children, an entry rate that was similar to the

2.90 per 1000 children that the nation registered during the pandemic.

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/report/trends-foster-care-adoption (last visited October 23, 2023).

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2020. Nearly every other state experienced a 14% decline, on average, in that period.5 The spike in new children entering DCFS care ended in mid-2020. See Exhibit A. The parties currently project that new entries will plateau at approximately 5,300 by June 2024, and thereafter, the entry rate should subside to the low-removal levels that Illinois historically has experienced.

The recent rise in children entering DCFS custody will continue to impact the DCFS system at least in the near term. Returning to Illinois’s historically low rates of removal will be a change for the better by lessening the front-end demand for out-of-home placement resources.

However, the growth DCFS already has experienced in its caseload has greatly expanded the number of children in long-term foster care (24 months or more) from 7,590 at the start of 2020 to over 10,200 at the start of 2023. This expansion will continue to strain the capacity of the system to meet the special needs of children with psychological, behavioral, and emotional challenges.

Addressing these needs will require a significant upgrading of DCFS’ resources over the next several years:

• the percentage of youth who can leave the Department’s care during their first year in foster care likely will go down instead of up;6

5 This is based on data provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families

Bureau, Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) (data as of June 28, 2022), https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/report/trends-foster-care-adoption (last visited October 23, 2023).

6 Illinois’ historically low removal rate correlates with youth in care being more challenging to reunify with their families than children who are taken from their families in “high removal” states.

Indeed, Illinois has seen a recent decline in achieving permanency in 12 months for children entering foster care and that change parallels the recent return to low-removal levels in Illinois.

See October 2023 Report on Overarching Outcome Measures, Dkt. 831 at 4-5; see also Exhibit A.

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• the number of Illinois youth who remain in long-term foster care for 24 months or longer is projected to level off at current performance rather than fall;7

• the total number of youth in care with psychological, behavioral, or emotional challenges has grown (still accounting for approximately 44% of youth in care), and a higher percentage of those youth are being placed in kinship homes that require special support to accommodate their needs.8

Simply put, as the Department embarks on the SIP reforms, it must provide more and better services for thousands more children than it was serving before the COVID 19 pandemic.

Operating within this environment, DCFS has committed to holistic and systemic change to its practices and policies. Under the SIP, DCFS is working toward the objectives of providing families and caregivers the support they need to be successful in caring for a child; elevating the voice of families and caregivers in the decisions that are made about a child; adjusting DCFS’s resources to align with a modern child welfare system; and significantly improving the care provided to children with significant mental and behavioral health challenges. This plan for reform is illustrated in the “Meta Model” diagram from the SIP, as shown below.

7 As a percentage of all youth in care, 38% (approximately 10,200 youth) of the Department’s projected caseload in FY 2024 likely will spend two or more years in care, as compared to 30%

(approximately 7,590 youth) of DCFS’ caseload during FFY 2020. The projection of a flattening of the number of children in long-term foster care is based on the assumption that the same low annual rate of growth observed in FFY 2023 will continue throughout FFY 2024. Administrative data collected through September of 2023 is consistent with this assumption. See Exhibit A.

8 Dkt. 816 at 8.

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(A) Reduced Maltreatment in Foster Care; (B)

Increased Permanency in 12 mos. for 24+ mos. &

(C) Decreased moves for youth w/4+ moves and psych hospitalization

(1) Improved provision of community supports for youth regardless of living arrangements (2)Improved Caseworker

Engagement lays a foundation for

CFTM as an intervention

(3) CFTM lays a foundation for identifying appropriate living arrangements and supports

(4) HMR

Licensure and (5)

Residential Monitoring improve the quality of care in these living arrangements and promote permanency

(6) Increased use of Subsidized

Guardianship to move youth to permanency when it is in their best interest to remain with their current caregiver

(7) ACR provides a feedback loop to monitor progress on quality services to children and families

1. The social and emotional wellbeing of children is best assured within the context of safe and permanent family relationships with birth parents, legal guardians, or adoptive parents who participate in the planning and delivery of individualized permanency and treatment plans crafted by child and family teams.

2. Assessing and treating the social and emotional needs of children with psychological and behavioral challenges preferably should begin at the earliest point of contact with the child welfare system and certainly no later than their removal into state custody. The process of assessment and treatment should continue regularly after the children are transitioned to permanent homes with birth families, adoptive parents, and legal guardians.

