Dependency Court Proceedings.
Anyone, including the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF), may file a petition in court alleging that a child should be a dependent of the state due to abuse, neglect, or because there is no parent, guardian, or custodian capable of adequately caring for the child. These petitions must be verified and contain a statement of facts that constitute a dependency and the names and residence of the parents if known. When a child is taken into custody, the court is to hold a shelter care hearing within 72 hours. The primary purpose of the shelter care hearing is to determine whether the child can be immediately and safely returned home while the dependency case is being resolved. If a court determines that a child is dependent, the court will conduct periodic reviews and make determinations regarding the child's placement, provision of services by the DCYF, compliance of the parents, and whether progress has been made by the parents.
Shared Planning Meetings.
The DCYF must convene a shared planning meeting that includes the Department of Social and Health Services' Developmental Disability Administration (DDA) for youth ages 17 to 17-1/2 who will be aging out of foster care. If these youth qualify for DDA services, the DCYF must direct these youth to apply for services and provide assistance in the application process.
Developmental Disabilities Administration.
The DDA assists individuals with developmental disabilities and their families to obtain services and support based on individual preferences, capabilities, and needs. While some DDA clients live in residential habilitation centers, an institutional setting, most clients live in the community.
Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waivers are designed to allow clients who live in community settings to receive the same level of services that he or she would receive in an institutional setting. The DDA offers services under five Medicaid HCBS waivers. To be eligible for a HCBS waiver, the individual must:
The waiver services provided to DDA clients are designed to promote everyday activities, routines, and relationships common to most citizens, and they include employment services and community access services, which are contracted with counties.
The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) must collaborate with the Developmental Disability Administration (DDA) to determine the number of enrolled clients of the DDA ages 16 through 21 who are functionally eligible for Medicaid waiver services administered by the DDA who are also defined as dependent children (involved in the child welfare court system), and expected to exit those court proceedings after reaching the maximum age of 21 for dependent children.
The DCYF must submit an annual report by November 15 that provides:
The DDA must give priority for Medicaid waivers to eligible individuals who exited a dependency proceeding within the last two years when there is funded capacity for those waivers.
The DCYF must convene a shared planning meeting that includes DDA staff for youth who are dependent and eligible for DDA services when the youth is between ages 16 and 16-1/2. This meeting must be used to begin planning services for the youth in advance of the youth's transition to adulthood and may include:
The substitute bill requires that priority be given for Medicaid waivers administered by the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) to eligible individuals who exited a dependency proceeding within the last two years when there is funded capacity for those waivers.
The substitute specifies that the report prepared by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families must include the number of enrolled clients of the DDA ages 16 through 21 who are functionally eligible for Medicaid waiver services and expected to exit dependency proceedings after reaching the maximum age for dependent children.
The substitute requires the entity providing managed health and behavioral health care for foster youth and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation of the Department of Social and Health Services to attend the shared planning meeting that occurs for children who are subject to an open dependency proceeding between ages 17 and 17-1/2.
The substitute adds to the shared planning meeting that occurs between ages 16 and 16-1/2 for youth subject to an open dependency proceeding whom the caseworker believes may be eligible for the following DDA services:
(In support) Belonging is essential to both personal well-being and public health. This bill will help maximize cost-effective delivery of services. There is a concern that youth will be exiting foster care to a Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) waiting list of 14,000. There is also a concern that assistance to apply for DDA services is not mandated until age 17.
Foster youth should be prioritized for available DDA waiver supports. The Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) should provide assistance to foster youth applying for DDA services at age 15.
Continuing to exit foster youth to a DDA system that has no tracking system and no system to identify the needed supports will harm these individuals.
Foster youth should receive the support they need in applying for DDA eligibility.
The shared planning meeting between the DDA and the DCYF should happen earlier. This is an opportunity for more advance planning related to better serving youth.
All kids are going to have some difficulty when they have uncertainty regarding their placement. It is even more difficult for youth who have a developmental disability transitioning from child welfare services to developmental disability services. The DDA system is very underfunded. Getting kids identified as soon as possible will allow services to be available.
This bill provides a good start to serving youth exiting foster care into DDA services. There needs to be a more coordinated transition for these youth that identifies barriers in that transition. Staff will need to assist youth who are not already identified as eligible for DDA services. Without that staff, there may be an undercount of eligible youth.
(Opposed) None.