Attachment 1 DRAFT-Performance Work Statement.pdf

Performance Work Statement ACF-GCS-TMP-2023-35 (Sept 2023)

DRAFT: PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

Administration for Children and Families

Children’s Bureau

DRAFT: Performance Work Statement for the

National Child Welfare Center for Innovation and Advancement

07 November 2023

Document Revision History

Mod.

No. Description of Changes Requested

By Approved

By Date

00 Base

Table of Contents

1.0 General

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Objective

1.3 Scope of Work

1.4 Background

1.5 Type of Contract Contemplated

1.6 Period of Performance

1.7 Place of Performance

1.8 Recognized Holidays and Hours of Operation

1.9 Applicable Documents

2.0 Specific Requirements/Tasks

Task 1

Subtasks

Task 2

Subtasks

Task 3

Subtasks

Task 4

Subtasks

Task 5

Subtasks

Task 6

Subtasks

Task 7

Subtasks

Task 8

Subtasks

Task 9

Task 10

Task 11

3.0 Contractor Quality Assurance

4.0 Delivery or Deliverables

5.0 Meetings

6.0 Required Travel and Other Direct Costs (ODCs)

7.0 Special Instructions

8.0 Government Furnished Property/Equipment/Information

9.0 Glossary of Abbreviations and Acronyms

Table 1: List of Deliverables

Performance Work Statement (PWS) for the National Child Welfare Center for Innovation and Advancement (NCWCIA)

1.0 General

1.1 Introduction

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), a division of the Department for Health and Human Services (HHS), is responsible for the promotion of the economic and social well-being of families, children, youth, individuals, and communities with funding, strategic partnerships, guidance, training, and technical assistance. The Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF) oversees major federal programs that provide federal financial assistance to states, community-based organizations, and academic institutions to provide services, carry out research, demonstration activities, manage training, technical assistance, and information dissemination.

Within ACYF, the Children's Bureau (CB) seeks to improve the safety, permanency, and well-being of children through leadership, support for necessary services, and productive partnerships with states, tribes, and cross-system partnerships. CB has the primary responsibility for administering federal programs that support public child welfare services. Additionally, CB provides matching federal funds to states, tribes, and communities to help them operate every aspect of their child welfare systems, including the prevention of child abuse and neglect, the support of permanent placements through adoption and subsidized guardianship, and the information systems necessary to support these programs. This action is for technical assistance services that are centered on anti-racist and de-colonizing child welfare practices and result in measurable improvement in the way that children and families are served in public child welfare systems. This will require a data driven approach to improvement and it will require prioritizing the development of people who serve in child welfare systems to improve the programs and process. CB expects all chosen technical assistance approaches to honor families, staff, and child welfare agencies by always leading with their expertise and acknowledgement that they know what they need. In addition, the contract shall be prepared to use a variety of improvement methods and be able to adapt to the implementation model or framework jurisdictions are already utilizing.

1.2 Objective

The objective of this contract is to improve public child welfare agency's ability to meet federally funded program requirements and to enhance their participation in mandatory service planning and monitoring reviews. NCWCIA is expected to be a national leader in providing concrete supports to public child welfare agencies responsible for federal child welfare policies and programs.

CB believes the following components are critical objectives of capacity building and there is an expectation that each is included as part of the NCWCIA framework.

1. Outcome focused and data informed: Using research, data, evidence, and needs assessments to guide plans, set goals, monitor progress, and adapt, as needed.

2. Equity-driven and focused: All services will be delivered with a racial equity lens to support jurisdictions in the integration of equity throughout all service delivery.

3. Culturally and linguistically responsive: Delivering services in a manner that respects the culture and language of service recipients and agency staff.

4. Collaborative: Building partnerships with CB and CB-supported partners, such as Child Welfare Information Gateway (CWIG) and the Center for Tribes, Center for Courts, Center for Workforce Equity Leadership (CWEL), Quality Improvement Center-Workforce Analytics (QIC-WA), states, tribes and territories, Chafee program and Education and Training Voucher (ETV) grant recipients, and youth and young adults.

5. Tailored: Customizing its services to meet jurisdictions “where they are”.

6. Proactive, innovative, and continuously improving: Anticipating emerging needs and operating as a learning organization with an emphasis on creative solutions and continuous improvement.

