Short-Term Assessment Support Services

Service Package Summary

Field	Details
Service Package Name	Short-Term Assessment Support Services · *Not eligible for Add-On Services
Setting	Foster Family Home
Permit Type	Child Placing Agency
Permit Services	Treatment Services: Emotional Disorders · Programmatic Services: Assessment Services · Special Services: Young Adult Care (If Child Placing Agency and Foster Family Home provides Extended Foster Care services)

Service Package Description

A trauma-informed foster home that in addition to providing a child's basic living needs, including food, clothing, shelter, education, vocation, transportation, recreation, and extracurricular needs, provides short-term coordination of comprehensive assessments and evaluations for children, youth, and young adults who may present as:

New to care, or transitioning from an unpaid placement, and where more information is needed to understand the child's custom service need(s). or
Returning to foster care after an unauthorized absence or unauthorized placement. or
Transitioning based on a recent, un-planned, disruption in placement; and
In need of further assessment(s) and evaluation(s) to identify an appropriate Service Package and subsequent placement.

The Short-Term Assessment Support Services Package is designed to offer community-based care, assessment, and treatment services for children, youth, and young adults based on their individual strengths and needs, and in accordance with their customized Service Plan and permanency goal.

Due to the type of services offered, a foster home offering the Short-Term Assessment Support Services Package may have no more than four children in foster care placed in the home at the same time, unless necessary to accommodate placement of a sibling group.

Service Package Expectations

In addition to, and/or consistent with Statutory and Minimum Standards Requirements:

Child Placing Agency must coordinate and ensure that comprehensive assessments, evaluations, screenings, and treatment services are provided within 21 days of admission (for children aged 5 and under) and 30 days of admission (for children aged 6 and older) and be based on the child's individual need(s) (dependent on eligibility, services should be authorized and paid for through STAR Health.) Authorization requests will be sent to STAR Health as needed for Medicaid-covered services. If services are Medicaid-covered services, providers must be credentialed and contracted with the STAR Health managed care organization.
Service Planning team meetings must occur in accordance with the provider's Treatment Model and based on the child's needs and permanency plan, but a Service Plan review must occur once at least every 30 days. As informed by the child (if appropriate), youth or young adult, and in collaboration with the Service Planning team, the Service Plan must include customized goals, and the planned service(s) and support(s) that will be provided to help with achievement of goals. Service Plan reviews must include documentation to show the progress made toward achieving each goal.
Evidence-informed Treatment Model(s) that incorporates trauma-informed care for children that have been the victim of abuse and/or neglect. The Treatment Model must include specific programming designed to meet the custom needs of children, youth, and young adults with varying service needs as the process of assessment is completed. The Treatment Model should be practiced throughout the operation and used as the basis to form all policy, procedures, and practices related to this Service Package. Children, youth, and young adults must be aware of, and all staff and Caregivers providing these services must be trained in, practice, and remain current with, delivery of the Treatment Model.
The Child Placing Agency must maintain a current Logic Model specific to the provision of the Short-Term Assessment Support Services Package, which is modified over time based on the Child Placing Agency's Continuous Quality Improvement process.
Due to the varying needs of children, youth, and young adults eligible for this Service Package, the Child Placing Agency must have case manager level or above staff available 24 hours a day/7days a week to respond in person, or by phone or video conference to any crisis that arises.
The child's CANS 3.0 Assessment must be administered in accordance with the requirements, but no later than 21 days (for children between the ages of 3 and 5) or 30 days (for children aged 6 and older) after entering the placement. Results of the CANS 3.0 Assessment must be used to inform the customized Service Plan and subsequent Service Package beyond the current Short-Term Assessment Support Services Package.
A Universal Human Trafficking Prevention Training for all staff and Caregivers. Children, youth, and young adults must receive information related to the prevention of Human Trafficking in accordance with the Child Placing Agency's documented and planned method.
Child Placing Agency is required to have an Information Technology (IT) System(s) that allows for data collection to support Quality Assurance, Continuous Quality Improvement, case management documentation, billing/invoicing, report, and child-level outcome tracking process, as well as tracking outcomes for children, youth, and young adults at the foster home level. The provider must have the ability to track Short-Term Assessment Support Services Package referral, admission, and discharge data by child, youth, or young adult, broken out by referral source (whether SSCC or DFPS), by the number and percentage of referrals that did and did not result in admission, the reasons for denial of admissions based on referrals, and for children that were admitted, the average Length of Service, based on the time from admission to discharge.
The Child Placing Agency must maintain Insurance in accordance with SSCC and/or DFPS contractual requirements.
Awake night supervision in foster homes where there are 7 or more children. Please note that a variance issued by HHSC-CCR is required for foster homes with more than 6 children.
Foster Family Home Caregivers offer enhanced logistical support, transportation, coordination, and documentation/record keeping of assessments to inform needed services in accordance with court orders and the Service Plan.
Child Placing Agency and Foster Family Home Caregivers must have enhanced knowledge and be skilled in assessing children, youth, and young adults via observation/interaction and use information collected to inform and coordinate services through STAR Health, HHSC Behavioral Health Services, CANS 3.0 Assessment, 3-day exam (if applicable), Early Childhood Intervention (if applicable), and other services as needed.
In collaboration with the Medical Consenter, the Child Placing Agency must document all services the child, youth, or young adult is receiving through STAR Health, HHSC Behavioral Health, Early Childhood Intervention, the education system, and any other county, community, or state agency. Requests for specific services determined necessary as a part of the CPA's Service Plan or Service Plan review, and for which the child, youth, or young adult is referred, and the service is not readily available and/or it is determined that the child, youth, or young adult is ineligible for the service must also be documented by the Child Placing Agency in the case record. This documentation should include the date the service request, application, or referral was made, the specific type of service being requested, and the status of the service request, including the reason provided for the denial (if applicable), and status of any service request appeals (if applicable). The Child Placing Agency should notify the SSCC or DFPS caseworker of any challenges encountered with access to services, and/or service referral denials within 3 business days. The Child Placing Agency should seek community resources to obtain any needed services that are not covered through STAR Health. If community resources are not available and/or STAR Health does not cover the needed service(s) consistent with the specific Service Package, and as outlined in the CPA's Service Plan or Service Plan review, the Child Placing Agency must ensure delivery of, and cover the cost of the needed service(s) and related supports.
This Service Package requires coordination and participation in school enrollment, including advocating for, and ensuring various educational testing and plans are completed, and accommodations and/or supports are in place to aid in the child's educational success.
Child Placing Agency and Foster Family Home Caregiver are required to coordinate care with the child or youth's medical consenter and is required to participate in STAR Health Service Coordination (dependent and based on child, youth, or young adult's individual eligibility).
Foster Family Home Caregivers must support Normalcy activities to include, but not limited to, clothing, hygiene products, hair care, birthdays, holidays, graduations, and other Normalcy activities that are age appropriate and in accordance with the Service Plan.
To the extent that it is safe and appropriate, and in collaboration with the DFPS or SSCC caseworker, the Child Placing Agency and Foster Family Home Caregivers must outreach to, engage, and collaborate with the child, youth, or young adult, their biological parents, other relatives (including all siblings), potential Kinship (including fictive) Caregivers, adoptive Caregivers, and supportive persons in care coordination and Service Planning throughout the duration of the child's placement. The Child Placing Agency must have policy that outlines the Child Placing Agency's family outreach and engagement approach and process for inclusion of all individuals previously listed, which includes working with the child, youth, and young adult to identify family members and/or other supportive persons and sharing this information with the SSCC or DFPS (if child is from an area not yet under CBC) caseworker. Family outreach and engagement efforts must be documented as a part of the Service Plan in the child's case record maintained by the Child Placing Agency.

