Office of the Child Advocate - Appendix B

The Office of the Child Advocate’s Interdepartmental Service Agreement Deliverables

Overview

The following are the deliverables that the Office of the Child Advocate’s (OCA’s) detailed in its seven interdepartmental service agreements (ISAs) for fiscal years 2021 and 2022. The descriptions of the deliverables are quoted directly from each ISA.

Fiscal Year	Project Name (ISA Identification Number)	Deliverables
2021	Trainings for Paraprofessionals and Mentors (ISAOCAK12BIRCHUMB21A)	This project will work to increase cross-agency collaboration to support the social, emotional and behavioral health of students, specifically from early childhood settings to [kindergarten through grade 12 educational] settings and from elementary school to middle school, as they return to school following COVID-19. The [University of Massachusetts (UMass)] Boston [Behavioral Health Integrated Resources for Children (BIRCh) Project] program will review evidence-based practices, conduct stakeholder interviews, and develop targeted training curricula/modules. BIRCh will capitalize on the critical existing workforce of para-professionals in schools and therapeutic mentors (TM) at Community Service Agencies (CSAs) by focusing on expanding their current knowledge and skill set related to the implementation of evidence-based interventions in schools, CSAs and other community settings. BIRCh will prepare review of evidence-based practices, stakeholder interviews and development of training curricula and corresponding materials meant to enhance social, emotional and behavioral services available to children. The result will be a 10-module training curriculum. This will be completed by June 30, 2021.
2022	Transition Age Youth (TAY) Roadmap (FY20UMASSPPHS009TAY9)	[UMass Chan Medical School] shall perform the following activities, as further directed by the Office of the Child Advocate: Create a full implementation plan: Convene and support cross-agency working group on TAY Support agreement on domain categories for cross-agency and within agency TAY Implement recommendations of task force working group Support development of required implementation materials as needed. Schedule and facilitate cross-agency and other stale best practice calls
2022	TAY Pilot Evaluation (ISAOCA4PPHS024UMS21A)	The scope of [UMass Chan Medical School] is being updated to remove the journey mapping deliverable and to expand the pilot. [UMass Chan Medical School] shall perform the following activities in [fiscal year 2022], as directed by the Office of the Child Advocate. These activities include: Develop and submit a PowerPoint slide deck to summarize findings of focus groups/interviews with youth specialists and stakeholder interviews (completed in August 2022) Expand REDCap [a software used for administering and managing online surveys and databases] for routine outcome tracking to support the Pilot expansion Provide training on REDCap data collection to new Pilot providers Develop and submit interim Pilot report in February 2022 Conduct and analyze 2 focus groups with youth enrolled in the pilot during the spring of 2022 Develop and submit a reporting summarizing the focus group findings and Pilot outcomes by June 30, 2022
2022	TAY Pilot Expansion (ISAOCATAYPILOTEHS22A)	[The Executive Office of Health and Human Services] shall: Contract with existing youth services providers to offer: access to housing stability services, including emergency housing; access to state agency benefits and entitlements; case management services; referrals to health services and agencies, including behavioral health services; and referrals to educational and employment support. Ensure that all contracted providers comply with applicable data submission and reporting requirements, as detailed in [the Housing Choice Vouchers Program].
2022	Trainings for Paraprofessionals and Mentors (ISAOCAK12BIRCHUMB22A)	Funds will support the dissemination of the 10-module training curriculum the BIRCh Project is currently developing, focused on prevention of and early intervention for behavioral health challenges. These online modules will be freely accessible to schools and community service agencies. Dissemination will include 1) reaching out to community agencies and school districts to share the training and 2) collaborating with 1-2 school districts to implement a pilot of live training and coaching with para­professionals to provide more opportunities to practice content introduced in the modules. There will be no cost to districts in hiring the trainers. Adaptations and adjustments will be made to the modules based on stakeholder feedback and other quality improvement measures utilized (e.g., knowledge assessment, satisfaction and social validity surveys) during the pilot.
2022	Center on Child Wellbeing and Trauma (ISAOCAMMDCS016UMS22A)	The details of the Center development include a focus on three key areas: 1) professional learning community development, 2) assessment and coaching technical assistance, and 3) resource and referral website. These focus areas will be developed through a variety of key activities, as follows: Lead a stakeholder engagement process Research and selection of a trauma informed and responsive (TIR) organizational assessment process Implementation of a TIR assessment process with a targeted community inclusive of data collection, coaching, and reporting. Development of a professional learning community to support work across Massachusetts in being trauma informed Ongoing development of a Center website of resources and tools. [UMass Chan Medical School] shall perform the following activities, as further directed by the Office of the Child Advocate: Lead a stakeholder engagement process to inform Center development inclusive of a racial equity lens and community feedback mechanism Create a full implementation and project plan, due to the client by Sept 30th, including: Stakeholder engagement process Project plan and timeliness inclusive of 3 primary focus areas: Assessment process and coaching key components for at least one professional sector Development of Professional Learning Communities and regular updates by section Development and implementation of resource library including the Center website with framework and tools Job descriptions and hiring process for key positions listed below. The Office of the Child Advocate will provide approval for key hires as listed in 2A. i.      Executive director, ii.     Assessment lead, iii.    Assessment coaches, Professional learning community lead, Project coordinator Develop required implementation materials as needed. Logic model for Center activities that details how the Center will fulfill the identified need and planned outcomes, including tracking metrics per Center focus area. Ongoing development of Center website of resources and tools. Develop a center wide communications strategy including: brand development and outreach to child-serving agencies to increase awareness of Center resources and tools. Develop required implementation materials as needed. Schedule and facilitate bi-monthly (every other month) cross-agency and other state best practice calls. Participate in and, as appropriate, guide national conversations on best practices for trauma informed and healing responsive policies and programs. Develop and lead an executive steering committee for the Center. The committee will meet at least quarterly to [advise] on and monitor Center goals and progress toward achieving ongoing metrics. Partner on development of sustainability strategy for the Center that ensures financial sustainability by year 5, beyond legislative funding. Develop and implement part 3 of the Worcester Trauma and Resilience Collaborative. This portion of work, funded by the $300,000 set aside in legislation will include an expansion of ongoing work in the area such as: Full implementation of a train the trainer model for racial equity school trainings. Outreach to early childhood centers in Worcester regarding assessment and draft certification toward being trauma informed and responsive.
2022	Trauma and Resilience (ISAOCA4PPHS022UMS21A)	[UMass Chan Medical School] shall perform the following activities, as further directed by the Office of the Child Advocate: Complete dissemination of previous findings regarding early childhood trauma and resilience from previous phase of the Worcester Trauma and Resilience Project. Develop an implementation plan for the next phase of the Worcester Trauma and Resilience Project: Outline plan and review with key stakeholders. Develop curriculum for stakeholders. Implement training for providers (including schools). Measure impact of training through stakeholder identified metrics including measuring pre and posttest knowledge. Develop a reporting mechanism and share with key stakeholders providing regular reporting as needed. Develop a dissemination strategy for materials and utilize them more broadly as needed. Identify and support avenues of sustainable funding for ongoing trauma work. Complete additional work on Racial Trauma Trainings. Develop a website focused on Trauma and Child Wellbeing.

Date published:	October 7, 2024