1.3 Scope of Work

Technical assistance services provided under this contract are expected to include a comprehensive array of training and technical assistance supports designed to assist and expand the capacity of public child welfare agencies so that jurisdictions may meet federal requirements, participate in federal monitoring and related program improvement planning activities, implement national child welfare policies and programs, and invest in the staffing necessary to successfully respond to and improve the safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes for children, youth, and families. In order to perform these services, the Contractor shall have a diverse team of staff and consultants with extensive knowledge of practice and administration in state public child welfare agencies across the country and an in depth understanding of federal laws, regulations, policies, funding, monitoring, and requirements related to child welfare, including the Child and Family Services Review processes, Family First Prevention Act and the Child and Family Services Planning.

The Contractor must be prepared to immediately assume responsibility and service delivery within one month of award so that peer events and tailored service projects with public child welfare agencies continue without delay. This includes providing services in response to the complex capacity building needs of states responding to the Children’s Bureau’s program priorities and vision, provisions of the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), participating in the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR)

Program Improvement Plan (PIP) process and the five-year Child and Family Services Plans (CFSPs). The Contractor shall align all work with attention to the changing needs of the child welfare workforce, helping jurisdictions address capacity, performance, well-being, and outcomes.

Services include Statutes and Programs CB administers and monitors several federal programs that help states, tribes, territories, and local communities to deliver a continuum of services—from the prevention of child abuse and neglect to the support of permanent placements through adoption and subsidized guardianship. (For more information about State and Tribal funding, visit http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/programs/state-tribal-funding.) NCWCIA will be expected to respond to technical assistance needs across the federal programs listed below. The Contractor shall coordinate with other CB-funded providers to ensure jurisdictions have a coordinated, continuum of technical assistance supports that covers federal requirements. The federal programs the Contractor must understand are included below:

CAPTA

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) provides funds to support community based, prevention-focused programs and activities, improve he investigation and prosecution of child abuse and neglect, and improve state child protective service systems.

1. CAPTA State Grants - Assistance to improve state child protective service systems

2. Community-Based Grants for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (CBCAP) -

Support for community-based, prevention-focused programs and activities

3. Children's Justice Act - Funds for improving the investigation and prosecution of child abuse and neglect

Title IV-B Title IV-B of the Social Security Act provides funds to states and tribes to promote flexibility in the development and expansion of coordinated child and family services programs that utilize community-based agencies, family support services, family http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/programs/state-tribal-funding https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/law-regulation/child-abuse-prevention-and-treatment-act-capta https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/capta-state-grants https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/cbcap-state-grants https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/childrens-justice-act https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/law-regulation/compilation-related-sections-security-act preservation services, adoption promotion and support services, and time-limited family reunification services and that ensure all children are raised in safe, loving families.

1. Stephanie Tubbs Jones Child Welfare Services Program: Title IV-B, Subpart 1, of the

Social Security Act- Funds to support preventive intervention, alternative placements, and reunification efforts to keep families together

2. MaryLee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families: Title IV-B, Subpart 2 of the Social Security Act- Funds to assist with family support, family preservation and support, family reunification services, and services to support adoptions

3. Court Improvement Program- Funds for improving courts' handling of child abuse and neglect litigation

Title IV-E Title IV-E of the Social Security Act provides funds for states and tribes to provide foster care, transitional independent living programs for children, guardianship assistance, and adoption assistance for children with special needs.

1. Title IV-E Adoption Assistance- Financial and medical assistance for the adoption of children with special needs and associated administrative and training costs

2. Title IV-E Foster Care- Assistance with costs of foster care for eligible children and associated administrative and training costs

3. Title IV-E Guardianship Assistance- Financial and medical assistance for guardianship of eligible children and associated administrative and training costs

4. Title IV-E Prevention Program- Funding for time-limited prevention services for mental health, substance abuse, and in-home parent skill-based programs for children or youth who are candidates for foster care, pregnant or parenting youth in foster care, and the parents or kin caregivers of those children and youth

5. John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood- Funding to support youth/ young adults in or formerly in foster care in their transition to adulthood.

6. Education and Training Voucher (ETV) - Funding to support youth/young adults who have aged out of foster care or who have left foster care attend postsecondary training and education.

Strategic and Annual Service Planning Required of Jurisdictions To receive federal funding under Title I, Section 106 of CAPTA and Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, eligible jurisdictions are required to submit five-year plans.

