Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Child Welfare Reform topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DCF outlines new child‑welfare requirements under Public Act 2,626 including mandated trainings and a data dashboard
Summary
DCF told the council that Public Act 2,626 establishes new grant programs, a paid social‑worker internship and mentorship program, several mandatory trainings (to be in place by Jan. 1, 2028 and completed by Dec. 31, 2028), and a required public dashboard and consolidated annual reporting; the department flagged funding and staffing implications.
The Department of Children and Families presented a lengthy review of Public Act 2,626 and its agency bill, detailing new programs, training mandates and reporting duties that the department said will affect staffing and IT work.
Vinny Russo, DCF’s chief of government relations and policy, summarized provisions that create grant programs for kinship and foster families, a paid social‑worker internship program and a first‑year paid mentorship for new social workers. He said the application criteria for the internship and related programs must be established by Jan. 1, 2027.
Russo described mandatory trainings created by the statute: perinatal mood‑and‑anxiety disorder training, updated human‑trafficking training (expanded and now required for contracted providers), and cultural‑sensitivity/implicit bias training. The statute sets an implementation date for training programs to be in place by Jan. 1, 2028, with completion by Dec. 31, 2028. "These were codifying existing practices in many cases," Russo said, but staff and training capacity must be scaled up.
DCF said the act requires a public online data dashboard and consolidates several statutory reports into a single annual report due Oct. 15 each year; DCF noted the Committee on Children will form a working group to determine dashboard content. The department said the budget includes $1.5 million in bonding to build the dashboard and two additional staff for background checks tied to a new parent‑managed‑learning (homeschool) background check requirement.
Russo also described statutory language (as amended) that prevents DCF from using evidence that a parent sought voluntary mental‑health treatment as the sole basis for child‑protective action unless the mental‑health condition creates a safety risk. He emphasized that the department’s practice already reflects that standard but the statute now codifies it.
On workforce and program funding, the presentation noted about $12 million in additional DCF funding in the second year of the biennium (including a $1 million foster care maintenance increase) and specific earmarks for community providers returned via budget line items. Russo and council members also discussed the feasibility study for PRTF‑level or inpatient facilities for youth with intellectual or developmental disabilities; DCF said the Office of Policy and Management coordinated the summer report that led to the statutory language.
The presentation closed noting some items will require further interagency coordination and that DCF will publish the required forms and timelines as staffing and IT work progress.
Sources: DCF presentation to the Behavioral Health Partnership Oversight Council.
