AN OPEN LETTER FROM JEAN SCHAFER. . . .

                                                TO THE READERS OF THE CLA REPORT

            Dear Reader,

            CLA was originally perceived as a means by which Ohio Children Protective Services (CPS) workers could be empowered to gain control over runaway caseloads.  Unable to gatekeep continuing new referrals, CLA offered the ability to close cases utilizing a classification system developed by June Lloyd.  CLA became an integral component of a plan to improve service delivery through the usage of Risk Assessment (RA). 

            The first effort to implement CLA began in 1995 with the plan’s author, Jean Schafer of the Ohio Department of Human Services, contracting with June Lloyd to provide training and consultation to four project counties, i.e.. Lucas, Guernsey, Stark, and Licking.  Training was completed in Stark and Lucas Counties.  A non-supportive political environment,laced with new administrsation,  combined with the absence of on-site technical assistance stalled implementation of the project.

            The vision for an improved child welfare system was publicly regenerated in 1996 with the Protect Ohio project seeking program strategies to either represent managed   care or preferred practice that would prevent placement and/or reduce the time a child spent in out-of-home care.  Carole Smith, a prominent force in the previous project for Lucas County, and Schafer had continued to work in late 1995 and early 1996 to define the methodology and create a vehicle for implementation.  CLA was evolved from a system of closing cases into a way to deliver child welfare services. 

            CLA coupled with RA provides the opportunity to have a formal, structured methodology for assessing needs and strengths in an ecological scheme.  This assessment is then followed by family-centered strength-based practice to empower the family to help themselves and the child welfare agency to manage caseloads as a business enterprise.  CLA is also flexible enough that it is a managed care prototype to be directed and implemented by child welfare.

            The program design was  completed with the addition of concepts from Wayne Holder’s Workload Management.  Presentations were made, first to the Protect Ohio program committee and then to all fourteen counties participating in the project.  Seven of the fourteen counties embraced CLA as a primary program strategy.   ODHS provided funding through the Basic State Grant on Child Abuse and Neglect for a pilot to further develop and support CLA.  The ODHS RA & CLA Project Manager was Jean Schafer.  A personal services contract was struck with Smith to develop a curriculum and to train and consult with counties around family-centered, strength-based practice, using CLA as the primary methodology.

             CLA  was begun with gusto, enthusiasm, and energy.  It was led by Ohio child welfare experts and furthered through the voluntary participation of the involved Protect Ohio counties.  An invitation to participate was extended to the original four CLA counties and accepted by Guernsey County, a non-Protect Ohio county.

            A seven-step implementation plan covering a minimum commitment of one to two years was developed by the ODHS project manager , CPS staff, and contractors.  Training and technical assistance began in the summer of 1996 and continued throughout 1997.  A full-time trainer for RA, Carole Vesely, was added to assist the project counties on-site.  Consultation was provided to each county on a monthly basis by Schafer and Smith.

            It became apparent that the project needed a structured organization of its own to move toward institutionalizing CLA as a way to do business.  A retreat was sponsored by ODHS in 1998 with state and national experts participating.  The current structure emerged from that retreat.

             To assist in the local development and implementation of CLA a user guidebook was written by Jean Schafer.  Through the guidebook, training, and consultation, counties came to realize that CLA is more than a methodology.  It is the umbrella for all permanency efforts.  Using RA as the foundation, CLA provides the family-centered, strength-based direction for integration of genograms, ecomaps, concurrent planning beginning at intake, and family conferencing.  CLA also offers an agency the ability to manage caseloads by:

                        -balancing capacity and demand of staff

                        -identifying categories of needs of families

                        -determining level and duration of services and

                        -projecting dates for closure at the time a case is opened for services.

            CLA offers a model of practice for the twenty-first century and the future of families and children.             . 

            CLA is not a panacea or a quick fix that happens overnight.  To begin CLA, an agency must be committed to a gradual, longterm paradigm shift in practice.  The agency must be using a standardized decision-making process (such as Risk Assessment), have committed, strong leadership, have a stable environment, and must dare to do and to be better.

            Please feel free to contact the author for more information concerning the vision, program development and design, seven steps to success, a prepared curriculum, guidebook for implementation,  working within a bureaucracy, political implications, structuring of an agency, outcomes,  software support, project management, or funding.

            Congratulations to the Ohio CLA counties for working toward permanency for children--”the vision of making a positive difference in the lives of families and children.”

            Jean Schafer, MA, LSW

            Consultant, Trainer, Historian