Developed in partnership with CB Regional Office staff, the Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP) is the principal strategic planning document that describes the jurisdiction’s key goals and objectives for strengthening its child welfare system. The CFSP outlines the initiatives and activities that jurisdictions will implement within the next five years to https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/stephanie-tubbs-jones-title-iv-b https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/stephanie-tubbs-jones-title-iv-b https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/promoting-safe-and-stable-2001 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/promoting-safe-and-stable-2001 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/court-improvement-program https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/grant-funding/title-iv-e-foster-care https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/title-ive-adoption https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/title-ive-foster-care https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/title-iv-e-guardianship-assistance https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/title-iv-e-prevention-program https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/chafee-foster-care-program https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/chafee-education-and-training-voucher-etv-program-state-etv-factsheets https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/management/reform/cfsp/#:%7E:text=The%20Child%20and%20Family%20Services,strengthen%20its%20child%20welfare%20system.

administer and integrate their child welfare programs, interventions, and services in order to improve the safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes of children and families.

The Annual Progress and Services Report (APSR) provides an annual update on the progress made by jurisdictions toward the goals and objectives in their CFSPs and outlines the planned activities for the upcoming fiscal year. (For more information about the CFSP and APSR, see https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/cfsp-apsr-state-reports).

Monitoring To help jurisdictions achieve positive outcomes for children and families, the Children's Bureau monitors public child welfare services through the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) assessment reviews, the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs), the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) reviews, the Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS) assessment reviews, and the title IV-E foster care eligibility reviews. (For more information about child welfare monitoring, see https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/training-technical-assistance/monitoring).

Monitoring supports accountability for federal requirements, but it also provides jurisdictions with an important opportunity to build on identified strengths and respond to areas needing improvement. Federal reviews are followed by planning for program and system improvements to improve child welfare service delivery and performance. These improvement efforts emphasize building capacity and implementing changes that will improve child welfare outcomes.

AFCARS Assessment Reviews AFCARS collects case-level information from state and tribal Title IV-E agencies on all children in foster care and those who have been adopted with Title IV-E agency involvement. The purpose of the AFCARS assessment reviews is to assess and evaluate how an agency gathers, records, extracts, and submits its AFCARS data more fully. The AFCARS review process is a rigorous evaluation of the agency's information system and allows the review team to identify problems, investigate the causes, and suggest solutions during the review.

Child and Family Services Review The Children’s Bureau administers the review process known as the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs) as defined by Regulation (45 CFR 1355.31-37). The reviews were established by the 1994 Amendments to the Social Security Act. In 2000, the Children’s Bureau published a final rule in the Federal Register to establish a process for monitoring state child welfare programs. The review process is designed to meet statutory and regulatory requirements to provide oversight of states’ compliance with the requirements in Titles IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Under the rule, states https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/programs/state-tribal-cfsp/state-toolkit https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/cfsp-apsr-state-reports https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/training-technical-assistance/monitoring https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-B/chapter-XIII/subchapter-G/part-1355?toc=1 are assessed for substantial conformity with federal requirements for child welfare services.

The CFSR process enables the CB to (1) ensure conformity with federal child welfare requirements; (2) determine what is happening to children and families receiving child welfare services; and (3) assist states in enhancing their capacity to help children and families achieve positive outcomes related to safety, permanency, and well-being.

The reviews provide states an opportunity to consider and critically analyze evidence of disparities in decision-making processes, programs, and policies that may contribute to inequity in services and outcomes for people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality in the child welfare system. “Engaging families and young people with demonstrated experience, as well as other system partners and individuals with a vested interest in the child welfare system, is a cornerstone of all phases of the CFSR. This principle is grounded in the knowledge that a child welfare system is most effective in achieving its vision and goals to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families when all partners who have a role in it contribute to its design and operation. Engaging diverse individuals with lived expertise, particularly those who may be at risk of negative outcomes, is vital to the process. Individuals with lived expertise have unique insight that are critical to understanding what is working well and where systems lack sensitivity to the experiences of those in marginalized populations. Additionally, it is important to ensure that other system partners and relevant groups participating in the CFSR represent the diversity of individuals and families who live in the community and are served by the system” Advancing Equity and Inclusion Through the CFSRs.

In the CFSR, the Children’s Bureau, along with the state, considers states’ performance in 3 areas or domains that are specified in Regulation (45 CFR 1355.31-37): Safety, Permanency, and Well-Being. Through the CFSRs, the Children’s Bureau also determines states’ performance on seven (7) systemic factors. The systemic factors, specified in regulation, are associated with federal Child and Family Services Plan (CFSP) requirements. All states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico are required to complete and submit a CFSP every five (5) years along with annual updates on the progress and services covered in the plan. The systemic factors refer to systems within a state that should promote—if routinely functioning statewide—positive child safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes.

