When nonprofit agencies, counties, and States embark on implementation of a practice model, it is important to plan the evaluation of its effectiveness right from the beginning. Indeed, one of the first objectives for the team should be a decision about the evaluation design. It is imperative that the organization choose the most rigorous evaluation design that it can accommodate. This brief article describes a few rigorous evaluation designs that could be or have been utilized in assessing child welfare practice models. Link to Article
Tag Archives: Program Administration
Supporting Sibling Relationships [Presentation Slides]
Slides provide detailed reasons for and benefits of placing siblings together in foster care. Includes both national and state legal requirements as well as other benefits.
Provides a Sibling Toolkit
● Component #1. Identification of All Siblings
● Component #2. Assessment of Sibling Groups
● Component #3. Decision Making Regarding Sibling Placement Together
● Component #4. Youth Voice in Sibling Placement Decision Making
● Component #5. Reasonable and Ongoing Efforts to Place Siblings Together
● Component #6. Siblings Visits and Contacts
● Component #7. Documentation
● Component #8. Sibling Placement Resources
● Component #9. The Courts
● Component #10. Training on the Importance of Preserving Sibling Connections
Link to Slides
Peer Youth Advocates in Residential Programs
SAMHSA: The Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) is a national effort that promotes partnerships among residential and community providers, families, youth, advocates, and policy makers to achieve positive outcomes for youth and families touched by a residential intervention.
The BBI produced a handbook, Peer Youth Advocates in Residential Programs, to provide a conceptual framework and links to specific tools and technical assistance resources for organizations interested in expanding youth voice and adding Peer Youth Advocate (PYA) positions to their teams. The recommendations contained in the handbook are largely based on the positive experiences of eleven residential provider organizations. Over 250 hours of interviews were conducted, with Peer Youth Advocates, clinicians, agency executives, researchers, provider association directors, and leaders in youth services policy. Youth who had lived or who were currently living in a residential program provided input through several focus groups. Link to pdf Handbook
Establishing and Maintaining Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Systems in State Child Welfare Agencies
Provides State title IV-B and IV-E child welfare agencies with information to establish and maintain CQI systems and to provide information on claiming allowable federal financial participation costs for CQI. While the Children’s Bureau considers how to revise the CFSR process, States are advised to maintain their QA systems and enhance them through a continuous quality improvement approach. A continuous quality improvement approach allows States to measure the quality of services provided by determining the impact those services have on child and family level outcomes and functioning and the effectiveness of processes and systems in operation in the State and/or required by Federal law. Link to pdf Information Memorandum