Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 18 - HUMAN SERVICES › Part 6 - Division of Family and Children's Services › Chapter 1 - DFCS Policy Manual › Section 18-6-1-A - Administration › Subpart I - ADMINISTRATION › Section 18-6-1-A-I-III - DIRECT SERVICES INTERVENTIONS AND WORKLOAD MANAGEMENT

Current through June 25, 2024
The official activities of and services provided by DFCS
						Direct Service Workers ? Child Welfare Services - compose DFCS "workload".
						Workload is measured by computation of the amount of time required to provide
						or complete defined service-related activities and service types. Each
						service-related activity and service is assigned a workload value based on
						established weights and standards derived from the average amount of time
						determined to be required to adequately and effectively provide or complete the
						service-related activity or service type measured on a month-by-month basis.
Workload varies, day-to-day, and is measured monthly. By
						determining the amount of time required each month based on reported workload
						and dividing the amount of time available by a Direct Service Worker each month
						to complete the work reported, the number of Direct Service Workers needed is
						determined. Workload is reported for each Direct Service Worker, each county,
						each Region, and Statewide, and the number of Direct Service Workers required
						to complete the work reported at each level ? county, region, statewide ? is
						therefore determined each month.
Caseworkers
The official standard for a full caseload at MDHS/DFCS is
						100 Caseload Units which constitutes 6,960 workload minutes per month. This
						standard is derived from a determination that Direct Service Workers have 116
						hours (6,960 minutes) of time each month to dedicate to official workload
						activity ? that is, to caseload.
Acknowledgements:
1. Total workload minutes in a caseload will
					 vary month to month. The standard is based on monthly averages.
2. Direct Service Workers will not be
					 assigned cases or service-related activity which results in a caseload
					 exceeding the standard for a full caseload. Caseloads will on occasion, and at
					 specific points in time, on a Worker-by-Worker basis, fail to reach or may
					 exceed the standard.
3. Workloads
					 shall be measured monthly and adjustments made as needed.
Continuous effort must be expended by the Regional
						Directors (RDs) and Area Social Work Supervisors (ASWSs) to:
1. Maintain individual caseloads that are
					 within a reasonable range of the standard (within 15 Caseload Units),
2. Assure that no Direct Service
					 Worker remains over the standard for an extended length of time,
3. Document justification for a Direct
					 Service Worker being assigned cases which results in an over-full caseload
					 should be approved by the RD by email or facsimile, and
4. Demonstrate and document (by email or
					 facsimile to the RD) efforts taken by to reduce the caseload to the official
					 standard.
Supervisors
Supervisors shall be directly responsible for supervising
						no more than five (5) Direct Service Workers. Supervisors shall not be assigned
						primary responsibility for providing direct casework services for any case,
						except in cases of extenuating circumstances which shall last for no more than
						four (4) weeks and have been approved in writing by the Office Director of
						Field Operations after consultation with the supervisor's RD to ensure the
						continued proper supervision of the impacted Direct Service Workers.
Regional Directors
RDs shall be responsible for the ongoing validation of
						cases and validation of workloads. They will ensure that all cases in an open
						status meet the policy criteria for that case type. They will ensure that valid
						workloads are distributed as fairly and evenly as possible. This validation
						will be accomplished through formal case and workload validation plans which
						will be developed jointly between RDs, ASWSs and state level program staff.
						These validation plans shall be developed annually and approved by the Office
						Director of Field Operations.
A.
Service-Related Activities and Case Types
Service Types - and the assigned standard for each in
						minutes and Caseload Units are as follows:
Service Type
Minutes
Caseload Units
Adoption COS
300
4.3
ICPC Incoming
106
1.6
ICPC Outgoing
106
1.6
Placement COR
254
3.7
Placement R&S
507
7.3
Placement COS
253
3.6
Prevention COR
138
2.0
Prevention COS
137
2.0
Prevention R&S
275
4.0
Protection Services COR
210
3.0
Protection Services COS
200
2.9
Protection Services R&S
410
5.9
Case Management Intake
59
0.9
Court Ordered Relative Application
282
4.1
ICPC Application
282
4.1
Investigation Level 2
484
7.0
Investigation Level 3
484
7.0
General Intake
59
0.9
Resource Inquiry
59
0.9
Adoption Addendum
191
2.8
Foster Home Addendum
191
2.8
Resource Home Study
470
6.8
Resource Home Supervision
140
2.0
Resource Renewal
191
2.8
For information on County of Responsibility (COR)
						and County of Service (COS) and for Adoption, Placement, Prevention/Protection
						and Interstate Compact Placement of Children (ICPC)
see
Policy
						Manual Sections C, D, G, and H.
B.