3. Services and treatments that are conducted outside the context of home and community-based settings should be temporary and delivered in the least restrictive, most normalized setting responsive to the child’s needs.

4. Promising innovations and evidence-supported practices that are translated to child welfare from related fields should first be pilot-tested for usability, and if deemed replicable, should be rolled-out in a phased approach that allows for structured implementation and evaluation of effectiveness prior to scaling the program up statewide.

Though the Department anticipates that meaningful progress can be made through careful implementation of each Intervention on its own, it recognizes that optimal progress requires simultaneous implementation of the Interventions with fidelity and in coordination with one another. The data reporting required under the SIP reflects the Department’s commitment to this core principle. The effectiveness of each individual Intervention will be evaluated by, among other things, the Department’s progress system-wide on the key outputs and outcomes addressed in this

Progress Report. The Department’s ongoing implementation efforts will be guided by whether the data ultimately show that changes in its policies and practices improve services and have a real and positive impact on the B.H. Plaintiff class. Further, the overall effectiveness of a coordinated approach to implementation of all seven Interventions together will be conducted in selected pilot

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Integration Report, Dkt. 833).

II. Progress Report

Below, the Department provides data on selected elements for each SIP Intervention, consisting of key “outputs,” such as new services or a change in practice, and key “outcomes,” or improvements in the conditions of children and their families that one would expect to see as a result of the Intervention’s reforms and changes.9 So that the impact of DCFS’s changes in practice can be assessed over time, DCFS has developed or is in the process of developing a “baseline” value for each data point to mark the Department’s pre-reform performance level on that measure.

One or more incremental “benchmarks” or trajectories of improvement are also provided to gauge the pace of change.10

In addition to the data reported for each Intervention, the Department further provides a brief assessment of the status of its statewide implementation efforts, and “next steps” toward implementation that DCFS will be undertaking in the next several months.

The calculations and datasets used to prepare the measures addressed in this Report are complex. DCFS has included explanations for each measure herein. For all the data reported

9 The terms “outcome” and “output” are defined in greater detail in the SIP. See Dkt. 816 at p. 3,

nn. 3-4.

10 The SIP included baseline and benchmark figures for most of the key data points that the

Department’s Progress Reports will address. As set forth more fully in the Department’s Motion to Supplement the Superseding Implementation Plan, DCFS has identified some instances where the figures set forth in the SIP should be corrected or updated. Additionally, DCFS now has set most of the initial benchmarks that were not established at the time the SIP was adopted. To the extent there are any baseline or benchmark figures that have yet to be developed, those instances are identified in the discussion of the related Intervention. For the Court’s ease of reference, this

Progress Report will refer only to the updated baseline and benchmark figures, and a table containing the revised figures is attached hereto as Exhibit B. Moving forward the Department will report all percentages rounded up or down to the nearest whole number.

Case: 1:88-cv-05599 Document #: 832 Filed: 10/23/23 Page 9 of 36 PageID #:7876 here, there is a lag time (usually several months) between the time that the data is available for analysis and the submission of the reported data to this Court. This was established in order to capture the most complete data set possible. Additionally, the data collection methods and reporting periods for each Intervention are intended to ensure that the Progress Report data reflects the impact of the Department’s reform efforts during that period as much as possible.

For the metrics in this October 2023 Progress Report, unless otherwise specified the baseline reporting period covers data from July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022, and the current reporting period for each Intervention covers data from July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023.11 The benchmarks identify what the Department aims to achieve by the October 2024 Progress Report.

A. The Resource Development Intervention

The Resource Development Intervention requires DCFS to enhance the capacity of community and home-based placements and services to address the needs of children, and in particular those youth in the care of relatives. Dkt. 816 at 8-9. The Department’s initial strategy focuses on increasing use of two community-based services – Intensive Placement Stabilization

(IPS) services and use of “flex funds.” Expansion of these services are the selected key outputs for this Intervention.

11 Pursuant to the SIP, DCFS is to report the most recent data available at the close of the six-month review period (in this case, the six months prior to June 30, 2023). Dkt. 816 at 33 n.33.

However, many of the key outputs and outcomes were intended to be measured over a 12-month period to account for seasonal fluctuations. Therefore, consistent with the approved key output and outcome measures, the Department is reporting a full year of data wherever possible now and will provide 12-month data in future reports.

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i) Key Output – Increase Number and Percentage of Youth who Receive Intensive

Placement Stabilization Services.

