Report 2011-101.1 Recommendation 3 Responses
Report 2011-101.1: Child Welfare Services: California Can and Must Provide Better Protection and Support for Abused and Neglected Children (Release Date: October 2011)
Recommendation #3 To: Social Services, Department of
To ensure that rates paid to foster family agencies are appropriate, Social Services should analyze the rates and provide reasonable support for each component, especially the 40 percent administrative fee it currently pays these agencies.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From December 2017
January 1, 2017, All County Letter (ACL) 17-11 published the Phase II Home-Based-Family Rates which includes the new Rates Schedule for Foster Family Agencies (FFAs). The administrative component as well as all other components of the FFA rate will be supportable by fiscal cost reports and the revised FFA Program Statements that reflect the activities required by the FFA. All FFA rates published in the ACL 17-11, will be determined using the Level of Care Rates Protocol. The implementation of the Protocol was delayed until February 1, 2018, by ACL 17-111, in order to allow counties to train their staff. CDSS should have available data after one year of implementation to assess any impact. ACL 17-111 link: http://www.cdss.ca.gov/Portals/9/ACL/2017/17-111.pdf?ver=2017-11-03-145907-570.
- Estimated Completion Date: February 1, 2018
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2016
CDSS has issued All County Letter (ACL) 16-79, dated September 22, 2016, which describes the phased-in implementation of the new Home-Based Family Care (HBFC) rate structure for foster family agencies (FFAs). Two components have been added to capture the new activities: Resource Family Approval and Services and Supports. The administrative component remains the same. Cost reports will be modified to track the new costs. The new HBFC rate structure will now standardize the rates paid to all resource families regardless of the HBFC setting; i.e., placed in a county resource family approved home or in an FFA. The child/youth's need for services will no longer be limited to the placement types. Additionally, FFAs will now expand their scope of services and supports to relatives and non-FFA homes.
- Estimated Completion Date: July 2017
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Not Fully Implemented
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2015
CDSS continues its efforts to change state statutes and regulations, and to revise and establish a new foster family agency rate methodology to be implemented as part of Continuum of Care Reform (CCR). These ongoing reform efforts also will establish a process to make placement decisions based on the needs of a child or youth and not on the placement type. Moreover, CDSS continues its work with stakeholders, counties, and foster care providers to revise the rate structure, so that it is relevant and comprehensive and aligned with the requirements of CCR and Assembly Bill 403.
- Estimated Completion Date: January 2017
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Not Fully Implemented
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2014
Partially Corrected. CDSS has reviewed the foster family agencies (FFA) rate structure through the Continuum of Care Reform efforts. The framework and revised FFA rate structure will be discussed in the Legislative Report due for release in October 2014.
- Estimated Completion Date: October 2014
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Not Fully Implemented
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2013
Partially Implemented/Estimated Completion Date: October 2014. Under the Continuum of Care effort, the FFA rate is being analyzed to determine what aspects can be better defined and restructured. As a result, the existing FFA rate structure is likely to evolve. The workgroup efforts are ongoing in order to meet the statutory October 2014 deadline.
- Estimated Completion Date: October 2014
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Not Fully Implemented
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2012
Social Services continues to assert that it will examine this recommendation in conjunction with its existing efforts on congregate care reform. Social Services projected that implementation of this recommendation would not occur until October 2014. Similar to our statement on page 89 of the audit report, we continue to be concerned that Social Services does not fully appreciate that establishing support for foster family agency rates—a portion of which is federally reimbursed—should be a high priority task that should be accomplished regardless of the timeline of any other reform effort.
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented
All Recommendations in 2011-101.1
Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.