Vol. 6, No. 1• November 2001

Feds review child welfare system in North Carolina

In May of this year, the federal Administration for Children and Families released the results of a new, intensive review of North Carolina's child protection, foster care, and adoption programs. Although this federal review praised many areas of our state's child welfare system, it found North Carolina to be "out of substantial compliance" in each of the seven outcome areas measured by the review. This will have significant implications for those who work in North Carolina's child welfare system.

The Child and Family Services Review

The Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) is a new review process the federal government is using to determine how states are doing in their efforts to assure the safety, well-being, and permanency of children and families. The CFSR is a two-part review. It assesses the systems that support improved outcomes, such as a state's information, quality assurance, and training systems, and it also looks at a state's ability to achieve the following seven child welfare outcomes:

Safety Outcomes

  1. Children are, first and foremost, protected from abuse and neglect.
  2. Children are safely maintained in their homes whenever possible and appropriate.

Permanency Outcomes

  1. Children have permanency and stability in their living situations.
  2. The continuity of family relationships and connections is preserved for children.

Child and Family Well-Being Outcomes

  1. Families have enhanced capacity to provide for their children's needs.
  2. Children receive appropriate services to meet their educational needs.
  3. Children receive adequate services to meet their physical and mental health needs.

Each outcome is evaluated by using specific performance indicators.

North Carolina's Strengths

In its review of data and cases from 1998-99, the federal CFSR identified many areas in which North Carolina's child welfare system is performing well. Most notably, the review found all of the systemic elements—from North Carolina's statewide training system to the way it licenses, recruits, and retains foster and adoptive parents—to be in "substantial conformity" with federal standards. The report also praised North Carolina's:

  • Prompt and appropriate intervention on initial reports of child abuse and neglect;
  • An exceptionally low rate of children entering foster care a second time;
  • Half of all children entering foster care are only in care for a year or less;
  • Substantial increase in adoptions, and low rate of adoption disruptions, reflects the state's commitment to permanent homes for children;
  • A great job keeping foster care placements in close proximity to the families;
  • A clear emphasis on keeping siblings in foster care together;
  • Increased reliance on relative placement in lieu of foster care;
  • A healthy cooperation among DSS, law enforcement, Tribes, courts, mental health, and other partners.

In a N.C. Department of Health and Human Resources press release, Earl Merritt, director of NC Association of County Social Services Directors, responded to the report by saying, "North Carolina has made significant improvements in child welfare in the last four to five years, and this report recognizes that. I think the praise we received is a direct result of the mandatory training that all staff undergo, and the state's review of each county every two years. But we should never be satisfied. We need to always look for more and better ways to protect children."

Need for Improvement

The CFSR underscores this point. In order for a state to "pass" the federal review, 90% of the cases reviewed must be judged to have substantially achieved the seven outcomes being assessed. North Carolina failed to meet this criteria for each of the outcomes measured. The CFSR report identified many areas in which North Carolina must improve. These include:

  • Reports of repeat maltreatment are not always given the same level of intervention as initial reports;
  • Need for more services for adolescents in foster care with behavioral issues;
  • A shortage of therapeutic homes and institutions for foster children with mental health needs;
  • Need to do a better job with "in-home" cases (where child abuse or neglect has occurred but the children are not in foster care);
  • Need to expand child abuse prevention services;
  • Need for expanded post-adoption support services;
  • Need for more child mental health services.
  • Need to recruit Latino/Hispanic foster and adoptive parents.

North Carolina was the second state to participate in the CFSR. Delaware, the first, was also found to be out of substantial compliance.

What Happens Now

Because it lacks substantial conformity with the outcomes evaluated by the CFSR, North Carolina faced the possibility of financial penalties. To avoid these penalties, in August the state submitted an improvement plan to the federal government explaining the steps it plans to take so that it will be in substantial compliance when the CFSR process begins again in two years.

At that time, passing the federal review will be even harder than it was this time: to "pass" this year, North Carolina had to achieve the measured outcomes 90% of the time. To pass the next review, outcomes must be achieved 95% of the time.

North Carolina is already taking vigorous steps to meet this challenge. In August it updated its own biennial review of county departments of social services to ensure the review fits with the criteria evaluated by the CFSR. In the months to come, administrators, social workers, and foster parents across the state will probably notice changes in child welfare practice and policy as North Carolina strives to improve the outcomes it achieves for children and families.

To read the results of the child and family services review of North Carolina, visit <http:childrensservices.dhhs.state.nc.us/policy_and_planning/index.htm>. Here you'll find links to the executive summary of the CFSR, as well as the review itself.

Sources:

NCDHHS. (2001). Federal review of child welfare praises state, cites need for improvement [press release]. Online <http://childrensservices.dhhs.state.nc.us/policy_and_planning/CFSR/Press_Release.pdf>

National Resource Center for Foster Care & Permanency Planning. (2001). New child and family services reviews. Permanency Planning Today Newsletter (Summer 2001), 1-2.

 

Copyright � 2001 Jordan Institute for Families