IPS services are a mix of formal and informal supports to both the youth in care and their caregivers, including therapy, respite services, in-home family support, crisis intervention, psychosocial education, recreational supplies, tutoring and school advocacy. Dkt. 816 at 9.

DCFS’s goal is to increase both the number and percentage of youth receiving IPS services. Id.

The table above shows that 950 youth (4%) of youth in care received IPS services during the baseline period,12 while 884 youth (3%) received IPS services in the current reporting period.

The improvement benchmark DCFS is aiming to achieve by the October 2024 Progress Report is

5%.

12 This baseline is updated from the number reported in the SIP. See Unopposed Motion to

Supplement the Superseding Implementation Plan, Dkt. 834.

Baseline July 2021 - June 2022 (FY22) July 2022 - June 2023 (FY 2023)

Performance 4% 3%

Benchmark 5% 5%

4% (950 Youth)

3% (884 Youth)

5%

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

Increase Number and Percentage of Youth Who Receive IPS

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Although there was a drop from 4% to 3% in the percent and number of youth receiving

IPS services during the reporting period, the Department remains optimistic about hitting its

October 2024 benchmark. First, DCFS implemented a $3 million increase in funding for IPS services for FY 2023 to increase the rates paid for IPS services, attract more IPS providers, and expand the overall capacity of IPS statewide. This targeted increase in funding is expected to address waitlists caused by high caseloads and lack of staff as well as expand the service arrays.

Actual growth in the provider base naturally lags behind the provision of funding, however, as providers need time to hire and train staff. DCFS anticipates that the increase in funding for IPS services will yield progress well into the second and third quarters of FY 2024, as providers complete hiring and onboarding of new paraprofessionals, clinicians, case managers, and foster parent support specialists.

In addition, DCFS is developing a strategic communications plan for increasing awareness of the expansion in IPS funding and the availability of services amongst the Permanency, Clinical and Child Services teams at DCFS and private agencies. DCFS will begin rolling out this communications plan by the end of this year. DCFS is focusing on two areas for increasing IPS uptake. First, DCFS will proactively identify youth who have experienced two moves within a six-month period. Within 30 days of the second move, the IPS manager will contact the youth’s casework team to explore whether a referral to the IPS program would help to stabilize the child and prevent future moves or the need for higher levels of care. Second, DCFS will work with residential providers to ensure IPS referrals are made prior to a youth stepping down from a residential level of care to a community-based placement. This will address an identified problem that IPS referrals for youth stepping down from residential placement have not been consistent and often come after the step down has occurred and the placement is already at risk of disruption.

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DCFS recognizes the need to follow up the referral to ensure that necessary services were provided and to report any resource shortages to Resource Development so that such services can be developed. This will be addressed further in subsequent reports to the Court.

ii) Key Output – Increase Year-Over-Year Expenditures for Youth Who Receive Flex

Funds.

The second key output for the Resource Development Intervention is to increase the use of

“flex funds” when youth need financial assistance for highly individualized supports to remain stable in a community-based setting. The funds can be used to cover such things as mentor services, transportation to camps or other enrichment activities, and respite services for the youth’s caregiver. Dkt. 816 at 9.

Baseline (FY 2022) FY 2023

Performance $1,600,000 $1,300,000

$1,600,000

$1,300,000

$0

$200,000

$400,000

$600,000

$800,000

$1,000,000

$1,200,000

$1,400,000

$1,600,000

$1,800,000

Increase Expenditures for Flex Funds

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DCFS currently is only able to report on total statewide expenditures of flex funds.13 The data show a decrease in use of these funds from $1.6 million during the baseline period to

$1.3 million during this reporting period.

DCFS is evaluating potential causes for this unintended decrease in spending and identifying ways to improve the use of flex funds in both the Pilot Teams and statewide. First, a new flex funds process was introduced in October 1, 2023. Meetings were held with supervisors and caseworkers to announce and transition to the new process, under which the amount of flex funds that a supervisor can approve has been increased. This change should reduce delays in the approval process. Second, a communication will be issued to caseworkers and supervisors that explains how to use flex funds to support youth and families.

DCFS has not yet set improvement benchmarks for this output. The Expert Panel has advised DCFS to delay doing so until more is learned from efforts in the Pilot Teams, where DCFS is testing strategies to improve caseworkers’ awareness and use of flex funds. These results will help determine appropriate goals for the number of youth for whom flex funds are spent and the amount of expenditures each year.

