Legislative Agenda 2009:
Throughout 2008, the Child Welfare Network convened several large group meetings of key stakeholders, including public and private child serving agencies, child advocates, philanthropists and others, to discuss legislative priorities for the 2009 Nevada Legislative Session. The Child Welfare Network also convened several small group discussions to focus on recommendations in four identified priority areas: Continuum of Care; Availability/Accessibility to Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment; Aging Out/Transition-Age Youth; and Creation of a Standing Committee on Children and Families in the State Legislature. The recommendations provided below are the result of these meetings and represent the legislative priorities as identified by the Child Welfare Network.
Creation of a Standing Committee on Children, Youth and Families
Because of the vast number of critical issues facing children, youth and families, there needs to be a standing committee that can address their needs. Under the current legislative system, these issues are subsumed under other committees, such as Senate Human Resources and Education, or Assembly Health and Human Services, who are tasked with a broad array of issues. A standing committee on children, youth and families would provide a constant platform for issues and would allow for an ongoing partnership between the legislature and advocacy groups like CWN. This committee would be the mechanism for advancing the CWN Legislative Agenda. Senator Washington has submitted a recommendation to the interim Legislative Committee on Health Care to create a Subcommittee on Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice.
Recommendation:
Establish a standing Committee on Children, Youth and Families in the Nevada State Legislature.
a. Provide adequate resources for the standing committee to address legislative priorities for children, youth and families, with particular emphasis on the needs of the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.
Continuum of Care
A continuum of care is a made up of supports and services for at-risk children and their families which assist in developing family stabilization in order to reduce the need for child welfare involvement and out-of-home placement. These services can help ensure that families receive the assistance they need to provide a safe and loving home for children. Continuum of Care services which address the basic needs of the family, such as substance abuse and mental health treatment, utility assistance, transportation and housing, can help mitigate sources of stress and instability that may contribute to child abuse and neglect. Services aimed at family stabilization and preservation are not only beneficial to the overall well-being of the child and the family, but are likely to help reduce costs and improve child outcomes over the long term.
Nevada currently lacks a well-balanced, collaborative system of broad based services to meet even the most basic needs of at-risk families. Cross-system collaboration of service providers, both public and private, are virtually non-existent, creating even greater strain on the family to get the needed services in a timely manner. Existing services are over-burdened and cumbersome with a lack of appropriate resources to meet the current need.
Recommendations:
Expand the availability and accessibility of family support services for at-risk children and families to provide family stability and preserve the child within the home.
a. Allow for flexible use of child welfare funds in order to provide necessary front-end services for families (such as food, shelter, transportation, employment assistance, child care, utility assistance, etc.) to prevent and/or reduce the need for out-of-home placements and improve the rate of timely reunion.
b. Invest and reinvest in high-quality, evidence-based prevention and family preservation and family support to reduce the number of families who enter or re-enter the child welfare and/or juvenile justice systems.
c. Develop a collaborative system to identify and refer community-based services to at-risk families.
Availability and Accessibility to Mental Health & Substance Abuse Treatment
The lack of availability and accessibility to appropriate levels of mental health and substance abuse treatment have been identified for quite some time in Nevada as a significant barrier to providing children and families with the skills needed to maintain and preserve the well-being of the child and family. Even more evident is the need for cost-effective, evidence-based programs aimed at treating co-occurring disorders for at risk children and their families involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Systems of care are currently lacking an integrated approach that is designed to most appropriately meet the mental health and substance abuse treatment needs of our most vulnerable populations for the period of time necessary to produce desired outcomes for infants through adolescence.
Lack of insurance and underinsurance, as well as a limited number of providers, leave families without the age, gender, culture and language-appropriate level of care. Some families have even resorted to relinquishing their children to the system in a desperate attempt to access scarce services. Reforms in our state, and within our communities, are needed to insure that these children, and their families, receive the mental health and substance abuse treatment necessary to address their needs and reduce the need for out-of-home placements.
Recommendations:
Improve the availability and accessibility of mental health and substance abuse treatment services for at-risk children and families who are involved with, or are at risk of being involved with, the child welfare or juvenile justice systems.
a. Comprehensive investments that lead to the development and implementation of evidence-based, community-based treatment programs which allow priority access for at-risk families to prevent or reduce out-of-home placement of children.
b. Provide reciprocity to all mental health providers to allow out-of-state professionals to practice in Nevada, improving our provider ratios and the availability of needed services.
c. Facilitate an infrastructure to support collaboration between mental health and substance abuse treatment providers to address the need for co-occurring treatment among children and their families.
d. Develop and/or expand a current database of service providers to assist families and family support workers in identifying and arranging for appropriate treatment for at-risk families in need of services.
e. Ensure that Medicaid is sufficiently funded and structured to meet the mental health and substance abuse treatment needs of at-risk children and their families in their homes and communities.
f. Establish a system of transitional care which allows children and their families to receive continuous treatment, without interruption, when transitioning out of the child welfare, juvenile justice systems and/or children’s mental health into adult systems of care, or when transitioning from out-of-home care. There are specific models of treatment for infants, toddlers, children, early adolescents and later adolescents.
g. Establish a system of outcome measurement for all mental health and substance abuse interventions and programs.
Aging Out – Transition-Age Youth
We know that youth who are provided the appropriate resources, guidance and support for transitioning and aging out are more likely to be prepared for success outside of the CW and/or JJ systems. In 2001, community stakeholders saw a dire need for policy change in this area and, as a result, we saw a renewed focus on aging out and transitional services for youth. While we made positive strides towards progress in this area, there is work to be done. Community stakeholders must partner with youth in order to build sound policy, utilizing existing community resources and evidence-based best practices. Currently, there is insufficient funding to provide for case management and mentoring services to assist youth in the transition process. Additionally, there is insufficient infrastructure to support youth who are aging out; there needs to be a system in place that can help caseworkers and others who care for youth to identify community supports and resources available to youth. Finally, youth involved in any aspect of children’s services need to have a seat at the table and be actively engaged in decisions regarding their lives.
Recommendations:
Provide appropriate transitional services to youth who are aging out of the child welfare and juvenile justice systems to ensure that they have the youth have the resources and knowledge needed to succeed outside of the system.
a. Provide funding for case management and mentoring services to youth who are aging out of the system so that youth can be taught how to properly manage resources.
b. Establish a comprehensive system between child-serving systems and adult systems to identify services and subsidies available to youth who are aging out. Ensure that case workers and responsible parties (ie: foster parents) provide youth with the information and assistance needed to access services (ie: transportation).
c. Develop a Child’s Bill of Rights for children in systems of care in collaboration with youth and parents.
d. Urge Congress to sign on to the International Children’s Rights Accord.