The ASO and the Comprehensive Assessment and Planning Systems (CAPS) Project
What is Caps?
CAPS is a systematic approach to the assessment of children and their families that are receiving child welfare services from the Department. Children who are involved in the Youth Services System with the Department are required to have a CAPS assessment if the youth is an adjudicated status offender who is referred to the Department for services or if the youth is adjudicated as delinquent and referred to the Deparment for foster care placement. Other youth may also referred to the CAPS at the discretion of the worker.
Children involved in Child Protective Services (CPS) can and should have a CAPS assessment if they have had more than one placement or have special needs that should be addressed to prevent multiple placements.
Other juvenlies who are receiving Youth Services can, if circumstances warrant, receive a CAPS assessment. Particular consideration should be given to the following situations:
- Disrupted placements in which new behaviors begin to surface or there is an escalation of behaviors such that the juvenile can no longer be cared for at the current level of care. This category includes juveniles who have previously undergone a CAPS assessment but continure to experience disrupted placements; and,
- Juveniles in an out-of-home placement where reunification is being considered and there has not been a CAPS assessment.
The goal of CAPS is to assist the Department staff to meet the federal outcomes for safety, permanency and well-being for children by assuring that children and families receive a comprehensive assessment that results in the development of a thorough and appropriate treatment plan. It also meets the requirements of 49-5D-3 of the West Virginia State Code that says, "The department shall adopt a standard uniform comprehensive assessment instrument or protocol to be used by treatment teams".
Reimbursement for conducting a CAPS assessment is through both Medicaid and through Socially Necessary Services. The agency or practitioner is eligible to be enrolled as a CAPS provider if it is a Licensed Behavioral Health provider or licensed private practitioner that is able to bill the Medicaid Behavioral Health Rehabilitation codes. Functions that can not be billed through Medicaid are billed through the CAPS Family Assessment and CAPS Case Management Services in Socially Necessary Services. In order to get authorization to provide Socially Necessary Services the provider must be enrolled as a CAPS provider, receive a referral from a DHHR worker and receive prior authorization from APS Health Care.
There are two types of CAPS assessments, mobile CAPS which are assessments that are conducted while the child is living in their community or in a DHHR foster care home and a regular CAPS. The regular CAPS assessment is conducted during the first 30 days of placement either in an emergency child care shelter or a specialized foster care home. On the regular CAPS the provider should receive the referral for a CAPS assessment within 24 hours of placement. If this has not occurred, the provider should begin the CAPS process and contact the worker for the referral. If this does not resolve the issue they should contact the worker´s supervisor. APS Health Care has the contract to be the Administrative Services Organization to regulate the usage of socially necessary services. Refer to the reimbursement schedule for details.
Enrollment to Become a Provider: Any individual or agency which meets the qualification may enroll to become a provider for CAPS. The service descriptions and the provider qualifications associated with CAPS are contained in the Utilization Management (UM) Guidelines for Socially Necessary Services under CAPS Family Assessment and CAPS Case Management. The first step is to complete a CAPS Provider Enrollment form. The enrollment form is located on this website at www.wvdhhr.org/bcf/aso. A CAPS assessment requires a CAPS Coordinator. The CAPS coordinator must be a licensed master´s level social worker, counselor or psychologist. The responsibilities of the CAPS coordinator are to make sure that the appropriate assessments are completed (refer to the assessment requirements these are different for a mobile CAPS and a regular CAPS), to evaluate the information based on the assessments in order to complete the comprehensive assessment report (CAR) and to assist with the scheduling of the MDT and participate in the MDT by sharing information in the CAR.
Required Training for CAPS Providers: Providers are also required to take an online Web-CT course on CAPS prior to submitting a CAPS enrollment form. It is a requirement that the provider enrolling provide a copy of the certificate showing they completed the WebCT with their enrollment application.
The WebCT course is offered by the BCF Division of Training through the West Virginia Network (WVNET).) To access the Introduction to CAPS WebCT course, providers need to send an e-mail to BCF eLearning through the following address: dhhrbcfelearning@wv.gov
You will request a WebCT user ID and password. BCF WebCT Manager will reply via e-mail giving the provider a WebCT ID and password along with instructions on how to access the online CAPS WebCT course.
Course Description: This course is offered to assist potential providers of WV DHHR with the opportunity to learn more about the Comprehensive Assessment and Planning System (CAPS). This course will give a brief overview of the system´s process, its purpose, and the population served. It will also provide the legal basis as well as the practices and procedures necessary in the assessment and planning process.
The CAPS process requires that the person completing each assessment meet the qualifications to perform that assessment. The mobile CAPS and the regular CAPS assessments require different assessments to be completed to see the CAPS Assessment Tool for details. There are other assessments that will require additional training: the CANS and the NICFAS-R. This training is offered through providers that were initially trained by the Department to do CAPS. Potential providers will not take this training until they submit an enrollment form and are determined to meet the credentialing requirements to be a CAPS provider. The Department maintains a training calendar for all new providers so they can get the training on the NCFAS-R and on CANS this is located on our website at: http://www.wvdhhr.org/bcf/caps/caps_training_calendar/index.cfm. Once this training is completed the certificates verifying the training will be sent to the same location as their enrollment application. Once approved to provide CAPS, the provider will receive a letter from the Department.
Those agencies interested in purchasing the North Carolina Family Assessment Scales (NCFAS) training package should go to the National Family Preservation Network's web site. The training package includes the North Carolina Family Assessment Scale, database, case example video and other instructional materials. (Those agencies having three or less who will be utilizing the NCFAS tool and purchasing the NCFAS training package would be cost prohibitive may contact Susan Fry at stepupsrf@aol.com to inquire about training).
For more information on the NCFAS scale, you can read Dr. Raymond Kirk's report on the development and research of the scale, Download the Research Report. If you have questions after reviewing the Web site information, please contact Priscilla Martens, NFPN's Executive Director, at 888-498-9047 (Mountain Time).
How Will the CAPS Assessment Process be Authorized? Once a provider is approved to be a CAPS provider authorization to provide services under CAPS is obtained from the ASO. Authorization is dependent on the provider meeting the qualifications to deliver the service, the submittal of all required information to the ASO and the prior approval by the ASO for the delivery of the services. The ASO will offer training and technical assistance on the authorization process to all providers who desire to deliver services under CAPS.
Enrollment is an open ended process. By that it is meant that a provider who chooses not to enroll initially with the ASO can choose to do so at a later date. It also means that a provider is not limited to the geographic area for which they originally registered. For example: a provider can decide at any time to expand their service delivery into additional counties.
Any geographical change will require the submittal of a Provider Enrollment Modification Request form. Additional information may be needed by the ASO and the Department. The Department and the ASO will jointly decide upon approval of expanded service delivery. To access the Provider Enrollment Modification Request form, go to: www.wvdhhr.org/bcf/aso/enroll.asp.