Anticipated Length of Service

Length of service is Time-Limited: maximum stay is 30 days if the child is age 5 or under, or 45 days if the child is over the age of 5, with an option for one 15-day extension.

Although the maximum Length of Service guideline are established for this Service Package, the Child Placing Agency's policy must include an anticipated Length of Service for children, youth, and young adults served under the Short-term Assessment Support Services Package.

Staffing Requirements

Full-time Licensed Child Placing Agency Administrator dedicated to single Child Placing Agency.
Child Placing Agency must have a Program Director (this position may serve as the Licensed Child Placing Agency Administrator for the operation) that is responsible for the overall administration, operations, and management of services, including those inherent in the Short-Term Assessment Support Services Package.
Program Director must have a bachelor's level or above degree; at least 5 years' experience working in a residential childcare setting can substitute for education.
Child Placing Agency must have a Treatment Director whose responsibilities include supervision of Licensed Therapist on staff.
The Treatment Director must be either:
- Be a psychiatrist or psychologist.
- Have a master's degree in human services field from an accredited college or university and three years of experience providing treatment services for children with an emotional disorder, including one year in a residential setting; or
- Be a licensed master social worker, a licensed clinical social worker, a licensed professional counselor, or a licensed marriage and family therapist, and have three years of experience providing treatment services for children with an emotional disorder, including one year in a residential setting.
Identified personnel and infrastructure to support the following:
- Case Management
- Intake/Placement
- Staff Training and Workforce Development
- Staff Recruitment and Retention
- Crisis Management Staff
- Foster Family Home Caregiver Recruitment and Retention
- Licensed Therapist to oversee assessment coordination and service planning for children, youth, and young adults
- Education liaison for children, youth, and young adults in care
- Continuous Quality Assurance and Improvement Program
- Billing, cost reporting, and claims administration
- Cross-system coordination including, but not limited to, maintaining, and supporting the child's school, medical, dental, behavioral health, and other service needs. Must be well-versed in STAR Health services, particularly in the areas of care coordination and assessment to ensure that children with varying needs maximize benefits based on eligibility and meeting medical necessity criteria for the service(s).

Depending on the size of the Child Placing Agency, and subject to Minimum Standards and SSCS/DFPS Contract requirements, the identified personnel responsible for some of the tasks listed above may serve more than one function and may be under contract with the Child Placing Agency (as opposed to being employed staff of the Child Placing Agency).

If the Child Placing Agency chooses to contract for or enter into a written agreement for provision of any of the tasks, the contracted personnel must be trained in, practice, and remain current with delivery of the Child Placing Agency's Evidence-informed Treatment Model.

All Treatment Director and Case Management functions must be performed by actual employees of the Child Placing Agency.

Generally Appropriate Staff to Child Ratio

1 Child Placing Agency Case Manager for every 12 children being provided Short-Term Assessment Support Services.
1 Licensed Therapist for every 12 children being provided Short-Term Assessment Support Services.
1 Crisis Management staff for every 25 children being provided Short-Term Assessment Support Services.

Staff to Child Ratio(s) may vary based on an operation's specific Evidence-informed Treatment Model and dependent on complexity of caseload.

Hours of Operation

Admissions and placement staff on-call/available 365 days per year, 24 hours per day, to screen and admit children, youth, and young adults requiring Short-Term Assessment Support Services.

Desired Individual Outcome

Child Placing Agency must have clearly articulated child-level outcome expectations that tie directly to the operation's Short-Term Assessment Support Services Treatment Model, and support the following at a minimum:
- Child Safety,
- Child's Permanency Goal, and
- Child's Well-Being.
Child Placing Agency must have infrastructure in place to collect, track, and evaluate/analyze child outcomes, including being able to analyze outcomes based on individual foster family homes.

Admission Guidelines