CQIdeas Blog

Variation not only helps you define the outcome you want to improve, it also creates a springboard for crafting the solution. Once we know that an outcome varies, the next step in the CQI process is to ask: Why? This post provides guidance on how to interpret the variation you observe in your system and explains why that interpretation is vital to strategic planning.... Read more >

Child welfare outcomes can vary on a number of dimensions: by geography or business unit, by child and family characteristics, by service type, and over time. This post describes examples of each.... Read more >

The CQI process starts when we observe a problem that needs solving. The only way to know whether the outcome we observe is, in fact, something that can be improved is to compare it to an outcome that we can identify as "better." This post explains how analyzing variation provides the information needed to make that comparison.... Read more >

A key to success in the waiver context is controlling the use of foster care by either safely preventing placement or reducing time in out of home care. In this webinar, Data Center Director Fred Wulczyn will discuss how to connect knowledge about care day use to the investments states can make to meet the needs of children.... Read more >

No matter the specific issue to which it is applied, improving outcomes for children requires agencies to work through the four basic phases of the CQI cycle: Plan, Do, Study, Act. In this post, we describe the cycle of CQI in a child welfare context and highlight the major activities that take place during each phase of the process.... Read more >

As some of you know, a while back, the Data Center started a blog called Recipes. This blog was located inside the FCDA web tool and focused on how to use that tool to ask and answer system performance questions regarding outcomes for children in foster care. In order to enable a broader audience to access that information—and much more—we’ve moved the blog over to our main website, expanded its scope, and given it a new name: CQIdeas. We’ll still use this forum to post FCDA web tool guidance, but we’ll also be using it to share information about new research coming from the Data Center, resources for building CQI capacity, and how to incorporate the use of research evidence into ongoing CQI activities. You’ll find the link to CQIdeas in the main menu on our homepage (and you’ll still be able to access it from inside the FCDA web… Read more >

This is the last in a 4-part series that shows how to use the web tool to hone in on the needs of infants in foster care. In the last three posts, we used different parts of the web tool to learn how many infants are in our system in the first place, how long they spend in foster care, and what is unique about their placement and exit experience. When we left off, we had just learned that, among other things, infants in our sample county are more likely than older children to be placed in non-relative foster care, to exit to adoption, and when they reunify, to reunify within 90 days. What can we learn about what goes on behind the scenes in these cases that can give us more information about what might expedite permanency for infants in foster care? In this Recipe, I’ll show you how… Read more >

In Part 1 of this series of Recipes, we learned about a county where infants represent the largest proportion of children entering foster care. In Part 2, we found out that those infants stayed in care longer than children who entered care at older ages. In this Recipe, we’ll use another function of the web tool to learn more about who these infants are and what they experience while in care, and use what we learn to inform our decision making about the type of intervention they might need. This Recipe will take about 10 minutes to complete. Question: What are the demographic and case-related characteristics of the infants in my system? In what ways are the children in my system who enter as infants different from the children who enter care at older ages? Follow the steps in the previous Recipe. On the results page, scroll to the top and… Read more >

In the previous Recipe, we discovered that in my sample county, the largest group of children entering foster care for the first time are infants. Because they are such a large subgroup of entrants, the next thing I really want to know is how long they spend in foster care compared to children who enter at older ages. This will tell us a lot about the extent to which my system’s resources are being devoted to infants. This Recipe will take you about 5 minutes to complete. Question: Does infants’ length of stay in foster care differ from older children’s length of stay? On the All Spells page, select the same geographic area that you analyzed in the previous Recipe. In the Spell overview section, under Admission type, select First Admission. This tells the system to only return spells of children entering foster care for the first time. Moving over to… Read more >

In May 2011, Chapin Hall researchers released a study that used FCDA data to produce an epidemiological and developmental snapshot of infants in foster care. The research showed that infants are a growing proportion of first-time admissions to foster care. It also showed that infants experience foster care differently from children who enter care at older ages. For example, children who enter care as infants spend a longer amount of time in foster care; are more likely to exit to adoption; and are particularly vulnerable to developmental risk factors such as physical neglect, poor health, caregiver substance abuse, and others. Meeting the needs of infants in foster care requires developmentally appropriate interventions delivered in the right dose. This Recipe is the first in a 4-part series that uses the web tool to explore infants’ experience in care and how to target opportunities for improving their outcomes. Here, in Part 1,… Read more >