Webinar recap: Using administrative data to measure and manage the use of congregate care
In the Data Center’s last webinar, Researcher Lily Alpert demonstrated how to use a longitudinal dataset to understand congregate care use patterns and pinpoint opportunities for improvement. The presentation centered on the fact that in order to change the number of children in congregate care, one must change the rates at which they enter or leave congregate care. Toward that end, Lily presented techniques for answering the following questions about the flow of children in and out of group settings:
- What is the likelihood a child will be placed directly in a group setting upon entering foster care?
- What is the likelihood a child will spend the majority of his or her foster care spell in group care?
- When children enter directly to congregate care, what proportion step down to lower levels of care and how long does that take?
- When children enter foster care directly to a family setting, what proportion step up to congregate care placements and when do those moves typically happen?
All examples in the webinar used data from the Multistate Foster Care Data Archive. Click here to find out if your state or county is a member of the Data Center. Members are encouraged to download the webinar slides and listen to the recording to learn how to make the most of their FCDA spell file.
Interested in becoming a member of the Data Center or working with us to help manage your system’s use of congregate care? Read more about member benefits or reach out to Lily Alpert at lalpert@chapinhall.org with questions.
> Download the webinar slides
> Listen to the webinar recording
> Read more about measuring and managing the use of congregate care