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This chapter identifies the individuals that must be involved in the AFCARS Assessment Review. It includes information on who is responsible for various tasks in each phase of the review, and who should be present for each of the on-site segments. In general, the AFCARS review team is composed of two groups, the State team and the Federal team. Membership on the review team involves a significant commitment of time and effort. Both State and Federal team members are responsible for the following activities:
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B. Composition Of The Review Teams
At a minimum, the following individuals should be considered members of the State team:
There is not a designated limit on the number of individuals that can be members of the State review team. The State team may include staff other than those listed above. For instance, the agency may want to include members from their eligibility or financial units during the discussion of the foster care and adoption elements, or sources of income. Section C below provides additional guidance on who should participate in each segment of the review, and expectations for team members.
At a minimum, the Federal team will consist of:
The Federal team may include other staff than those listed above, either program or systems staff. Contract staff from OIS may also be part of the review team.
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C. Roles And Responsibilities Of Team Members
Exhibit 3 provides summary information on the role and responsibilities of the State and Federal team members' responsibilities.
1. State Team
This section gives additional guidance on who should participate in the AAR and their responsibilities. State team members should be identified as soon as an AAR has been agreed upon by ACF and the State agency. Also, the agency should designate a State Review Team Coordinator.
Administrators (such as the Child Welfare Administrator, Commissioner, Division Directors)
Administrators are not expected to participate in the entire review process, but are considered an integral component of the State team. Administrators should be informed of the AAR and should attend the entrance and exit conferences.
The State Review Team Coordinator
The State review team coordinator serves as the liaison with the Federal review team coordinator to plan the AAR and to ensure follow-through on the pre-site visit activities. The coordinator disseminates information internally on the nature and scope of the AAR in order to prepare program and data processing staff who participate in the on-site review. A checklist of activities that may be used to prepare for the AAR is included in Appendix E. This individual will continue to be the liaison between the State and the Federal review team during the post-site review phase, and if applicable, the AFCARS Improvement Phase.
Foster Care and Adoption Managers
Program staff representing the State's foster care and adoption units are integral members of the State AFCARS review team. In order to assess the State's collection and reporting of the AFCARS data, the State's child welfare policies and practices need to be taken into account. Additionally, since it is often the program staff who are using and explaining the data, having them participate in the AAR provides an opportunity for them to further examine the quality of the data.
SACWIS Project Manager
The SACWIS Project Manager should participate in all components of the onsite review process. Since part of the analysis of a State's AFCARS relates to how data are recorded in the SACWIS, it is important that the SACWIS Project Manager be involved, if necessary, regarding potential changes to the SACWIS. It may also be necessary for the SACWIS Project Manager to explain how and why certain components were developed in the SACWIS.
Field Staff
Field staff (front line case workers, supervisors, regional staff, etc.) should participate in the case file review. The State may decide the level and number of staff that participate in the case file review. See chapters IV and V for more information on the case file review process. The State is not limited to having field staff present only during the case file review. If the State agency has "super users," i.e., primary contacts for providing assistance and information on the system, etc., in its field offices, then the agency may want to consider adding these individuals to the State team. The agency may include them for the full week or for selected segments of the review.
Technical Staff
Technical staff representing the State's child welfare system are part of the core review team. This also includes any staff under contract to the State agency to develop or operate the information system. The technical team is primarily responsible for describing how the system collects and extracts the AFCARS data. The person primarily responsible for developing the program code and writing the routines for AFCARS data extraction must be present during the week of the review.
Additional Staff
The State may choose to bring in representatives from other agencies that provide data to the State for its AFCARS reporting. Their participation may be useful during the general discussion of the types of information that are needed for AFCARS or for the data element review. Examples include representatives from juvenile justice, the courts, mental health, contract providers, or Tribes. Additionally, the State may want to include training and fiscal staff.
2. Federal Team
A Federal review team coordinator will be identified as soon as the State has been scheduled for an AFCARS Assessment Review. The Federal review team coordinator serves as the liaison with the State review team coordinator to plan the AAR and to ensure that pre-site visit activities are completed in a timely manner. The Federal review team coordinator is responsible for finalizing arrangements for the site visit, clarifying expectations and answering questions about the AAR process, and ensuring the State has submitted all the needed documents on time to ACF.
Exhibit 3: Review Team Roles and Responsibilities
Title | Roles/Responsibilities |
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State AAR Team |
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State AAR Team Coordinator |
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Federal AAR Team |
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Federal AAR Team Coordinator |
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Federal Technical Lead |
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Continue to Chapter IV: Procedures for the Pre-Site Visit Phase
Attachments:
State Guide to an AFCARS Assessment Review HTML or PDF(332 KB)