Resource Family Approval Process Implementation San Luis Obispo County

First Steps An internal steering committee was convened to develop the action plan and establish an implementation timeline. The steering committee consisted of Regional Managers, Supervisors, and Staff Development Program Review Specialists and Program Managers At the steering committee, several subcommittees were identified to focus on specific areas, and a lead person was identified for each subcommittee.

Implementation time line August 21 – Stakeholder’s meeting August 26 – Sept 6 – Subcommittee meetings September 9-13 – Steering Committee reconvenes to review recommendations and findings from the subcommittees September 16-20 – Staff Development finishes creating tools, updating policies and procedures etc. September 23-27 – Staff training October 1 - Implementation

Stakeholders Meeting San Luis Obispo County invited foster parents, Foster Family Agencies, Probation staff and all internal staff who would be impacted by the RFA change to a stakeholders’ meeting. At the stakeholders’ meeting SLO gave an overview of RFA, and went over our implementation plan and timeline. Stakeholder members were invited to sign up to participate in any of the subcommittees they were interested in.

Subcommittees Home Approval/Home Study Renewals Forms and Packets Databases Complaint investigations PRIDE training

Home Approval/Home Study Subcommittee Determined that DSS would create a combined permanency assessment form that will be used for all psycho/social evaluations Agreed that partner agencies would take both matched and unmatched permanency assessments Agreed Partner Agencies would take up to 5 referrals each month for permanency assessments

Renewals Subcommittee Reviewed forms and internal processes and determined SLO is already meeting RFA requirements Recommended that renewals for RFA homes be tracked in new database since they have to be reviewed annually

Forms and Packets Subcommittee Reviewed and revised all currently used forms and packets Created a new health screening assessment

Databases Subcommittee Created streamlined database to: Track RFA applicants through the entire application process, as well as alert when renewals are due. Generate the RFA ID number which is replacing the current license number

Complaint Investigation Subcommittee Reviewed current processes, and the ACLs referenced in the Directives. (ACL 12-71 and 13-27 about Harris hearings). Determined that our current practices will continue. Recommendation made to add information about the complaint investigation to the new RFA database.

PRIDE Training PRIDE classes made recommended changes: DSS will contract with a health care professional to attend one of our PRIDE sessions to complete the health screening DSS will bring a mobile livescan unit to one of the PRIDE sessions to facilitate fingerprinting DSS will have one PRIDE session focus on completing the First Aid and CPR course needed for approval

Follow up Stakeholders meeting A follow up stakeholders’ meeting was held prior to implementation to report back to the stakeholders’ group about progress and changes made.

Staff Training Two half-day sessions were held for CWS staff to give an overview of the RFA process and to review all changes. Smaller training sessions were given to specific staff whose job functions were most severely impacted by the change.

Implementation San Luis Obispo County went live on November 1, 2013 Conducted our first PRIDE session, which included both relative caregivers and the traditional foster family applicants Utilized RFA process for an placement Relative caregivers have been very receptive to the process, and have stated they like the additional supports being offered to them

Steps ahead Develop information sessions for relative/NREFMs who had placements prior to November 1. Those sessions will roll out in December and will focus on how RFA impacts them, and will invite them to become RFA homes if they are interested Continue to revise internal policy and procedure documents and review how implementation is proceeding Meet with our partner agencies once a month to review how the permanency assessments are working