48000015 - Clinical Support Services and Operations

Account Description FY2014
Spending
FY2015
GAA
4800-0015 Clinical Support Services and Operations
For central and area office administration and service coordination; 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 department of mental health 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, such child or adolescent is more appropriate for congregate care placement; provided further, that the department, in consultation with the department of mental health, shall assist the department of mental health in making such assessments and recommendations; 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 not less than $200,000 shall be expended for comprehensive background checks of all persons filing a registration of interest of foster care placement and their household members age 15 or older, including fingerprint-based checks of the state and national criminal history databases, as authorized by 42 U.S.C. section 16962; 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 childcare 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 childcare services, the number of supportive slots filled and the number of supportive slots available; provided further, that there shall not be a waiting list for the services; provided further, that all children eligible for services under item 3000-3050 shall receive such services; provided further, that the department shall maintain a timely, independent and fair administrative hearing system; provided further, that the department shall report to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities on December 31, 2014 and March 31, 2015 on: (i) the fair hearing requests filed in fiscal year 2015, stating for each hearing request using non-identifying information: (a) the subject matter of the appeal; (b) the number of days between the hearing request and the first day of the hearing; (c) the number of days between the first day of the hearing and the hearing officer's decision; (d) the number of days between the hearing officer's decision and the agency's final decision; (e) the number of days of continuance granted at the appellant's request; (f) the number of days of continuance granted at the request of the department of children and families or the hearing officer's request, specifying which party made the request; and (g) whether the departmental decision that was the subject of the appeal was affirmed or reversed; and (ii) the fair hearing requests filed prior to fiscal year 2015, which are pending for more than 180 days, stating the number of such cases, how many of such cases have been heard but not decided and how many have been decided by the hearing officer but not yet issued as a final agency decision; provided further, that the department shall maintain and make available to the public, during regular business hours, a record of its fair hearings, with identifying information removed, including for each hearing request: the date of the request, the date of the hearing decision, the decision rendered by the hearing officer and the final decision rendered upon the commissioner's review; provided further, that the department shall make redacted copies of fair hearing decisions available within 30 days of a written request; provided further, that the department shall not make available any information in violation of federal privacy regulations; provided further, that not later than February 24, 2015 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 and persons with disabilities that shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (a) the number of medical and psychiatric personnel and their level of training currently employed by or under contract with the department; (b) the number of foster care reviews conducted by the department and the average length of time in which each review is completed; (c) the number of the department's contracts reviewed by the state auditor and the number of corrective action plans issued; (d) the number of corrective action plans entered into by the department; (e) the number of social workers and supervisors who have earned a bachelor's or master's degree in social work; and (f) the total number of social workers and the total number of social workers holding licensure, by level; provided further, that the department shall file a report on the first business day of each quarter to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities on the caseload of the department; provided further, that the report shall include, but not be limited to: (a) the caseloads of residential placements, congregate 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 childcare, the number of children presently receiving supportive childcare and the number of medical and psychiatric consultation requests made by the department's social workers; (b) the number of approved foster care placements; (c) 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; (d) 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; (e) the number of children served by supervised visitation centers and the number of those children who are reunified with their families; (f) 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; (g) for each area office, the number of kinship guardianship subsidies provided in the quarters covered by the report and the number of kinship guardianship subsidies provided in that quarter for which federal reimbursement was received; (h) 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 the child's parents or reunifying the child with the child's parents, spending by type of the service and the unduplicated number of families that receive the services; (i) for each area office, the total number of families residing in shelters 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 a shelter; (j) for each area office, the number of requests for voluntary services broken down by type of service requested, whether the request was approved or denied, the number of families that are denied voluntary services and receive a 51A report, the reasons for denying the service and what, if any, referrals were made for services by other agencies or entities; and (k) 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 the report shall also contain the number of children and families served by the family resource centers by area and an evaluation of the services provided and their effectiveness; provided further, that to the extent feasible within existing appropriations, the department shall maintain existing services for the aging out population; provided further, that not later than November 3, 2014, the department shall submit a report to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on children and families that details any changes to rules, regulations or guidelines established by the department in the previous fiscal year to carry out its duties under chapter 119 of the General Laws including, but not limited to: (I) criteria used to determine whether a child has been abused or neglected; (II) guidelines for removal of a child from the home; and (III) standards to determine what reasonable efforts are being made to keep a child in the home; provided further, that the department of children and families shall provide the caseload forecasting office with data on children receiving services and other pertinent data related to items 4800-0038 and 4800-0041 that is requested by the office on a monthly basis; provided further, that the commissioner may transfer funds from line item 4800-1100 into line item 4800-0015 for the purpose of maintaining appropriate staffing ratios pursuant to the memorandum of agreement between the commonwealth and the Alliance/Local 509, SEIU signed on March 25, 2013; provided further, that the commissioner shall notify the house and senate committees on ways and means 15 days in advance of any such transfer; provided further, that not more than 2 per cent of funds from line item 4800-1100 shall be transferred in fiscal year 2015; provided further, that the commissioner may transfer funds between items 4800-0038, 4800-0040 and 4800-0041 for services only, and as necessary, under an allocation plan, which shall detail by object class, the distribution of the funds to be transferred; provided further, that transfers shall not be made for administrative costs; provided further, that the commissioner shall notify the house and senate committees on ways and means 15 days in advance of any such transfer; provided further, that not more than 5 per cent of any item shall be transferred in fiscal year 2015; provided further, that not more than $250,000 shall be expended to hire a director of medical services; provided further, that not less than $1,000,000 shall be expended on mobile technology solutions for social workers and any other efforts made by the department to improve IT capability and accessibility for staff; provided further, that $500,000 shall be expended for the establishment of a runaway unit pilot program at 1 regional office in the commonwealth to help identify at risk youth and provide preventative services and implement a runaway recovery response policy; and provided further, that the agency shall provide full cooperation to the research organization selected under item 3000-1050 and shall make available to the research organization any information and data needed to assist with the requirements of this item
71,196,589 74,871,347