Initiatives To Improve Child Welfare Outcomes

• NCJ Number: 247842
• Author(s): Lynn Marble
• Date Published: October 1999
• Length: 2 pages
• Agencies: OJJDP
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis; Issue Overview

Annotation

This Fact Sheet highlights some of the efforts featured in the Child Welfare League of America's (CWLA's) publication, "Outcome Initiatives in Child Welfare," which describes 38 recent initiatives to measure the effectiveness of child welfare services.

Abstract

The publication is not a comprehensive catalog of such initiatives; rather, it provides an overview of some activities at six levels of the child welfare system: CWLA, national organizations, universities, States, counties and cities, and individual agencies. CWLA has several ongoing research projets that are tracking the outcomes of children and youth in residential placement, foster care, group care, and kinship care. A number of national organizations are facilitating dialog, developing guidelines, and providing training related to outcome measurement. Several universities are tracking, and researching child welfare outcomes and promoting implementation of management based on outcomes. Many States have been tracking outcomes for their child welfare systems since the 1970s, largely in response to demands from State legislatures and requirements in child welfare-related law suits. Counties and cities have made significant reforms in their child welfare systems by implementing outcome and performance-based welfare systems. The overview of agency-based initiatives addresses program and outcome-measurement strategies and criteria of four private-sector agencies that are providing child welfare services. Contacts for further information are provided.