13 DCFS is developing a statewide system to track the number and percentage of youth who have received flex funds and will begin reporting data on that basis once the system is developed and implemented statewide.

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iii) Key Outcome – Decrease Number of Living Arrangement Moves in Next 365 Days for

YNI Youth

The key outcome for the Resource Development Intervention is to decrease the number of living arrangement moves in the next 12 months for youth who have significant mental / behavioral health needs and are experiencing significant instability in their living arrangement (referred to as

“Youth Needing Intervention” or “YNI” youth in the SIP). Dkt. 816 at 10. The statewide baseline rate of living arrangement instability is 9.57 moves per 365 days in care. The statewide rate of moves for these youth during this current reporting period is 8.71 moves per 365 days in care.14

The improvement benchmark DCFS is attempting to meet by the October 2024 Progress Report is a rate of 5.4 moves per 365 days for YNI youth statewide. Although there was a slight reduction in the instability experienced by YNI youth statewide during this reporting period, it is too early to attribute meaning to this change.

14 This number represents those youth who had a full 12 months in care.

Baseline (July 2021 - June 2022) July 2022 - June 2023

Performance 9.57 8.71

Satisfaction Criteria 4 4

Benchmark 5.4 5.4

9.57 8.71

Decrease number of living arrangement moves in next 365 days for youth with 4 moves plus psychiatric hospitalization in past 12 months

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The Department expects caseworkers to provide the best possible service to all YNI youth on their caseload. Consistent with the experimentalist approach, however, the Department is using the Pilot Teams to develop and test an intensive assessment and service delivery strategy (referred to in the SIP as the “WIRL” process) to better serve YNI youth. Dkt. 816 at 35-37. Statewide rollout of the strategy will not occur until that development and testing process in the Pilot Teams has progressed.15 A more detailed discussion of that work is set forth in the October 2023

Integration Report. Dkt. 833.

B. The Quality Family Engagement Intervention

The Quality Family Engagement Intervention requires intentional and consistent engagement with families, youth, and caregivers through improved casework. Dkt. 816 at 11-12.

The expectation is that by improving this aspect of casework, children will fare better while in care by receiving services when they are needed, experiencing improved placement stability, and exiting the system more quickly. The key outputs and outcomes for this Intervention use data collected from the Administrative Case Review (ACR) process, which recently was revised to focus on assessing the quality of casework beyond just verifying that required tasks were performed.16 The provisional baseline period for these metrics is July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.

15 Dkt. 816 at 6-8.

16 All youth in care are reviewed by ACR every six months, therefore a six-month period of ACR data captures all youth in care.

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i) Key Output – Increase Percentage of Monthly In-Person Contacts with Caseworker that are Rated as a Strength in the Administrative Case Review.

Federal guidance calls for child welfare agencies to achieve monthly in-person contact between each youth in care and their caseworker for 95% of youth in care. Dkt. 816 at 11-12. For purposes of this key output, DCFS only counts those in-person contacts that are rated as a strength to address both the frequency and quality of caseworker contacts, compared to the federal benchmark which counts all in-person contacts regardless of quality. The Department’s baseline performance level was 85%. The metric rose to 87% during the current reporting period. The

Department’s benchmark for the next reporting period is to improve to 91%.

The Department has enhanced provision of feedback to private agency and DCFS caseworker teams about their progress in improving caseworker contacts through case record reviews, a revised performance dashboard, quality indicator reviews and other monitoring team efforts. This includes three random case reviews each month per assigned agency, performed by

Baseline (Jul 22 - Dec 22) Jan 23 - June 23

Performance 85% 87%

Benchmark 91% 91%

85% 87%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Increase Percentage of Monthly Contacts with Youth Rated as a Strength

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DCFS Agency Performance Monitoring and Execution (APME) staff. The reviews address information in SACWIS and hard copy documents in the case file. If at any time there is a safety concern for a youth, the safety concern is addressed immediately with the assigned team. All other findings are addressed by APME with the agency at their monthly meeting.

ii) Key Outcome – Increase Percentage of Youth with Case Plan Development and

Content Rated as Strength in Administrative Case Review.

The key outcome for the Family Engagement Intervention is to increase the percentage of youth with case plan development and content rated as a strength in the twice-per-year

Administrative Case Reviews conducted for all youth in care. Dkt. 816 at 11-12. DCFS’s performance during the baseline period was 28%. For the current reporting period, the measure rose to 30%. The Department’s improvement benchmark is to achieve 35% for the next reporting period.

