Children's Services Act Meeting Minutes

City of Suffolk Children’s Services Act Community Policy and Management Team Meeting Minutes February 15, 2023 9:00 am Social Services Building, Third Floor Training Room A Members Present: Mary Bess- Parent Representative Donna Boykin – WTCSB (Chair) Randah Gaitan – Administrative Analyst, City of Suffolk Kimberly Jennings – 5th District Court Services Unit (Vice Chair) Rachel Lewis – CSA Coordinator Saniyyah Manigault-Westbrook – Suffolk Dept. of Social Services Sheridan Meriwether – The UP Center (Secretary) Wendy Warfel – Assistant Director of Finance, City of Suffolk Members absent: Jenny Hodge – Tidewater Youth Services Commission Marli Laudun – Suffolk Health Dept. Stephanie Whitley – Suffolk Public Schools Guests Present: Roxanne Flamer – CSA Office Assistant 1. The meeting is called to order at 9:08 a.m. by Donna Boykin, followed by introductions and welcome of new CPMT member Wendy Warfel, Assistant Director of Finance for the City of Suffolk. 2. Motion made by Randah Gaitan to approve the January 18, 2023 minutes as written, and seconded by Kimberly Jennings. All are in favor and the motion passed. 3. Rachel Lewis reviewed the Financial Report as of February 15, 2023. CSA expenditures best projected amount at $1,905,186.93. A supplemental request to the State will be submitted next month. Motion made by Kimberly Jennings to accept Financial Report as written, seconded by Randah Gaitan. All are in favor and the motion passed. 4. CLOSED SESSION - Donna Boykin entertains a motion to convene a Closed Meeting for the purpose of discussing cases before the Family Assessment and Planning Team in accordance with the provisions in subsection A of ş 2.2-3711 of the Code of Virginia as amended in 2001 and 2005 respectively. Only applicable exceptions as provided in section ş 2.2-3707 or subsection A of Section ş 2.2-3711 are to be discussed. Kimberly Jennings motions to enter closed session. Mary Bess seconds motion to enter into closed session. All are in favor and the motion passed. 5. RETURN TO OPEN SESSION – Donna Boykin entertains a motion to move out of Closed Meeting. Kimberly Jennings motions to enter open session. Saniyyah Manigault- Westbrook seconds the motion. All are in favor and the motion passed. Donna Boykin  initiated a roll call certifying that to the best of each member’s knowledge only the following matters were discussed during the closed session: 1) public business matters lawfully exempted from statutory open meeting requirements and 2) public business matters identified in the motion to convene the closed meeting. All Affirmed. 6. Motion to approve all cases presented. Kimberly Jennings enters the motion, seconded by Randah Gaitan. All are in favor and the motion passed. Total amount approved: $94,701.80. 7. Old Business A. ARPA Mental Health Grant/Community Violence Initiative Update– Committee members met on January 31, 2023. The Community Violence Survey was distributed throughout the City of Suffolk during the holidays. Tony Jones along with members of VA Organizing collected over 50 surveys. He discussed the feedback received from citizens. Rachel Lewis has complied a report pinpointing the main concerns. The committee will receive an update at February’s meeting. Next meeting will be held on February 27, 2023 at 1 p.m. Suffolk DSS. B. Private Day Timelines – follow up discussion – Rachel Lewis facilitated a training on January 28, 2023 with school Social Workers to explain Private Day timelines. Referrals to CSA have not been received in a timely manner, questioning the payments of services already rendered. Some concerns are as follow: 1) How far back will CSA pay for services without a referral? 2) Is CSA obligated to pay for the services without a referral? 3) This could put a strain on Private Day providers not receiving payments in a timely manner 4) Suffolk Public Schools Representative have not attended the monthly CPMT meetings. Saniyyah Manigault-Westbrook will inform DSS Director of the concerns. Donna Boykin will reach out to Suffolk Public School Superintendent Dr. John Gordon via email and copy Rachel Lewis and Mr. Gordon’s Administrative team. There will be a follow up discussion at next month’s meeting. C. Draft of Revised Suffolk CPMT Benchmarks – Rachel Lewis presented an update. The draft was reviewed, Randah Gaitan enters the motion to move forward with the Suffolk CPMT Benchmarks 2023 discussed by Rachel Lewis, seconded by Kimberly Jennings. All are in favor and the motion passed. D. Items from Members – There were no items presented. 8. New Business A. CQI – a. Data by Service/Race/Amount for FY 2022 – Rachel Lewis presented data for discussion. In collecting data there are areas that could affect outcomes, such as: African American families receiving IVE funding due to lower income; resources made available, and decisions made by Judges. Saniyyah Manigault-Westbrook will see if IVE data is available to share at next month’s meeting. Wendy Warfel made note that when collecting data, you have to look at every spending source  to get more accurate data. That would include who mandates the funding and how it is allocated. b. CANS data – Rachel Lewis shared a PowerPoint on the importance of CANS. Data collected covered Key Intervention Needs overtime, Strength Development overtime and Average Impact. Overall the data showed great improvements for families and children receiving services. B. Items from Members – Donna Boykin informed the committee on Western Tidewater Community Services Board kickoff of the Behavioral Health Docket. This new program is being funded through Obici Hospital and the City of Suffolk. The kickoff will take place today, February 15, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. Suffolk Court Building. Saniyyah Manigault-Westbrook gave an update on Opioid Abatement Funds. The purpose of the funds is to help decrease the opioid epidemic in the Commonwealth through financial support from the fund. Mrs. Manigault-Westbrook along with other City of Suffolk staff have been tasked on how to use the funds. Donna Boykin sees a need for additional funding to operate Drug Court and asked that they reach out to the Drug Court Coordinator for feedback. Wendy Warfel thought making the funding competitive or hiring a consultant to oversee the funding would help. Kimberly Jennings updated the committee on Chesapeake Juvenile Detention Center no longer accepting referrals from Suffolk Court Services Unit after March 31, 2023. Chesterfield VA Detention Center has agreed to take referrals. She has also looked into other local facilities but due to shortage of staff, they are unable to take referrals at this time. Ms. Jennings also shared information in reference to the shutdown of Tidewater Youth Services Commission due to a ransomware attack. 9. Adjourn – CPMT adjourned the meeting at 11:52 a.m. Motion to adjourn made by Sheridan Meriwether, seconded by Kimberly Jennings. All are in favor and the motion passed. Recorded by Roxanne Flamer, CSA Office Assistant.