Service Array
The following are some of the services that may be
						available, either through direct service provision, contract, collaboration
						with, or referral to other service providers.
1.
Prevention of Child Abuse/Neglect
					 Services
Prevention Services
- provided to
						families when support services are identified in the initial safety assessment.
						These services are not court ordered and Workers monitor the family's progress
						on the Family Service Plan.
2.
Family Preservation Program
					 (FPP)
- services are strength based, child centered and family focused
					 programs. The program is a home based prevention service that provides: parent
					 education, child management training, creative and flexible scheduling, and
					 assists families when there is an eminent risk of removal
3.
Mississippi Centralized Intake
					 (MCI
) - Any person who has reason to suspect the abuse of a child must
					 make a report by telephone to 1-800-222-8000 and the report will be screened to
					 the appropriate county for assignment. Reports may also be sent to
www.msabusehotline.mdhs.ms.gov
.
					 Additional requests for services, including resource intakes of prospective
					 foster parents, are accepted and screened through the MCI.
4.
Placement Services
- are
					 available for children who cannot be safely maintained in their homes.
* Emergency Shelters
* Licensed Relative Homes
* Licensed Foster Homes
* Therapeutic Foster Homes
* Therapeutic Group Homes
* Residential Treatment Facilities
* Specialized Treatment Facility (located on the
						Mississippi Gulf Coast)
5.
Intensive In Home Services-
are presently provided by contracted
					 providers. This service is designed to provide therapeutic services to children
					 who are in the state's custody placed in DFCS foster or adoptive homes who are
					 experiencing behavioral problems.
6.
Reunification Services-
contract services that are designed to provide therapeutic services to children
					 who can remain or return home to their immediate or extended family if they are
					 participating in intensive in-home services. Children must be in the legal
					 custody of DFCS, and be placed in licensed foster homes or adoptive placements
					 prior to or after the adoption finalization to provide stabilization in order
					 to prevent disruption.
7.
MYPAC-
Mississippi Youth Programs Around the Clock is administered
					 by Mississippi Medicaid through outsourced providers. The purpose of this
					 program is to enable children to remain safely in their homes while providing
					 needed therapeutic and residential services.
8.
Family First Resource Centers
					 (FFRC
) - are located throughout the state and provide the following:
* Individual and Family Counseling
* Parenting classes
* After School Programs
* Tutoring Services
* Healthy Marriage Classes
* Fatherhood Initiative
9.
Regional Mental Health Centers
					 -
are available statewide and provide assessments for children and
					 adults and offer counseling, anger management classes, drug and alcohol
					 screenings and treatment programs.
10.
EPSDT-
Early Periodic
					 Screening Diagnosis and Treatment ensures that all Medicaid eligible children
					 receive comprehensive and preventative health care to the maximum extent
					 allowable. These screenings are conducted at county health departments and
					 Medicaid accepted providers.
11.
SNAP/TANF - "
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program" and
					 "Temporary Assistance for Needy Families" are available to eligible families at
					 all local Economic Assistance offices (EA).
12.
WIC-
"
Women, Infants
					 and Children
" provides supplemental foods designed to meet the special
					 nutritional needs of low-income pregnant, postpartum women, infants and
					 children up to five years of age who are at nutritional risk. These programs
					 are available to all eligible recipients in each county.
13.
Independent Living
					 Services-(IL)
- provides services to ensure that foster youth fourteen
					 years of age or older are provided an opportunity to acquire basic life skills
					 which will enable them to live independently, responsibly, and to be
					 self-sufficient by the time their foster care services are terminated.
14.
Service to Promote
					 Timely Adoptions (Adoption Services)
Contract agencies assist DFCS in
					 promoting timely adoptions by accepting referrals and attending adoption
					 placement meetings in efforts to move children quickly into permanent homes.
15.
Post Adoption
					 Services-
"
Intensive In Home Services
" are available to
					 all adoptive parents to monitor and assist with any problems or disruptions
					 that may arise and to stabilize the placement. This is a contracted service.
16.
Language Interpretation
					 Services and Deaf Interpretation Services-
provides interpretation and
					 translation of foreign languages and interpretation services for the hearing
					 impaired.
17.
Flexible-Funds
					 for Concrete Resources
When specific individualized needs are identified for a
						child or parent that are not covered by Medicaid or other funding sources,
						flexible funds are available through the region or county. Services provided
						through these funds include private sitters, attorneys' fees, braces, utility
						bills, food, clothing, tutoring services, speech therapy and others.
18.
County Funds
					 Child-
Funds provided to individual counties by county Boards of
					 Supervisors to be spent for child welfare related goods and services. These
					 funds are allocated annually and may not be available in all counties.
19.