As with the key Quality Family Engagement Intervention output, the Department is working to improve performance by caseworkers on this metric through actionable feedback to

Baseline (Jul 22 - Dec 22) Jan 23 - June 23

Performance 28% 30%

Benchmark 35% 35%

28% 30%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Increase Percentage of Youth with Case Plan Development and Content Rated as a Strength

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C. The Child and Family Team Meetings Intervention

Under the Department’s practice model, Child and Family Team Meetings (CFTMs) are to be convened by a youth’s caseworker to engage youth and family members in identifying the services, supports and living arrangements that the youth and family need, and developing a plan for provision of those supports. CFTMs are an opportunity for the youth, their family members and caregivers, and other individuals important to the youth to make appropriate adjustments to the youth’s case plan and permanency goals. DCFS adopted the CFTM model statewide, and by early July 2023, a total of 3,025 staff had completed the CFTM training. In addition, motivational interview training is offered regularly statewide. Additional work is needed, however, to increase the number and frequency of CFTMs as well as improving the quality of those conducted. Dkt.

816 at 13.

The Department’s implementation strategy for the CFTM Intervention will begin in the

Pilot Teams (alongside the rest of the Meta Model Interventions) to test further refinements to the

CFTM model that should be rolled out statewide. DCFS accordingly will not be reporting statewide data for this Intervention until the testing process in the Pilot Teams has progressed. A more detailed discussion of the activity occurring in the Pilot Teams, as well as the reporting on the key output and outcomes for this Intervention in the Pilot Teams, is set forth in the October

2023 Integration Report. Dkt. 833.

D. The Home of Relative/Fictive Kin Licensure Intervention

The goal of the Home of Relative/Fictive Kin Licensure Intervention is to achieve a substantial increase in the percentage of relative and fictive kin homes that are licensed. Currently, Case: 1:88-cv-05599 Document #: 832 Filed: 10/23/23 Page 19 of 36 PageID #:7886 licensed kin caregivers receive better supports17 than those who are not licensed, and kin caregivers only gain eligibility to become subsidized guardians if they are licensed. Based on a study conducted by the Children and Family Research Center, youth who live in a licensed kin home are less likely to experience maltreatment in care.

https://cfrc.illinois.edu/pubs/rp_20090301_LicenseStatusOfKinshipFosterParentsAndTheSafety

OfChildrenInTheirCare.pdf (last visited October 23, 2023).

i) Key Output – Increase Number and Percentage of Licensing Applications Completed within 120 days of Placement of Youth in the Home

17 The differential in rates for licensed and unlicensed homes varies depending on the age of the youth. Licensed foster homes receive a monthly payment of $544 for children aged 1-4 years old;

$611 for children aged 5- 8 yrs. old; and $656 for youth aged 12-18 yrs. old. By comparison, an unlicensed kinship home receives a flat monthly Standard of Need (SON) stipend of $388 per child regardless of age. Even though the disparity in dollar amounts between foster care maintenance payments and SON stipends are substantial, especially for older youth, the level of support provided relative caregivers who are not involved in the DCFS system is a monthly TANF child-only grant of $242 for one child.

FY 2022 FY 2023

Performance 18% 19%

Benchmark 25% 25%

18% (565 applications)

19% (498 applications)

25%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Increase Number and Percentage of Licensing Applications Completed within 120 days of placement

Case: 1:88-cv-05599 Document #: 832 Filed: 10/23/23 Page 20 of 36 PageID #:7887 https://cfrc.illinois.edu/pubs/rp_20090301_LicenseStatusOfKinshipFosterParentsAndTheSafetyOfChildrenInTheirCare.pdf https://cfrc.illinois.edu/pubs/rp_20090301_LicenseStatusOfKinshipFosterParentsAndTheSafetyOfChildrenInTheirCare.pdf

The key output for this Intervention is to increase the number and percentage of licensing applications completed within 120 days after a youth is placed in a home.18 Dkt. 816 at 17.

DCFS’s performance during the baseline period was 565 applications (18%).19 During the reporting period, the percentage rose to 19%, though fewer applications (498) were completed within 120 days. This discrepancy (an increase in percentage, despite a decrease in number of applications) is attributable to continuing decline of new entrants into care since the end of the pandemic. See Appendix A. The improvement benchmark DCFS is attempting to meet for the

October 2024 Progress Report is a rate of 25%, anticipated to be 685 applications.

