The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice and the Georgia Department of Human Services (Office of Provider Management and the Office of Regulatory Child Care Licensing), have been tasked with the development of conducting a singularly coordinated audit at designated Room Board Watchful Oversight residential vendors at least once a year. These vendors are either a licensed Child Caring Institution or a Child Placing Agency and have a contract with the Department of Juvenile Justice and/or the Department of Human Services Office of Provider Management.

The purpose of the Joint Comprehensive Audit is to improve communication between agencies and residential providers and to develop “best-practices” to better serve youth and families. In support of our mission to protect and serve the citizens of Georgia, the Department of Juvenile Justice is making the summary findings of the Comprehensive Audit available to you for review. The summary findings will be made available as audits are completed and can be viewed by selecting the individual link to the vendor’s report.

The Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) currently contracts with and monitors licensed Child Caring Institutions (CCI) and Child Placing Agencies (CPA), for Room, Board and Watchful Oversight (RBWO) services for DJJ youth in need of Residential and/or Foster Home placement.

DJJ Regional Treatment Services Specialists (RTSS) closely monitor adherence to RBWO minimum standards, Georgia residential licensure requirements, DJJ policy and procedures, and DJJ contractual obligations.

DJJ currently reviews the following Domains for all DJJ audits for each contracted RBWO CCI and CPA vendors. The stated Sub-Categories are a brief representation of what is addressed in each Domain:

YOUTH SAFETY & SECURITY

• PREA
• Grievances
• Supervision

PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION

• Program Planning
• Physical Plant
• Staffing

PROGRAMMING & SERVICES

• RBWO Level of Services
• Transition\Discharge Planning

QUALITY OF CARE

• Medical\Dental
• Mental Health
• Nutrition
• Education

The DJJ scoring system has been developed to assist the vendor and DJJ with addressing performance and accountability.

The DJJ Scorecard is determined based on the following criteria:

• DJJ on-site reviews of youth and personnel records
• Vendor administration practices
• Physical plant
• Programming and services as outlined in each youth’s Service Plan to address:
• recidivism
• youth reentry
• family engagement:
• educational
• medical
• mental health
• health
• Outcome data from Utilization Reviews for each DJJ youth placed in a residential setting

Each vendor, at a minimum, will receive (1) Un-Announced and (2) Announced Audits (one of which is the Joint Comprehensive Audit) per calendar year. After each announced and un-announced audit, the vendor will receive a DJJ Audit Score Summary Report from the DJJ Regional Treatment Services Specialist(RTSS). Each vendor will also receive a Comprehensive Audit Summary Report after the Joint Comprehensive Audit completed by DJJ, DHS-RCCL, and DHS-OPM. Please note, the vendor will have (3) separate scores for the Joint Comprehensive Audit and these scores will be posted and labeled on each agency’s public website.

TheAll DJJ Scorecards are published on the public DJJ website. Providers will receive an overall score and corresponding grade for each completed DJJ Audit. The Full Audit Detail Report will be made available to each vendor upon request.

The following tables outline the scoring measures and categories:

DJJ has implemented the following incentive credits designed to encourage performance at more than the minimum level of expectation.

Scores and sub scores are calculated by summation of provider’s performance measure by the total measure. All the calculations are percentage based.

Vendors will receive an overall score based on a 100-point scale. Vendors will receive a numerical score and a corresponding letter grade on each audit.

Scores are used for assisting DJJ staff with making the appropriate placement, contract evaluation and enforcing performance accountability.

The chart below describes the range of numerical scores and the corresponding letter grade.

DJJ’s acceptable provider performance has been set at 70% or higher. Providers are expected to maintain at least a 70/C on every report. Providers who earn a score of less than 70% on (3) consecutive audits will be required to submit a Corrective Action Plan to specifically address ways to improve performance.

Technical assistance will be provided by DJJ to assist vendors in areas of need. Providers who earn less than 70% on any three consecutive audits will be subject to admissions suspensions and other remedies as appropriate in order to address the performance deficiencies.