Food for Advocacy: New Opportunities in Adult

Protective Services & Child Welfare

Featuring: The Ohio Association of Area Agencies on Aging, the Job and Family Services Directors Association, and the Public Children Services Association of

Ohio

WILL PETRIKSTATE DIRECTOR

GAIL CLENDENINCOMM. DIRECTOR

a statewide coalition of over 470

organizations working together to promote

health and human service budget and policy

solutions so that all Ohioans live better lives.

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Beth Kowalczyk

Chief Policy Officer,Ohio Assocation of

Area Agencies on Aging

Public Policy Chair, Ohio Coalition of

Adult Protective Services

Gayle Channing Tenenbaum-

Director of Policy and Government Affairs

Public Children Services Association Of Ohio (PCSAO)

Joel Potts-

Executive Director

Ohio Job and Family Services Directors’ Assocation

November 13, 2014

Beth Kowalczyk

kowalczyk@ohioaging.org

Ohio Association of

Area Agencies on Aging

www.ohioaging.org

Ohio Coalition of Adult

Protective Services

www.ocapsohio.org

Adult Protective Services Update

Beth Kowalczyk

-Chief Policy OfficerOhio Association of Area Agencies on Aging

-Chair, Public Policy CommitteeOhio Coalition of Adult Protective Services

Ohio’s Adult Protective Services System

• The Ohio Adult Protective Services Law was enacted in 1981 as a result of growing awareness of elder abuse being a major social issue.

• The purpose of APS is to assist adults who are in danger of harm, unable to protect themselves and have no one else to assist them.

Four main components:

• Prevention - outreach

• Identification – mandatory reporting, screening

• Intervention – investigation, protection orders, case management

• Enforcement - prosecution

Ohio’s Adult Protective Services System

How we got here

• Very little state funding

• Patchwork of programs

• H.B. 49

• MBR (HB 483) advocacy

• Asked for $20 million

• Ended up with $10 million & Adult Protective Services Funding Workgroup

APS Funding WorkgroupThe Workgroup shall consist of the following members:

• Administration: Job and Family Services, Budget and Management, Health Transformation, Aging, Mental Health and Addiction Services. Developmental Disabilities

• Governor’s Office

• Two members of the House and Senate

• OJFSDA, CCAO, AARP

• Other entities appointed by ODJFS:

• Georgia Anetzberger, Cleveland State University

• John Fisher, Licking County DJFS

• Sylvia Pla-Raith, OCAPS

• Cindy Farson, o4a

APS Funding Workgroup

The Workgroup shall do all of the following:

(1) Investigate programmatic or financial gaps in the adult protective services system;

(2) Identify best practices currently employed at the county level as well as those that can be integrated into the system;

(3) Identify areas of overlap and linkages across all human services programs;

(4) Coordinate with the Children Services Funding Workgroup in the Department of Job and Family Services, if the Children Services Funding Workgroup is created in the Department.

• Not later than September 30, 2014, the Workgroup shall make recommendations to the Department of Job and Family Services about a distribution method for the $10 million in appropriation item 911421 for possible submission to the Controlling Board.

APS Funding Workgroup

APS Funding Workgroup

• Led by Greg Moody with the Office of Health Transformation

• Bi-Weekly Meetings

• Presentations

• Recommendations - $10 million

• Still to meet – budget bill recommendations

Recommendations

• Core Minimum Requirements

• Developed by December 31, 2014

• To be met by July 1, 2016

Recommendations – County Funding

• One time County Planning Grants

• Up to $50,000 per county based on milestones

• January – December 2015

• One time Innovation Fund Grants

• APS Funding Workgroup to develop process and criteria

• January – December 2015

• “Shared services”

• One time system training

• July – December 2015

• 4 days of training

• Stipends for staff to attend training

Recommendations – State Infrastructure

Statewide APS Data Collection and Reporting System• By December 31, 2015

Statewide APS Hotline• Activate July 1, 2016

System Training• Extend vendor contract• Expand trainer pool

Enhance Ohio Human Services Training System – full time regional coordinators

What’s Next

• APS Funding Workgroup continues to meet

• Core Minimum Requirements• Innovation Funds• Budget Recommendations

• Applications for county funding

• Budget advocacy

Director of Policy & Governmental Affairs, PCSAO

POST MBR AND CHILD WELFARE

Gayle Channing-Tenenbaum

Do all children deserve, safety, permanency

and well being regardless of where

they live?

