A Child Welfare Leader's Desk Guide to Building a High-Performing Agency

Summary

The child welfare leader’s desk guide is designed to help busy child welfare leaders gauge their agency’s effectiveness and chart a course toward measureable improvement. New leaders will benefit from the desk guide’s structured, yet flexible road map for assessing their agency’s strengths and opportunities and creating an agenda for change.

Part One of the desk guide presents targeted information on 10 practices, including 10 outcomes and 15 measures that are arguably the heart of most child welfare improvements. Leaders can use these and other measures throughout the desk guide to compare their agency results to other systems across the country.

Part Two of the desk guide presents research, references and appendices related to the 10 practices of high-performing agencies. Agency staff can use these materials to assess their agency’s outcomes and install and sustain improvements.

Table of Contents

• Table of Contents
• Leading to Results
• The 10 Practices
• Partnering for Change
• PRACTICE #1: Focus on Child and Family Outcomes
• PRACTICE #2: Emphasize Human Resources, Training and Supervision
• PRACTICE #3: Develop a Broad Service Array
• PRACTICE #4: Measure and Address Racial and Other Disparities
• PRACTICE #5: Use a Practice Model
• PRACTICE #6: Develop Competent Front-End Decision Making
• PRACTICE #7: Promote Expert Casework
• PRACTICE #8: Make Family Relationships and Permanence the Focus of Casework
• PRACTICE #9: Meet Teens' Needs for Family and Other Supports
• PRACTICE #10: Build a Healthy Caregiver Network

Key Takeaway

These 10 practices can build better results

Research is reshaping our knowledge of what works for children and families and it is imperative that public systems act on that knowledge. When child welfare improvements are thoughtfully chosen, sequenced and installed, they can help an agency do a better job of meeting the needs of children and families while ensuring quality and controlling costs. Managing with data, both quantitative and qualitative, is critical to effective service delivery and quality improvement.