Three of the D.S. Settlement required system improvements: 4.10 Kinship Engagement Unit, 4.11 Family Group Planning, and 4.12 Referrals and Transitions require stakeholder engagement by a contracted stakeholder facilitator. Public Consulting Group (PCG) was contracted to solicit, collect, synthesize, communicate, and develop recommendations from the stakeholders.
PCG engaged families, lived experience experts, Tribes and other stakeholders in this process and established a subcontract with Think of Us (TOU) to obtain input from youth with lived experience. The findings and recommendations from this work are compiled in the Stakeholder Facilitation for Systemic Improvements report. Recommendation matrices have been developed for the PCG and Think of Us recommendations. They specify where in the implementation plan specific recommendations have been incorporated and actions taken, or if the recommendation is out-of-scope. Specific recommendations are also referenced in the individual system improvements. If recommendations or feedback are out-of-scope for the Implementation Plan, we are sharing them with the DCYF staff responsible for the related program area for their consideration and follow-up.
A second round of stakeholder engagement will be conducted following the issuance of the Court Monitor's initial report in 2025. The second round will gather and report input from youth, families, and their advocates on their experience with the three improvements listed above.