Accomplishments (continued)
Enhancing Child Care Investigations
CPI took a number of steps to enhance child care investigations during FY 2019. The Child Care Investigations (CCI) division began to develop two new units to improve the quality and efficiency of investigations. As a result, the Quality Assurance and Screening units will begin their work in FY 2020.
- The Quality Assurance (QA) Unit consist of one lead analyst and five specialist. The unit will develop tools and conduct qualitative case readings to monitor, track, and report items related to CCI policy. The staff will also conduct quality assurance case reviews to drive program improvement and identify any future quality assurance processes.
- The Screening Unit consist of one supervisor and five screeners. It will be responsible for screening intakes for residential child care investigations to determine the open intakes for investigation, downgraded them to non-abuse/neglect status, or administratively close them. Screeners prioritize cases by assessing safety and risks, and determining whether allegations meet the legal definition of abuse or neglect. The Screening Unit will also be responsible for notifying Child Protective Services (CPS) of investigations and initial screening for Complex Investigation Division referrals.
During FY 2019, CCI also took the following key steps to improve the skills and knowledge of its investigators:
- Developed the CCI Basic Skills Development training to transition new investigator training from Texas Health and Human Services to DFPS.
- Conducted the Support for Policy and Required Knowledge training tour to train all CCI staff on abuse, neglect, and exploitation rules, the new CCI policy, as well as program improvements and development.
- Held the Supervising with Intention and Mastery annual supervisor conference. The conference focused on:
- Advanced training for fatality and physical abuse investigations.
- Training on working with medical examiners by the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office.
- Advance training in forensic investigations.
- Training on background check enhancements.
- Leadership development and training on building high performance teams.
Also, CCI developed and published a resource guide to help supervisors or their designees with decision-making when prioritizing abuse and neglect intakes. It gives staff a consistent model for best practices and task-specific details to help them follow policies and improve risk assessment.