Illinois Families Now and Forever

              2004 • Volume 2 Spring • Edition
FAMILIES
Now and
Forever
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services©
ILLINOIS
Bryan Samuels
Families by Foster Care, Adoption and Guardianship
Integrated Assessment aims to
find solutions on the front-end
The Integrated Assessment
Program is a bold move to change
the way DCFS helps children
from the time they first come into
care. Under the new program,
each child that comes into DCFS
custody will have a thorough set
of clinical and functional screen-ings
done by a licensed clinical
professional working with the
permanency worker. The results
will provide necessary informa-tion
to identify the child’s needs
early in the case and develop a
comprehensive service plan to
address those needs.
The assessment covers many
areas of a child’s and his family’s
life, including medical, develop-mental
and behavioral/mental
health needs. Additionally, birth
parents, caregivers and other
relevant individuals will be
interviewed to determine the
types of community and social
supports they need to bring about
the appropriate permanency
outcomes. The screenings include
the following assessments:
• Safety/risk assessment
• Initial Health Screening and
Comprehensive Health Eval-uation
for children
• Adult substance abuse screens
• Domestic violence
• Early childhood develop-mental
screens for children
five years old or younger
• Clinical/behavioral health
screens for children over age
six
From the
DCFS
Director
Continued on Page 4
The Fiscal Year 2005 budget of
$1.4 billion is $23 million less
than Fiscal Year 2004 budget.
However, with reduced caseloads,
the Department will be able to
concentrate on the quality of care
rather than the quantity.
The Integrated Assessment Pro-gram
received $8 million to
identify a youth’s needs and make
appropriate matches to resources
at the start of a case. Additionally,
DCFS will be responsible for $123
million previously administered
by the State Board of Education
to work directly with all school
districts on improving educational
outcomes for DCFS students.
Other highlights include:
• $15 million increase in funding
for adoption subsidies
• $3 million to create a mon-itoring
unit for residential
treatment programs
• $20 million for enhanced
services DCFS will include in
its program improvement plan
to the federal government.
In this tough fiscal climate, DCFS
will allocate resources to programs
and services that support our
mission and demand more
accountability.
DCP takes Protective
Custody or court
gives DCFS custody
DCP begins Child
Caregiver Matching
Tool and places child.
DCP collects initial
health and education
information.
DCP informs parents,
caregivers, and
children of the IA
process.
24 Hours
Initial health
screening is
completed.
Day 2
Intake coordinator
begins scheduling IA
interviews and screens
with the parent/
guardian/step-parent
and others.
Comprehensive Health
Evaluation is scheduled
Worker and screener
collaborate with DCP
and each other
following each of the
interviews.
Day 7
Integrated
Assessment
screens and
interviews
with the
child and
c a r e g i v e r
b e g i n .
®