                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

OFFICE OF CHILDREN&#8217;S SERVICES ESTABLISHED; POWERS AND DUTIES (§ 2.2-2649)

A. The Office of Children&#8217;s Services is hereby established to serve as the
administrative entity of the Council and to ensure that the decisions of the
council are implemented. The director shall be hired by and subject to the
direction and supervision of the Council pursuant to &#xA7; 2.2-2648.

B. The director of the Office of Children&#8217;s Services shall:

   1. Develop and recommend to the state executive council programs and fiscal
   policies that promote and support cooperation and collaboration in the
   provision of services to troubled and at-risk youths and their families at the
   state and local levels;

   2. Develop and recommend to the Council state interagency policies governing
   the use, distribution and monitoring of moneys in the state pool of funds and
   the state trust fund;

   3. Develop and provide for the consistent oversight for program administration
   and compliance with state policies and procedures;

   4. Provide for training and technical assistance to localities in the
   provision of efficient and effective services that are responsive to the
   strengths and needs of troubled and at-risk youths and their families;

   5. Serve as liaison to the participating state agencies that administratively
   support the Office and that provide other necessary services;

   6. Provide an informal review and negotiation process pursuant to subdivision
   D 19 of &#xA7; 2.2-2648;

   7. Implement, in collaboration with participating state agencies, policies,
   guidelines and procedures adopted by the State Executive Council;

   8. Consult regularly with the Virginia Municipal League, the Virginia
   Coalition of Private Provider Associations, and the Virginia Association of
   Counties about implementation and operation of the Children&#8217;s Services
   Act (&#xA7; 2.2-5200 et seq.);

   9. Hire appropriate staff as approved by the Council;

   10. Identify, disseminate, and provide annual training for CSA staff and other
   interested parties on best practices and evidence-based practices related to
   the Children&#8217;s Services Act Program;

   11. Perform such other duties as may be assigned by the State Executive
   Council;

   12. Develop and implement uniform data collection standards and collect data,
   utilizing a secure electronic database for CSA-funded services, in accordance
   with subdivision D 16 of &#xA7; 2.2-2648;

   13. Develop and implement a uniform set of performance measures for the
   Children&#8217;s Services Act program in accordance with subdivision D 17 of
   &#xA7; 2.2-2648;

   14. Develop, implement, and distribute management reports in accordance with
   subdivision D 18 of &#xA7; 2.2-2648;

   15. Report to the Council all expenditures associated with serving children
   who receive pool-funded services. The report shall include expenditures for
   (i) all services purchased with pool funding; (ii) treatment, foster care case
   management, community-based mental health services, and residential care
   funded by Medicaid; and (iii) child-specific payments made through the Title
   IV-E program;

   16. Report to the Council on the nature and cost of all services provided to
   the population of at-risk and troubled children identified by the State
   Executive Council as within the scope of the CSA program;

   17. Develop and distribute model job descriptions for the position of
   Children&#8217;s Services Act Coordinator and provide technical assistance to
   localities and their coordinators to help them to guide localities in
   prioritizing coordinator&#8217;s responsibilities toward activities to
   maximize program effectiveness and minimize spending;

   18. Develop and distribute guidelines, approved by the State Executive
   Council, regarding the development and use of multidisciplinary teams, in
   order to encourage utilization of multidisciplinary teams in service planning
   and to reduce Family Assessment and Planning Team caseloads to allow Family
   Assessment and Planning Teams to devote additional time to more complex and
   potentially costly cases; and

   19. Provide for the effective implementation of the Children&#8217;s Services
   Act (&#xA7; 2.2-5200 et seq.) in all localities by (i) regularly monitoring
   local performance measures and child and family outcomes; (ii) using audit,
   performance, and outcomes data to identify local programs that need technical
   assistance; and (iii) working with local programs that are consistently
   underperforming to develop a corrective action plan for submission to the
   Office and the Council.

C. The director of the Office of Children&#8217;s Services, in order to provide
support and assistance to the Children&#8217;s Policy and Management Teams
(CPMTs) and Family Assessment and Planning Teams (FAPTs) established pursuant to
the Children&#8217;s Services Act (§ 2.2-5200 et seq.), shall:

   1. Develop and maintain a web-based statewide automated database, with support
   from the Department of Information Technology or its successor agency, of the
   authorized vendors of the Children&#8217;s Services Act (CSA) services to
   include verification of a vendor&#8217;s licensure status, a listing of each
   discrete CSA service offered by the vendor, and the discrete CSA
   service&#8217;s rate determined in accordance with &#xA7; 2.2-5214; and

   2. Develop, in consultation with the Department of General Services, CPMTs,
   and vendors, a standardized purchase of services contract, which in addition
   to general contract provisions when utilizing state pool funds will enable
   localities to specify the discrete service or services they are purchasing for
   the specified client, the required reporting of the client&#8217;s service
   data, including types and numbers of disabilities, mental health and
   intellectual disability diagnoses, or delinquent behaviors for which the
   purchased services are intended to address, the expected outcomes resulting
   from these services and the performance timeframes mutually agreed to when the
   services are purchased.

HISTORY: 2000, c. 937, § 2.1-746.1; 2001, c. 844; 2002, c. 410; 2003, c. 485;
2008, cc. 38, 277; 2009, c. 275; 2012, cc. 476, 507; 2013, c. 1; 2015, c. 366;
2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 226.