Session: Evaluating Child Welfare Intensive Services: Results from California's Title IV-E Waiver Child Welfare Demonstration Project


Friday, 14 January 2005: 2:00 PM-3:45 PM
Hibiscus A (Hyatt Regency Miami)
Evaluating Child Welfare Intensive Services: Results from California's Title IV-E Waiver Child Welfare Demonstration Project

Organizer:	Edward Cohen, PhD, University of California at Berkeley, School of Social Welfare
		California's Title IV-E Child Welfare Waiver Demonstration Project Evaluation: An analysis of Wraparound in Alameda County Charlie Ferguson, PhD
		The Impact of Family Group Decision-Making on Child Welfare Outcomes Stephanie C. Berzin, MSW
		How Does Providing a Family Group Conference Affect the Costs of a Voluntary Family Maintenance Program? Brenda L. Lorentzen, MPA, MSW
Format:	Symposium
Abstract Text: This symposium summarizes the findings of a five-year evaluation of California’s Title IV-E Waiver Child Welfare Demonstration Project. The project is a collaborative effort involving the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), California Department of Social Services (CDSS), county child welfare services agencies and the contracted evaluators at the University of California at Berkeley’s Center for Social Services Research (CSSR). The Waiver permits the state and selected counties to waive federal and state restrictions on the use of Title IV-E funds in order to use funds flexibly to implement child welfare service innovations. Participating counties can use funds to provide intensive, individualized services, thereby permitting children to remain at home, return home sooner or to be placed in permanent family settings. Five counties in California implemented Wraparound and two counties implemented Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) using Title IV-E Waiver funds. With the use of an experimental randomized control design our evaluation consisted of Process, Fidelity and Impact Studies. The Process Study covered organizational structure of the agency, service aspects of the intervention and staffing, and contextual issues affecting implementation. The Fidelity Study explored the extent to which implementation of a particular program proceeded in a manner consistent with the initial demonstration, incorporating the underlying theory and defining elements of the original model. The Impact Study analyzed the outcomes related to child safety, placement stability, permanence, and child/family well-being. We will present information from the Impact Study of FGDM in both counties; results of a cost study of FGDM; and Impact Study results of one Wraparound county (Alameda County) which piloted the intervention within a fiscal risk-sharing model between the county and a contracted provider organization. The implications of the findings, including relevant data from the Fidelity and Process Studies, will also be included in the presentations. The experimental evaluation of such interventions is important to increase the evidence base of effective responses to children and families in the child welfare system, and to inform future implementation efforts.

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