Office of Children and Family

Services:
Permanency

Abigail Bagley, Grimmie Jones, Jade

Kruczek
Agency Services
Service Provided (Direct and Indirect)
The Maine DHHS Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS) is committed to helping create a future where all Maine
children and families are safe, stable, happy, and healthy. OCFS supports Maine's children and their families by:

OCFS supports Maine's children and families by:

★ Regulating child care facilities and providers

★ Assisting Maine families in accessing and paying for child care
★ Administering Maine’s child welfare system
★ Overseeing fostering and adoption services
★ Facilitating access to child behavioral health services
★ Making referrals to places like dentists, doctors, social workers (LCSW, counseling)
○ Referrals to drug court, rehabilitation programs, classes they need to attend, such as parenting classes.
Description of OCFS’ Primary Function

Permanency describes the steps to take when working with children and families
to achieve these permanent outcomes. It is divided into sections that are
specifically related to the different permanency options: Prevention Service
Cases, Reunification, Permanency Guardianship, and Other Planned Permanent
Living Arrangement (OPPLA).
Historical Development
 How, Why, and Where Did the Development of
Permanency Occur?

★ Happenings with child welfare

○ Orphan train
★ Charles Loring Brace, 1854
★ Permanency developed because of what happened to children who were
apart of the orphan train
★ 1912
○ Wasn’t until the 1900’s when permanency with families was really thought of
★ 1997 policy significantly changed permanency in child welfare
★ Where: Big cities like Boston, Massachusetts and New York City, New York
○ Train would go across states, happened everywhere.
○ Families used children for labor
■ Farming, knitting, sewing, etc.
 Historical Development of Permanency
Casework

★ From 1855 to 1875.

★ 1900’s
★ 1970’s-1990’s
★ Today
 Original Purposes and Changes that have
Occurred Within the Past 5 Years?

★ Original purpose

★ Past 5 Years

★ Timeline (next slide)

★ 2011
★ 2014-2015
 Are OCFS’ Purposes Related to Those of Other
Agencies in the Community?

★ Maine has 9 districts

○ 1 - Biddeford and Sanford
○ 2 - Portland
○ 3 - Lewiston
○ 4 - Rockland
○ 5 - Augusta and Skowhegan
○ 6 - Bangor
○ 7 - Ellsworth and Machias
○ 8 - Caribou, Houlton, and Fort Kent
○ 9 - Central Office Intake
What Entity Licenses, Accredits, or Oversees OCFS

★ The Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) is apart of the

Department of Health and Human Services.
○ Congress provides funding to federal agencies annually, a process known as budgetary
resources. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) allocated $2.99 trillion to
its thirteen subcomponents in the fiscal year 2023. Agencies commit to paying for things by
making financial commitments known as obligations.
 Is OCFS Affiliated with Regional, Statewide,
National, or International Organizations?

★ Indian Child Welfare Act

○ Working with indigenous people
★ Other states
Administrative Structure
Describe in Detail the Formal
Administrative Structure of
OCFS and Placement Area
Describe in Detail the Formal Administrative
Structure of OCFS and Placement Area
 What Are the Procedures for Staff Complaints?

We should notify our supervisor right away if we have concerns at work. We can
speak with our work unit's higher management if we feel uncomfortable bringing
up a problem with our supervisor. We can also contact the Program
Administrator too; her name is Christy Davis
Does OCFS Provide Liability Insurance for its Employees?

★ We have to sign a form (caseworkers) called the Release of Liability form

★ I couldn’t find anything about liability insurance, but I did find if caseworkers
are in a crash in a company vehicle, DHHS (OCFS) will pay for medical bills.
Routine In-Service Training and Professional Development?

★ There are trainings through the year that are mandatory, and some that are
optional
○ Optional is dependent on experience (some trainings are good for 2 years but they still hold
them for others)
★ OCFS also holds trainings in the office, usually on Tuesdays on things like
case plans, family team meetings, etc.
Trainings:
Does OCFS Have a Policy Manual, and Where?

★ All online

★ OCFS Brightspace - book of all policy and policy manual

★ Can ask for a paper copy

How Does OCFS Maintain Quality Assurance?

★ Policy that Maine goes by: Continuous Quality Improvement

★ Things OCFS does to maintain quality assurance
○ Eckerd Rapid Safety Feedback (ERSF)Model
○ Statewide CQI Focused Reviews
○ District QA Engagement
○ Utilization of Management Reports:
Policy Development and
Impact
How Are Internal Policies Developed and Implemented?

★ When implementing policies, they go by the Child and Family Services

Practice Model
○ Child safety first and foremost
○ Parents have the right and responsibility to raise their own children
○ Children are entitled to live in a safe and nurturing environment
○ All children deserve a permanent family
○ How we do our work is as important as the work we do
★ Maine Child Welfare Advisory Panel (MCWAP)
★ Maine Children’s Trust (MCT)
★ OCFS Child Welfare Business Process ReDesign (BPR) Collaborative
What Role Does Line Staff Have in Developing Policies?

★ OCFS has staff that are just for helping write policy
○ Workers can report to our policy workers about things that need to be changed,
but it is up to them to write them.
■ Alina Smith is the Child Behavioral Health Services (CBHS) Policy and
Process Improvement Manager
■ Charlene Musgrave is the CBHS Policy and Practice Specialist and is under
Alina
What Role Do Clientele Have in Developing Policies?

● Feedback (Needs, Wants, What worked or Didn't)

● Complaints
● Are previous policies discriminatory
● Voting
● Public Opinion
How Do Clientele Learn About Organizational Policies?

● Policies are listed online

● Put through voting/congress
● Handouts offered at visits/office
● Entering a DHHS Program Handout
Have There Been Recent Changes to Agency, Local, State,
and Federal Policies?

