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PEI Providers,
We understand you have a lot of questions and are working diligently to develop guidance to help you navigate providing supports to families while ensuring your health. Your health and well-being are of upmost importance to us, as is the continued support and opportunities you provide to families in your community.
In determining how your agency is going to respond to COVID-19, we encourage you to follow the instructions of your local health authority, agency policy and put the health of the public first. While DFPS has suspended all non-essential work travel through April 30th, including in-person training and gatherings of 100 people or more, we are still seeing clients and visiting people’s homes. We anticipate that many communities may face disruption to regular activities in the coming weeks, and we commit to working with you to plan for potential program and budget changes needed.
Maintaining contact with the children, youth and families we serve will continue to be an essential function for PEI providers. As such, we thought the following information would be helpful:
- Management should stay in close contact with your local jurisdiction regarding safety protocols to ensure a coordinated approach to service delivery.
- Continue to complete minimum monthly contact requirements as defined by your contract.
- Staff conducting any visits with youth/young adults/families or community partners in homes or offices should contact them by phone prior to in-person contact to inquire if there are currently any illnesses. If so, consider conducting client contact through alternate means such as phone, FaceTime or other virtual platforms that work for your agency.
- When planning for or at the time of a home visit, if a client or family member reports being sick, staff must inform their supervisor and discuss plan for alternate arrangements to maintain client contact until all members of the household are well (e.g. at least 24 hours with no fever, vomiting, etc.)
- To prevent stigma and discrimination, do not make exposure risk determinations based on race, ethnicity or country of origin and be sure to maintain confidentiality of people with illness and confirmed COVID-19.
- Wash hands or use hand sanitizer before and after home visits or meetings in addition to washing hands frequently.
- Limit physical touch (e.g. – shaking hands) with others.
- All contacts are to be documented accordingly, per typical practice expectations.
- Continue to offer or coordinate needed supports, such as needed financial supports, purchase of groceries through gift cards (e.g. – food, cleaning supplies, disinfectant, etc.) and other standard purchasing protocols. Continue to share information about other available community resources, information and referral networks, hotlines, etc.
- If it is believed that any of these decisions will have a detrimental effect for a child, youth or family, please elevate the concerns as appropriate.
- If it becomes necessary to modify the array of programs, or their method of delivery, in response to direction from your local public health official, you must notify your contract manager and program specialist so we can provide any necessary support.
The Administration on Children, Youth and Families has provided information to address and mitigate the spread of COVID-19; you can read their letter here.
For local assistance, see the listing of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‑19) Local Health Entities. Check the DSHS website for the latest details and what Texans need to know about COVID‑19.
We will continue to provide you additional information and guidance as it becomes available. If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at PEInews@dfps.state.tx.us
Warmly,
Sasha Rasco
Associate Commissioner, Prevention and Early Intervention
Texas Department of Family and Protective Services
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