DCF/ASO Interface Committee Meeting
July 5, 2006

Agenda:

Attendance: Heather Gates, CHR; Virginia DeVarennes, Yale Child Study Center; Cecilia Rowland, Yale Child Study Center; Irv Jennings, FCA; Kimble Greene, Catholic Charities; Reginald Simmons, The Village for Children and Families; Linda Roderick, The Village for Children and Families; Barry Kasdan, Bridges; Cathy Adamczyk, North Star Parent Support; Chet Brodnicki, Clifford Beers Clinic.

I. IICAPS Progress Report

A report was given on the action taken at the BHP Council meeting on June 14. Two resolutions were proposed and passed: one requiring a report to the Council in Jan. on the status of the program implementation through December 2006 and the other requiring a revised rate methodology to be proposed to the Council by February 1, 2007.

To assist with the on-going effort to reach a satisfactory resolution of the rate setting methodology and program implementation a work group composed of IICAPS providers, Yale Child Study Center, DCF program and fiscal staff, and DSS staff has been formed to address:

1. Billing definitions:  what is and is not billable, how this affects productivity expectations, how well is the billing process working etc.;
2. Clarification of the IICAPS model and the productivity assumptions as a result of the model;
3. Understanding of data being collected as well as additional data that needs to be collected to insure a meaningful report to the Council in January of 2007.

The meetings will be held at CCPA on July 20 and 27 from 9 – 12. Every IICAPS provider is encouraged to send two representatives: one who is very familiar with the IICAPS model and one who is familiar with the billing issues.

Discussion: There was some discussion about the long term implications of shifting from grant funding to FFS and how to keep this on the radar screen. Importance of tracking model integrity two to three years out, as well as, financial viability.

There is a need for Area Office training regarding the availability of slots given the new reality of the grant allocation. It was confirmed that Karen Andersson will be meeting with the Mental Health Program Directors to review this. This also raised an issue regarding the relationship to DCF when the grant money is no longer the dominant source of funding.

II. Other Agenda Items for the Committee

Discussion about the Outpatient registration and the length of time it is taking, as well as, duplication of data collection. This has been referred to the Operations Committee for discussion. Heather Gates to report back to this committee at the next meeting.

Heather Gates raised a question about the incident reporting requirement in the VOI contracts with providers. Where should this be addressed? Heather to follow-up with Karen Andersson for discussion.

The committee would like a report on the Area Plans developed by VOI at the September meeting. There was general consensus that the process at the local level may not have accurately captured the most critical issues. Heather to follow-up with Karen Andersson.

DCF gatekeeping function for programs previously funded by DCF needs to be discussed and clarified as additional conversions take place. This will shift the Area Office's role in relationship to the services being converted.

III. Program Conversion Criteria

The Committee started a brainstorming session on this topic. This is the beginning of the process for developing criteria to be presented to the Council for approval in the fall.

IV. Next Meeting

The next meeting will either be on Wednesday August 9 or August 16. Heather will send out an e-mail to see which date works for the most people.