VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES

People Places, Inc.
1002 East Jefferson Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
(434) 979-0335

Current Inspector: Kevin Lassiter (804) 241-2093

Inspection Date: Dec. 9, 2019 and Dec. 10, 2019

Complaint Related: No

Areas Reviewed:

22VAC40-131 PERSONNEL 22VAC40-131 PROVIDER HOMES 22VAC40-131 CHILDREN'S SERVICES 22VAC40-191 Background Checks for Child Welfare Agencies

Technical Assistance:

Discussion occurred regarding involvement of birth parents in service planning and quarterly progress reviews per 22VAC40-340.F.1 and 22VAC40-350.E. The agency is encouraged to strengthen documentation of birth parent involvement and efforts to involve the birth parents.

Comments:

An unannounced monitoring inspection was conducted on 12/09/2019 from 11:40 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and 12/10/2019 from 9:15 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The licensee reports 37 children in foster care and 62 approved provider homes. During this inspection four foster child, eleven foster home, and four personnel records were reviewed. The Foster Care Regional Director (S1) participated in the entrance conference, remained available during the inspection, and participated in the exit interview. The Administrative Assistant (S2) was available during the inspection to answer questions as needed. The Assistant Director (S3) and the Admissions Supervisor (S4) participated in the exit interview. The exit interview was conducted from 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. Inspection documents were completed and provided at the end of the inspection. There were three citations for violations of the Standards for Child-Placing Agencies. Upon receipt of the Violation Notice, the licensee should develop a plan of correction to include the steps to correct non-compliance with the standard(s); measures to prevent re-occurrence of no-compliance; person(s) responsible for implementation and monitoring of preventative measure(s); and date by which noncompliance will be corrected. The licensee has five business days from receipt of the inspection documents to complete the section entitled "Plan of Correction", sign each page of the inspection documents and return to the Licensing Office. The licensee should retain a copy to be posted at the facility. Results of the inspection are subject to public disclosure and will be posted on the Virginia Department of Social Services public web site within five business days, regardless of whether or not the Plan of Correction is completed.

Violations:

Standard #:	22VAC40-131-160-B
Description:	Violation: Based on record review, the agency failed to maintain all required material in the personnel record for employees P3 and P4. Findings: The personnel record for P3 did not contain two references. The personnel record for P4 did not contain a current job description. The findings were discussed during the exit interview and agency staff acknowledged the finding.
Plan of Correction:	The Human Resources Manager, Regional Director and Program Manager for the Mentoring Program all reviewed these violations. The staff relating to these violations are Mentors for People Places. The missing references highlighted a breakdown in maintaining files for both interns and staff. The staff in question was previously an intern. The references failed to be moved into the staff file for this employee. People Places is expanding its Human Resource Department from the 1 Full Time Human Resources Manager and adding a Human Resources Assistant. This will allow for the work of the Assistant to be reviewed by the Manager. Once hired, the Human Resources Assistant will be responsible for managing paperwork being moved for the intern files into staff files, and the Human Resource Manager will review the files to ensure proper documentation is maintained in the files. The missing Job Description was a result of only filing the signature page of the job description. The Human Resources Manager will ensure that the job description is included in its entirety with the signature of the employee.
Standard #:	22VAC40-131-350-B-3
Description:	Violation Based on a review of the record for Foster Children 3 and 4 (FC3 and FC4) the agency failed to include criteria for achievement for each goal and objective in the quarterly progress reviews. Findings: The quarterly progress review report signed 7/15/2019 for FC3 did not include criteria for achievement for the following objectives: child?s development of age appropriate social skills and participation in activities he enjoys and maintenance of good emotional health. The quarterly progress review report signed 7/29/2019 for FC 4 did not include criteria for achievement for an objective for the child to use of techniques to promote self-regulation. The findings were discussed with agency staff during the exit interview. Agency staff acknowledged the findings.
Plan of Correction:	The Regional Director and Assistant Regional Director reviewed this violation. The Regional Director and Assistant Regional Director followed the advice given and reviewed DMAS standards. The Assistant Regional Director is working with Family Consultants and their Supervisors to ensure all stated goals are measurable in every Comprehensive Service Plan. The Supervisors and Assistant Regional Director will review all Comprehensive Service Plans and Plan Updates to ensure that all the goals that are listed are measurable goals.
Standard #:	22VAC40-131-370-N-1
Description:	Based on a review of the record of Foster Child 3 (FC3), the agency failed to include all required elements on the child?s Face Sheet. Findings: The case record for FC3 contained five Face Sheets that did not contain the child?s social security number. The finding was discussed during the exit interview and agency staff acknowledged the finding.
Plan of Correction:	The missing Social Security Number was an oversight during the admission of the client into the TFC program. The Regional Director, Office Manager, Admissions 12/11/19 Coordinator and Assistant Regional Director reviewed this violation. The team identifies that this violation was the result of an oversight and not the result of a deficiency with an organizational process or procedure. It was reiterated with Administrative Staff the importance of complete data entry. The Admissions Coordinator, who reviews client records, will continue to review Facesheets for all clients in a quarterly review. In this review, she will make sure that Social Security numbers are located on the client?s facesheet. The team feels this problem will not occur again.