Engaging State Legislators in the Federal Child and Family Services Reviews: An Information-Sharing Tool for Child Welfare Agency Administrators

December 2006

Tips for Using the Tool

The first round of the Federal Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs) has been completed; all States, and the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have been reviewed. States currently are working on their Program Improvement Plans (PIPs), developing strategies for sustaining the momentum between PIP closeout and the next review, or planning for or undergoing their second Statewide Assessment and onsite review.

During the first round of reviews and PIPs, many State child welfare administrators worked closely with the legislative committees responsible for child welfare oversight in their States. They shared information about the CFSRs, participated in legislative hearings and briefings about the results of the reviews, and developed systems for routinely updating their legislatures on their PIP progress.

As the Children's Bureau Central and Regional Offices prepare for the second round of reviews, States are encouraged to actively engage their external partners, including members of the legislative branch, who play a key role in child welfare oversight and appropriations. To that end, the Children's Bureau produced the attached information-sharing tool that State child welfare agency administrators can use to reach out to legislators in their States.

The document is designed to be adapted for use by each State. State child welfare administrators will see notes to the person who adapts the document instructing them to enter State-specific information. They also might consider:

Determining, on the basis of the State's protocol for engaging the legislative branch, the most appropriate process for using the tool below to share information with their State legislators.
Assessing the most effective points at which the State should submit the document to the legislators on the basis of the following: (1) the schedule of their legislative session and (2) the point(s) in the State's process when it would be most effective to engage the legislature (for example, during the development of a new PIP or when the agency is considering requesting new legislation or making changes to existing legislation).
Using the document in its current form or as a starting point from which to create the State's own vehicle for sharing information with State legislators.
Limiting the information provided in each section to two to three sentences; consider the document as a tool for creating further discussions with State legislators.
Drawing on the expertise of administrative staff to reformat the document before distributing it to State legislators; because it is designed to be adaptable, the cells into which text is entered will expand, thus affecting the formatting.
Reviewing the final document carefully to ensure that the information included supports the messages that the State agency wishes to convey to the legislature.
Adapting the tool for use in communicating with other stakeholders, such as State agencies, court personnel, tribes, and advocates.

As everyone learned from the first round of CFSRs, States that actively engaged their stakeholders benefited from their insights on agency policy and practice and their willingness to enhance existing or create new collaborations on behalf of children and families. To that end, the information-sharing tool is designed to support States in communicating with their legislators during their current program improvement efforts and the next round of CFSRs.

In developing new or refining existing strategies for engaging legislators, States might note the following general principles, outlined by a State representative at the Children's Bureau's 2006 Annual Meeting of States and Tribes:

Keep legislators continually informed about new developments related to the work of the child welfare agency to avoid "surprises."
Keep information and messages brief.
Identify which State legislators are likely allies on child welfare issues, and which are likely to be less supportive.
Provide legislators with talking points that they can use to address constituent concerns.
Develop an overall strategy for communicating with legislators.

To assist States in using the information-sharing tool to communicate with legislators, a sample of a completed tool appears immediately following the blank tool. Inclusion of specific strategies or goals in the sample should not be construed as an endorsement of those approaches. In addition, the contents of the sample are fictitious and do not reflect any State's CFSR results or PIP.

Finally, States interested in enhancing links between State legislators and child welfare agencies can request technical assistance (TA) to support those efforts. The TA is funded by the Children's Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. States interested in arranging the provision of TA should go to the heading "Technical Assistance to State Legislatures on the Child and Family Services Reviews."