In 1998, the State of Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services assumed responsibility for the Milwaukee County child welfare system. The Wisconsin Council on Children and Families has undertaken a multi-year, qualitative research project to monitor the state takeover. The three questions that this project seeks to answer are: (1) What…

This study responds to the lack of research on Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA) compliance by examining a nationwide sample of the ICWA section within state Title IV-B Child and Family Services Plans (CFSP) and Annual Progress and Services Reports (APSR). These plans and reports address the administration of state child welfare systems. The…

After 10 years of development, the California Statewide Automated Child Support System, run by the Department of Social Services (DSS), has been scrapped and the state has begun developing a new child support collection computer. This report evaluates the performance of publicly-funded child support collection programs in California, examining the…

This report describes: (1) the nature and extent of states' use of federal funds for new and expanded family preservation and support (FPS) services as authorized by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993; and (2) states' plans to assess the impact of these services on children and their families and impacts identified to date. A nationwide…

A total of 14 child placement prevention projects funded by the state of Wisconsin from 1983 to 1985 were evaluated. Data utilized in the evaluation pertained to 331 cases involving 826 children. All client data were collected from a series of assessment forms which requested monthly reporting by each family's social worker. Data about family and…

This report examines the adequacy of the standard of need used by the State of Nevada to determine eligibility for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (ADC). Nevada's standard of $285 per month for a family of 3 ranked 49 out of 54 states and political entities. The current standard is reviewed in relation to the present cost of…

This report from the General Accounting Office reviews selected aspects of Wisconsin's Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Chapter 1 describes AFDC and specifies the scope of the program review. In Chapter 2 the potential for increasing child support collections from parents is explored. Actions which could increase collections…

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the development of safety, permanency, and child well-being indicators by using administrative data sets as well as by using these indicators as tools for evaluating Florida's Community-Based Care (CBC) initiative. Longitudinal data from 37 counties including 4 counties that implemented community-based…

Official state program reviews of 204 substitute care facilities were assessed for the types of behavior management and behavioral interventions used and the extent to which agency practices were consistent with learning theory principles. Data were also collected on the type and number of professional staff available to implement and oversee…

This report focuses on the foster family home, with special emphasis on the non-relative, county-licensed home in 11 diverse counties of California. The analysis address the following four principal concerns: (1) the process of deciding to remove a child from his or her home; (2) the abuse of children who are already in foster care; (3) the…

The Project on State-Level Child Outcomes was initiated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to examine the effects on children of waiver policies related to state welfare reform efforts prior to the passage of federal welfare reform legislation. This report details the project's examination of child well-being in the context of…

This report describes the status of the federal child support program before the 1975 legislation was enacted. Also discussed are actions taken by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) to implement the legislation; means to clarify and improve the new legislation and some problems affected by the new legislation. Included are…

In 1996, Kansas launched the nation's most sweeping attempt to radically transform the child welfare system by implementing a privatized form of managed care. Four years later, the child welfare system shows signs of instability and seems very much in transition. This report examines the current status of the child welfare system in Kansas and…

Measures of quality are now in widespread use across states as part of quality improvement initiatives. For example, many states are currently using global measures of quality that were first developed for research and practice purposes (such as the Environmental Rating Scales) in their Quality Rating Systems (QRSs). Although global quality…

Under the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (P. L. 96-272), Congress outlined a case review system intended to assure that child welfare agencies deal directly with various aspects of child placement. The second of four volumes, this document presents case study descriptions of the hearings within the context of the case review…