Donated Local
					 Funds-
Counties may accept designated and undesignated funds from
					 private or public sources which can be used as needed. Undesignated funds may
					 be used for any child welfare related need. Designated funds are those donated
					 for a specific purpose or need. Expenditures from any fund category require
					 appropriate supervisory approval.
C.
Interpreter Services
When Interpreter Services are needed for any language,
						the worker is required to contact the Interpreter Supervisor in the Resource
						Development Unit in State Office during working hours. The contact numbers and
						a current list of available Interpreter Specialists for each region are listed
						on the DFCS connection website (
http://dfcsmacweb/DFCSWEB/Resource.htm
)
						under Resource Development-DFCS Interpreter Specialist. Interpreters are on
						call for the Mississippi Centralized Intake Unit at 1-800-222-8000 available 24
						hours a day, 7 days a week. DFCS is committed to providing culturally competent
						interpreter services to clients with Limited English Proficiency in the areas
						of prevention, protection and permanency planning.
DFCS has Spanish Interpreter Specialists on staff and a
						Supervisor over the Interpreter Program. Each Interpreter Specialist will be
						responsible for providing all interpreting needs to their regions. In the event
						the language needing interpreting is not Spanish or if an Interpreter
						Specialist is not available at the time needed; the use of an agency approved
						contract interpreter could be required. The use of any agency approved contract
						interpreter will be decided upon by the Interpreter Supervisor. All contracts
						and their details will be handled by the Interpreter Specialists/Supervisor
						regarding all agency approved contract interpreters.
1.
Prevention -
* Professionally qualified and proficient Spanish
						interpreters that are on staff with DFCS are also on call 24 hours a day, 7
						days a week to respond to the Mississippi Centralized Intake Unit for
						interpreting incoming calls of abuse and neglect for Spanish speaking
						reporters.
* Other reporters with Limited English Proficiency shall
						be referred to agency approved, interpreters who have completed orientation
						training through the DFCS Interpreter Program or any contract service
						organization which offers similar orientation training to their bilingual
						employees and volunteers.
2.
Protection -
* During the investigation of clients with Limited
						English Proficiency (LEP), all interviews and or direct contact with LEP
						clients shall be conducted with the assistance of an agency approved
						interpreter, unless an immediate safety plan must be made in order to maintain
						the safety of the child prior to the arrival or contact of the approved
						interpreter.
* Children or family members who are involved in the case
						may not be used as interpreters for the agency or the client; however, family
						members may remain present at the family's request. In the event that there is
						no agency approved, interpreter available, a family member, other than a child,
						may be used as an interpreter until the agency is able to provide an agency
						approved non relative interpreter.
* All forms that require a client's signature shall be
						interpreted and/or translated in the client's native language and must be
						discussed with the client with assistance of an agency approved interpreter
						present or on the telephone.
3.
Permanency -
* An agency approved interpreter must be present or
						interpreting over the telephone during all case planning activities conducted
						with clients, including but not limited to, family team meetings, home visits
						to discuss case planning activities, family visits, and with the child and/or
						parents. Family members can be present to represent the family; however, an
						agency approved interpreter shall be present or interpreting over the
						telephone.
*
All court proceedings for LEP clients must have
						an agency approved interpreter present
. Relative interpreters can be
						present to represent the family; however, an agency approved interpreter shall
						be present.
* All case planning documents, including court orders,
						individualized case plans and other documents shall be interpreted and/or
						translated in the client's native language and discussed with the client with
						an agency approved interpreter present or over the telephone.
** Efforts to provide bilingual or interpreter services
						must not delay or interfere with any actions necessary to:
* Protect the children from harm or risk of harm; or
* Comply with legal requirements.
DFCS provides professionally qualified and proficient
						interpreters to all clients with LEP. Interpreters who are fulltime employees
						of the agency shall complete Pre-Service Training with frontline Workers in
						order to better understand and communicate the agency's missions, goals and
						policies to clients with LEP. Professionally Qualified and Proficient
						Interpreters are defined as follows:
*
Professionally Qualified Interpreter
-
						Professionally Qualified Interpreters are individuals who possess an educated,
						native-like mastery of both English and a second language; display wide general
						knowledge of the language, characteristic of what a minimum of two years of
						general education at a college or university would provide; one year of
						interpreting, and perform the three major types of interpreting: sight
						translation, consecutive interpreting, and simultaneous interpreting. In order
						to be employed with the agency, this Worker must possess at least a bachelor's
						degree from a 4 year university.
*
Proficient Interpreters
- A Proficient
						Interpreter does not qualify as a professionally qualified interpreter, but can
						demonstrate the ability to interpret proceedings from English to a designated
						language and from that language into English.