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Child and Family Services Reviews Update

 

Volume 2, Issue 2, November 2005

ACF Requests Comments on Proposed CFSR Data Composites

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has issued a notice in the Federal Register proposing replacement of the six national data measures used for determining a State's conformity on the child and family services reviews (CFSRs) with six data composites (70 FR 214, 11/7/2005). The proposed change is based in part on the recommendation of a CFSR workgroup of State child welfare agency administrators and child welfare researchers.

The proposed six data composites being considered are: recurrence of maltreatment, maltreatment of children in foster care, timeliness of reunifications, timeliness of adoptions, placement stability, and achieving permanency. Each of the proposed composites would incorporate two or more performance areas. The performance areas being considered are outlined in the notice. A table comparing the proposed data composites and performance measures with the existing CFSR data measures also is included.

According to the Federal Register announcement, the ACF will establish national standards for each of the six data composites, but will not establish standards for the individual performance areas. Therefore, States will be expected only to achieve an overall performance level in the particular domains related to safety and permanency rather than for the individual performance areas.

According to the notice, the goals of the data composites are to provide a more holistic view of State performance in a particular domain, account for both the strengths and weaknesses of a State, allow for the development of national standards that account for variations in State practices and policies, and provide a more effective assessment of State performance.

Written comments on the proposal must be submitted by mail or e-mail by December 7, 2005, to the following: Children's Bureau, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20447; cfsrmeasures@acf.hhs.gov.

 

The Child and Family Services Reviews Update is designed for professionals interested in the Children's Bureau child and family services reviews. It is supported by the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and published by the Child Welfare Review Project, which is managed by Johnson, Bassin & Shaw, Inc. For more information, contact the Child Welfare Review Project by e-mail at cw@jbs1.com or by telephone at (301) 565-3260.