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-B/chapter-XIII/subchapter-G/part-1355?toc=1

The systemic factors include:

1. the statewide information system;

2. the case review system;

3. the quality assurance system;

4. staff and provider training;

5. the service array and resource development;

6. agency responsiveness to the community; and

7. foster and adoptive parent licensing, recruitment, and retention.

After the onsite review, jurisdictions determined not to be in substantial conformity with one or more of the seven outcomes and seven systemic factors are required to develop a Program Improvement Plan (PIP) to address all areas of non-conformity The PIP provides an opportunity for the child welfare agency, partners, and relevant groups to use information from the statewide assessment and the onsite review to develop, implement, and monitor a state-specific plan to strengthen the functioning of the systemic factors and improve outcomes for the children and families served. “As part of PIPs, states have embraced the need to better engage parents in case planning and services, improve outreach and support to relatives, ensure comprehensive training for staff, and include the voice of youth and family with demonstrated experience. In the end, we are all only as strong as our collective efforts to listen to and learn from the children, youth, and families being served by child welfare. The CFSR continues to be a mechanism that allows us to do just that. But we must have the courage of our conviction to act on what we learn so that we can make positive changes to the system. If we do not, then we are not only failing those from whom we learned, but also, we risk abandoning the improvement principles we say we value” The Child and Family Services Review: Catalyst for Change.

States must successfully complete their plans to avoid financial penalties for nonconformity. More information about the

CFSR can be found at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/monitoring/child-family-services-reviews.

Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System Final Rule The Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS) final rule was published in the Federal Register on June 2, 2016, and replaces the Statewide/Tribal Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS/TACWIS) requirements to address changes in child welfare practice and advances in information technology that have occurred since the regulations were published in 1993. The CCWIS final rule provides agencies with increased flexibility to build smaller systems that more closely mirror their practice models. A CCWIS is a case management information system that https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/monitoring/child-family-services-reviews https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/monitoring/child-family-services-reviews

Title IV-E agencies may develop to support their child welfare program needs. If a state or tribe elects to build a CCWIS, the federal government will provide a more favorable cost allocation than is provided for non-CCWIS systems. However, the system must be designed to support social workers' automation needs to organize and record quality case information about the children and families receiving child welfare services.

(For more information see https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/training-technical-assistance/comprehensive-child-welfare-information-system-final-rule-overview) While agencies electing to build a CCWIS receive federal support, guidance, and technical assistance from CB’s Division of State Systems, additional services, like consultation, peer networking, and other support may be offered by the Center.

NYTD Review National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) is a federal reporting system designed to collect information on young people transitioning out of foster care who are served by state agencies that administer the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood. The purpose of the NYTD Review is to comprehensively evaluate states’ policies and practices related to collecting and reporting timely, reliable, and accurate data on young people in transition. The NYTD Review also is an opportunity to explore how states use NYTD data to evaluate the quality of services provided to young people in transition as part of a continuous quality improvement framework.

Title IV-E Reviews The regulatory reviews of the Title IV-E foster care program determine whether children in foster care meet the federal eligibility requirements for foster care maintenance payments. During these reviews, the Children’s Bureau examines child and provider case records, as well as payment documentation, to validate the accuracy of a state's reimbursement claims for foster care payments. Each eligibility review details the strengths and weaknesses of the state's program and identifies technical assistance that may be needed for program improvement.

Based upon the federal programs and requirements, the Center shall develop strategies to:

1. Synthesize information from a variety of sources, which may include but may not be limited to the Child and Family Services Plans (CFSP) and Annual Progress and Services Reports (APSRs), Child and Family Services Review (CFSR)-related documents and reports, materials related to other federal reviews (e.g., National Youth in Transition Database), formula grant plans (e.g., Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and Children’s Justice Act), demonstration grants reports, discretionary grant work plans and reports, Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) applications, Court Improvement Program (CIP) plans and other sources to systematically assess the needs of state and territorial public child https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/training-technical-assistance/comprehensive-child-welfare-information-system-final-rule-overview https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/training-technical-assistance/comprehensive-child-welfare-information-system-final-rule-overview welfare agencies in up to 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, America Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands and identify themes across the country

2. Develop and propose annual work plans for information gathering and synthesis, national training and coaching, and peer networking activities that are driven by federal requirements and CB priorities

3. Collect, organize, synthesize, and manage resources and literature; distill complex information into key ideas and concepts; and make information easily accessible to child welfare professionals for the purpose of program improvement and systems change

