SB2628sam001 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Sen. Julie A. Morrison

Filed: 4/4/2018

10000SB2628sam001 LRB100 18775 KTG 37442 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2628

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2628 by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Strengthening the Child Welfare Workforce for Children and Families Act.

Section 5. Findings. The General Assembly finds all of the following:

(1) On July 31, 2017, 19,619 children and youth were receiving services through the Department of Children and Family Services after having been abused or neglected.

(2) The State's effort to serve abused or neglected children and their families includes utilizing child welfare workers who are employed by the Department of Children and Family Services or by private agencies. Eighty percent of children, youth, and families who receive child welfare services are assigned to private agencies from whom the Department of Children and Family Services purchases services.

(3) Unfortunately, as indicated by the following data, the State's efforts have been underwhelming in regard to child safety and timely permanent placements:

(i) The percentage of children experiencing a recurrence of maltreatment within 6 months of an initial incident increased, that is worsened, from 6.6% to 7.7% (an increase of 15.9%), at the same time that the national average performance for child welfare agencies decreased, that is improved, from 5% to 4.9% (that is a percentage improvement of 2.7%).

(ii) The percentage of children experiencing maltreatment in foster care increased, that is worsened, from 0.39% to 0.57% (that is an increase of 46.1%), at the same time that the national average performance for child welfare agencies decreased, that is improved, from 0.34% to 0.27% (that is a percentage improvement of 21.4%).

(iii) The percentage of children reunited with their families who were in care less than 12 months decreased, that is worsened, from 58.7% to 36.9% (that is a 37.1% change for the worse). Across the same time span, the national average performance for child welfare agencies decreased slightly, from 68.3% to 66.1% (that is a 3.3% change, defined as "no change" by the federal government).

(iv) The percentage of children adopted who were in care between 12 and 24 months decreased, that is worsened, from 9.6% to 6.4%, (that is a 33% change for the worse). Across the same time span, the national average performance for child welfare agencies improved slightly.

(4) In order to improve child safety, achieve timely permanent placements, and ensure child well-being, a child welfare workforce that is stable, capable, trained, and supported is a necessary condition:

(i) The National Council on Crime and Delinquency found that high turnover rates among child welfare workers are significantly correlated to higher rates of child maltreatment, and that the correlation between turnover rates and maltreatment recurrence at every point in time was strong and statistically significant.

(ii) The United States General Accounting Office surveyed child welfare caseworkers regarding the effects of staff turnover on safety and permanency for children. Caseworkers reported that high turnover rates and staffing shortages leave the remaining caseworkers with insufficient time to conduct the types of home visits that are necessary to assess children's safety and to make well-supported decisions to ensure safe and stable permanent placements. Staff turnover also disrupts the continuity of services, particularly when newly assigned caseworkers have to conduct or reevaluate educational, health, and safety assessments due to poor or insufficient information in case files left behind by former caseworkers.

Section 10. Purpose. It is the purpose of this Act to create a task force to study the compensation and workload of child welfare workers to determine the role that compensation and workload play in the recruitment and retention of child welfare workers, and to determine the role that staff turnover plays in achieving safety and timely permanency for children.

Section 15. Task Force on Strengthening the Child Welfare Workforce for Children and Families.

(a) As used in this Act:

"Child welfare workers" or "staff" means child welfare caseworkers, child welfare specialists, and child welfare specialist supervisors.

"Child welfare services job" mean an employment position as a child welfare caseworker, child welfare specialist, or child welfare specialist supervisor.

(b) The Task Force on Strengthening the Child Welfare Workforce for Children and Families is created to do all of the following:

(1) Perform a policy and literature review regarding: (i) compensation and caseload standards in the field of child welfare; (ii) staff turnover rates; and (iii) the impact compensation, caseload, and staff turnover have on achieving safety and timely permanency for children.

(2) Survey employers in the public and private sector to determine:

(A) how many child welfare service jobs exist;

(B) the compensation paid to child welfare workers;

(C) how many child welfare service jobs are filled and how many are vacant;

(D) how many child welfare service jobs are filled by persons who have at least 18 months in the position;

(E) the rate of turnover for child welfare workers; and

(F) the causes of turnover for child welfare workers.

(3) Conduct a detailed time log analysis for child welfare workers to determine how much time is available to complete each administrative task and how much time is actually spent to complete each administrative task. The time log analysis shall expressly ask child welfare workers the following question for each administrative task, "Is this task duplicative of one that you have already completed?"

(4) Develop recommendations on how to (i) improve the recruitment and retention of child welfare workers; and (ii) reduce the turnover rates for child welfare workers.

(c) Members of the Task Force shall include:

(1) 2 members appointed by the Governor;

(2) 2 legislative members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, one of whom shall be designated as Co-Chairperson;

(3) 2 legislative members appointed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives;

(4) 2 legislative members appointed by the President of the Senate, one of whom shall be designated as Co-Chairperson;

(5) 2 legislative members appointed by the Senate Minority Leader;

(6) the Director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, or his or her designee;

(7) the Director of Children and Family Services, or his or her designee;

(8) the Director of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, or his or her designee;

(9) the Principal Investigator for the Child Protection Training Academy at the University of Illinois;

(10) a current public-sector child welfare employee appointed by the Governor;

(11) a current private sector employee appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and

(12) the chief executive officer of the Illinois Collaboration on Youth, or his or her designee.

(d) The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority shall provide administrative and other support to the Task Force.

(e) The Department of Children and Family Services shall hire a Total Workforce Analyst to aid in the collection, cataloguing, and analysis of child welfare workforce data.

(f) The Task Force shall consider contracting with a qualified company, university, or other entity with demonstrated experience studying and improving human resources management.

(g) The Task Force shall meet no less than 6 times.

(h) The Task Force shall submit a preliminary report to the General Assembly and the Governor no later than October 1, 2019, and a final report, along with recommendations and any proposed legislation, to the General Assembly and the Governor by January 1, 2020. The Task Force is dissolved on January 1, 2021.

Section 20. Repeal. This Act is repealed on January 1, 2021.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.".