Please note: This is a Sole Source Notification. This is a notice of intent to award a contract as a sole source to: Social Current for re-accreditation services for DCFS. Accreditation has improved the agency policies and practices as the accreditation process ensures that policy and practice are consistent with only the highest best practice standards. Accreditation for DCFS has improved the agency's standing with it's stakeholders and with the general public. Improved casework practices within the Department have contributed to improved outcomes for the children and families serviced by the Department. This results in children spending less time in care and in financial savings to the Department. Being accredited ensures that Department's policy and case practices are consistent with nationally recognized best practice standards. It ensures consistency in practice and services to children and families from office to office across the state with improved case practice comes improved outcomes for the children and families served. Being accreditated insures that Dept. policy and case practices are consistent with nationally recognized best practice standards. It insures consistency in practice and services to children and families from office-to-office across the state and with improved case practice come improved outcomes for the children and families served. DCFS is considered a leader at a national level in the area of accreditation, having been only the 2nd state to become accredited through Social Work/COA and the first state to be successfully re-accredited. The benefits of having gone through the accreditation process cannot be overstated as it first involved a comprehensive top-to-bottom analysis of agency policy and practices. Several policies have been updated and new ones developed in an effort to meet the high standards exemplified in the Council's standards. Agency practices have had to keep up with the improved policies. The Department's commitment to having each office undergo individual on-site reviews by Social Work/COA have also insured that casework practice is impacted not only at a broad systematic level but at the individual caseworker level as well. This has resulted in an improved standing with Dept. stakeholders including staff, foster and adoptive parents, community providers as well as the general public. The specifications required that a number of peer reviewers from outside of the state come to facilitate the review process. These entails the travel and expenses for those reviewers during their stay to complete the review. The flat rate covers all costs and expenses of the Site Visit, including, but not limited to, travel, hotel, meals and incidentals. A minimum of two (2) Peer Reviewers for two (2) days will be assigned to review Central , Cook, Southern and Northern Region. Below are the scheduled accreditation related fees: The included Re-accreditation Fee represents payment 1 of 3 or 33% of the total re-accreditation fee that will cover all expenses for Social Work/COA staff to provide ongoing technical assistance by phone, desk reviews, and all materials and resources in ILDCFS' implementation of social work/COA's Standards for Public Agencies for a period of five (5) years. There are additional Maintenance of Accreditation Fees paid annually for any site not undergoing a review that year, as well as reviewer fees of $5000/reviewer/review when a site is under review. All travel is subject to the Governor's Travel Control Board regulations. The Social Current/Council on Accreditation is the sole vendor nationwide that accredits Child Welfare Agencies in three program areas: Child Protection Services, Foster and Kinship Care, and Adoption. This vendor is the only provider of this service and therefore have been used by the agency consistently in the past. The Department utilized the Social Current/Council on Accreditation as a standard agreement for various lawsuits and to adhere to the BH Consent Decree. At one point, the department had 19 lawsuits that could not be qualified based on different interpretations of Services. Social Current/COA was a mutual point of agreement to remedy the situation and has been the standards since that time. Based off market research done by the agency there are no other vendor that can provide accreditation services for social service agencies. In the market research we came across vendors that are specific to early childhood programs and education which does not cover the services that DCFS provides.
