Probation Department Policy/Procedure Manual

4.4 Case Planning

Location Juvenile Services - Division Wide
Section N/A
Subject 4.4 Case Planning
Purpose Establish a procedure for the use of case plans in the Juvenile Division that adheres to Title IV-E foster care placement requirements as well as incorporates evidence based and best practices.
Effective Date 7/6/2022
Previous Effective Date 11/1/2022

 

BACKGROUND

The Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) and Division 31 of the Child Welfare Services Manual of Policies and Procedures outline case plan requirements, including content and timeframes, for youth in foster care.  The use of case plans is evidence based as well as a best practice.  Therefore, departmental procedure requires case plans for all cases under court ordered supervision by the Juvenile Division, with the exception of the administrative track cases.

DEFINITIONS:

“Placement Youth” (PY) – Any youth under the supervision of the Probation Department who is under an out of home foster care placement order by the Juvenile Delinquency Court.

“Supervision Youth” (SY) – Any youth under active court ordered supervision of the Probation Department who is not a PY.

“Foster Care Placement” – Any licensed or approved placement setting eligible for Title IVE Maintenance Funding including Resource Family Approval (RFA) homes, Foster Family Agency (FFA) homes, transitional housing, Short Term Residential Therapeutic Programs (STRTPs) and Supervised Independent Living Placements (SILPs).

GENERAL PROCEDURE:

After a petition is filed and report is ordered by the court, the assigned Deputy Probation Officer (DPO) will create the initial case plan with the youth/family after completing a Youth Level of Service – Case Management Inventory (YLS-CMI) risk assessment and a Youth and Family Assessment (YFA).  Based on the results of the aforementioned assessments, the DPO will determine which of the two case plans defined above (PY or SY) are appropriate.  Only the approved case plan templates shall be used.  Modifications to the case plan templates are not permitted. The DPO assigned to ongoing supervision of the case will complete case plan updates/modifications as appropriate based on the status of the case.  DPO shall document changes in case plan objectives in Monitor.  The effective date of all case plans is the date they receive the signature of the Supervising Deputy Probation Officer (SDPO).

SPECIFIC PROCEDURE:

  1. Initial Case Plan
    1. Case is assigned to DPO after petition is filed and report is ordered.
    2. DPO meets with the youth/family for social history investigation and has family complete YFA. DPO reviews YFA information with youth/family for completeness and accuracy. Completed YFA is forwarded to Administrative Assistant (AA) for processing.
    3. DPO completes YLS-CMI Assessment based on the social history investigation.
    4. Based on the results of the social history investigation and planned recommendation to court, the DPO determines which of two possible case plans to use with the youth/family:​
      1. Placement Case Plan – If the youth is in foster care placement or DPO is recommending foster care placement. Goal is to reunify youth or find youth an alternative permanent plan if youth cannot return home.
      2. Community Case Plan – If the youth is not in foster care placement and DPO is not recommending foster care placement.  Goal is to safely maintain the youth in the community by providing comprehensive case management services in order to reduce the youth’s risk of reoffending and address the youth and family’s areas of identified need.
    5. In collaboration with the family, DPO will develop case plan objectives based on the highest scoring criminogenic risk factors and other needs as identified in the YFA or other assessment tools such as the Child Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) completed by Behavioral Health (focus on 1-3 risk factors for low and medium risk cases and 3-4 risk factors for high-risk cases). The case plan should target criminogenic and other needs using available EBP interventions and services.
    6. Case plan should include the following:
      1. Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant and Time limited (SMART) objectives
      2. Services to be provided to the youth/family
      3. Dosage and duration of services
      4. Responsibilities of parent/guardian and DPO
      5. Responsivity issues (barriers to intervention)
      6. Planned level of contact by the DPO
      7. Signatures of the youth, parent, DPO, SDPO (NOTE: Case plans are not valid until signed by SDPO. Effective date of case plan is date signed by SDPO)
      8. Projected date for completion of case plan objectives
    7. Initial Community Case Plans should be completed on or before the date of the dispositional hearing but shall be completed no later than 30 days post-disposition.
    8. Placement Case Plans shall be completed within 60 days of date of removal (date of arrest resulting in foster care placement) or by disposition (whichever is first) when recommending placement or within 30 days of the court ordering placement if the department was not recommending placement.
    9. Copies of all case plans shall be saved in Monitor Document Management System (DMS).
    10. At the initial meeting, the supervision DPO, if different DPO from the one who created the case plan with the family, will go over the case plan with the youth/family to assess progress on objectives and revise objectives/target dates as necessary.
    11. During the review period, the DPO will continue to address progress on case plan objectives, make adjustments as necessary and document progress in Monitor journal notes.
    12. If circumstances of the case change at any time, resulting in a recommendation for or placement in foster care, the DPO shall re-initiate procedure starting at section 1(d).
  2. Community Case Plan Updates
    1. Case plans shall be updated a minimum of every six months or sooner than six months if at any time the circumstances of the case change resulting in the need for significant modifications to case plan objectives or services.  The updated case plan is only valid after all parties have signed case plan including the SDPO. (NOTE: if a youth is over 18, a parent/guardian signature is no longer required but should be obtained as a best practice if the parent/guardian continues to provide primary care of the youth).
    2. If the youth remains a SY at the time of the case plan update, SDPO closes the prior case plan enrollment with a designation of on-time cp or late-cp, depending on timeliness of update, then opens new case plan enrollment as pending with updated effective dates.
      1. EXCEPTION: Administrative track cases are exempt from case plan update requirements unless the case is being transferred back to an actively supervised caseload.
  3. Placement Case Plan Updates
    1. Case plans shall be updated a minimum of every six months regardless of age or sooner than six months if at any time the circumstances of the case change resulting in the need for new objectives or the case plan goal changes.  The updated case plan is only valid after all parties have signed case plan including SDPO.
  4. Transfer-in and Courtesy Supervision Cases
    1. The assigned DPO shall start at section 1(b) for all Transfer-in and courtesy supervision cases (intra-state or inter-state).
  5. Juvenile Hall Institutional Assessments and Case Plans
    1. Juvenile Hall is required to complete an assessment and institutional case plan within 30 days of detention for all youth and conduct reassessments and case plan updates at least every 30 days thereafter.  The case plans shall include objectives and time frames and identify programming for the youth as well as include transition and after care planning elements prior to release.
    2. An institutional Case Management Committee meets on Wednesdays at 12:30PM at Juvenile Hall to complete these assessments and the assigned DPO is required to participate in this meeting unless excused in advance by his/her SDPO.
    3. The assigned DPO will receive notification of the meeting from Juvenile Hall staff no later than the Friday before the meeting.
  6. Exceptions
    1. Case plan requirements for youth adjudicated for WIC 707(b) offenses are outlined in the Seeking Opportunity and Achieving Reentry (SOAR) program procedure.
    2. Case plan requirements for youth committed to the Coastal Valley Academy (CVA) are outlined in the CVA Case Plan procedure.

Attachment (1): Placement Case Plan Guide

Placement_CaseplanGuide.jpg