Wyo. Code R. 049-0020-1
Interagency Children's Collaborative
Chapter 1: Interagency Children's Collaborative
Effective Date: 03/03/2006 to Current
Rule Type: Current Rules & Regulations
Reference Number: 049.0020.1.03032006
(a) The Department of Family Services (DFS), is authorized under Wyo. Stat. § 14-3-215, to promulgate rules setting forth the operation of an Interagency Children’s Collaborative. The agencies charged by the Interagency Children’s Collaborative (ICC) with assessing and recommending improvements to the system of services to children in out-of-home care may request that these rules be revised at any point in the future to include additional guidelines as may be determined necessary.
(b) The purpose of the Interagency Children’s Collaborative is to improve coordination between the Department of Family Services, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and the Department of Workforce Services in the identification and delivery of services to children in state custody and their families to reduce the time children spend in temporary placements. The ICC shall:
(i) Compile and review case files of children in state custody for fifteen (15) of the preceding twenty-two (22) months to improve service delivery and identify systemic barriers that increase the time a child spends in out-of-home care.
(ii) Provide multi-agency assistance to local multidisciplinary teams in the form of case reviews to help identify appropriate services and supports.
(iii) Improve coordination and maximization of state resources through the compilation and review of multi-agency case information regarding children who are or should be served by more than one of the agencies in the ICC.
(iv) Conduct an annual review of the services and supports available to children in state custody and report on the current utilization of these resources to identify systemic problems and provide recommendations intended to create a balanced statewide system of care for children in state custody, which will meet the child’s familial, health, educational and economic needs and minimizes the time a child must spend in state custody.
(a) “A child in state custody” means a child who is under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court pursuant to the authority of the Child Protection Act (Wyo. Stat. § 14-3-401 et. seq.), Juvenile Justice Act (Wyo. Stat. § 14-6-201 et. seq.) or Child in Need of Supervision Act (Wyo. Stat. § 14-6-401 et. seq.).
(b) “Service delivery” means the application of health, education, social, medical or vocational services to address, alleviate or ameliorate a need in a child or family for which that service has been documented by research to result in improvement of the identified need.
(a) Membership shall include the following:
(v) An individual appointed by the Governor who shall represent families receiving services from the state agencies represented in (i) through (iv) of this section. The Governor’s appointee shall serve a two (2) year term.
(b) A designee shall have sufficient authority to commit the departments to providing services, data and resources.
(a) Frequency:
(ii) Each ICC member shall also identify and designate a person or persons within their agency who have the technical skills to provide assistance on obtaining appropriate health, social, educational or vocational services within the State and shall make this person available to the ICC for consultation; and
(iii) Special meetings may be called by any member of the ICC upon written notification to the ICC members.
(b) Attendance:
(i) All members shall be present to constitute a meeting; and
(ii) The Department of Family Services shall make arrangements for meetings and shall provide adequate notice to other ICC members.
(iii) ICC members, except for the Governor’s appointee, will be responsible for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties. The Governor’s appointee will be reimbursed by the Department of Family Services at the same rate as state employees for meals and incidentals (M&IE), mileage, and lodging expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
(c) Conduct. The meetings shall be chaired by all members of the ICC on an annual rotating basis beginning with the Director of the Department of Family Services (or his designee) followed by the Director of the Department of Health (or his designee); the Superintendent of Public Instruction (or his designee); the Director of the Department of Workforce Services (or his designee); and the Governor’s appointee.
Each agency shall be responsible for gathering data when identified by the ICC. This data shall include at a minimum:
(a) Summary information about the services being provided to the group of children identified in these rules;
(b) Information about the services available in various communities, counties, districts and regions to allow for the compilation of a comprehensive list of current services; and
(c) Information about key services identified as best practices that the ICC should strive to make available to these children.
(a) The ICC shall identify case files to review pursuant to Section 1(b)(i) of these rules.
(i) The Director of the Department of Family Services or his designee shall provide the ICC with a list of children who have been in state custody for fifteen (15) of the preceding twenty-two (22) months.
(ii) The ICC shall meet to determine what case files to review out of the list provided by the Department of Family Services.
(iii) The ICC shall request from the local field office those case files identified by the ICC for review. The local field office shall provide the case files to the ICC within fifteen (15) days of the written request.
(b) Pursuant to Section 1(b)(ii) of these rules, local multidisciplinary teams may voluntarily present case files to the ICC for review according to the following provisions:
(i) A written request shall be sent to the Director of the Department of Family Services specifying the case file for review including the names of the child and his/her family and the reasons a review is asked.
(ii) Within ten (10) days of receiving the request, the DFS shall provide written notification to the local multidisciplinary team that the request has been received and that the case will be reviewed.
(iii) The ICC may contact the local multidisciplinary team during the case file review to discuss the case at issue.
(c) The ICC shall identify case files to review pursuant to Section 1(b)(iii) and (iv) of these rules. The ICC shall request from the local DFS field office those case files identified by the ICC for review. The local DFS field office shall provide the case files to the ICC within fifteen (15) days of the written request.
(a) Case reviews shall consist of reviewing the written case file, but may also consist of interviewing the affected family members, service providers, agency staff and other appropriate persons.
(b) The ICC shall review case files for information pertinent to the progress made toward returning children in state custody to their homes.
(c) The following are guidelines the ICC should consider for case reviews:
(i) Department of Family Services
(A) Written case plan including the permanency plan, service plan for the family and concurrent plan, if applicable.
(B) Medical plan. (C) Efforts agency made to preserve family. (D) Service planning, implementation, and monitoring. (E) Coordination of services with other agencies and community service providers. (F) Cooperation of law enforcement, guardian ad litem and court. (G) Economic Assistance Benefits. (ii) Department of Education (A) No Child Left Behind Standards (NCLB) (B) North Central Accreditation (C) Title I-D Neglected and Delinquent (D) Individualized Education Plan (IEP) (iii) Department of Health (A) Medicaid eligibility (B) Juvenile evaluation and treatment (C) Mental health services (D) Substance abuse services (E) Immunizations (iv) Department of Workforce Services (A) Job training (B) Work activities and programs
ICC members shall maintain confidentiality as set forth in federal and state laws and regulations. A breach of confidentiality may result in sanctions as set forth in state and federal law.
The ICC shall identify a method of compiling the information it generates and write an annual report summarizing the ICC’s activities for the past year. The report shall identify the critical systemic problems that need to be addressed and providing a reasonable plan for addressing them in the upcoming year. The ICC shall provide the ICC agencies with suggestions for addressing issues identified by the ICC.