PCSAO MBR Request

During MBR, PCSAO requested 20 million additional dollars to support:

1. Case workers to work with very complex cases

2. Services and planning for our transitioning youth

3. Special staff trainings on trauma informed care.

4. Foster home recruitment

5. Kinship care supports

6. Supporting counties without local dollars

House put in $20 million

• PCSAO also strongly supported dollars for Adult Protective Services (APS).

• House provided $10 million for Child Welfare and $10 million for APS

Worked with the Administration in Conference Committee to create two work groups to determine distribution of dollars to both systems.

• Child Welfare funding work group

• APS funding work group

Mid-Biennium Review (MBR) Process

Distribution of new GRF dollars

• $3.2 million for counties to use for matching federal dollars for programs such as independent living & college assistance for foster youth.

• $6.8 million to be awarded by a grant program to counties.

Efficiency & Innovation Funds

• Grant applications due November 24, 2014

• Focus on one of four state defined expectations.

• Adoption

• In-home case visitation

• Recurrence

• Reentry

Mid-Biennium Review (MBR) Process

Child Welfare in Ohio

1. Number of reported cases of child abuses and neglect totaled almost 100,000

2. As of Jan 1, 2014, 12,796 children were in custody of a child welfare agency. Throughout the year probable # could go as high as 15,000.

3. 21% of these cases were assigned to alternative response.

4. Over 10 years, Ohio has led the nation with 42% reduction. We are beginning to see some of these numbers creep up.

How old are the children with substance abusing parents?

From the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services

How long does a child remain in custody when a parent has substance abuse issues?

From the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services

85% will stay longer than

30 days

50% will stay longer than

300 days

I. Encourage implementation of the Screening and Assessment for Family Engagement, Retention and Recovery (SAFERR) Model

II. Increase the number of Family Dependency Treatment Courts

III. Establish time-limited prioritization of drug treatment counseling and recovery services or Child Welfare cases

IV. Increase access to Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)

V. Expand access to recovery support and intensive child welfare case management

Co-Chaired - Timothy Dick, Clermont County Children Services

Orman Hall - Governor’s cabinet opiate action team.

Child Welfare Opiate Engagement Project

Why?

• Ohio ranks 50th in the nation in state investment for child welfare.

• Ohio is highest in the nation for local child welfare investment, but funding is extremely inequitable.

• Local child welfare agencies have suffered a 20% loss of scarce state funds in the past few years, including cuts to the State Child Protection Allocation and state portion of Adoption Assistance.

Improving Child Outcomes with Shared Resources

Joel Potts

Executive Director

Ohio Job and Family Services Directors’ Assocation

APS

Since the beginning of the APS program in the state, county human service agencies have had the bulk of the responsibility and liability for the program

Lack of funding and direction from the state has led to a fractured system, with operations and services varying greatly between the county agencies

Unreliable funding, lack of standard procedures, poor data and lack of direction have negatively impacted the APS program

The Ohio Job and Family Services Directors’ Association is very supportive of the efforts of the workgroup

Adult Protective Services

APS

This process will move the APS program forward, providing the kind of standardization and structure necessary to meet the needs of our aging population

Successful implementation of the workgroup recommendations will lead to a better system but also shine a light on the ongoing needs for APS in the state

Continued state investments will be critical for the ultimate success of Ohio’s APS program and this approach is a necessary part of the process

Future funding will be dependent on the successful implementation of the recommendations of the workgroup

Adult Protective Services

APS

The lack of state financial support has had a crippling effect on Ohio’s child welfare program

We are thankful for the funding included in the MBR but much more needs to be accomplished to support the child welfare program

Over 80 counties submitted proposals for the innovation grants, demonstrating the need and breadth of needs in the community

These innovation grants will help counties address critical needs but not address the underlining financial problems in the child welfare system

Child Welfare

APS

The county associations will push hard for significant new investments for child welfare to address the many needs in the program

While counties lead the nation in local funding support children, Ohio is fiftieth in the United States for child welfare investments

Ohio should, can and must do more for the children of this state

Child Welfare

TAKE ACTION: STRENGTHEN SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND SENIORS IN YOUR COUNTY

• If you work for a county with access to innovation grant

funding for APS - begin to formulate a plan for how funds

will be used and start a conversation with local legislators

about what’s happening in your county

• If you do not work for a county - be ready to advocate for

APS & child welfare in the upcoming state budget

Q&A

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-Will & Gail