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Level
of Care System of Placement
December 2002
The Level
of Care System of Services (LOC) is being developed to facilitate the
needs of at risk children. Under development since 1998 by public and
private collaboration including DHR, DJJ, and private providers, the LOC
plan has won wide consensus. This system of services for children will
facilitate the goals of the state and providers and most importantly the
children, that we are committed to serve.
As Georgia struggles with it's child welfare crisis, placement options
continue to challenge the State. Too many children are coming into a
system that is ill equipped to provide the care and nurturance that
Georgia promises to it's abused and neglected children. Georgia’s foster
parents are doing a heroic job of providing care to an increasing number
of foster children. Foster homes are often over burdened with too many
children with multiple issues. Group homes, too, are challenged to take
children that are beyond their capacity to provide specialized services
and care. We know from the State's First Placement/Best Placement data
that foster children with mental or behavioral issues are not likely to
get the type of placement that they need.
In the ideal world of child welfare, foster children would be able to get
their placements determined based upon their needs. In this ideal world,
these services would follow the children, whether they were at home, in
foster care or in group home placements. Each child would be served in the
least restrictive, most family-centered and community based setting that
meets his/her treatment needs and ensures the safety of the child, the
family, and the community. Wrap around services would support a child
whether he/she were in foster care or group home placement. Quality,
efficiency and efficacy would be assured by a system of competitiveness,
accountability, licensing and adequate funding. In the real world, this is
not the case, but rather is the exception.
Because of these deficit, a Level of Care System for Placement of foster
children was proposed by the Department of Human Resources in
collaboration with others. Level of Care (LOC) would guarantee that a
child’s first placement would be the child's best placement. As a child
enters the system, each child would be “leveled” to reflect their needs.
Attached to each level would be resources and services to address those
needs. The assessment of the child would determine what level of services
a child needs in order to succeed in their placement of choice. The level
would assure that the child has the resources to get the services in
whatever placement the child is assigned.
This
proposed system of placement and services would be what we would want from
our own children. It is a system that we should demand for our foster
children. Governor Elect Perdue would do well to consider this system as
he looks for reform of Georgia’s child welfare system.
More
information of Level of Care can be found at:
http://www.gahsc.org/nm/pp/perdiem/ppratestrat.html
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