Greetings, union brothers and sisters. On February 27, 2025, UPE met with the department to continue discussing using a new form for Family Support Planning. Since this meeting was with a whole new team, UPE brought them up to speed on what was discussed the last time we met, which was to scrap the entire back side of the form. This side of the form consists of the same information that can be found in an Action Plan along with a section for signatures from parents/guardians/caretakers, Social Worker, and Support Network.
The department agreed that the front side of the form would be similar to the closure letter from Emergency Response (ER), not Informal Supervision (IS) with the recommended services, and the back side is similar to the Action Plan that IS creates at the time of PCFT. UPE also pointed out that if this form is not legally binding, what would be the point of having the participants sign it?
Here is the agreement that UPE and DCFAS/CPS concluded with. The form is optional in the following situations: ER Social Worker assesses and decides the form is unnecessary, the family declines to participate, participation will facilitate the Support Plan, and will take the place of the closure letter for IS SW. The Support Plan will come in digital and hard copy format and will need to be uploaded to CMS/CWS.
Thank you for your advocacy, Sarah Singleton and Eric Booker
