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SSIS version 20.3 will be released statewide on Wednesday, Aug. 26. This version will include:
- A new Pregnant/Parenting Youth Folder and functionality.
- A new Minor Parent Assessment and Service Plan that replaces the Adolescent Parent Assessment and Service Plan.
- New requirements to have a valid Physical Location and County for Business Organizations and Providers to help locate children in placement.
For more information please review training materials on the SSIS Worker Release Training page and release notes on the SSIS Release Notes page.
On Tuesday, Aug. 18, Jody McElroy, MAPCY Program Consultant, and Molly Koehler and Melissa Meger, SSIS Fiscal Subject Matter Experts, presented an overview of Minnesota Assessment of Parenting for Children and Youth (MAPCY). Reference materials included:
The next Coffee Talk, MAPCY Post Permanency, is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 29 at 9 a.m. Registration will be open until Monday, September 28 at 4:30 p.m.
Questions or suggestions regarding Coffee Talks can be directed to Heide Moris, heide.moris@state.mn.us.
Users have reported an intermittent technical issue impacting adult maltreatment reports. The issues results in two adult maltreatment reports with the same call center report number entering the unassigned intake log at different times. The SSIS technical team has identified the cause and is will include a fix for this issue in the V20.3 statewide release on Aug. 26. All technical issues should be reported to the SSIS mentor.
Do not delete either of the reports. Both reports will need to be screened. The SDM Intake Assessment Tool will promote consistent intake screening decisions in the event a duplicate report is received. Duplicate reports can be verified by searching the call center report number in the intake search.
An SDM Intake Assessment discretionary override is necessary if the report is being screened in. To address this current technical issue, please use discretionary override “duplicate of report already screened.” County report action would be “No” for accepted for investigation. A Case Note should be entered in Chronology to indicate the action taken by the LIA due to the duplicate technical issue. Close the intake workgroup as "not accepted."
For questions, contact your APRS at dhs.adultprotection@state.mn.us.
As Relative Custody Assistance (RCA) is phased out, each county will reach a point where they are no longer required to submit an RCA Report. RCA children will either age out, receive a commissioner transition to Northstar Kinship Assistance or discontinue care.
Counties must continue reporting as long as they have RCA clients, including those with an RCA Payment Worksheet that has an RCA payment amount of $0 and therefore not currently receiving an RCA Payment.
After five RCA Reports with $0 in claims and no remaining RCA clients, counties should notify the SSIS Help Desk by the last day of the quarter that they are no longer required to submit the RCA Report. SSIS Fiscal staff will verify that five $0 reports have been submitted and the county does not have any RCA clients with a $0 RCA Payment Amount on the RCA Payment Worksheet and make necessary changes in SSIS. The county will then be notified that the End Date has been entered and they are no longer required to submit the report.
Please see DHS Bulletin #20-32-01 (May 14, 2020) for details.
The following SSIS tutorials have been revised and re-branded by the SSIS training team and added to the SSIS Worker Documentation Page:
- SSIS Admin Tutorials: SSIS Administration Overview, SSIS Administration Functions, Departments, Locations, Users and Units.
- Documents and instructions for Horizon, Tableau, External Worker Setup and Time Entry have been added under the Admin section as well.
- Northstar Kinship Workflow.
- Northstar Adoption Workflow.
Workers have the ability to revise and make adjustments to existing MAPCY records when a new MAPCY is required. The Revise MAPCY function is used to modify the needs or indicators of an existing assessment while maintaining the same effective date. This may be useful and appropriate for the following scenarios:
- When there is an appeal.
- When SSIS templates change.
To revise an existing MAPCY record, select Action>Revise MAPCY. On the MAPCY setup tab, verify that the associated placement is correct. Carefully review the revised MAPCY and make appropriate adjustments. Remember: a revised MAPCY keeps the same effective date as the original.
Workers have the ability to copy and make adjustments to existing MAPCY records when a new MAPCY is required. The Copy MAPCY feature allows you to keep the same information, yet allows the assessor to change the needs and indicators selected. This may be useful and appropriate for the following scenarios:
- When completing a reassessment.
- When the SSIS template changes.