Licensing workers are conducting in-person meetings with relative caregivers to highlight the benefits associated with licensure and assist them with the application process. This includes licensing personnel visiting the kinship foster home with the assigned caseworker. Further efforts are underway to increase coordination between permanency workers and licensing staff.

DCFS is also moving quickly in response to the federal Administration for Children and

Families’ recent adoption of a new regulation that allows states to establish separate licensing standards for relative caregivers in recognition of the unique barriers when considering whether to apply for licensure.20 The Department is developing such separate licensing standards, which will provide the Department with additional mechanisms for increasing the number of caregivers who

18 Both the key output and key outcome for this Intervention are tracked by six-month cohorts of placements to address the volatility of kinship placements during the early months of care. The six-month cohorts are determined based on children who were placed for 270 days at a kinship home placement during the six-month period. The baseline and progress data each comprise two full six-month cohorts. The baseline counts those kinship homes in which the 270th day of placement occurred between July 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021 (cohort 1) or between January

1, 2022, and June 30, 2022 (cohort 2) representing all of FY 2022.

19 This baseline is updated from the number reported in the SIP.

20 Separate Licensing or Approval Standards for Relative or Kinship Foster Family Homes, 88

Fed. Reg. 66700 (Sept. 28, 2023) (to be codified at 45 C.F.R. pt. 1355, 1356).

Case: 1:88-cv-05599 Document #: 832 Filed: 10/23/23 Page 21 of 36 PageID #:7888 apply for licensure. Although adopting such standards may take time, completion of the process is a high priority for the Department.

ii) Key Outcome – Increase Number and Percentage of Homes Licensed within 270 days of Placement of a Youth in the Home.

FY 2022 FY 2023

Performance 17% 16%

Benchmark 23% 23%

17% (523 homes)

16% (416 homes)

23%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Increase Number and Percentage of Homes Licensed Within 270 days

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The key outcome for the Home of Relative / Fictive Kin Licensure Intervention is to increase the number of homes licensed within 270 days after a youth is placed in the home. Dkt.

816 at 17. The Department’s baseline performance was 523 homes (17%) licensed within 270 days.21 During the reporting period, 416 homes (16%) were licensed within 270 days. The

Department’s improvement benchmark is to reach 23%, anticipated to be 660 homes licensed within 270 days.

While the Department seeks to adopt separate licensing standards for relative and fictive kin caregivers, it continues work to break down significant barriers that relative caregivers perceive in the current licensing process. For example, DCFS has identified that a significant barrier for relatives seeking licensure is the requirement to submit fingerprints as part of the application process. To assist with this process, DCFS has begun the work on mobile fingerprinting which includes identifying an approved device, the need for related trainings and certifications, and working with law enforcement and IT to address issues of confidentiality and coordinating the piloting of in-the-field use for such devices.

DCFS is also collaborating with stakeholders, including juvenile court representatives, to provide education on the value of guardianship. The Department has already received some feedback on obstacles to guardianship from these stakeholders.

E. The Residential Monitoring Intervention

The Residential Monitoring Intervention requires DCFS to enhance its monitoring of residential treatment facilities. The Department’s goals are to improve safety for youth in those

21 See n. 18, supra, for an explanation of the baseline data for this metric. In addition, this baseline is updated from the number reported in the SIP. See Exhibit B and Unopposed Motion to

Supplement the Superseding Implementation Plan, Dkt. 834.

Case: 1:88-cv-05599 Document #: 832 Filed: 10/23/23 Page 23 of 36 PageID #:7890 facilities, ensure that youths’ needs are being met while they are in residential facilities, and to ensure that they are stepped down to homelike settings when clinically ready – with appropriate step-down supports – without delay. Dkt. 816 at 17. The key outcomes and outputs identified in the SIP require DCFS to establish a new monitoring tool and residential performance measures.

Dkt. 816 at 19. These tools were not finalized at the time the SIP was filed and are still being developed.

DCFS is working with external partners in reviewing and testing the residential monitoring tool. DCFS has prepared a draft monitoring procedure about overall monitoring activities that are required, of which completing the monitoring tool is one component. This procedure will be revised as necessary as the monitoring tool is finalized. Development of the data system in which data from the monitoring tool will be collected and aggregated is underway. This system will support a dashboard to display summaries of findings that can be used to increase monitoring performance.

