Child and Family Services Reviews 2001-2004
Introduction Procedures
adopted in 2000 by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) established new criteria and evaluation procedures to help states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico do a better job caring for and protecting our nation's children. Called Child & Family Services Reviews (CFSR), this round began in 2001 and was completed in 2004.
CFSR Basics There were two parts to the review:
Outcomes and
Systemic Factors. Each part evaluates seven areas:
- Outcomes indicate how well states are doing in meeting goals of safety, permanency, and well-being. CFSR auditors looked at case files and talked to stakeholders, identifying strengths and weaknesses.
- Systemic Factors are the mechanisms in place to support the best outcomes - things like information systems, staff training, quality assurance, and recruitment of foster and adoptive parents.
The goal is to be in "substantial compliance" with standards, both in-state and nationwide, for each area. This is determined by the percentage of cases or activities that has substantially achieved the desired goals. (See above linked pages for the details of "substantial compliance" for each.)
So, how did we do? Not well. The
results showed more strength in the systemic factors than in outcomes - remember, outcomes are child safety, permanency, and the physical, mental, and educational well-being of children and families.
When a state is out of compliance, the state has a period of 90 days to submit a
Program Improvement Plan (PIP), outlining how it will correct the problems within a certain period of time. The PIP must be approved by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), and penalties are suspended during the time the PIP is being implemented. If the improvements are not made, penalties apply.
What are the penalties? PIP documentation (linked above) describes them as "withholding of funds."
(I find it impossible to understand the thinking behind withholding funds from states without enough money to do it well
now (see below) and expect them to continue to function in any meaningful way to help our children.)
What's going wrong? I'm sure child welfare experts have a more precise analysis to offer, but my take is that, while several factors are at work here, the biggest problem across the board is money.
Take a look at recent headlines:
- State Attorney General Going After Foster-Care Agencies Misspending Taxpayers Money in Ohio,
- Adoptions on Hold After State Runs Out of Money in Texas, and
- Adoption process slows to a crawl in S.C. - Social Services director blames bureaucratic woes and budget
It's all about money.
I'm not qualified to assess the root of the money problem, but even I can see that states are struggling to deal with an often inadequate number of dollars, the increasing number of children in the foster care system increases the strain on funds, misspending is going on, and even Corporate America seems to be playing a role.
In one of her columns, Arianna Huffington got down and dirty with corporate tax shelters which she sees as diverting millions so desperately needed to keep state-funded services alive - services like nursing homes, schools, and - although she doesn't say it, services to children would certainly be on that list.
Remedies, given the fact that no one seems to be waiting in wings to pour money into state child welfare systems, must include working better and smarter with other stakeholders, creating new options that involve communities, private enterprise, and the experience we, in families created by adoption and foster care, have to offer.
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