48000015 - Social Worker Services and Related Operational Support

Account Description FY2009
Spending
FY2010
GAA
4800-0015 Social Worker Services and Related Operational Support
For central and area office administration; provided, that the associated expenses of employees whose AA and DD object class costs are paid from item 4800-1100 shall be paid from this item; provided further, that no funds shall be expended from this item for the compensation of unit 8 employees; provided further, that the department shall not place a child or adolescent referred by, or discharged from, the care of the department of mental health until the latter department forwards an assessment and recommendation as to whether the child or adolescent may be appropriately placed in foster care or, if due to severe emotional disturbance, is more appropriate for group care; provided further, that if placement of a child with someone other than a parent becomes necessary, the department shall place the highest priority on identifying a family resource within the child's kinship or family circle and shall provide services and support to partner with the family resource in meeting the child's needs; provided further, that the department, in consultation with the department of mental health, shall assist the latter department in making such assessments and recommendations; provided further, that unless otherwise authorized, all funds, including federal reimbursements received by the department, shall be credited to the General Fund; provided further, that the department and the department of early education and care shall provide standards for early education and care placements made through the supportive child care program; provided further, that the department of children and families, in collaboration with the department of early education and care, shall maintain a centralized list detailing the number of children eligible for supportive child care services, the number of supportive slots filled and the number of supportive slots available; provided further, that no waiting list for the services shall exist; provided further, that all children eligible for services under item 3000-3050 shall receive said services; provided further, that notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the department shall not reduce recoupment amounts recommended by the state auditor; provided further, that the department shall employ not less than 1 full-time board-certified physician; provided further, that the department shall employ four to five full-time board certified or board eligible child psychiatrists to serve the area offices; provided further, that hiring and supervision shall be done in conjunction with the department of mental health; provided further, that such physicians shall collaborate with the department's social workers; provided further, that not later than February 15 of the current fiscal year, the department shall provide to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children and families a report detailing the number of medical and psychiatric personnel currently employed by or under contract with the department; provided further, that the report shall include the number of foster care reviews conducted by the department and the average length of time in which each review is completed; provided further, that the report shall contain the number of the department's contracts reviewed by the state auditor and the number of corrective action plans issued; provided further, that the report shall also include the number of corrective action plans entered into by the department; provided further, that the report shall include the number of social workers and supervisors who have earned a bachelors' or masters' degree in social work; provided further, that the report shall include the total number of social workers and the total number of social workers holding licensure, by level; provided further, that the comptroller shall act in accordance with item 1000-0001 if the report, with all of its components, is not filed within 10 days of the stated due date; provided further, that the department shall file a report on the first business day of each month to the senate and house committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children and families on the caseload of the department; provided further, that caseloads provided in this report shall include: residential placements, group care, foster care, therapeutic foster care, adoption, guardianship, 51A reports, substantiated 51A reports, the number of children who die in the care and custody of the department, the number of children currently eligible for supportive child care and the number of children presently receiving supportive child care, and the number of medical and psychiatric consultation requests made by the department's social workers; provided further, that the report shall include the number of approved foster care placements; provided further, that the report shall also include the number of children in psychiatric hospitals and community-based acute treatment programs who remain hospitalized beyond their medically-necessary stay while awaiting placement and the number of days each case remains in placement beyond that which is medically-necessary; provided further, that the report shall include the number of children under the department of children and families care and custody who are being served in medical or psychiatric care provided through other publicly-funded sources; provided further, that the report shall also contain the number of children served by supervised visitation centers and the number of those children who are reunified with their families; provided further, that the report shall contain information on the total number of children served, their ages, the number of children served in each service plan, the number of children in out-of-home placements and the number of placements each child has had before receiving an out-of-home placement; provided further, that the report shall also contain, for each area office, the number of kinship guardianship subsidies that it provided for the calendar quarters ending on March 31, 2009 and June 30, 2009, the number of kinship guardianship subsidies provided in the month covered by the report, and the number of kinship guardianship subsidies provided in that month for which federal reimbursement was received; provided further, that the report shall also contain, for each area office, the total spending on services other than case management services provided to families for the purposes of keeping a child with his parents or reunifying the child with his parents, spending by type of the service, and the unduplicated number of families that receive the services; provided further, that the report shall also contain for each area office, the total number of families in the month residing in shelter paid for by the department, a list of where the families are sheltered, the total cost and average cost per family of those shelters, and a description of how the department determines who does or does not qualify for shelter; provided further, that the report shall include, for each area office, broken down by type of service, the number of requests for voluntary services, whether the request was approved or denied, the reasons for denying the service, and what, if any, referrals were made for services by other agencies or entities; provided further, that the report shall also contain the number of families receiving multiple 51A reports within a 10-month period, the number of cases reopened within 6 months of being closed and the number of children who return home and then re-enter an out-of-home placement within 6 months; provided further, that not later than November 2, 2009, the department shall submit a report to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the chairs of the joint committee on children and families that includes any rules, regulations, or guidelines established by the department to carry out its duties pursuant to chapter 119, including, but not limited to (a) criteria used to determine whether a child has been abused or neglected; (b) guidelines for removal of a child from the home; and (c) standards to determine what reasonable efforts are made to keep a child in the home; provided further, that the commissioner of the department of children and families may transfer funds between items 4800-0030, 4800-0038, and 4800-0041, as necessary, pursuant to an allocation plan, which shall detail, by object class, the distribution of the funds to be transferred and which the commissioner shall file with the house and senate committees on ways and means 15 days prior to any such transfer; and provided further, that not more than 5 per cent of any item shall be transferred in fiscal year 2010

74,376,665 69,880,096

Veto Explanation:  I am striking language that imposes an unnecessary restriction on the department's operations and because the required report is unduly burdensome.

Budget Reduction Explanation:   Reduces payroll expenses and reflects manager furlough savings