Policy & MiSACWIS Visitation Policy Clarification & - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Policy & MiSACWIS

Visitation Policy Clarification & Corresponding MiSACWIS Data Entry

Introductions

Objectives

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

• Provide policy clarification on issues related to

contacts.

• Provide basic MiSACWIS examples/demonstration

for proper case set-up and data measures.

Presentation Overview

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

• Case Assignments
• Case Members
• Households – Participating vs. Non-

Participating

• Case Contacts:
• Worker-Child
• Worker-Parent
• Parent-Child (Exceptions)

Case Assignment

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Case Assignment, Case Members & Households

Case Assignment

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

• If out of home placement is expected to be longer than 7

days then FC assumes case management responsibility upon removal.

• Worker and supervisor must be assigned immediately.
• MiSACWIS case assignment date must be the same date as

removal .

• If for any reason, the MiSACWIS case assignment does not
• ccur on the same day as the removal date, then the case

assignment date must be updated to reflect the date of the removal.

• Exception is for Private Agencies; assignment date must be

effective date on the signed 3600 (Individual Service Agreement).

Case Members

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Case members should include:

• Legal Parents
• Bio-parents
• Adoptive parents
• Children associated with the case

Households: Participating & Non-Participating

• All respondent parents should have a status of

“participating” regardless of parental search efforts when case is transferred from CPS to FC.

• Participating and Non-participating are defined in

policy as case planning efforts.

• FOM 722-8 and 722-9 provide specific definitions

for non-participating status reasons.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Households: Participating & Non-Participating

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Policy Definitions for Non-Participating

• Can’t locate/Unavailable
• Deceased
• Not an assessment household
• Permanent Placement with a Fit and Willing

Relative (PPFWR)/APPLA in place

• Parental rights terminated
• Refused
• Reunification services not needed per court
• rder
• Unwilling

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Household Non-Participating

Can’t Locate/Unavailable

• Efforts to locate a parent must be made by the

assigned FC worker.

• FOM 722-06G - Efforts to Identify and Locate

Absent/Putative Parent(s)

• SCAO Absent Parent Protocol link:

http://courts.mi.gov/Administration/SCAO/Resourc es/Documents/standards/APP.pdf#search="Absent Parent Protocol“

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Household Non-Participating

An absent parent is a person who meets

• ne of the following criteria:
• The identity of the legal parent, or putative

father if there is not a legal father, is unknown.

• The location of the legal parent, or putative

father if there is not a legal father, is unknown.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Household Non-Participating

Deceased

Used when a parent is deceased

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Household Non-Participating

Non-Offending Parent Household:

Not an assessment household

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Household Non-Participating

PPFR or APPLA Agreement in Place

PPFWR>Permanent Placement with a Fit & Willing Relative APPLA>Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement

• For children and youth 14 and older who have a

Permanent Placement with a Fit and Willing Relative (PPFWR).

• For youth 16 and older who have a goal of APPLA.

Policy currently reflects 14 and older for APPLA, but this should say 16 and over.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Household Non-Participating

Parental Rights Terminated

• Parental rights have been terminated by the

court.

• Do not delete household.
• Ensure that worker enters court orders and

marks participation status as non- participating.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Household Non-Participating

Refused

• This must be indicated in writing by the

parent to the court.

• This is not a parent who is verbally refusing to

participate or is uncooperative.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Household Non-Participating

Unwilling

Worker has attempted to engage parents with legal rights to the child in reunification services through scheduled appointments in the office, in the parent’s residence, or at a location designated by the parent at least

• nce a month in a six month period as

documented in the case file, however, parent does not participate as required.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Household Non-Participating

Reunification Services Not Needed Per Court Order

Court order making determination that reunification services no longer need to be

• ffered to the parent.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Relationships

Establishing Relationships

• Issues with relationships include situations

where relationships are not marked correctly.

