DCF OKs revamped foster-care provider

DCF OKs revamped foster-care provider

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By Ken Ma Sentinel Staff Writer Posted March 22, 2005

DAYTONA BEACH -- The Department of Children & Families today will lift
an ultimatum against the embattled private agency it uses to deliver
foster-care services because of wholesale changes the agency made to
correct its systemic problems.

DCF officials told Community Based Care, a Daytona Beach nonprofit of
150 employees, in November that it had 60 days to correct internal
problems or lose its $19.8 million annual contract with the state
social-service agency. CBC employees were accused of falsifying
reports, and the agency took too much time to reunite children with
their families.

After the 60 days expired, DCF officials gave CBC a verbal assurance
that it was on track, but that the state needed time to verify changes
before officially dismissing its ultimatum.

"The contract was going to be terminated if they [Community Based
Care] didn't take steps to fix the problem," Alan Abramowitz, DCF
district administrator for Volusia and Flagler counties, said Monday.
"They are headed in the right direction."

Abramowitz said he will not terminate CBC's contract because he is
satisfied with the struggling nonprofit's changes over the past four
months. Today's announcement at DCF's 12th district headquarters on
Palmetto Avenue will officially confirm that CBC will no longer be in
jeopardy of losing its five-year contact.

Things were far from rosy for CBC last year under the leadership of
former president and CEO Ray Smith.

Four case managers did not make home visits to ensure a child's
safety, but filed paperwork stating they had done the job, according
to DCF investigators. One case manager falsified making 10 visits
during less than four months.

The agency, which is now handling 1,561 child cases, was the worst in
Florida for reuniting children and families within 12 months of their
cases being open, Abramowitz said. They were successful about 22.2
percent of the time, he added.

Also, the median length of stay for a child in out-of-home care was 16
months, compared to the state median of 12.4, according to Ron
Zychowski, CBC's current president and CEO.

"Before, when they [CBC] were working on internal issues, they were
not connected to the community as they should be," said Carrie
Garnett, executive director for One Voice For Volusia, a coalition
that advocates for children and families.

The agency's changes began to take shape following the December
departure of Smith, CBC's former president. Smith could not reached
for comment Monday, but said in December that he hoped his departure
would help CBC's reputation.

Interim President Jim Patrick put policies in place to keep employees
accountable and improve performance. Zychowski said he continued
making changes when he arrived in February to lead the agency.

Zychowski said the employees who lied about making home visits were
fired. His entire staff was given ethics training and Zychowski
personally talked to his employees about the value of their work. A
system of random checks was established to ensure that care workers
made home visits.

Quality-control measures were put in place to track CBC's performance
on a regular basis and employees were told to complete their court
paperwork and case plans in a timely manner to speed up family
reunification.

Zychowski said that, by June 2006, his goal is to have 60 percent of
the children eligible to be reunited with their families able to do so
within 12 months from the time CBC opens their case.

"There are a lot of good people here who are working hard to do good
things for kids," he said.

Abramowitz said DCF will also announce changes to CBC's contract.
Those changes include making the agency's eight-member board comprise
community members who do not work for agencies CBC contracts with and
establishing 16 performance goals.

Chief among those goals are increasing adoptions and the number of
children being visited by case workers, and making sure CBC employees
gather enough eligibility data from children and families to secure
federal funding for them.
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