Guilford County Corrective Action Plan
Guilford County is implementing a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) as requested by North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Social Services (NCDSS). The CAP outlines the steps Guilford County proposes to take to address findings from a recent review of a December 2022 case involving child fatalities and subsequent review of child protection assessment and permanency planning files.
Updates
Guilford County remains committed to protecting children, preserving families, and thus strengthening our child welfare practice as the two-year anniversary of the Grimsley Street fire and child deaths approaches. We continue to work with North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) in progressing towards meeting the expectations of the Corrective Action Plan. Our commitment is demonstrated in our ability to implement a variety of key strategies, including:
- The creation of a dedicated Guilford County Social Services Continuous Quality Improvement Unit to include a data/review team, training team, and onboarding team
- Child Welfare integrated services and data dashboards to promote data-driven leadership and enhanced management of caseloads to achieve better outcomes for families
- Monthly case reviews and weekly supervisor meetings with direct feedback to social workers and supervisors
- Implementation of a Learning Management System to refine training based on case reviews and results
- Focus on recruiting and retaining qualified staff through an effective onboarding team and improved interview processes
- External assistance from third-party consultants for staff coaching and support
- Quarterly Court Collaborative meetings to improve court efficiency and outcomes for families
- Hiring additional child welfare staff, including in-home services
We will continue to work with NCDHHS to ensure children are protected and families have the opportunity to thrive.
On March 6, 2024, Guilford County Division of Social Services (GCDSS) received the second 90-day review from NCDHHS on the Child Welfare Corrective Action Plan (CAP). The CAP focuses on three key areas for improvement in Child Welfare Practice which include safety and assessment planning, permanency, and placement stability. Guilford County is continuing to move forward in advancing practice in safety planning and permanency.
GCDSS has further developed and strengthened its Child Protective Services (CPS) safety assessment and planning practices by ensuring safety and risk factors are addressed at initiation and are represented on the safety assessment form. In addition, social workers continue to enhance their skills in behavioral based technical writing and procedural compliance to establish high quality safety assessments. Progression towards meeting the Child Protective Services (CPS) caseload standard of 1:10 is being supported by the decreased number of cases open more than 120 days. As of March 2024, Guilford County has safely reduced the total backlog by 68%. There has been a focus on the safe closure of cases, and this allows the county to move towards the standard caseload size for social workers.
In regard to permanency, GCDSS continues to leverage kinship placements while children await permanency. The county has actively collaborated with foster parents by engaging in more intentional support and has sent out more than 50 surveys to foster parents to enhance social work and partnership practices in efforts to enhance the fostering experience. Since January 2024, Guilford County has found permanency for 19 children through reunification, guardianship, or adoption.
Throughout the implementation of the CAP, Guilford County also engaged core partners such as the district court to address quality service delivery and workflow challenges impacting GCDSS’s ability to respond, plan and promote permanency. Also, the County implemented data analytics and dashboarding strategies to track and monitor workflows, promote policy adherence, and further advance its child welfare continuous quality improvement program. Guilford County will continue to follow the state’s processes and protocols through the completion of the CAP and ensure state practice policies are followed throughout all areas under Health and Human Services.
March 2024 Guilford County DSS Overview of Child Welfare Corrective Action Plan Implementation
On October 27, 2023, Guilford County shared a 90-Day overview of Child Welfare Corrective Action Plan implementation. Watch how the County’s Division of Social Services is making progress on safety and assessment planning, permanency, and placement stability through training and court partnership and learn what to expect during the next 90 days of the Corrective Action Plan.
90-Day Review of Child Welfare Corrective Action Plan Implementation
The Department of Health and Human Services Division of Social Services made significant progress on the implementation of the CAP during the initial 90 days of implementation. The CAP focused on three key areas for improvement in Child Welfare Practice:
- Safety and Assessment Planning
- Permanency
- Placement Stability
| “Because of the combined efforts of Guilford County DHHS and the State, today children in Guilford County are safer, moving towards permanency, and in more stable placements, which includes increased utilization of relatives and kin, while awaiting permanency,” said Assistant County Manager for Successful People Victor Isler. “We continue to review and revise our processes to ensure we put families first and, when it comes to assessing a child’s safety, we are using a variety of supervisory and leadership oversight and monitoring to coach workers on how to use the safety-focused, family-centered, and trauma-informed training they learned in the classroom out in the field.” |
During the first 90-days after approval of the CAP, the county:
Achieved 100% compliance with training requirements outlined in the CAP, including completion of the Back to Basics and NC Practice Standards training for all social work staff who have direct and indirect contact with families.
Implemented additional tools for capturing timely information beyond what is included in the NCFAST/CSWIS systems, such as new real-time documentation tools to be used during interviews with families and children, a Safety Assessment monitoring tool that allows Supervisors and Program Managers to track reviewed safety assessments for later follow-up and compliance, and an Escalation Protocol to address high-risk cases with more than three prior intakes within a 2-year period.
During the first 90-days after approval of the CAP, the county:
Developed an Escalation Protocol that attempts to limit unplanned moves for children in foster care by identifying possible placement disruptions allowing DSS to seek additional resources before a move becomes unavoidable.
In collaboration with the County Courts, implemented a new family-focused scheduling process for Initial Child and Family Team Meetings.
Through work to address permanency and placement concerns, the county has also collaborated with the State and Court partners to support greater involvement with kinship partners when a child is unable to remain safely with their parents. Guilford County has nearly tripled kinship placements in the past 90 days from 4% to 11% and projects the partnership will help further expand kinship placements over the next 90 days.
In the next 90 days, the county will:
Continue its work to address the areas of safety and assessment planning, permanency, and placement stability.
Work with an engaged a third-party vendor to develop and conduct foster parent interviews and annual surveys moving forward to identify opportunities to improve social work practice and relationships with foster parents. The same third-party vendor will also develop a kinship survey to understand their unique experiences with the process.
Continue to engage in the Court Collaborative Meetings with DSS Judges, GCDHHS Program Managers and Directors, County Attorneys, Parent Attorneys, Attorney Advocates, Guardian ad Litem District Administrator, and Courtroom Clerk.
Create and implement a Court Project, including identifying and contacting representative partners, meeting with partners, and conducting meetings.
Complete and implement dashboards and Out of Home Family Service Agreements monitoring tools.
Continued meetings with staff on the CAP to hear and receive feedback.
Continued internal review of cases and creation of identified training.