Children's Bureau Website - Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Demonstration Type:	Assisted Guardianship¹
Approved:	September 10, 2004
Implemented:	October 14, 2005
Expected Completion Date:	August 30, 2010
Interim Evaluation Report Expected:	May 31, 2008
Final Evaluation Report Expected:	March 31, 2011

Target Population

The target population for Wisconsin’s Guardianship Permanency Initiative consists of title IV-E eligible and non-IV-E eligible children ages 0-18 who have been in licensed relative foster care for a minimum of 12 months. A small number of children placed with non-relatives may also participate in the demonstration. Exceptions to the 12-month placement minimum may be made in the case of children for whom reasonable efforts to achieve reunification are not required, children for whom reunification has been ruled out as a permanency option, and for siblings of children already in assisted guardianship.

In addition, children in Milwaukee County for whom guardianship was previously awarded under State law, but whose cases had remained open in foster care for payment purposes, are being transferred to the assisted guardianship demonstration.

Jurisdiction

The Guardianship Permanency Initiative is currently being implemented in Milwaukee County by the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare (BMCW). In the future, the State may consider expanding the demonstration to other counties in Wisconsin as well as to Wisconsin Tribes for cases involving the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).

Intervention

Wisconsin’s Guardianship Permanency Initiative seeks to improve permanency outcomes for children in out-of-home care by promoting guardianship as a permanency option, the use of relatives as permanency resources, and family-based permanency planning for children. The State’s demonstration includes the following components:

State guardianship statutes have been revised to clarify the nature of guardianship as a permanency outcome and to allow for the payment of guardianship subsidies.

Guardianship subsidy payments are based on the foster care payment amount in effect for a child at the time that guardianship is awarded. Guardianship payments may continue until a child turns 18, or until age 19 to facilitate a child’s completion of high school or an equivalent degree.

Licensing activity has been increased to recruit relatives as permanency resources and to assist them in meeting foster care licensure requirements.

Support services before and during the transition to guardianship parallel those offered to adoptive families. Examples of support services include preliminary screenings for guardianship, assessment of the home, assistance in applying for subsidies, referrals to community services, access to post-guardianship resource centers, and post-permanency support services.

Training for case managers, court staff, and attorneys is provided to promote an understanding of guardianship as a permanency option. Case managers will receive training in presenting guardianship to families and involving families in the identification of appropriate permanency goals for children.

Prospective guardians have access to educational resources, including printed materials, information sessions, and educational home visits by child welfare case managers.

Evaluation Design

The State’s evaluation includes both process and outcome components, as well as a cost analysis. Using an experimental research design, the State’s evaluation contractor randomly assigns children from the demonstration’s target population to an experimental group (eligible to receive a guardianship subsidy) or to a control group (ineligible for the guardianship subsidy) at a 1:1 ratio.

Children in Milwaukee County for whom guardianship was previously awarded under State law, but whose cases had remained open in foster care for payment purposes, are automatically converted to the assisted guardianship program but are exempt from random assignment. These cases comprise a “special experimental group” for which key evaluation outcomes are tracked longitudinally but not compared against outcomes for the control group.

Sample Size

Phase I of the State’s guardianship demonstration began in October 2005 with the conversion of the “special experimental group” to assisted guardianship. The State originally estimated that up to 400 cases would be included in the special experimental group. Due to natural attrition as children aged out of foster care, along with other reasons, only 185 special experimental cases were identified for immediate conversion to guardianship. Of these 185 children, 148 were ultimately assigned to the special experimental group; the remaining 37 cases that were not assigned either involve children who were close to turning 18 or caregivers who are considering adoption. Of the 148 cases assigned to the special experimental group, 127 have converted to subsidized guardianship; the remaining 21 cases have either been closed or remain open in foster care for a variety of reasons (e.g., the child is close to aging out, the family is working toward reunification).

Phase II of the guardianship demonstration began on January 1, 2006, with the random assignment of approximately 144 children to the experimental group and an equal number to the control group. As of December 2006, a total of 376 children were enrolled in the demonstration, with 192 children in the experimental group and 184 in the control group. The State expects ultimately to have a total random sample of 690 children.

Process Evaluation

The State’s process evaluation describes how the demonstration is being implemented and identifies differences between services received by children in the experimental group and those received by children in the control group. As part of the process evaluation, the State’s evaluation contractor will use focus groups and interviews with foster caregivers and caseworkers to address the following questions:

How were caseworkers and foster caregivers informed about the guardianship option, and what procedures were put into place for pursuing guardianships?

What were caregivers’ reasons for accepting or declining guardianship?

Among caregivers that pursued guardianship, what were the barriers to establishing guardianship?

What were additional reasons that guardianships were not finalized?

Outcome Evaluation

The State’s outcome evaluation compares the experimental and control groups for statistically significant differences in the following outcome measures:

Length of time in out-of-home placement

Net permanency rates, defined as the total number of children who exit to reunification, guardianship, or adoption

Number of children who enter guardianship with relatives

Number and proportion of children with a subsequent report of abuse or neglect, and the number of such reports that are substantiated

Number and proportion of guardianships that are disrupted, and the reasons for any disruptions

Number and proportion of children who re-enter foster care

Child well-being and family functioning

In addition, major outcomes to be examined for children in the “special experimental group” include the following:

Number of guardianships that are disrupted and the reasons for any disruptions

Number of children in guardianship arrangements who re-enter foster care

Number and types of placement settings in which a child resides after re-entering foster care

Number of reports and substantiated findings of abuse or neglect for children living in assisted guardianship arrangement and the relationship of the perpetrator to the child

Cost Analysis

The State’s cost analysis examines the costs of key elements of services received by children in the experimental group and compares these with the costs of providing traditional services to the control group. The cost analysis also involves an examination of the use of key funding sources, including all relevant Federal sources such as titles IV-A, IV-B, IV-E and XIX of the Social Security Act, as well as State and local funds.

Evaluation Findings

Process Evaluation

Project Implementation

During October, November, and December 2005, the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare (BMCW) Subsidized Guardianship Workgroup implemented training sessions on assisted guardianship for child welfare supervisors, case managers, adoption workers, and foster care licensing staff. Additional trainings will occur as implementation of the guardianship program proceeds.

During the July-December 2006 time period, several focus groups were conducted, which included discussions with (1) caseworkers and supervisors, (2) judges and court personnel, and (3) caregivers and youths involved in Phase I of the demonstration. A review of the results of these focus groups has assisted the State in identifying and addressing various programmatic issues and needs. For example, the focus groups revealed that caseworkers believe they need additional training on subsidized guardianship.

The evaluation also includes the administration of a caregiver survey. Three to six months after random assignment, caregivers are interviewed to obtain information on caregivers’ understanding of and opinions about guardianship and adoption, and their initial decisions about permanence. Of the 320 children randomly assigned during the first six months, 42 were excluded, yielding a sample of 258. As of December 2006, interviews have been completed with caregivers of 233 of the 258 sampled children, resulting in a response rate of 90.3 percent.

Outcome Evaluation

As of December 2006, 21 experimental group cases have achieved permanency through subsidized guardianship. Additional outcomes findings are pending continued implementation of the State’s assisted guardianship demonstration.

¹This is one of three Illinois Child Welfare Demonstration Projects. The evaluation findings reported in this profile are limited to the five years of the original title IV-E waiver and are based on information submitted by the State as of January 2006. Back

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