Measuring Performance in Child Welfare

Abstract

In 1991, the Division of Child and Family Services in Alabama embarked upon an ambitious reform of the state's child welfare system. The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 mandates the development of a system to rate the performance of state child welfare programs. Concerns about the well-being of children in out-of-home care have led to a variety of efforts to reform the child welfare system. More sibling groups entered child welfare custody, but many were handled through kinship care arrangements. The local child welfare agency seeks to partner with neighborhood residents to ensure the safety and well-being of children by expanding family supports and foster care resources. The initiative focused on five changes in approach: comprehensive family support; one caseworker or casework team for each case; a single assessment to determine needs; a single foster family prior to permanent placement; and a maximum of one year to achieve a permanent placement.

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