DCFS will not begin reporting data for this Intervention until after its new monitoring tool has been tested. Baselines and benchmarks for the key output and outcome for the Intervention will also be developed at that time. The Department currently anticipates that its first data reports for this Intervention will be made in the October 2024 Progress Report.

F. The Subsidized Guardianship Intervention

The Subsidized Guardianship Intervention addresses the steps DCFS will take to increase the number of youth who achieve permanency through guardianship, thereby achieving substantial, system-wide progress in reducing youths’ length of stay in care. Dkt. 816 at 19.

Subsidized guardianship is underutilized, and many youth in long-term foster care would be better served in safe and stable kinship homes.

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i) Key Output – Increase Number of Youth in Care with Assigned Permanency Goal of

Guardianship.

The key output for this Intervention requires DCFS to identify youth in care that meet the criteria for the permanency goal of guardianship and increase the number who have that permanency goal assigned as part of their permanency planning. Dkt. 816 at 20. DCFS’s baseline performance for this key output was 5% of youth in care (1,434 youth). Dkt. 816 at 20. For this reporting period, 6% of youth in care (1,695 youth) had a permanency goal of guardianship.

Because the number of youth with an assigned permanency goal of guardianship during the reporting period was three times the number of youth who were actually discharged to guardianship during that period, DCFS’s performance benchmark for the October 2024 Progress

Report is to maintain a performance level of no less than 5% of youth in care with a permanency

Baseline FY22 FY23

Performance 5% 6%

Benchmark 5% 5%

5% (1,434)

6% (1,695)

5%

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

7%

Increase the Number of Youth in Care with Guardianship Goal

Case: 1:88-cv-05599 Document #: 832 Filed: 10/23/23 Page 25 of 36 PageID #:7892 goal of guardianship.22 DCFS expects that maintaining at least this level of performance for youth with a goal of guardianship, is sufficient to achieving the key outcome benchmarks for ultimately discharging more youth to guardianship by the October 2024 Progress Report.

DCFS has identified several strategies for increasing awareness and use of the permanency goal of guardianship, including the engagement with the juvenile court system described above.

In March 2023, DCFS implemented a two-day training series for DCFS and private agency caseworkers that provides an overview of the legal requirements for subsidized guardianships and adoptions as well as guidance on how to accurately complete subsidy packets to facilitate timely permanencies. This training is held twice a month.

ii) Key Output – Increase Number of Youth Discharged to Permanency Through

Guardianship.

22 At the time the SIP was filed, DCFS had not identified an initial benchmark for this metric but does here and in the supplement to the SIP.

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The key output for this Intervention requires DCFS to increase the number of youth who are discharged to permanency through guardianship. DCFS’s baseline performance was

402 youth.23 For the current reporting period, 398 youth were discharged to permanency through guardianship. The Department’s improvement benchmark is to achieve 480 discharges per year.24

Increasing the number of youth who are discharged to permanency through guardianship is one of several strategies that will help DCFS achieve the satisfaction standard of 31% of permanency in 12 months for youth in care for 24 months or more.25 Increasing the number of permanencies through guardianship will help narrow that gap. DCFS has identified 575 youth in

23 This baseline is updated from the number reported in the SIP. See Exhibit B and Unopposed

Motion to Supplement the Superseding Implementation Plan, Dkt. 834.

24 Achieving this improvement would represent an improvement in the permanency for youth in care for 24 months or more of 3.8%.

25 The Expert Panel estimates that an additional 680 to 740 permanencies per year are required for

DCFS to achieve the satisfaction criteria for permanency in 12 months for youth in care for 24 months or more.

Baseline (July 2021 - June 2022)

(FY 2022)

July 2022 - June 2023 (FY 2023)

Performance 402 398

Benchmark 480 480

402 398

Increase Number of Youth Achieving Permanency Through Guardianship

Case: 1:88-cv-05599 Document #: 832 Filed: 10/23/23 Page 27 of 36 PageID #:7894 care with a permanency goal of guardianship that are not currently receiving guardianship subsidies. These cases are in a variety of different postures; DCFS is reviewing these cases with the goal to complete the guardianship process as expeditiously as possible.

G. The Administrative Case Review Intervention

The Administrative Case Review (ACR) Intervention requires DCFS to improve the actionable feedback provided within DCFS and to private agencies using the new ACR model.

