The Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) and the Office of Community-Based Care Transition (OCBCT) recently released Requests for Applications (RFA) for the next four community areas for Community-Based Care (CBC) expansion. These RFAs will be for Region 6A (Harris County), Region 6B (Bay Area/Montgomery), Region 8A (Bexar County), and Region 10 (El Paso). DFPS hopes to award contracts for these areas by the Fall of 2024.
Region 3E (EMPOWER) officially went live in Stage II on March 1, 2024. Stage II focuses on expanding the current continuum of services to include services for families and to increase permanency outcomes for children. Additionally, EMPOWER will provide case management, kinship, and reunification services in their community. Region 4 (4Kids4Families) and Region 5 (Texas Family Care Network) both remain on track to go live in Stage II on May 1, 2024.
Region 1 (St. Francis), Region 2 (2Ingage), and Region 3B (Our Community Our Kids/OCOK) officially went live in Stage III on March 1, 2024. This is the first time that any Single Source Continuum Contractors (SSCC) have begun Stage III of CBC rollout. In Stage III, SSCCs will begin to see financial incentives and remedies tied to their performance in reducing the number of days children spend in paid foster care. Region 8B (BELONG) is on track to go live in Stage III on June 1, 2024.
For more information about Community-Based Care, watch the CBC Webinar hosted by Texas CASA and read the 3rd Edition of our Community-Based Care Guide. Additionally, the Public Policy Team recently developed a new resource highlighting the importance of CASA volunteers during the transition to CBC, which is available for programs to utilize here. We look forward to keeping the CASA network informed and supported during this transition while working together to ensure the successful implementation of Community-Based Care!
If you have any questions reach out to publicpolicy@texascasa.org!