Kentucky’s Annual Progress and Services Report for Fiscal Year 2021, 2020 Submission Child and Family Services Plan for Fiscal Years 2020-2024 1 2020 APSR Submission Commonwealth of Kentucky Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 4 A. Agency Administration and Organization ...................................................................................................... 4 B. Legislative Updates ........................................................................................................................................ 4 C. Child Welfare Continuum and Ongoing Collaboration .................................................................................. 5 I. Annual Progress and Services Report ................................................................................................................ 7 A. Accomplishments Regarding Goal One: Improve safety outcomes for children during all phases of child welfare intervention................................................................................................................................................ 7 B. Accomplishments Regarding Goal Two: Ensure that appropriate services are available that expand prevention continuum and are provided to meet the needs of families and children in Kentucky.10 C. Accomplishments Regarding Goal Three: Increase the timeliness to appropriate permanency for all children in OOHC. ....................................................................................................................................................... 18 D. Accomplishments Regarding Goal Four: Implement supports to stabilize the workforce to decrease workloads. .................................................................................................................................................................. 32 E. Accomplishments Regarding Goal Five: Improve the department’s continuous quality improvement (CQI) system. ..................................................................................................................................................... 34 F. Update on CFSR Child and Family Outcomes ............................................................................................... 36 G. Conclusion, Opportunities for Reassessment, and Learning ....................................................................... 52 II. Additional Reporting Requirements ................................................................................................................ 53 A. Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act ................................................................................................ 53 B. Health Care Services, Coordination, and Oversight for Children in Foster Care ......................................... 62 C. John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood and Education and Training Vouchers .................................................................................................................................................. 63 D. Adoption and Legal Guardianship Incentive Payments ............................................................................... 73 E. Inter-Country Adoptions .............................................................................................................................. 73 F. Interstate Compact Reporting ..................................................................................................................... 74 G. Coordination with Tribes and the Indian Child Welfare Act ........................................................................ 75 H. Training ........................................................................................................................................................ 78 I. Quality Assurance and Evaluation Activities ................................................................................................ 79 J. Technical Assistance .................................................................................................................................... 83 K. Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System .................................................................................... 83 L. Case Review System ..................................................................................................................................... 84 M. Limited English Proficiency (LEP) ................................................................................................................. 87 N. Accommodations for Those with Disabilities ............................................................................................... 88 O. Title IV-E Review........................................................................................................................................... 88 P. Disaster Plan................................................................................................................................................. 88 Q. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ................................................................................... 88 2 2020 APSR Submission Commonwealth of Kentucky III. Budget Narrative ................................................................................................................................................. 89 A. Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services Program (Title IV-B, Subpart I) .......................................... 89 B. Mary Allen Lee Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) Title IV-B, Subpart II........................................ 89 C. Monthly Caseworker Visits Funds and Implementation Plan ...................................................................... 98 D. Budget Request ............................................................................................................................................ 98 E. Proposals for Re-Allocation of Funds ........................................................................................................... 98 F. Maintenance of Effort and Limitations ........................................................................................................ 99 3 2020 APSR Submission Commonwealth of Kentucky Introduction The Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS/cabinet), Department for Community Based Services (DCBS/department) presents Kentucky’s Annual Progress and Services Report (APSR) for 2020. This report was completed per the program instructions, ACYF-CB-PI-20-02. The department is the entity responsible for administering the state’s statutes and regulations relating to child welfare. The APSR provides a comprehensive summary of Kentucky’s commitment to achieve positive outcomes for children and families through a more comprehensive, coordinated, and effective child and family services continuum. The state checklist for submission is available as Attachment 1. The 2020 APSR submission can also be located at https://chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dcbs/dpp/cpb/Pages/cfsp.aspx. A. Agency Administration and Organization The cabinet is the state government agency that administers programs to promote public safety and public health (see Attachment 2 for the cabinet’s organizational chart). It is the largest of Kentucky's nine cabinets. The department remains the largest department within the cabinet (see Attachment 3 for the department’s organizational chart). The department administers the state’s array of protective and program support services to families including prevention activities and services to support family self-sufficiency, child protection, foster care, adoption, adult services, and many others. The cabinet's structure affords the department unique opportunities to collaborate and better coordinate with providers of mental health, developmental disabilities, and addiction services; health care providers of children with special needs; public health; Medicaid services, long-term care providers and aging services; school-based family resource centers; volunteer services; and income supports, such as child support. The department’s direct service delivery is provided by nine service regions, which cover all 120 Kentucky counties. Each region, led by a service region administrator (SRA), implements the cabinet’s programs and manages resources to meet regional needs. The cabinet’s organizational structure provides an opportunity to maximize resources, leverage additional funds, and evolve the overall child welfare service continuum in Kentucky. The cabinet also collaborates with other external state agencies and community resources to assist in providing efficient and timely services to families and children. Reorganization occurred within the department in October 2018. With the reorganization, DCBS established new branches and sections within the Division of Protection and Permanency (DPP/division) and Division of Service Regions (DSR). These additions have allowed promotional opportunities for staff and have strengthened divisions by allowing improved workflow and processing. In addition, the reorganization consolidated the four family support service regions with the nine protection and permanency service regions. B. Legislative Updates The 2020 regular session of the Kentucky General Assembly focused on varying topics, including school safety, public assistance reform, abortion,