Children's Bureau Express

Florida's IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project

In 2006, Florida implemented a 5-year waiver from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, which allowed the State to use title IV-E funds for child welfare services other than direct foster care. Eighteen months later, a new issue brief reports on early efforts to improve child welfare outcomes by using the flexible funding to expand programs and services in the following key areas:

Creation and expansion of prevention and diversion services
Implementation of permanency resources for children already in out-of-home care
Enhancement of preservice and inservice training for all child welfare staff
Engagement of community organizations, stakeholders, and caregivers

While it is early in the evaluation process, the issue brief does note some positive trends, including improvement in all permanency indicators and a decrease in the percentage of children who experience maltreatment recurrence within 6 months after leaving the system. The brief also presents a discussion of the project's theory of change and how it has been refined since the project began.

The full report, Evaluation Brief on the Status and Activities Related to Florida's IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project: First 18 Months, by T. King-Miller et al., is available on the University of South Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute website:

http://cfs.fmhi.usf.edu/stateandlocal/pdf/cbcreport08_08.pdf (583 - KB)

Related Search

Children's Bureau Express has addressed the topic of Federal waivers in a number of past issues. To find these articles, type the keyword waiver into the search box on the Children's Bureau Express homepage.
http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov

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