Pinnacle Plan update : executive summary, year one, quarter four, 07/18/2013

              Pinnacle Plan Update Year One, Quarter Four July 18, 2013
Executive Summary:
The end of this quarter marks the end of the first full fiscal year of implementation of Oklahoma’s Pinnacle Plan. During this fourth quarter of implementation, OKDHS began preparing for the release of the first issue of public reporting for specific measures outlined in the Settlement Agreement. The first report is set to be released at the end of July 2013, with reporting on the measures related to maltreatment in care, recruitment of resource families, shelter usage, and worker contacts with children. Although many major efforts are underway such as the expansion of community partnerships, an increased focus on shortening time frames for permanency for specific populations of children, and the development of a comprehensive Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) System, the three major points of focus for OKDHS continue to be decreasing shelter utilization, expanding quality placement options, and expanding and supporting our workforce.
Successful efforts to decrease shelter utilization for children under 2 and place them in family like settings began in January of this year. Although there have been instances where an exception to place a child in a shelter overnight had to be granted, huge strides have been made in this area in comparison to the numbers prior to implementation of this strategy. Efforts were expanded to include children under 6 earlier in the year, however the official target date for discontinuation of shelter usage for children under 6 was June 30, 2013. A preauthorization process requiring authorization by a Deputy Director for a child under 6 to remain overnight in a shelter was implemented in the spring to begin preparing for the target date. The goal of the preauthorization process is to ensure that all available supports are provided to locate appropriate placements for children. In many instances, the preauthorization process results in the ability to secure a placement outside of a shelter. If all efforts statewide truly have been exhausted, the Deputy Director authorizes placement in a shelter until an appropriate and safe family like setting can be located. Lack of resources continues to provide challenges for finding these placements. However, the new Request for Provider (RFP) for the recruitment and retention of resource families is anticipated to assist with this issue as soon as the private agencies who are awarded contracts are at full performance capacity. It is anticipated that recruitment contracts to private providers will be awarded by August 1. Other successful efforts to expand quality placement options and supports for resource families involve the increase in availability and flexibility of resource family training, monitoring of all initial inquiries to the Bridge Resource Support Center resulting in an increase in timely “callbacks” to move potential families through the application and approval process more quickly, the development of an on-line application process, and the development of a system to match children’s needs with the capacities of families to meet those needs. Additionally, OKDHS continues to plan to incrementally increase the reimbursement rates for resource families. However, the budget for SFY14 will require that this be delayed. The current plan is to delay the increase until a later date in SFY14. The amount of the increase will be determined by available budget.
In addition to successful efforts to reduce shelter care and increase availability of placement options, OKDHS has continued to focus efforts on and succeed in the area of
Page 1 of 2