Dkt. 816 at 22. The Department’s improved ACR model is organized around determining the quality of five priority casework practices that are effective at achieving permanency and other positive outcomes. DCFS has worked with its university partners to validate the ACR process and to provide actional feedback, including coaching, to ACR reviewers to further enhance their interview skills during the ACR process. Chapin Hall is also beginning an evaluation of the ACR

Model to evaluate its impact on overarching outcomes for youth.

i) Key Output – Increase Family and Youth Attendance and Participation at ACR.

Baseline (Jul 22 - Dec 22) Jan 23 - June 23

Performance 11% 13%

Benchmark 50% 50%

11% 13%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Increase Family and Youth Attendance and Participation at ACR

Case: 1:88-cv-05599 Document #: 832 Filed: 10/23/23 Page 28 of 36 PageID #:7895

A key feature of the new ACR model is to increase attendance, active participation and discussion with family and youth who participate in the review. For the key output, DCFS will increase the number of family and youth (as age appropriate) who attend and participate in ACRs.

Dkt. 816 at 22. In the baseline period,26 11% of family and youth participated in an ACR. In the current reporting period,27 13% of family and youth participated in an ACR. The benchmark

DCFS has set for improvement is to achieve participation greater than 50%. Achieving that benchmark will indicate that DCFS has fully implemented the new ACR model.

DCFS continues to explore ways to improve family participation in ACRs, particularly participation by fathers, mothers, youth aged 12 and older, and substitute caregivers. DCFS staff have hosted focus groups in each region to gather input from parents, foster parents, youth, caseworkers, ACR staff, guardians ad litem, and CASA, to identify ways to increase ACR attendance. DCFS is exploring ways to communicate with permanency staff (direct service staff and leadership) the importance of having accurate contact information for ACR participants and additional outreach methods in real-time if family or youth are not in attendance at the start of an

ACR meeting. The Department is also developing simplified communications for family and youth about the ACR process.

26 The baseline period for this key output is July 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022.

27 The current reporting period for this key output is January 1, 2023 – June 30, 2023.

Case: 1:88-cv-05599 Document #: 832 Filed: 10/23/23 Page 29 of 36 PageID #:7896

ii) Key Outcome – Progressive Improvement in ACR Ratings of the Overall Quality for

Each of the Five Priority Areas.

The key outcome for the ACR Intervention requires an increase in ACR ratings in five

Priority Areas: (i) Quality of CFTMs; (ii) Quality of Case Planning; (iii) Quality of Caseworker

In-person Visits; (iv) Quality of Family Visitation; and (v) Quality of Caseworker Supervision.28

The baselines, change from baseline, and FY 2024 benchmarks are provided in the graph above.29

The ACR team is continuing monthly collaboration calls with the APME, Regional

Practice Directors and Quality Assurance teams within DCFS to support the use of the ACR data for actionable feedback for caseworkers in the field. Additionally, the Department is now requiring

28 For the Quality of Case Planning component, the baseline period is September 1, 2022 to

December 31, 2022. The period is shortened because the Quality of Case Planning component of the new ACR process was not implemented until September 2022.

29 At the time of the filing of the SIP, DCFS had not set initial benchmarks for improvements in the five Priority Area scores. The benchmarks have now been set in coordination with the Expert

Panel and are set out in greater detail in the October 2023 Integration Report. Dkt. 833.

Quality of

CFTM

Quality of Caseworker

Contact

Quality of Family

Visitation

Quality of Caseworker Supervision

Quality of Case

Planning

Baseline (July 22 - December 22) 25% 79% 69% 65% 63%

Jan 23 - June 23 30% 81% 75% 66% 61%

Benchmarks 50% 91% 85% 85% 85%

25%

79%

69% 65% 63%

30%

81% 75%

66% 61%50%

91% 85% 85% 85%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

100%

Progressive Improvement in ACR Ratings of the Overall Quality for the Five Priority Areas

Baseline (July 22 - December 22) Jan 23 - June 23 Benchmarks

Case: 1:88-cv-05599 Document #: 832 Filed: 10/23/23 Page 30 of 36 PageID #:7897 that an Interim Review be conducted with 30 to 90 days of the ACR date when there a critical feedback report. The purpose of the Interim Review is to examine how the critical issue has been or is being resolved, including documentation of progress toward resolution. Interim Reviews are conducted as a record review unless unusual circumstances indicate the need for a telephone/video conference.

CONCLUSION

DCFS’s work under the SIP continues to follow the…