The VisionMarta Miranda-Straub, Commissioner

From the Commissioner

Kim Pass of DFSnamed Superhero

Kim Pass

Support for caring professionals is vital

S

September 2021

Congratulations tothe latest DCBSSuperhero winner,Kim Pass,ResourceManagementAnalyst III, of theDivision of FamilySupport CentralOffice!

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eptember isrecognized as

and as Recovery Month, and I want to share someinsight that might help you or allow you to helpsomeone else through difficult times or on a path torecovery. There are so many resources to help us helpone another.

We know that during the COVID-19 pandemic, morepeople experienced stressful situations such as jobloss, isolation, illness or death. We have seen a greatincrease of suicide risk factors increased during thepandemic, such as anxiety, depression and substanceuse. As both caring professionals and compassionatehuman beings, we give our all to change how peopleview mental illness and how resources are madeavailable.

Suicide Prevention Month,

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Gov. Andy Beshearand Energy andEnvironmentSecretary RebeccaGoodman kicked-offthe 2021 KentuckyEmployees CharitableCampaign (KECC) onAug. 23.

KECC’s mission is toimprove lives andstrengthen Kentucky

KECC campaign allowsstaff to help families in need

communities by investing in Basic Needs, Family Stability,Education and Health for every Kentuckian.

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DSR monthly scorecard shows stridesThe Division ofService Regions’statewide scorecardfor September, usingAugust 2021 data, isready. Kentucky had182 parentreunifications, 86adoptions and 87children placed withrelatives, eightchildren placed withfictive kin, 11 childrenextendedcommitment, and 105new resource homesapproved!

Page 2 The Vision

Brian Baker

Brian Baker named DSR Branch Manager

Based on the DSR Scorecard in September 2020, we aredoing better this time this year in Timely Initiations, F2FVisits documented, the number of investigation due theprevious year are lower, the number of parentreunifications, the number of adoption, the number ofchildren placed with relatives, and the number of new

resource homes approved.

However, the number of past due investigations are highernow than this same time in 2020, the number of investigationscompleted timely are lower, and the number of case planscompleted timely are lower than this same time in 2020.

Welcome to Brian Baker in the position of Branch Manager of Safety andFacilities under the Division of Service Regions, effective Sept. 1.

Brian comes to DSR with over 20 years of DCBS experience. He most recentlyheld the role of Safety Administrator in Two Rivers Service Region. Brian alsohas experience as a Field Quality Specialist (CQI) and with varied roles in CHFSFiscal Management.

He has served 19 years with the United States Army Reserve, and currentlyserves as a Captain in the Medical Service Corps. Brian is an avid, and versed,fan of technology and computer and data applications.

Brian enjoys traveling throughout the U.S. and foreign countries with his wife andtwo high school sons. He also had a dog named Scooby, who very recentlypassed, but was a beloved member of the Baker family, and Brian wanted himincluded in this celebration! Brian describes himself as a “foodie” and loves toexplore and eat at any of Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”

DSR is fortunate to have Brian in this role and to furthering the work togetherthroughout Team Kentucky! Welcome Brian, as you set course for your newjourney at DCBS!

FamilyChildrenand Youth

Kentucky’s First EverNeglect Summit Seeks to Prevent Child Neglect

The first Qualified Residential Treatment Provider(QRTP) convening took place on 8/27/21. Theconvening was a collaborative effort with DCBS,Kentucky Youth Advocates, and Casey FamilyPrograms. Tia Humphrey and Eltuan Dawson, youngadults with lived experience in the child welfaresystem, provided the opening and closing remarks forthe convening. The convening allowed the QRTPprograms to come together and discuss their successand barriers as a group. The plan is for this conveningto take place several times a year and for this to beprovider driven and used as a Continuous QualityImprovement (CQI) process for QRTP’s going forward.

