Statement of Arthur C. Evans Jr.

May 22, 2007

DHS has significantly improved its provider oversight and monitoring over the past several months and continues to take steps to further enhance oversight. DHS has implemented a monitoring program which provides oversight for contracted services on a regular basis; this is an improvement over the current system, which evaluates only on an annual basis. The more frequent monitoring will allow the department to identify problems sooner and undertake any needed corrective actions more quickly. This new monitoring process will be fully implemented within the next few weeks as additional staff is hired.

Also during these past months DHS, through the assistance of a national expert, has conducted a thorough evaluation of all SCOH providers who had a child fatality within the past three years. DHS is also completing evaluations on all SCOH providers. As of July 1 of this year, DHS is raising its provider standards to ensure an even greater degree of service and accountability to the families in our care. We are achieving this important goal by shifting from an evaluation model that measures our provider agencies' administrative compliance to a model that measures both service compliance and performance. This shift will enable DHS to ensure that services are of high quality and focused on child safety. In keeping with our new approach, since November 2006 DHS has terminated two provider contracts - those of MultiEthnic for all services and Women Christian Alliance's Treatment Foster Care program.