using evidence to guide and improve child welfare policy /
First Statement of Responsibility
edited by Mark F. Testa, John Poertner.
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.
New York :
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Oxford University Press,
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2010.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
x, 390 pages :
Other Physical Details
illustrations ;
Dimensions
25 cm
INTERNAL BIBLIOGRAPHIES/INDEXES NOTE
Text of Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
CONTENTS NOTE
Text of Note
Child welfare in the twenty-first century : outcomes, value tensions, and agency risks / Mark F. Testa, John Poertner -- Logic of results-oriented accountability : populations, interventions, comparisons, and outcomes / Mark F. Testa -- Outcomes monitoring in child welfare / Tom McDonald, Mark F. Testa -- Data for policy planning and analysis / Mark F. Testa -- Research review of evidence in child welfare / John Poertner -- Evaluation of child welfare interventions / Mark F. Testa -- Results-oriented management : using evidence for quality improvement / Terry Moore -- Flexibility, innovation, and experimentation : the rise and fall of child welfare waiver demonstrations / Mark F. Testa -- Performance-based contracting : aligning incentives with outcomes to produce results / Ken Taylor, Michael Shaver -- Fostering and sustaining university/agency partnerships / Joan Levy Zlotnik.
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SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
Fostering Accountability presents a model of child welfare decision making that holds public officials answerable for the integrity and validity of the actions they take on behalf of the children and families in their care. It operationalizes the concept of results-oriented accountability, which demands that administrators and practitioners show valid evidence of their success in improving child and family outcomes, not merely demonstrate mechanical procedural compliance. Drawing on the experiences of directors, staff, and evaluators, this timely and practical book describes the emergence of results-oriented accountability in child welfare with a special focus on the editors' role in establishing a university-agency research partnership under a federal consent decree. Chapters elaborate on the five successive stages of the results-oriented accountability framework-outcomes monitoring, data analysis, research review, evaluation, and quality improvement-and provide examples of applications of each stage for agency managers. By refocusing the emphasis on developing policies based on agency data, instead of purely reactive approaches that grasp at solutions and often fall short, Fostering Accountability guides administrators in monitoring outcomes, using evidence to select interventions to enhance results, and applying management strategies to evaluate and improve these efforts. The result is a pragmatic implementation guide for administrators seeking to bring safety, stability, continuity, permanence, and well-being to the lives of abused and neglected children in the United States. -- Publisher's description.
TOPICAL NAME USED AS SUBJECT
Child welfare-- Government policy-- United States.