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Working with State Legislators on Systems Integration

Working with State Legislators on Systems Integration. Steve Christian National Conference of State Legislatures. Outline of Presentation. Overview of state laws connecting child welfare (CW) with use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) Background on state legislators

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Working with State Legislators on Systems Integration

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  1. Working with State Legislators on Systems Integration Steve Christian National Conference of State Legislatures

  2. Outline of Presentation • Overview of state laws connecting child welfare (CW) with use of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) • Background on state legislators • Barriers/opportunities to engage state legislators

  3. State Laws Connecting Child Welfare and Substance Abuse • Definitions of child maltreatment • Drug-exposed newborns • Giving child dangerous drugs • Exposure to meth labs • Reporting of drug-exposed newborns or pregnant women who use AOD • Evidentiary laws • Drug use as evidence of neglect

  4. State Laws Connecting Child Welfare and Substance Abuse • Special treatment of CW cases involving substance use • Requiring court involvement • Requiring more stringent investigations • Grounds for TPR/not requiring reasonable efforts to reunify • Parent has history of drug use and refused treatment

  5. State Laws Connecting Child Welfare and Substance Abuse • Assistance/training/information for caregivers of children prenatally exposed to AOD • Foster/adoptive parents • Kinship caregivers • Coordination of initial responses to meth-endangered children by CW and law enforcement • Establishment of performance measures (e.g., percentage of CW clients getting needed treatment)

  6. State Laws Connecting Child Welfare and Substance Abuse • CW/AOD service integration/coordination • Require statewide plan for integration: IL, MD, OH • Prioritize services for parents of children in foster care: MI, NY • Create special CW treatment funds: AZ • Require demonstration or innovative programs: MN, PA • Creation of managing entity for provision of AOD services to CW clients: FL • Funding for integration strategies (e.g., family drug courts, AOD specialists in CW agencies (FL))

  7. State Legislators’ Ideological OrientationSource: Pew Center on the States (2003)

  8. State Legislators’ Policy Priorities (Other Than Balancing Budget)Source: Pew Center on the States (2003)

  9. Influences on State Legislators’ Policymaking DecisionsSource: Pew Center on the States (2003)

  10. Barriers to Engagement of Legislators External Barriers • Budget shortfalls • Competing policy priorities • Fragmented committee structure • Legislative turnover • Short sessions/part-time legislators • Limited capacity for ongoing oversight • Agency restrictions on legislative contact

  11. Barriers to Engagement of Legislators (cont’d). Internal Barriers • Agencies & Courts • Fear of micromanagement • Defensiveness • Legislatures • Mistrust of executive/partisanship • Unfamiliarity with CW and AOD issues • Unfamiliarity with status/concerns of tribes • Tribes: mistrust of state government

  12. Strategies to Engage Legislators • Institutional strategies • Joint standing committee hearings • Task forces/select committees • Standing oversight committees • Results hearings • Engaging individual legislators • Use data • Address constituent concerns • Connect with personal interests • Draw business parallels

  13. Strategies to Engage Legislators (cont’d) • Engaging individual legislators (cont’d) • Keep focus on desired results • Give them credit • Develop strong bipartisan champions • Be honest • Show how CW policy trends address conservative criticisms • Link CW/AOD to education, health, poverty • Invite them to court, site visits

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