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Receive and approve Solano County’s System Improvement Plan for the period of January 2023 to January 2027; and Delegate authority to the County Administrator to sign the Notice of Intent to meet funding assurances
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Published Notice Required? Yes ___ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes ___ No _X _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Health and Social Services (H&SS) and the Probation Department recommend that the Board of Supervisors receive and approve Solano County’s System Improvement Plan (SIP) for the period of January 2023 to January 2027; and delegate authority to the County Administrator to sign the Notice of Intent to meet funding assurances.
SUMMARY:
In 2001, and in response to State legislation (Assembly Bill 636), the California - Children and Family Services Review (C-CFSR) was established to improve child welfare services for children and their families in California and to provide a system of accountability for outcome performance. The C-CFSR is the mechanism used by the State and counties to achieve system objectives. The C-CFSR process begins with the County Self-Assessment (CSA) and Peer Review. Input gathered from the CSA and Peer Review informs the development of the County’s System Improvement Plan (SIP), which serves as the roadmap of measurable goals and strategies to be implemented in the next five years to improve safety, permanency, and well-being of children. The Department of Health and Human Services, Child Welfare Services (CWS), and the County Probation Department (Probation) are the lead agencies responsible for the ongoing evaluation, revision, and continuous improvement of the County’s SIP. The SIP is the County’s commitment to specific measurable improvements in the system of care for children and families and is not intended to be the County’s comprehensive child welfare plan.
The Board’s review and authorization is required to submit the Solano County C-CFSR for the period of January 2023 to January 2027 to the California Department of Social Services (CDSS). The notice of intent serves as notification of the County’s intent to meet assurances for the Child Abuse Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment (CAPIT), Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP), and Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) programs.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The System Improvement Plan includes a coordinated service provision plan for how the county will utilize prevention, early intervention, and treatment funds administered through the State Office of Child Abuse and Prevention (OCAP) to strengthen and preserve families and to help children find permanent families when they are unable to return to their families of origin.
OCAP’s funding allocations to Solano County for FY2023/24 were as follows (FY2024/25 allocations are unavailable at this time unless otherwise noted):
• Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) - $285,218 to fund services to strengthen and improve parenting and relationship skills within the family to prevent children’s unnecessary separation from their families, promote timely reunification when children are separated from their parents, and remove barriers to adoption when children cannot be safely reunited with their families.
• Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) - $38,567 to fund local primary child abuse and neglect prevention and statewide early intervention efforts.
• Child Abuse Prevention, Intervention, and Treatment (CAPIT) - $121,369 in 2011 Realignment to fund prevention and intervention services for children at risk of abuse and neglect and also used for community-based public and private agencies to provide services to high-risk children and families and provide training to funded agencies. (Note: effective July 1, 2011, AB 118 (Chapter 40, Statutes of 2011) realigned CAPIT funding from the State to counties and redirected specified tax revenues to fund this effort. 2011 Realignment funds of $121,369 are included in the FY2024/25 Working Budget to fund Solano County’s CAPIT program.)
H&SS and the Probation Department included the cost of preparing the CSA and SIP in their FY2023/24 and FY2024/25 Working Budgets. There is no impact on the County General Fund.
DISCUSSION:
The California - Child and Family Services Review (C-CFSR) was established to enhance the welfare of children within the State's child welfare system and modeled after the federal Child and Family Services Review (CFSR). This initiative, stemming from the Child Welfare System Improvement and Accountability Act of 2001, aimed to elevate outcomes for children while enforcing accountability among county and state agencies. The C-CFSR encompasses various components such as the County Self-Assessment (CSA), a peer review process, the development of a five-year System Improvement Plan (SIP), submission of annual progress reports, and ongoing monitoring of strategies and their impact on child welfare and probation outcomes. Health and Social Services’ Child Welfare Services (CWS) and the Probation Department (Probation), in collaboration with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), underwent the County Self-Assessment process.
Starting in January 2022, the C-CFSR Planning Committee, which included representatives from CWS, Probation, the CDSS Outcomes and Accountability Bureau, and the CDSS, Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP), met regularly. The planning committee worked together to organize opportunities for stakeholders to give feedback using various methods such as focus groups and surveys. The C-CFSR planning team, community partner stakeholder groups, and peer review participants identified system priorities and improvement goals for the SIP. The findings were discussed and codified in the County Self-Assessment report, which the CDSS approved in August 2023. Subsequently, CWS and Probation commenced the development of the System Improvement Plan, which serves as a formal agreement outlining specific, measurable enhancements to be implemented, including coordinated service provision strategies to support families and ensure children's well-being.
The System Improvement Plan establishes a formal operational agreement between the CDSS, CWS and Probation. It is an obligation to implement specific, measurable improvements. It includes a coordinated service provision plan highlighting how CWS and Probation will utilize prevention, early intervention, and treatment funds to strengthen and preserve families and help children find permanent families when they cannot return to their families of origin. The SIP is a flexible approach to planning for system change and may be adjusted to address ongoing barriers and challenges to completing the strategies. The SIP is updated as necessary, but at least annually, to identify any changes made to the plan, document completed activities, and describe Solano County’s successes and barriers in reaching performance goals.
Solano County CWS created three focus strategies to achieve better permanency outcomes for children and youth in care. These strategies include:
1. Increase timely permanency for youth by expanding the Family Finding and Engagement Program;
2. Increase timely permanency for youth through increased placements with relatives and non-relative kin and provision of enhanced support for these caregivers; and
3. Increase children’s paternal connections through enhanced focus on fatherhood engagement and paternal relative engagement.
Solano County Probation Department created one strategy:
1. Increase family finding and engagement efforts to allow more youth to achieve permanency.
Please note that per the State’s CFSR schedule, the System Improvement Plan covers January 16, 2023, through January 16, 2027. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the C-CFSR process was impacted, and the start of the Solano County Self-Assessment and subsequent System Improvement Plan were delayed. CWS and Probation will concentrate on these strategies until January 2027 and have identified action items and continuous quality improvement monitoring processes to ensure their success in improving permanency outcomes for children and youth. Solano County’s first progress report will cover years 1 and 2 and will be submitted by January 16, 2025, as determined by the State.
On January 23, 2018, the Board approved the County’s 2018 to 2023 SIP.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board can choose not to approve the System Improvement Plan (SIP). This is not recommended as the strategies within this plan are essential in improving the County’s Child Welfare System for the families and children served. The Board could also direct staff to modify the SIP. This is not recommended because the SIP was developed through a comprehensive CSA that informed the strategies for improving outcomes for children and youth in Solano County.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Solano County Probation Department and California Department of Social Services partnered with Solano County Child Welfare Services in the development of the County Self-Assessment and the System Improvement Plan.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION