Face Sheet/General
Safety Outcomes (Items 1-3)
Permanency Outcome 1 (Items 4-6)
Permanency Outcome 2 (Items 7-11)
Wellbeing Outcome 1 (Items 12-15)
100

Other words that can be used in place of the term “Aftercare.”

  • In Home services
  • Post Reunification (In Home) Services
  • When Applicable – Trial Home Visit Services
100

Item 1 (Timeliness of Initiating Investigations of Reports of Child Maltreatment): What events/intakes should be documented within the rationale? For 200 extra points, what are the two elements of each intake/event that should be included in the rationale?

  • Q1: Each event/intake that was assigned during the Period Under Review should be included in the rationale.
  • Q2: The date/time the Protection Reporting Center (PRC) screened/assigned the intake (compared to the date/time called in) and the date/time the Child Protection team made contact or made efforts to make contact with the alleged victim(s) (compared to the date/time assigned and the response time) all in accordance with state policy time frames.
100

Item 4  (Stability of Foster Care Placement): When there are placement changes during the PUR, the details of which other item are important to consider in relation to determining whether a placements needs were assessed and addressed?

Item 12C

100

Who is the best Performance Improvement Team in the country? (Not a trick question)

KANSAS PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT! 

100

Item 12 (Needs and Services of Children, Parents and Foster Parents): For each individual assessed within item 12, what are the three main elements that should be covered to ensure a thorough rationale? 

1) The assessment of the individuals needs 2) The needs identified (or not identified) through assessment(s) conducted and 3) The effectiveness of the services provided.

200

What language should be used instead of therapy provides names, facility locations, or provider names?

Language that describes what the service provides (i.e. individual therapist, a group home providing mental health services, or after school program focusing on _______)

200

Item 3 (Risk and Safety Management): What does the OSRI include in what are critical times in the case?

The OSRI indicates critical times in the case include when there are new allegations of abuse/neglect, changing family conditions, new people in the family home or having access to the children, or changes in visitation, upon reunification or at case closure.

200

Item 5 (Permanency Goal for the Child): What is the requirnment, per federal guidelines, before the goal of APPLA can be established?

All other goals (Reunification, Guardianship, Adoption) must be ruled out.

200

Item 7 (Placement with Siblings): Per the OSRI, who all is included when considering the definition of a sibling?

  • Children with one or more parents in common (through blood, marriage or adoption) and with whom the child lived with before their foster care placement
  • Children whom the target child would be expected to live with if they were not in care.
200

Item 12A (Needs and Services of Children): What are some of the needs that should be considered when assessing the needs of older youth, especially those with APPLA goals? Name at least 2.

Financial and budgeting, housing, career and/or education planning, accessing community resources, access to important documents, exit planning, etc. See the “My Plan for Successful Adulthood” for specific ideas.

300

What date is used for Question L – the date of the child’s most recent entry into foster care?

“Entry into foster care” refers to either the date of a judicial finding that the child had been subjected to child abuse or neglect (often the adjudicatory hearing), or 60 days after the date on which the child was removed from the home, whichever is earlier.

300

Items 2/3: What distinguishes an assessment from a service?

Assessments are what identifies a need or lack of need for additional services. Services are then what fills that need, what can help an individual or multiple people make progress to address a need.

300

Item 6: For APPLA, what information should be considered when gathering the date for determining a child's permanent living arrangement?

Could be conversation between case manager and foster parent, court orders, signed agreements, or other formal documentation.

300

Item 9 (Preserving Important Connections): Who/what are the important connections to consider for Item 9?

OSRI provides examples including their neighborhood, community, faith, language, extended family members including siblings who are not in foster care, kin, Tribe, school, and/or friends.

300

Items 14 and 15 (Caseworker Visits with Child/Parents): What was the comment noted on the ACF feedback slide in regard to the caseworker visits with the child/parent?

Ensuring we are answering why the frequency of visitation was sufficient.

400

What is the “Relationship to Child” column in the “Case Participant Table” utilized for?

In the Relationship to Child column, indicate how the person is involved in the case and/or related to the child. Indicate whether the person is/was living with the child and/or in a caregiving role. If there is more than one child, identify the child or children with whom the person is connected by assigning each child a number that corresponds to their line on the table

400

Item 3 (Risk and Safety Management): What are the 3 elements that the OSRI indicates that safety plans may address?

1 – Safety Threats and how those will be managed and addressed by the caregiver. 2 – Caregiver capacity to implement the plan and report safety issues to the agency. 3 – Family or other support system involvement in implementation of the plan. Don’t forget about how plans are monitored and adjusted over time.

400

Item 6: Even if reunification, guardianship, or adoption goals are accomplished within the established timeframes, what is important to consider in terms if the question/item should be rated as a strength?

