Private Agency Council Meeting – 4/24/14
Attendees: Melissa Cromwell (ODJFS); Lesia Krisa (Ohio Mentor/Alliance Human Services/OACCA
Representative); Karen McGormley (ODJFS); Kimberleah Starr (ODJFS); Andi Dahler (Pathway Caring for
Kids); Lesley Jones (NYAP); Colleen Tucker-Buck (ODJFS); Lindsay Williams (ODJFS); Jane Wusik (NECCO);
Tresa Young (ODJFS); Brenda Pack (House of New Hope); Gaye Crawford (ODJFS); Brenda MckinneyAllen (Adolescent Oasis); Tara Ricketts (ODJFS); Shellie Stolfo (CHOICES); Adrienne Willis (Bair
Foundation); Becca Gwirtz (UMCH); Rhonda Greer (Christian Children’s Home); Renee Williams (ODJFS);
David Beck (ODJFS); Ashley Berdine (Caring for Kids, Inc.); Teresa Davis (Lighthouse); Jessica Swaisgood
(Kids Count Too); Lucie Blumenthal (Adoption Circle); Pam Halter (Ohio Mentor); Amber Huber (ODJFS);
Kirsten Wilson (Pathway Caring for Kids)
Updates since March 27th meeting:
Colleen Tucker-Buck announced that she has been promoted to a position within the Federal/State
Initiatives Section and is no longer with the SACWIS Project Team.
Project Updates:
The JAD (Joint Application Design) sessions started on April 23, 2014.
An email was sent to all private agencies not on the Council to explain Phase Two of the Private Agency
Roll Out.
Private Agency Council member agencies need to return the Readiness Surveys by May 2 nd, 2014. The
Survey will assist the Integrated Project Team with planning development priorities and the
implementation process. All agencies now have a point of contact person at SACWIS. An excel
spreadsheet was sent out to council members. If members have any questions about the Readiness
Survey, please feel free to touch base with your contact person.
All potential pilot agencies have been sent the JFS 7078 forms to complete for new users. New users
will be provisioned and given User IDs as a preparation measure, they will not be able to access
homestudy functionality yet. If agencies complete a JFS 7078 for a user that needs immediate access
(for training or fiscal needs), please indicate that on the form.
Managing Expectations:
Tresa Young discussed issues and upcoming events that could affect implementation. ODJFS has a
Federal SACWIS Review in August, 2014. ODJFS must also submit the annual Advance Planning
Document Update to ACF in October, 2014 to authorize CY2015 SACWIS federal funding and schedule
priorities. The state funding cycle will begin in July 2015. Several critical projects currently underway
include: supporting Ohio’s new Integrated Eligibility system, replacing outdated code generator Optimal
J to ensure SACWIS has adequate maintenance support, requirements for the mandated Child Support
Interface and several other federally mandated functions. Organizational changes within the Office of
Information Systems and ODJFS have also impacted SACWIS staffing levels. While efforts to strengthen
the homestudy functionality are underway now, additional load testing and prioritization / resource
allocation will need to occur with agency leadership to plan and support full statewide implementation
of expanded private agency access. In addition, private agencies continue to express interest in
additional functionality and access (such as document imaging, online finger print / BCI interface checks
etc.) that are not included in the current project scope and are not funded at this time. Assuming
resources are available/dedicated, the team expects to move forward with pilot implementation for
Phase 2 Private Agency access in the coming year; however, a full statewide implementation plan has
not yet been scheduled/determined and will need to be negotiated with ACF and state leadership.
Review of Provider Counts and Vacancy Report 149:
A Provider Vacancy report can be filtered by provider type (foster care, adoptive care, kinship care).
The report includes the following information: agency supervisor, worker name, provider ID, provider
type, provider name, service limits, Available # of Placement Beds, Available # of Placement Cribs,
Vacancies and Acceptable Gender/Age. At the end of the report, the total number of providers, beds,
cribs and vacancies will be listed. The SACWIS team is upgrading the form to include information about
current children placed in each home. Participants indicated the report would be very helpful to them
in managing local resources.
General Questions
1. At the last meeting changes to the ORC with regards to waiving fingerprints were discussed, can
policy clarify?
Answer: Dave Beck reported Ohio was informed the waiver regarding fingerprints had to be
removed from ORC 2151.86 or Ohio would lose access to the FBI Database. Agencies must
attempt to have all adults in the home fingerprinted. As long as the agency sends two sets of
inked prints to the BCI office, the agency has complied with the rule.
2. Is there any way to have two supervisors within SACWIS? It would be helpful for our agency to
have this functionality without having one supervisor give permission to another supervisor
when the first is out of the office.
Answer: Two or more supervisors can be assigned to Providers in SACWIS. An employee can
only have one supervisor in SACWIS. Supervisors can also delegate other supervisors so they
can complete assignments for each other.
3. If a senior supervisor is assigning homestudies to assessors does the senior supervisor assign to
a supervisor who in turn assigns to an assessor or can a senior supervisor assign a homestudy
directly to the assessor?
Answer: As long as the assessor is in the Senior Supervisor's chain of command (even if it is two
or three levels above), the senior supervisor can assign work directly to the assessor.
4. Are caseworkers able to put daily notes into Sacwis?
Answer: There is current functionality that will allow recommending agencies to record a
provider activity log and then select Copy to Child's record checkbox and a copy of that activity
log will be populated on the child's case within SACWIS. If agencies will expect their
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caseworkers to enter these activity logs, then agencies should submit 7078 forms for those
users.
Will private agencies be able to see the child’s case and person information?
Answer: Private agencies will only have access to see provider information and children who are
in placement with the private agencies’ providers.
When will the pilot begin?
Answer: Development must first be completed and then a date for the pilot will be determined.
Can a location be added to the training report?
Answer: A defect to add the location has been logged.
Are agencies still able to be a part of the pilot?
Answer: Agencies need to submit their readiness survey ASAP and indicate their interest in
participating in the pilot. We will review all requests and let agencies know if they have been
selected for the pilot or not.
Reminders
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Please send samples of reports you are completing for PCSAs regarding monthly visitation. We
want to see what information you are capturing on them.
Please send any fiscal reports you are using.
For RAPBACK 2.0, please complete the excel spreadsheet and return to Gaye Crawford ASAP if
you have not done so.
Remove @jfs.ohio.gov from your spam folder as this could prevent you from receiving emails
from SACWIS and RAPBACK.
Next meeting will Thursday 5/29/14 at the AirCenter (4020 East Fifth Ave, Columbus)