As of January 11 2023 Department Of Health and Human Services of Maine announce payment reforms for
behavioral health.

This policy aids in helping fund services as well as expand services in reference to case management, substance
use disorder and behavioral health

This policy would help with the cost of living adjustments and payment improvement for these services.

13 Strategies involved in this policy along with a 20 million dollar investment

Call for Separation of CPS and DHHS.

https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/blog/maine-dhhs-announces-historic-payment-reforms-behavioral-health-2023-01-11#:~:text=Effective%20for%20January%201%2C%202023,to%2072.3%20pe
rcent%20by%20service.

https://l.messenger.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmesenategop.com%2F2023%2F01%2F18%2Fsenate-republicans-call-for-major-changes-at-the-maine-office-of-child-and-family-service
s%2F&h=AT32HVcCgLpQQfiaeknmgY2xGtGeNzAGZt5DwywoS14uxhqCxldEq1LT10r5ZC14h5nHsFvtyQltXSa0bC0LdBrVpCc045oGVnfUDtoQ4Lrkb-_-OQX2U4LE1lEjrwcCkKBim14yNg
 How Has OCFS Responded to Recent Policy Changes that
Impact Clientele, Staff, Other Agencies and the Community?

Staff has been looking for more services to offer to clients that may have
previously not been available

Clients are now being offered, potentially and hopefully receiving care easier than
before for other things that before

This policy impacts the community as it allows people to get the services they
need which in turn can help them be a more impactful community member than
potentially before.
Agency Budget
What is the Funding Base of the OCFS’ Operation?

IV-E Foster Care/Adoption Assistance program

Federal Government

State Government
 What is the Budget Process Used at OCFS?

For money received through the federal government the process is:

Voting if applicable

Funds Found and Governor approves

Distributed to office

Distributed to needs
What was the Approximate Budget for the Past Fiscal Year?

2.84 Trillion Split between 13 pieces

Around 218,361,538,462
 Has OCFS Experienced Any Recent Budget Surpluses or New
Funding Opportunities?

Yes,
25 Million Dollars
https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/docs/highlights-maine-department-health-and-human-services-supplemental-budget-fy-2023-and-bienni
al

Has OCFS Experienced Any Recent Reduction in Funds or

Services?
No
Anti-Racist Practices
What Anti-Racist Practices are Evident in OCFS?

ICWA
 Any Barriers or Strengths at OCFS with Regard to
Anti-Racist, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Practices?

● A strength at OCFS is a requirement for all workers to have a good

knowledge and understanding of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), as
well as having a good relationship with the local tribes
● A barrier is the fact that a majority of workers and staff at OCFS are white,
so there is not a lot of racial diversity among the workers. This observation
is based off what we have experienced at the Bangor office.
What Steps Does OCFS Use to Ensure Diversity in its Hiring
Practices?

HR rules, when you apply you are asked about certain preferences in the
application process. It’s mostly based off of qualifications. Usually its a list of
names that gets pulled from
 How Does OCFS Handle Bias, and Reported Acts of
Discrimination and/or Hate Related Events/Experiences?

Supervisor addresses it one on one ASAP. If it continues, HR is involved

What Processes are Used to Assist Staff in Self-Reflective Practices
that Examine Personal Biases and Values, Cultural Awareness and
Cultural Humility, etc

Supervision is key in this. Supervisors make sure to look at professional

development and self reflection in the field and how to build on strengths and
work through difficulties
Ethical Social Work
Practice
 Describe Social Work Values Observed Thus Far Being
Practiced at OCFS

● Service
○ OCFS workers main goal is to provide aid to children and families who are in need in the state of Maine
● Social Justice
○ OCFS has specific policies in place that are designed to protect and adovocate for marginalized populations (BIPOC, LGBTQ+, etc.)
● Dignity and Worth of the Person
○ OCFS workers strive to prioritize clients dignity and seeing past their faults and working respectfully with them.
● Importance of Human Relationships
○ OCFS specializes in working with people and trying to preserve the relationships between family members, so this is one of the most important
tenets of social work for us
● Integrity
○ Integrity is key in maintaining client relationships, and at OCFS we have been taught to be as transparent with clients as we can be
● Competence
○ The work that we do at OCFS is incredibly important and requires a substantial level of additional training to do effectively, so a good amount of
competence is expected of all workers.
 If a Social Worker at OCFS Violates the NASW Code of
Ethics, How Might OCFS Address This?

It depends on how the violation fits within the core competencies (initiative,
teamwork, adaptability, planning and organizing work, decision making,
customer service, and interpersonal relations) and how it impacts you meeting
those. Next step would be counseling memos. They aren’t part of discipline, its a
statement of what the problem is, how it relates to the core competency, and
what the plan is to address that. That stays in the employees file for 6 months,
and prevents the employee from transferring. Memo leaves after 6 months,
unless issues continue in which HR would be brought in and disciplinary action
would take place.
 What Differences Might Exist Between Personal Values, OCFS’
Practicing Values, and NASW Code of Ethics?

A difference that I can think of is a worker feeling that a child should be taken
into state custody during an investigation. This might be a personal value/gut
feeling that the worker has, but OCFS requires certain levels of risk/evidence to
be present in order to rule that a child needs to enter state custody.
 How To Go About Resolving Differences if Employed as a
Full-Time Worker?

If there are differences or disputes between employed workers that cannot be

handled between the workers, then those would be addressed by the supervisors
of those workers and also potentially be referred to Human Resources.
Bibliography

https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/sites
/maine.gov.dhhs/files/inline-files/
District%206%20-%20Bangor.pdf

https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/re
covery/projects/ocfs-ccdbg.sht
ml

https://www.childwelfare.gov/
pubPDFs/cwigtimeline.pdf