OIG inspects foster care services contractor

The OIG conducted an inspection of a Dallas-Fort Worth area community-based care contractor. The inspection was to determine whether ACH Child and Family Services (ACH) provided services to children in community-based care consistent with the Texas Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths 2.0 (CANS 2.0) assessment. The inspection objectives were to determine whether ACH (a) conducted CANS 2.0 assessments for children in community-based care as required by the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), and (b) provided services to children in community-based care timely.

ACH is a community-based care contractor for DFPS to coordinate support and services for children in the Dallas-Fort Worth service delivery area. As a community-based care contractor, ACH provides a full continuum of foster care services to Texas children in DFPS conservatorship. The CPS Handbook requires ACH to provide each child in its care who is between 3- and 17-years-old a CANS 2.0 assessment within 30 days of entering DFPS conservatorship. The CANS 2.0 is a comprehensive trauma-informed assessment designed to provide all those involved in a child’s care a thorough understanding of a child’s behavioral health needs and to make recommendations for support and services.

For the inspection, ACH could not provide evidence of a CANS 2.0 assessment for 12 children included in the sample. For the remaining 228 children in the sample, ACH did not always comply with the 30-day assessment completion contract requirement.

The inspection recommended ACH:

• Implement the tracking process in development during the inspection.
• Maintain a schedule to track CANS 2.0 assessment actual and required completion dates.
• Require CANS 2.0 assessment providers report to ACH when they competed CANS 2.0 assessment and monitor IMPACT for assessment uploads.
• Follow up with case workers for CANS 2.0 assessments that are not completed and are approaching the required completion date.

You can read the full inspection report on the OIG website.