18 Miss. Code. R. 6-1-A-I-III
The official activities of and services provided by DFCS Direct Service Workers ? Child Welfare Services - compose DFCS "workload". Workload is measured by computation of the amount of time required to provide or complete defined service-related activities and service types. Each service-related activity and service is assigned a workload value based on established weights and standards derived from the average amount of time determined to be required to adequately and effectively provide or complete the service-related activity or service type measured on a month-by-month basis.
Workload varies, day-to-day, and is measured monthly. By determining the amount of time required each month based on reported workload and dividing the amount of time available by a Direct Service Worker each month to complete the work reported, the number of Direct Service Workers needed is determined. Workload is reported for each Direct Service Worker, each county, each Region, and Statewide, and the number of Direct Service Workers required to complete the work reported at each level ? county, region, statewide ? is therefore determined each month.
Caseworkers
The official standard for a full caseload at MDHS/DFCS is 100 Caseload Units which constitutes 6,960 workload minutes per month. This standard is derived from a determination that Direct Service Workers have 116 hours (6,960 minutes) of time each month to dedicate to official workload activity ? that is, to caseload.
Acknowledgements:
Continuous effort must be expended by the Regional Directors (RDs) and Area Social Work Supervisors (ASWSs) to:
Supervisors
Supervisors shall be directly responsible for supervising no more than five (5) Direct Service Workers. Supervisors shall not be assigned primary responsibility for providing direct casework services for any case, except in cases of extenuating circumstances which shall last for no more than four (4) weeks and have been approved in writing by the Office Director of Field Operations after consultation with the supervisor's RD to ensure the continued proper supervision of the impacted Direct Service Workers.
Regional Directors
RDs shall be responsible for the ongoing validation of cases and validation of workloads. They will ensure that all cases in an open status meet the policy criteria for that case type. They will ensure that valid workloads are distributed as fairly and evenly as possible. This validation will be accomplished through formal case and workload validation plans which will be developed jointly between RDs, ASWSs and state level program staff. These validation plans shall be developed annually and approved by the Office Director of Field Operations.
Service Types - and the assigned standard for each in minutes and Caseload Units are as follows:
Service Type | Minutes | Caseload Units |
Adoption COS | 300 | 4.3 |
ICPC Incoming | 106 | 1.6 |
ICPC Outgoing | 106 | 1.6 |
Placement COR | 254 | 3.7 |
Placement R&S | 507 | 7.3 |
Placement COS | 253 | 3.6 |
Prevention COR | 138 | 2.0 |
Prevention COS | 137 | 2.0 |
Prevention R&S | 275 | 4.0 |
Protection Services COR | 210 | 3.0 |
Protection Services COS | 200 | 2.9 |
Protection Services R&S | 410 | 5.9 |
Case Management Intake | 59 | 0.9 |
Court Ordered Relative Application | 282 | 4.1 |
ICPC Application | 282 | 4.1 |
Investigation Level 2 | 484 | 7.0 |
Investigation Level 3 | 484 | 7.0 |
General Intake | 59 | 0.9 |
Resource Inquiry | 59 | 0.9 |
Adoption Addendum | 191 | 2.8 |
Foster Home Addendum | 191 | 2.8 |
Resource Home Study | 470 | 6.8 |
Resource Home Supervision | 140 | 2.0 |
Resource Renewal | 191 | 2.8 |
For information on County of Responsibility (COR) and County of Service (COS) and for Adoption, Placement, Prevention/Protection and Interstate Compact Placement of Children (ICPC) see Policy Manual Sections C, D, G, and H.
The following are some of the services that may be available, either through direct service provision, contract, collaboration with, or referral to other service providers.
Prevention Services - provided to families when support services are identified in the initial safety assessment. These services are not court ordered and Workers monitor the family's progress on the Family Service Plan.
* Emergency Shelters
* Licensed Relative Homes
* Licensed Foster Homes
* Therapeutic Foster Homes
* Therapeutic Group Homes
* Residential Treatment Facilities
* Specialized Treatment Facility (located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast)
* Individual and Family Counseling
* Parenting classes
* After School Programs
* Tutoring Services
* Healthy Marriage Classes
* Fatherhood Initiative
When specific individualized needs are identified for a child or parent that are not covered by Medicaid or other funding sources, flexible funds are available through the region or county. Services provided through these funds include private sitters, attorneys' fees, braces, utility bills, food, clothing, tutoring services, speech therapy and others.