- When a child changes placement (the assessor MUST select the correct placement setting).
To copy an existing MAPCY record, select Action>Copy MAPCY. On the MAPCY setup tab, verify that the associated placement is correct. Carefully review the copied MAPCY and make appropriate adjustments. Remember: a Copied MAPCY must have a different effective date selected!
The SSIS Help Desk does not delete MAPCY records. However the Help Desk will set it back to draft status in certain situations. Once a MAPCY is set back to draft, it the agency may delete the MAPCY or make the appropriate adjustments. If there are payments associated to the MAPCY, the data fix request will be denied. .
We advise workers to consider the Copy MAPCY or Revise MAPCY functions prior to requesting a data fix. MAPCY data fix requests are the very last resort.
Please contact the SSIS Help Desk if you need assistance or have any questions.
The Adoption Assistance Eligibility Determination logic is not considering whether there has been a prior transfer to tribal court when determining whether ICWA Adoptive Placement Preferences are required when a county agency is financially responsible for the placement, but the tribe has legal responsibility. Please see current work-around for County Agencies.
Secondly, for the question “ICWA applies” SSIS should automatically recognize that ICWA does not apply to children receiving services provided by Initiative Tribes using SSIS and should auto-fill as “No”, without workers entering ICWA records for these children. Please see the current work-around for Initiative Tribes.
These issues will be fixed in a future SSIS release.
There was a time when a request to pilot the new SSIS release made us run in fear. Those days are gone. Things have changed so much that there are more advantages to being a pilot county than not. We have participated in many pilots over the last few years, including two while tele-working during COVID. There is little to no impact in our day to day operations. We receive the initial pilot version and a checklist and then two weeks later there’s an update. That update is usually the final product that will be rolled out to the state. The checklist contains a list of things our workers do on a regular basis, so there’s no real additional work. On occasion we will be asked to test something specific if we’re able. We have weekly calls with the state, including with worker and fiscal business analysts, testers and help desk staff. They are very attentive to issues, questions and even ideas.
If you haven’t volunteered to pilot in the last few years, I would urge you to do so. There are some really great advantages, like building a relationship with the people at the state and having a strong voice in making sure things work well in the production environment.
- Joy Beebe, Freeborn County, SSIS pilot agency for V18.4, V19.2, V19.4, V20.2 and V20.3.
Contact Lisa Litchfield if you are interested in piloting a future release.
The Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy (MNCWTA) is now accepting applicants for a part-time graphic designer.
The Graphic Designer (Marketing/Communications - Graphic/visual Design, 8342GD) is a 50% FTE University of Minnesota employee positioned in the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) at the School of Social Work. CASCW has joined the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) in a joint project to co-create and operate the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy (MNCWTA). The Graphic Designer is responsible for creating graphic design for the day-to-day support of promotion and communication materials that will be used within and outside of the Academy. The Graphic Designer will provide support in the establishment and ongoing operations of the new Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy.
To access the job posting, visit the U of M employment website and follow the Apply Now! instructions. Enter the Job ID 337219 in the search field. You will be given the opportunity to complete the online application and attach a cover letter and resume. Please also include a design portfolio. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. If you have questions contact us at info@mnchildwelfaretraining.com.
SSIS Fiscal Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) Melissa Meger and Molly Koehler are available to provide virtual assistance at no cost to your agency. Following are examples of topics they can provide assistance with:
- Child Foster Care Report
- RCA Report
- TCM CSR Report
- SEAGR Report
- Bridging the Gap Presentation - Worker and Fiscal Staff
- Healthcare Claiming
- CW-TCM, MH-TCM, Rule 5, VA/DD, Waiver/AC
- MAPCY
Contact the SSIS Help Desk to set up a time slot with Melissa and Molly.
The Family First and Prevention Services Act (FFPSA) requires that all staff working in a Title IV-Group Children’s Residential Facility (CRF) receive fingerprint-based “Adam Walsh” background checks in order to meet Title IV-E child safety requirements.
To assist counties and initiative tribes with claiming Title IV-E reimbursements for these placements, we will periodically update the list of facilities that have met the background checks safety requirements.
Click here for an updated list of facilities in compliance
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