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Children's Bureau
Child and Family Services Reviews
Consultant Reviewer Qualifications

The 1994 Amendments to the Social Security Act authorize the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to review State child and family service programs to ensure conformity with the requirements in title IV-B of the Act. The Children's Bureau, within HHS, administers the reviews, which measure State child welfare agency capacity to promote positive outcomes for children and families in the areas of safety, permanency, and child and family well-being.

The review teams will comprise Federal and State agency staff and consultant reviewers. The requirements for individuals interested in participating as consultants appear below:

Minimum Consultant Requirements

• Minimum of 2 years of direct field experience and/or supervisory, administrative, or management experience in a public (Federal, State, or local) or private child welfare agency; or at least two years of direct experience working for a State Court Improvement Project or juvenile or family court dealing with child welfare cases. This may include providing services or supervising, administering, or managing programs in any of the following: (1) child protective services, (2) foster care, (3) adoption, (4) family preservation, (5) family support, (6) independent living services, or (7) licensure/approval of foster and adoptive families.

• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in social work, human services, public administration, counseling, or a closely related field; or a Juris Doctorate with experience working for a State Court Improvement Project or juvenile or family court dealing with child welfare cases.

• Strong assessment skills, including the ability to do the following: (1) gather information through interviews and from written documents, (2) pursue the collection of information from various sources, (3) compile information obtained from multiple sources, and (4) make professional judgments based on the information collected during the reviews.

• Demonstrated skills in interviewing the following stakeholders either individually or as a group: (1) children and families who receive child and family services and (2) representatives of organizations involved in the child and family service delivery process.

• Demonstrated written and verbal communication skills.

• Availability and willingness to travel to other States to participate in weeklong review activities (including a willingness to work long hours and to participate in debriefings at the end of each day).

Preferred Consultant Requirements

• Master's Degree in social work, human services, counseling, public administration, or a closely related field; or a Juris Doctorate with experience working for a State Court Improvement Project or juvenile or family court dealing with child welfare cases.

• Supervisory, administrative, and/or management experience in a public (Federal, State, or local) or private child welfare agency; or at least 2 years of direct experience working for a State Court Improvement Project or juvenile or family court dealing with child welfare cases.

• Experience in quality assurance or performance reviews of child welfare services.

For more information on participating in the Child and Family Services Reviews please contact the Child Welfare Reviews Project.