Concerted efforts of both the agency and the court to achieve permanency in as timely a manner as possible. If there is a time frame in which efforts were not made or unclear if efforts were made, this should be weighed in determining whether this barrier was significant enough to warrant an area needing improvement.

400

Item 8 (Visiting with Parents and Siblings in Foster Care): What is the required frequency of visitation between the target child and their parents and siblings in foster care?

There is not an established required frequency. However, concerted efforts should be made by the agency to ensure the most frequent visitation possible. Important note: Visitation should not be reduced due to case plan task completion or lack of and this should be considered a reason for red flagging a case.

400

Item 13 (Child and Family Involvement in Case Planning): What are at least 3 of the 5 elements of active involvement of parents in case planning?

(1) identifying strengths and needs, (2) identifying services and service providers, (3) establishing goals in case plans, (4) evaluating progress toward goals, and (5) discussing the case plan.

500

What are the elimination criteria for in home cases and out of home cases? Name at least 3 of each.

  • OOH: In care less than 24 hours, Target Child reached 18 before the PUR started, TC is in care/responsibility of another state and ICPC agreement in place, Adoption/Guardianship finalized before PUR, placement during entire PUR was locked facility and did not meet fed definition of FC, case was closed per policy the entire PUR, case appears multiple times in the sample, case reviewed as PIP case in last 12 months, required participant refusal/unable to be contacted
  • IH: Opened less than 45 days, in OOH care for more than 24 hours during the PUR, case was closed per policy the entire PUR, case appears multiple times in the sample, case reviewed in last 12 months, required interview declined/could not be located.
500

Item 2 (Services to Family to Protect Child(ren) in the Home and Prevent Removal or Re-Entry Into Foster Care): What are the examples that the OSRI provides in relation to what could be considered a service? Name at least 2.

The OSRI includes examples of “services that may be appropriate for preventing removal and/or foster care re-entry depending on case specific circumstances and assessment needs” as:

  • Intensive in-home services
  • Childcare services
  • Substance abuse/mental health treatment services
  • Concrete services (e.g. financial assistance to prevent immediate eviction or ensure utilities remain connected in context of safety and/or imminent risk of child abuse/neglect)
500

Item 6 (Achieving Reunification, Guardianship, Adoption or APPLA): What are some examples of efforts by the agency and/or the court to achieve permanency in a timely manner per available federal guidance? (at least 3 total)

  • Lots of examples of concreted efforts by the agency/court are detailed in the “Understanding the Federal Expectations for Rating Cases” Item 6 section. These include:
  • Reunification:
  • Actively and effectively implementing concurrent planning. Specifically, this means actively working on a second permanency goal simultaneously such that there is progress made to have that second goal for permanency achieved quickly.
  • If the goal is reunification, regularly assessing the safety of the home and family to which the child is to return. This includes utilizing appropriate safety plans and safety-related services to allow reunification to occur timely and safely rather than waiting until all risk and safety concerns are fully resolved before reunification occurs.
  • Ensuring appropriate services are provided in a timely manner for parents seeking to achieve reunification.
  • Conducting searches for absent parents and relatives early on and periodically throughout the case.
  • Establishing paternity early on in cases, as applicable.
  • Guardianship:
  • Initiating child-specific recruitment efforts to identify permanent placements.
  • Adoption:
  • In cases of adoption, conducting mediation with the child’s parents, as appropriate, to work toward obtaining voluntary terminations and avoiding lengthy court trials.
  • Considering open adoptions when in the child’s best interests.
  • Addressing any concerns a child, youth, or prospective adoptive family may have about adoption through specific discussions or counseling.
  • Initiating child-specific recruitment efforts to identify permanent placements.
  • APPLA:
  • Finalizing the permanency of a placement for youth with a goal of another planned permanent living arrangement through written agreements.
  • ALL:
  • Ensuring that permanency hearings are held timely and thoroughly address the issues in the case and the child’s need for permanency.
  • Ensuring that home studies or other legal processes required to finalize permanency happen timely.
500
Item 11 (Relationship of Child In Care with Parents): What are some concerted efforts to consider in ways that the agency could support the relationship between the child and parents? (Name at least 2)

Encouraging participation in medical appointments, after school activities or hobbies. Arranging for transportation so that parents can participate in the activities. Providing opportunities for parents to participate in therapeutic activities to enhance the relationship. Encouraging foster parents to serve as mentors. Encouraging/facilitating communication with parents who do not live near the child and/or are unable to have frequent face to face visitation. 

500

Items 12, 13, and 15: What are at least 3 of the applicability criteria for parents in considering the wellbeing outcomes 12, 13 and 15?

Parental rights terminated the entire PUR, parents identity or whereabouts were not known despite concerted efforts to locate or identify them. Parent was deceased the entire PUR, not in the child’s best interest, and the parent was not interested in being involved.