4. Design and produce high quality, Section 508 compliant tools and innovative resources based on strategic goals and coordinate with CWIG to plan for national dissemination

5. Design and deliver state-of-the-art, Section 508 compliant, self-directed and group-based learning experiences, such as web-based e-learning modules, audio recordings, videos, interactive applications and/or instructional games to engage participants and achieve measurable gains in participant knowledge and skills

6. Deliver credible, expert-level training and coaching and host in person and virtual events on child welfare topics and practice issues to groups of child welfare professionals in management and leadership positions to build their knowledge, skills, and peer networking

7. Develop jurisdiction-specific technical assistance work plans with clear timelines, outcomes, and rationales for service delivery, and deliver individualized training, coaching, and consultation to all state and territorial title IV-E child welfare agencies

8. Deliver training, coaching, and expert consultation necessary to help jurisdictions prepare for and complete Rounds 4 and 5 of the CFSR and PIP processes

9. Engage state and territorial public child welfare agencies in capacity building projects to support building organization readiness, selecting and developing interventions, implementing changes, assessing progress and performance, and sustaining changes

10. Include disproportionality and disparity data and goals in readiness assessments, root cause analysis, evaluation activities, and all activities/supports throughout jurisdictional engagements

11. Identify and promote activities that expand and diversify the child welfare workforce

12. Support jurisdiction efforts to engage, prepare, and integrate lived expertise (i.e.

training, coaching, peer navigation, and provision of knowledge and awareness) in systemic and case-level activities

13. Consultations with jurisdictions on relevant topics such as housing service array, family and youth engagement to support multi-system, culturally relevant solutions for children and families

14. Support jurisdiction efforts to create and maintain cross-system partnerships to support family well-being

15. Support jurisdiction efforts in building capacity through equity-focused relationships (i.e. state-tribal partnerships and committees and coalitions for equity)

16. Support jurisdiction efforts to create and maintain partnerships with court improvement programs and the legal community

17. Support jurisdiction examination of hotline policies and practices to ensure they have elements needed for an effective system, including consistent and timely response, clear policy guidance, skilled workforce, reliable decision-making processes, and continuous quality improvement processes

18. Support jurisdictions in developing, implementing and overseeing training activities for case managers and leadership assigned to the agency’s intake response system (i.e. hotline) in policy, statute, and practice considerations (i.e. disentangling poverty from neglect)

19. Assess and support a jurisdiction’s NYTD data collection process and tools

20. Support related to NYTD data needs (including assessing data quality)

21. Provide consultation and support to jurisdictions to select, implement, and monitor the use of risk and safety assessment tools and protocols (i.e., assessment selection or protocol development; implementation; training, coaching; and examination of assessment reliability/validity)

22. Support connecting Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) activities with NYTD data collection processes and findings

23. Support jurisdiction engagement of youth and young adults in NYTD data collection and review

24. Support state self-assessment of NYTD requirements in preparation for a NYTD review

25. Support jurisdictions with the development of project management plans and teaming structures to participate in federal monitoring reviews

26. Support engagement of youth and young adults in state and federal processes

27. Support development of the NYTD Improvement Plan and implementation of improved processes based upon NYTD review findings

28. Stay current of innovations, best practices, evidence-based practices, legislation and policy and other system changes to support a range of jurisdiction improvement request

29. Perform quality assurance and evaluation to support learning and the continuous improvement of its services

VISION MOVING FORWARD

Advancing Race Equity CB programs are designed to promote the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, including those in foster care, available for adoption, recently adopted, experiencing abuse, neglect, dependency, disability, or homelessness, and to prevent child neglect, abuse, and exploitation.

For many years in public child welfare, efforts to address the safety, permanency, and well-being of children who come to the attention of the child welfare serving system have been disconnected from the root causes of systemic oppression and have lacked focus on the actual experience of the people whom the system is intended to serve. Addressing systemic oppression, bias, and many other inequities must be foundational to truly address the challenges families face in the child welfare system. There is a paramount need for concrete support to the public agencies charged with serving children and families and removing systemic barriers that perpetuate disproportionate minority representation and disparate outcomes for Black, Brown and Indigenous children and families.

Across the federal government, agencies are assessing how to address systemic racial barriers to meet the needs of people of color. The Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (EO 13985) sets racial equity as a critical priority. The executive order states:

“The Federal Government’s goal in advancing equity is to provide everyone with the opportunity to reach their full potential. Consistent with these aims, each agency must assess whether, and to what extent, its programs and policies perpetuate systemic barriers to opportunities and benefits for people of color and other underserved groups.”

The Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government (Executive Order 14058) prioritizes including the voices of those with demonstrated experience. The executive order states:

“Our government must recommit to being “of the people, by the people, [and] for the people” in order to solve the complex 21st century challenges our Nation faces.

Government must be held accountable for designing and delivering services with a focus on the actual experiences of the people whom it is meant to serve. Government must also work to deliver services more equitably and effectively, especially for those who have been historically underserved.”

ACF has a “commitment to addressing inequities and advancing equity through assessing and changing policies, programs, and processes across the Department. Additionally, ACF is working to shift the culture, resources, and approaches to institutionalize and sustain a focus on equity over time” (ACF Strategic Plan, 2022). In concert with the https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-order-advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/12/13/executive-order-on-transforming-federal-customer-experience-and-service-delivery-to-rebuild-trust-in-government/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/12/13/executive-order-on-transforming-federal-customer-experience-and-service-delivery-to-rebuild-trust-in-government/ https://www.acf.hhs.gov/about/acf-strategic-plan-2022 agency-wide efforts, the CB has established a new vision that centers our work on serving families with intentional equity. Information about CB’s commitment to partnering with relevant groups to examine and improve child welfare and human service systems to yield more equitable outcomes for children and families is included within CB's Equity Statement.

CB is committed to addressing disproportionality and disparity in child welfare for Black, American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), Hispanic and Latino, and other impacted people of color; people who are LGBTQIA2S+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual, Two-Spirit, or other gender or sexual identity); those who experience poverty; and other populations who historically have experienced disproportionality and disparity in the Nation’s child welfare systems.

Disproportionality and disparity for children and youth of color is a grave concern in child welfare. Over 50 years of data demonstrate that Black, AI/AN, and Hispanic children are disproportionately represented and have disparate outcomes throughout the child welfare process, including investigations, entry into out-of-home care, and exits from care. It is critical to understand that true meaningful change must begin with the acknowledgment that the child welfare system is functioning as it was designed as it was built on dominant culture norms and true system transformation will require us to dismantle and challenge policies and practices at all levels.

CB has prioritized halting the adverse effects of disproportionality and disparities on these populations by using a lens of equity and intersectionality. Intersectionality is a framework for understanding how each person’s multiple identities (e.g., race, gender, sexuality) influence the way an individual experiences the world and is seen by the world. It requires recognizing we are all multifaceted people with multiple identities that affect the discrimination and privilege we experience.

CB has established four priority areas through which it wants to thread equity:

1. Preventing children from coming into foster care

2. Supporting kin caregivers

3. Ensuring youth leave care with strengthened relationships, holistic supports, and opportunities

4. Developing and enhancing the child welfare workforce

Focus on Prevention To dismantle and redesign child welfare in the United States, CB believes that child welfare systems must focus on proactively supporting families through primary prevention of child maltreatment. To accomplish this, primary prevention services must be in communities where families live, where they are easily accessible, and culturally and linguistically competent. These services should also focus on the overall health and https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cb/equity-public-statement.pdf well-being of both children and families and be designed to promote resiliency and parenting capacity. Revolutionizing the current system will require careful planning, building political will, and navigation through administrative barriers and boundaries.

The Center (NCWCIA) must be aware of efforts to support children and families through primary and secondary prevention, as well as opportunities for cross-system partnerships that keep the well-being and safety of children and families at the center of efforts to keep children in their communities and families whenever possible. This contract shall be prepared to support public child welfare agencies to work across cross-system partners to move away from the current fragmented practice so that children and families are supported in a holistic manner.

In addition to preventing maltreatment through community and system-wide efforts, CB recognizes that jurisdictions provide the continuum of services to prevent unnecessary removals and foster care placements, reduce the reoccurrence of maltreatment, and mitigate against other negative outcomes associated with children remaining in foster care for long periods of time without permanency. In addition, CB is focused on helping jurisdictions ensure stability for youth emancipating from foster care by supporting the ongoing needs of young people currently and formerly in foster care in a number of areas, including youth and young adult engagement, financial assistance, and service array development. Jurisdictions must ensure that youth are prepared for living on their own after they reach adulthood and leave care and children and youth becoming homeless or otherwise disconnected. Data demonstrates that LGBTQIA2S+, BIPOC, and youth with disabilities experience these outcomes at disproportional rates. Effective outreach on issues of mental health requires sensitivity and an understanding of trauma-informed approaches and of the systemic and cultural barriers young people may face in seeking mental health supports.

