Nevada now in compliance with child welfare standards, avoids big penalties
Nevada is now in compliance with national child welfare standards and will avoid significant financial penalties, state officials said Friday.
For Clark County alone, the potential financial penalty could have been about $2 million, county officials said.
The determination that the state now meets federal requirements comes after completion of an improvement plan implemented in recent years.
“Not only does the successful completion of the (Performance Improvement Plan) represent positive outcomes for Nevada’s children, it also represents a significant fiscal savings,” Amber Howell, administrator for the state’s Division of Child and Family Services said in a recent letter to Clark County Department of Family Services Director Lisa Ruiz-Lee. “As a result of completing all strategies and action steps, Nevada will not be charged any fiscal penalties associated with noncompliance.”
Nevada had a long road to achieving full compliance.
A Federal Child and Family Services Review was conducted in Nevada in 2009. The review focused on seven outcomes in the areas of safety, permanency and well-being, and seven systemic factors that affect those outcomes.
The assessment determined that Nevada failed to meet national standards for data indicators in areas including absence of maltreatment recurrence, absence of maltreatment of children in foster care, placement stability, timeliness in adoptions and permanency for children in foster care for extended time periods. The only outcome met by the state was for well-being.
The state developed its improvement plan and implemented it during a two-year period from Jan. 1, 2011, to Dec. 31, 2012.
But as of Dec. 31, 2012, the state had not met a national standard on absence of abuse in care. Officials with the federal Children’s Bureau gave the Silver State until March 31, 2014, to demonstrate compliance, according to a recent letter from federal officials to Gov. Brian Sandoval.
After submitting data in 2013 and 2014, the state was found to be compliant with the remaining goal of the improvement plan.
“As a result, the (Children’s Bureau) rescinds all associated (Federal Child and Family Services Review) penalties,” the letter reads.
In fiscal year 2014, $81 million in federal funding was spent on Nevada child welfare, according to Jill Marano, deputy administrator for the state’s Division of Child and Family Services.
Howell said the state was at risk of receiving financial sanctions for failure to comply with expectations set forth in the improvement plan. There is not a mechanism to withhold federal funds, just sanctions, she added.
“It is difficult to provide an exact amount of financial sanctions because it depends on how many areas are not completed or achieved to their satisfaction,” she said in writing.
Over the years, federal officials provided an estimated amount for the penalties on a quarterly basis based on what was left to be completed under the plan. The potential estimated penalties ranged from $1.6 million in 2011 to $362,266 in 2013, according to the letters.
Clark County Department of Family Services Assistant Director Paula Hammack on Thursday shared the positive news with county officials during a policy and fiscal affairs meeting for the department and the Clark County Department of Juvenile Justice Services.
Had Nevada failed to complete the improvement plan, it could have meant a $2 million fiscal impact for Clark County, she said.
“This is huge for the county as well as the state of Nevada,” she said.
Clark County Assistant Manager Jeff Wells said it was “excellent news.”
“We rely heavily on federal funding,” he said.
Family Services receives money from three sources — federal, state and county.
Federal funding represents close to a third of Family Services’ budget, but it varies every year, Wells said. The agency’s annual budget is $155.4 million, including grants.
The findings from the 2009 statewide review came from looking at documents and data including a review of 62 foster and in-home services cases: 18 cases in Carson City, 26 cases in Clark County and 18 cases in Washoe County.
Contact Yesenia Amaro at yamaro@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440. Find her on Twitter: @YeseniaAmaro.