Operation United Front (a multi-state effort to combathuman trafficking) took place on 8/26/21. During theplanning phase of this operation, Kentucky StatePolice worked with the Child Protection Branch in theDivision of Protection and Permanency to requestassistance in this effort for the potential recovery ofminors. Tara Cecil, branch manager, met with KSPDetective Rugina Lunce to discuss the operation anddetermine the best way to manage any instanceswhere children were recovered. Sydney Lawson andChelsea Harrod, child protection specialists, worked ina coordinated afterhours effort during the operation totake and screen calls, coordinate with regional on-call

Page 3 The Vision

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Protection and Permanency Updates

Prevent Child AbuseKentucky hosted the state’sfirst ever Neglect Summit onAug. 25 to provide aplatform for preventionpartners, state child welfare leaders, and national experts to come together to explore the prevalence, causation, andpotential solutions to address child neglect in the state.The summit included presentations by Clare Anderson, SeniorPolicy Fellow at Chapin Hall, Dr. David Sanders, Executive Vice President at Casey Family Programs, Dr. Bart Klikaand Kelly Crane of Prevent Child Abuse America, and the Department’s Commissioner Marta Miranda-Straub. Somekey takeaways from the presentations by experts included the following.

staff to provide support in ensuring timely assessments, andto assist in providing information for service referrals. By theend of the operations, 46 arrests were made, 21 adult victimswere rescued, and 2 minor victims were rescued. Det. Lunceexpressed gratitude for the streamlined assistance andcontinued partnership during the press conference held on9/01/21. For more information: LEX18 coverage: Gov.Beshear on effort to combat human trafficking(facebook.com)

APS Branch SpecialistCliff Bryant wascommissioned as aKentucky Colonel byGovernor Andy Beshear.Cliff was nominated forthe appointment by theBluegrass Elder AbusePrevention Council. Cliffwas nominated for hisdedication and work withKentucky’s LocalCoordinating Councilson Elder Abuse in continuing to connect the councils and promoting elderabuse awareness and prevention efforts throughout thestate.

Cliff Bryant

Health

Page 4 The Vision

CQI September UpdateStakeholder Engagement is a targeted effort and top priority in DCBS. We want to hear from our staff, youth, community partners, and families! We know we are stronger together; and, having voice allows opportunity for being heard. Thank you, Kentucky, for theopportunity to serve and share together in this capacity.

In an effort to strengthen youth engagement with CQI, the Voices of the Commonwealth (VOC) has added in Youth CQI meetingfacilitation and participation to the VOC members’ job description.This is a tremendous partnership between DCBS and VOC supportingshared vision of youth inclusion to inform decision-making.Additionally, the Field Quality Branch continues working hard to offerYouth CQI events throughout the Commonwealth to further welcomethis collaboration. Youth involvement and voice is a vital piece to theCQI Redesign puzzle that DCBS is excited to progressively puttogether!

Additionally, in partnership with the Adoption Support of Kentucky andthe University of Kentucky, resource families from across the stateparticipated in their semi-annual statewide meeting to also learn moreabout the CQI process and the Redesign. The DSR Field QualityBranch presented on the CQI process and heard from foster andadoptive families on ways to improve processes and what they felt wasneeded change or enhancement from their very vital perspective ofcaring for Kentucky’s most vulnerable. Another great example ofinviting conversations to improve partnerships throughout DCBS.

As part of our CQI Redesign, DCBS continues to evaluate and monitorour CQI implementation thus far — CQIing our Own CQI! For themonths of April, May and June 2021 Service Regions held a total of620 local and regional CQI meetings!

This illustrates the commitment and work thatstaff do every day in sharing best practices,identifying strengths and barriers, andimplementing action plans/steps for identifiedareas of improvement.

Earlier this year, each region identifiedstakeholder meetings attended that providean opportunity to engage with partners inlooking at service provision, sharing data andoutcomes, and building partnerships toenhance resources for families and children.Each CQI Specialist has created a virtualMicrosoft TEAMS Channel to warehousemeeting minutes and assist with monitoringpurposes. This assists in tracking andanalyzing how many, and what type ofstakeholders DCBS engages with on amonthly basis. The list of stakeholders keepsgrowing; and to date we have identified over300 stakeholder meetings that occur withinregions!

WAYS app puts wellness atyour side - wherever you areThe Kentucky Employees' Health Plan (KEHP) members can tune intogreater well-being through the LivingWell portal, no matter where they are!

With the Wellness At Your Side (WAYS) WebMD app, staff can accessLivingWell resources from their phones while they are on the go. Availablefor both iOS and Android devices, it can be downloaded for free throughthe App Store, Google Play and iTunes.

The Health Assessment, wellness challenges, rewards summaries, DailyHabits and more are all available via the app. Learn more here.