To achieve CB’s goal of reducing the number of BIPOC children entering the child welfare system, NCWCIA will be expected to center capacity building services to support jurisdictions with the following:

1. Prioritize equity, civil rights, and racial justice, as essential considerations to meets the needs of families and children in the context of their communities and cultures.

2. Prevent children from coming into care when it is safely possible, honor families staying together, keep kin and community connections when separation is the only option, and see culture as a protective factor.

3. Invest in cultural, skills-based training, and technical assistance that prioritizes family engagement and cultural practices to improve safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes for children.

4. Respect the position of children in families and families in communities and promote practices that rewards engagement of families and tribal communities in a respectful, culturally, and linguistically competent manner.

5. Build and sustain the infrastructure necessary to cultivate cross-system collaboration that is centered upon family strengthening and well-being.

6. Maintain triage procedures (for example, child abuse hotline and warm lines) infrastructure that is integrated with all parts of the agency, supports community partnership and collaboration, promotes the use of continuous quality improvement, and invests in specialized training.

7. Promote evidence-informed approaches to risk and safety assessment across the practice continuum through the implementation of standardized protocols or tools, use of agency data to supplement decision-making, and implementation of best practices in coaching and supervision.

8. Utilize data to identify key decision-making points along the continuum that may impact children of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds; disaggregate agency data to expose trends that may be obscured by aggregated statistics; increase knowledge of local disproportionality and disparity data.

9. Strengthen interagency partnerships to create an integrated and streamlined process for meeting the needs of families of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, acknowledging families are experts in their own lives.

10. Center equity and elevate lived expertise by including representation of the individuals and communities served in the identification of barriers, co-design of change and improvement strategies and ongoing assessment of success.

11. Increase concrete supports for families and kinship providers, such as housing and financial resources, home visiting programs, and in-home services.

12. Recognize the knowledge and commitment communities must demonstrate in order to support the needs of families, identify cultural norms and expectations, and create awareness of formal and informal support systems that can be mobilized on behalf of children and families.

CB believes that to achieve this vision, the child welfare agency must effectively engage and partner with courts, tribes and other critical agencies and organizations that support families and children. There will be opportunities to partner with other CB funded technical assistance providers specifically around cross-cutting topics that intersect and impact the jurisdiction either directly or indirectly (e.g. Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), CFSR and courts, Tribal-State Agreements, etc.) The child welfare agency should actively seek, engage, and sustain the involvement of leaders across the branches and levels of government responsible for operating child welfare systems in designing and implementing their jurisdictions’ visions for serving children and families. (To learn more, see https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/policy-guidance/im-18-05)

Investing in the Child Welfare Workforce Investment in the human capital necessary to appropriately staff and adapt the child welfare system to meet the safety needs of families, while expanding partnerships to better serve children in their homes and communities as required by the Families First Prevention Services Act (IM18-02 (Public Law 115-123) will require a critical review of data by individual jurisdictions to understand trends, needs, gaps, and opportunities for the workforce. A clear understanding of how the child welfare workforce needs to be adapted and supported is pivotal to larger system change.

During the coronavirus pandemic of 2019 (COVID-19), the child welfare workforce experienced demands that required increased risk to personal safety as they continued to meet state and federal mandates and to support children and families who no longer had access to traditional resources, childcare, and educational infrastructures. The cumulative stress on the child welfare workforce has been devastating and has contributed to unprecedented public child welfare staff turnover rates, reported in some areas as between 50 - 88 percent, and vacancy rates of 25 percent or more. In fiscal year (FY) 2022 Listening Sessions sponsored by CB, child welfare leaders reported increased vacancy rates, a decrease in qualified applicants, increased workloads, stress on all levels of child welfare staff, and continued concerns about an increase in administrative and reporting responsibilities that impact time for quality family engagement efforts.

CB recognizes that the child welfare workforce is at a turning point. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that most of the employed civilian labor force is between the ages of 20 and 44. Millennials and Gen Z make up most of that age group. According to Pew research, Millennials and Gen Z are the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in the nation’s history (Dimock, 2022). New investments need to be made in the people who do the work, the leadership that guides the change, and the systems that support how we recruit, retain, and develop our current and future child welfare professionals. The Center will need to demonstrate knowledge of and provide resourcing to support jurisdiction’s workforce investments in the key areas depicted in the graphic below.

https://www.bia.gov/bia/ois/dhs/icwa https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/policy-guidance/im-18-05 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/policy-guidance/im-18-02 https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ123/PLAW-115publ123.htm https://www.qic-wd.org/blog/child-welfare-workforce-crisis-%E2%80%93-what-we%E2%80%99re-hearing-field

CB expects NCWCIA to engage jurisdictional and educational partners, including those offering IV-E stipend programs, to enhance and improve educational pathways and training that support the child welfare professionals of the future. Attention should be given to assisting jurisdictions in aligning workforce needs with the skills necessary to meet well-being, safety, and permanency priorities, especially as they seek to address disproportionality, prevention, and family engagement goals.

