Category: CQI Core Concepts

By Dr. Jeffrey Krukar, Licensed Psychologist/Certified School Psychologist, Genesee Lake School In our last post, we offered an example of how members of the Wisconsin Association of Family & Children’s Agencies used the EDGE curriculum to advance best practice performance measurement among a group of private child welfare service providers. In this post, we focus on the work of one of those organizations. Here, guest contributor Dr. Jeffrey Krukar describes how he is applying lessons learned in EDGE to improve the way his agency, Genesee Lake School, uses evidence to drive the process of improvement. In her description of WAFCA’s work, Emily Coddington wrote, “WAFCA members are strong believers in the concept that once you know better, you must do better.” GLS’s efforts post-participation in EDGE exemplify this commitment. Inspired to do better, GLS leaders have invested time, resources, and staff to ensure their performance measures are valid, reliable, and… Read more >

By: Emily Coddington, Associate Director, Wisconsin Association of Family & Children’s Agencies In a previous post, we described how the Data Center’s EDGE training program improved research evidence use capability among child welfare administrators. A number of those agencies are members of the Wisconsin Association of Family & Children’s Agencies (WAFCA), a trade organization that represents child and family serving agencies across the state. In this guest post, WAFCA’s Associate Director, Emily Coddington, talks about how, after participating in EDGE, member agencies leveraged WAFCA’s support to put what they learned into action.  We draw attention to WAFCA’s work to highlight the role professional organizations can play in supporting their member agencies to advance best practice measurement. The case study below is very much a story about private organizations achieving together what they might not have been able to achieve on their own. In this case, a committed group of agency… Read more >

In a recent webinar, Data Center researchers discussed their work with private child welfare agencies to build capacity for evidence-based decision-making. Presenters gave examples of previously implemented tools and techniques, covering performance measurement, implementing theoretically sound interventions, and education and training.... Read more >

Friday, September 7, 2018 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET Click HERE to register  In partnership with the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, researchers from Chapin Hall’s Center for State Child Welfare Data will discuss how they have worked with private child welfare agencies to support evidence-based policy and practice decision-making. Presenters will give examples of tools and techniques that the Data Center has implemented with other organizations, covering three types of work central to the problem solving challenges that agencies face today: Performance measurement. Here we will talk about the Data Center’s work with Necco — a foster care provider agency operating in Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Georgia — to develop a performance measurement system that enabled the organization to measure mission-critical outcomes, identify opportunities for improvement, and track change over time. Implementing theoretically sound interventions. In this segment, we will discuss the Data Center’s work with the nationally renowned… Read more >

This past March, child welfare leaders from across the State of California gathered at the University of California at Davis for a two-day CQI Conference for Child Welfare and Probation. Hosted by California’s Department of Social Services and organized by the Data Center’s longtime partners at the Northern California Training Academy, attendees participated in lectures and workshops designed to support county child welfare leaders in their efforts to build strong CQI systems. Policy Fellow Jennifer Haight and Senior Researcher Lily Alpert — both members of the Data Center staff — were among the presenters, leading the following keynote and breakout sessions: Setting the context: Creating a common language for CQI. In this keynote, Jennifer Haight and Peter Watson discussed the differences between CQI structures and CQI processes, and the demand to support performance improvement efforts with evidence. Nuts and Bolts Part 1. In this workshop, Jennifer Haight and Lily Alpert reviewed… Read more >

Chapin Hall and the Center for State Child Welfare Data are pleased to offer Advanced Analytics for Child Welfare Administration from March 7-9, 2018 in Bloomington, Illinois.... Read more >

This past year, a select group of county child welfare managers from around the state of California convened at U.C. Davis to participate in a five-part CQI practicum focused on reentry to foster care. The purpose of this cohort-based, long term seminar was to support county leaders in using evidence to build and execute CQI plans aimed at reducing reentry.... Read more >

Read our newest report spotlight on how Necco, a private child, youth, and family-serving agency, engaged with Data Center researchers to convert its administrative data resources into research evidence. Learn how this partnership helped Necco build knowledge about its performance and develop organizational capacity for continuous quality improvement (CQI).... Read more >

Watch our recent webinar on how to use the FCDA web tool to measure and manage the use of congregate care. Download the slides and get connected to related resources.... Read more >

Since 2009, the Data Center the Northern California Training Academy have been working together to provide training opportunities to child welfare practitioners. We virtually sat down with the Academy’s director, Susan Brooks, to learn more about how this work has boosted skills and improved practice in the region. ... Read more >