| Decategorization Board |
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The Johnson County Decategorization Program
implements Iowa’s Child Welfare Decategorization Program. Decategorization
is designed to redirect child welfare and juvenile justice funding to services
which are more preventive, family-centered, and community-based in order to
reduce use of restrictive approaches that rely on institutional, out-of home,
and out-of community care. The JC Decat Program will partner with community
stakeholders to develop service alternatives that provide less restrictive
levels of care for children and families within Johnson County. Collaboratively,
services will be planned with input from citizens, consumers, education, health,
human services, and local government. The goal of this planning will be to
ensure that services are provided that will promote child health and safety,
family stability, and positive youth development. The JC Decategorization Program will be implemented by a Board. State mandated board membership includes representatives designated by: |
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1. Department of Human Services 2. Juvenile Court Services 3. Johnson County Board of Supervisors |
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Meetings are open to the public. |
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Current Board members | |||
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• Linda Severson, Chairperson, Johnson County Council of Governments • Stephen Trefz, Vice-Chair/Secretary, Community Mental Health Center • Joe Fleming, Department of Human Services • Karen Evans, Department of Human Services • Becky Grabe, Department of Human Services • Lloyd Smith, Juvenile Court Services • Sally Stutsman, Johnson County Board of Supervisors • Larry Meyers, Johnson County Board of Supervisors • Ron Berg, Mid-Eastern Iowa Council on Chemical Abuse • Nadine Fisher, Johnson County Public Health • Miriam Landsman, University of Iowa School of Social Work |
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Staff support to the Decategorization Program Governance Board is provided by
Amy Correia, Social Services Coordinator/Decat Coordinator. |
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| Request for Proposals | |||
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On February 26, 2008, The Johnson County Decategorization Governance Board
announced the release of a Request for Proposals seeking bidders to provide
specific programs, services, and projects that address child welfare and
juvenile delinquency needs in Johnson County. The Johnson County Decategorization Board expects to award approximately $185,000 to fund contracts that could be entered into as early as May 1, 2008 and to continue through FY 2009. Funding awards are contingent upon state allocation levels. Decat expects to fund approximately six to eight programs with this allocation. Programs and services funded through the FY 09 RFP are expected to address one of the following priority issues for children, youth, and families in Johnson County, and to prevent or reduce the need for intensive intervention services and/or out-of-home placements of children |
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• Meet the needs of minority children and families that are currently involved
in the child welfare system and/or juvenile court system. [A minimum of $20,011
will be allocated to provide services to minority children and families that are
currently involved in the child welfare system, through a special allocation of
funds from the Cedar Rapids Service Area Manager.] • Address isolation in order to build circles of support for children and families that are at-risk of involvement with the child welfare and/or juvenile court system, paying particular attention to the needs of minority children and families. • Promote positive youth development, and address the needs for adequate supervision for youth ages 6 to 13 years old during out of school time. • Address the needs of children and families that are experiencing domestic violence and are involved with the child welfare system. • Provide gender-specific services to girls involved with the juvenile court. • Address the mental health needs of youth and families that are identified as at-risk of involvement in the child welfare system and/or juvenile court system. |
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Eligible applicants are governmental entities, not-for-profit and for-profit human
service agencies. A Bidder’s Conference will be held from 10:00am to 11:00am on
Thursday, March 6, 2008 at the Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room E to answer
questions about the Request for Proposals.
Click HERE to download the FY 09 Request for Proposals
For more information, contact: Amy Correia Social Services Coordinator/Decat Coordinator (319) 339-6169, ext. 318 e-mail: acorreia@co.johnson.ia.us |
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