What is the impact of the consent decree between the DFCS defendants and plaintiffs?
A consent decree was agreed to by the parties to resolve all pending issues without the expense, risks, delays and uncertainties of a trial. Entering into a consent decree is not an admission of the truth or validity of any claims made by plaintiffs. The consent decree requires DFCS defendants to make system changes and to comply with thirty-one specific outcome measures. The system improvements are divided into eleven areas: (1) planning for permanency; (2) placement of children; (3) health services; (4) Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS); (5) caseloads; (6) supervision of contract agencies; (7) training; (8) foster parent screening, licensing and training; (9) investigations of allegations of abuse in care; (10) corrective actions that must be taken immediately; (11) maximization of federal funding. Most of the thirty-one outcome measures correspond to the system improvements and provide specific ways to measure whether the system improvements are occurring