When Interpreter Services are needed for any language, the worker is required to contact the Interpreter Supervisor in the Resource Development Unit in State Office during working hours. The contact numbers and a current list of available Interpreter Specialists for each region are listed on the DFCS connection website (http://dfcsmacweb/DFCSWEB/Resource.htm) under Resource Development-DFCS Interpreter Specialist. Interpreters are on call for the Mississippi Centralized Intake Unit at 1-800-222-8000 available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. DFCS is committed to providing culturally competent interpreter services to clients with Limited English Proficiency in the areas of prevention, protection and permanency planning.
DFCS has Spanish Interpreter Specialists on staff and a Supervisor over the Interpreter Program. Each Interpreter Specialist will be responsible for providing all interpreting needs to their regions. In the event the language needing interpreting is not Spanish or if an Interpreter Specialist is not available at the time needed; the use of an agency approved contract interpreter could be required. The use of any agency approved contract interpreter will be decided upon by the Interpreter Supervisor. All contracts and their details will be handled by the Interpreter Specialists/Supervisor regarding all agency approved contract interpreters.
* Professionally qualified and proficient Spanish interpreters that are on staff with DFCS are also on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to respond to the Mississippi Centralized Intake Unit for interpreting incoming calls of abuse and neglect for Spanish speaking reporters.
* Other reporters with Limited English Proficiency shall be referred to agency approved, interpreters who have completed orientation training through the DFCS Interpreter Program or any contract service organization which offers similar orientation training to their bilingual employees and volunteers.
* During the investigation of clients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), all interviews and or direct contact with LEP clients shall be conducted with the assistance of an agency approved interpreter, unless an immediate safety plan must be made in order to maintain the safety of the child prior to the arrival or contact of the approved interpreter.
* Children or family members who are involved in the case may not be used as interpreters for the agency or the client; however, family members may remain present at the family's request. In the event that there is no agency approved, interpreter available, a family member, other than a child, may be used as an interpreter until the agency is able to provide an agency approved non relative interpreter.
* All forms that require a client's signature shall be interpreted and/or translated in the client's native language and must be discussed with the client with assistance of an agency approved interpreter present or on the telephone.
* An agency approved interpreter must be present or interpreting over the telephone during all case planning activities conducted with clients, including but not limited to, family team meetings, home visits to discuss case planning activities, family visits, and with the child and/or parents. Family members can be present to represent the family; however, an agency approved interpreter shall be present or interpreting over the telephone.
* All court proceedings for LEP clients must have an agency approved interpreter present. Relative interpreters can be present to represent the family; however, an agency approved interpreter shall be present.
* All case planning documents, including court orders, individualized case plans and other documents shall be interpreted and/or translated in the client's native language and discussed with the client with an agency approved interpreter present or over the telephone.
** Efforts to provide bilingual or interpreter services must not delay or interfere with any actions necessary to:
* Protect the children from harm or risk of harm; or
* Comply with legal requirements.
DFCS provides professionally qualified and proficient interpreters to all clients with LEP. Interpreters who are fulltime employees of the agency shall complete Pre-Service Training with frontline Workers in order to better understand and communicate the agency's missions, goals and policies to clients with LEP. Professionally Qualified and Proficient Interpreters are defined as follows:
* Professionally Qualified Interpreter- Professionally Qualified Interpreters are individuals who possess an educated, native-like mastery of both English and a second language; display wide general knowledge of the language, characteristic of what a minimum of two years of general education at a college or university would provide; one year of interpreting, and perform the three major types of interpreting: sight translation, consecutive interpreting, and simultaneous interpreting. In order to be employed with the agency, this Worker must possess at least a bachelor's degree from a 4 year university.
*Proficient Interpreters- A Proficient Interpreter does not qualify as a professionally qualified interpreter, but can demonstrate the ability to interpret proceedings from English to a designated language and from that language into English.
18 Miss. Code. R. 6-1-A-I-III