• This can lead to issues with improperly

assigned visits, parenting time issues or issues with worker parent visits.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Relationships

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Relationships

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Worker-Child Visits

Worker-Child Visits

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Worker-Child Visits

FIRST 60 DAYS FOLLOWING INITIAL OUT-OF-HOME PLACEMENT OR A PLACEMENT CHANGE

Day 1 = Date of Removal or Date of Placement Change Timeframe Requirement Business Days 1-5 1 face-to-face contact by the primary foster care caseworker assigned to the case. Calendar Days 1-30 1 face-to-face contact by the primary foster care caseworker assigned to the case. Note: This equals a total of two contacts required in the first 30 calendar days. One of these contacts must occur at the child’s placement location. Calendar Days 31-60 2 face-to-face contacts, with at least one contact

• ccurring at the child’s placement location, by the

primary foster care caseworker assigned to case.

Subsequent Months

Each calendar month 1 face-to-face contact at the child’s placement location by the primary foster care caseworker assigned to the case. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Worker-Parent Visits

Worker-Parent Visits

Michigan Department of Human Services

Worker-Parent Visits

Homeless Parent(s)

A person is considered homeless, if he/she lacks a fixed and regular nighttime dwelling or whose temporary nighttime dwelling is one of the following:

• Supervised private or public shelter for the homeless
• Halfway house or similar facility to accommodate

persons released from institutions

• Place not designed or ordinarily used as a dwelling;

for example a building entrance or hallway, bus station, park, campsite or vehicle

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Worker-Parent Visits

Homeless Parent(s)

Caseworkers must visit the parent at the parent’s residence, quarterly. If the parent is residing in a shelter, halfway house, or a place not ordinarily used as a dwelling then a face to face contact at a safe location may be completed to satisfy the requirement of meeting at the parent’s residence.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Worker-Parent Visits

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Homeless Address Type

Must be Homeless or Homeless Shelter

Worker-Parent Visits

Parent(s) Who Live in Another County or State

• Contact made by interstate and/or a courtesy

supervision case worker meet the requirement for in home visits with the parent(s) who live in another county or state.

• FOM 722-14 “Inter-county courtesy services” (Out of

County)

• ICM 130 “Interstate Foster Care Procedures”

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Worker-Parent Visits

Incarcerated Parents

• Face to face contact is not required, but should be

explored to determine appropriateness of visiting face to face with parent.

• Monthly telephone and/or written contact is

required.

• Written correspondence is required to be uploaded

in MiSACWIS.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Worker-Parent Visits

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Incarcerated Parents Address Type

Must be Jail/Prison

Parent-Child Visitation Exceptions

Parent-Child Visitation Exceptions

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Parent-Child Visitation Exceptions

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Parent-Child Visitation Exceptions

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Parent-Child Visitation Exceptions

Visitation Exception Reasons:

• 1. The court orders less frequent visits.
• 2. One or both parents cannot attend due to

compelling/exigent circumstance.

• 3. The child is about the age of 16 and refuses

to participate.

• 4. The parents are not attending the visits

despite the caseworker taking adequate steps to ensure the parents’ ability to visit.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Parent-Child Visitation Exceptions

#2: One or both parents cannot attend visit due to compelling/exigent circumstance.

Compelling/exigent circumstance is out of parents’ control. Examples include:

• Parent is on parole in another state and is restricted from

leaving state.

• Parent is in military and is restricted from travel.
• Parent is in inpatient rehabilitation center.
• Parent’s employment requirements (FOM 722-06I pg. 4)

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Parent-Child Visitation Exceptions

#4: Parents are not attending the visits despite the caseworker taking adequate steps to ensure the parent’s ability to visit.

• Should not be used for occasionally missed, canceled
• r rescheduled visits.
• This exception should be used retroactively.

Michigan Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System

Parent-Child Visitation

Parent-Child Visitation Policy Clarification

• Frequency vs. Duration
• Visits should not be reduced simply when a child

turns one year older.

• Parents “opting out” of the 2nd visit is not a reason

for an exception, even when the parent puts it in writing.

• Exceptions wipes out the system’s ability to measure

visits for the week.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

MiSACWIS Job Aids

Caseworker Contact Job Aid

Navigating to the Job Aid: Within MiSACWIS>Help & Training>MiSACWIS Communications Website>+MiSACWIS>Data Warehouse Reports>Available Data Warehouse Reports (Title of Job Aid)

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Questions

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

Any Questions?