Technical Assistance to State Legislators on the Child and Family Services Reviews

Who We Are

The Technical Assistance to State Legislators on the CFSRs initiative is designed to inform State legislators about, and engage them in, the CFSRs and other child welfare reform efforts. This effort also is designed to enhance links between State legislators who have child welfare oversight responsibility and State child welfare agencies.

How We Can Help

This project component educates State legislators about the role of the CFSRs and Program Improvement Plans (PIPs) in supporting States in improving child welfare systems. It also identifies and shares with State child welfare agencies strategies for engaging State legislators in child welfare and the CFSR and PIP processes. It promotes links between State legislators and child welfare agencies through onsite technical assistance events in States, technical assistance reports, and presentations at national conferences.

Technical Assistance Provided
Since the launch of the project in 2005, the project team has fostered legislator-agency collaboration in support of the CFSR process and other child welfare reform efforts in a range of areas:

Presenting to a group of new State legislators an overview of the child welfare system and the CFSRs
Arranging for a former State child welfare agency administrator to brief one State's child welfare agency leadership on fostering legislator-agency collaboration
Assisting a State in assessing how reorganization plans for its State child welfare agency might affect the State's CFSR outcomes, including offering an overview of other States' reorganization strategies and experiences
Preparing a research memorandum for a State on the administration of payment and services for children in foster care, subsidized guardianship, or adoptive placements
Helping a State assess how it supports county child welfare agencies in managing special-needs adoptions, including providing an overview of innovative programs in other States

The Technical Assistance Process
The project plans each technical assistance event with input from State legislators, State child welfare agency staff, and Federal staff. The following is additional information regarding technical assistance requests:

Eligibility—State legislators, State child welfare agencies, or both may apply for technical assistance. States that previously received technical assistance are eligible for additional assistance.
Application process—Legislators, their staff, and State child welfare agency staff may submit requests for technical assistance in writing or by telephone. Requests should include (1) a brief description of the assistance needed, (2) a description of the proposed forum for technical assistance (for example, informal meeting, legislative hearing, or workshop), (3) the intended audience, and (4) the preferred date. The project will follow up with each technical assistance requester.
Selection process—Priority will be given to applications from both State legislators and child welfare agency administrators in which the TA targets legislators. Next in order of priority are requests that target child welfare agency personnel.

For More Information

Phone:	301.495.1080 or 303.856.1559 (NCSL)
Email:	legta@jbsinternational.com (JBS) or nina.mbengue@ncsl.org (NCSL)
Website:	http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/tta/state_legs.htm
Contacts:	Candace Charkow (JBS) or Nina Williams-Mbengue (NCSL)

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