State Child Welfare Policy Guide: Part of the Policy Matters Series

11.1 Child Welfare Performance Goals

The goal of child well-being is the concern of all stakeholders, but until recently the approaches to developing performance measures to determine progress by child welfare towards that goal were seen as either adversarial or cloaked in secrecy. The federal Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) require the engagement of stakeholders in the performance review process. This federal requirement has the potential of creating “an outcomes-focused approach to accountability [that] can free public agency administrators and managers to pursue more effective performance with other partners rather than having to restrict information, plan in isolation, and defend agency deficiencies” [i] .  An example of engaging stakeholders in the development of a reform plan is Alabama’s settlement agreement that required sweeping improvements in child welfare.  Through the agreement and as part of the CFSR process, Alabama’s Department of Human Resources engaged private citizens, professionals, families and agency partners in the development and implementation of the state’s child welfare improvement plan. As a result of these efforts, in 2007 the 19 year old law suit was dissolved based on the agency’s substantial compliance with all goals to ensure the safety of children in its care. [ii]

In an example created by the legislature, the Iowa Department of Human Services is required to develop an outcomes-based system to measure safety, permanency and well-being through a stakeholder panel that both participates in the design and the monitoring. ^[iii]

Policy Options: States can mandate that child welfare performance goals are clearly and publicly developed, articulated and reported.

---