CB believes that providing relief to workforce vacancy rates and turnover challenges will require a comprehensive approach that addresses the full spectrum of the employee lifecycle needs (QIC-WD Employee Lifecycle). To accomplish this comprehensive approach, CB expects the contract to access knowledge and resources developed in previous CB workforce investments, including the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) and the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) and to coordinate with other CB-funded providers such as Minority Professional Leadership Development (MPLD) program under AdoptUSKids, Quality Improvement Center-Engaging Youth (QIC-EY), Center for Workforce Equity Leadership (CWEL) and Quality Improvement Center on Workforce Analytics (QIC-

WA)

CB’s Capacity Building Approach to Supporting Implementation Efforts Evidence-informed frameworks that describe systematic processes for implementing change in organizations, systems, and communities guide CB’s approach to capacity building. These frameworks typically lay out a series of similar steps that, if sufficiently https://www.qic-wd.org/blog/key-findings-qic-wd-various-stages-employee-lifecycle completed, increase accountability for results and improve the chances that change efforts will be successful. These common evaluation steps typically include:

1. Identifying a problem or outcomes that need to be addressed

2. Forming integrated, representative teams to guide the change process, facilitate communication and perform tasks

3. Gathering relevant data, exploring the problem in depth, and identifying who is most affected

4. Developing a theory about the causes of the problem and how to address them

5. Identifying, researching, and selecting from among possible solutions

6. Adapting existing interventions or designing new ones

7. Assessing readiness and planning for implementation of the intervention(s)

8. Building capacity to support implementation

9. Piloting and/or staging implementation of the intervention(s)

10. Collecting and using data to adjust the intervention and/or implementation strategies

11. Evaluating to measure implementation quality and short- and long-term outcomes

12. Making decisions to further spread, adjust, or discontinue the intervention

13. Communicating the process and adjustments with decision-makers and partners

CB’s Capacity Building Approach to Supporting Monitoring Efforts Performance measurement frameworks can be used to help child welfare agencies, courts, and tribal agencies identify what drives performance and how frequently indicators can and should be measured in order to effectively monitor improvement or declines in performance. CB’s approach to building states’ capacities to use performance measurement as an ongoing, continuous quality improvement process generally involves supporting the following capacities:

1. Engaging partners and stakeholders

2. Identifying, collecting, and analyzing relevant data to explore factors that may impact performance

3. Collecting and reporting appropriate indicators on a timeline that can inform feasible corrective actions or strategies, practice adjustments, or policy changes

4. Communicating results to internal and external partners to inform decision making

5. CB intends for the Center’s services to improve child welfare agencies’ abilities to navigate and perform the tasks associated with these evaluation and performance measurement steps and to successfully complete them. CB also expects each capacity building service plan to include a timeline, project objectives and strategies, indicators, and milestones and for tracking to occur so that changes in outcomes are measured and reported by the Center.

CB also believes that capacity building approaches with individuals and organizations are more effective when they respect and respond to the cultural, linguistic, and other social needs of communities. CB expects the Center’s services to be culturally and linguistically appropriate and to be respectful of and responsive to the practice and needs of diverse communities. The Center’s approach shall be prepared to meet jurisdictions where they are with their own improvement process. The Center is expected to have a team of staff and consultants with a range of experience and expertise that allows a nimble approach without adding undue burden or process to the capacity building experience.

Role of the Center in CB’s Larger Capacity Building Service Structure The Center will partner with CB’s information clearinghouse, Child Welfare Information Gateway (CWIG), which will serve as the primary point of dissemination for all publications, tools, trainings, and other materials developed under the contract. The Center and CWIG will develop joint dissemination plans and strategies for universal and peer service delivery, including specifying audiences, setting shared objectives, and identifying outcomes. Moving forward, CWIG will serve as CB’s primary provider of the universal service component so that other CB-funded entities can focus the majority of resources on providing targeted and tailored services to jurisdictions.

The Center will also work closely with…