OVERVIEW OF FEDERAL PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) and Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) Grantees Meeting April 16, 2007 Gail Collins Senior Child Welfare Specialist, Children’s Bureau

Laws, initiatives, reports, plans and requirements relating to child welfare performance measurement:  GPRA  Child Welfare Outcomes Report  CFSR  PART

Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA)  Sought to “shift the focus of government decision-making and accountability away from a preoccupation with the activities that are undertaken - such as grants dispensed or inspections made - to a focus on the results of those activities, safety, responsiveness, or program quality.” (GAO)

Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA)  Under GPRA, agencies are required to develop: 5-year strategic plans including mission statement and long-term goals and objectives Annual Performance Plans – annual targets to meet goals and objectives Annual Performance Reports – progress made toward targets.

Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA)  Where can I find these plans?  Part of President’s budget submission.  For ACF, Congressional Budget Justification is posted on the internet at:

Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA)  What are ACF’s Strategic Goals? Increase economic independence and productivity for families. Improve healthy development, safety and well-being of children and youth. Increase the health and prosperity of communities and Tribes. Manage resources to improve performance.

Child Welfare Outcomes Report  Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 required HHS to: Consult with stakeholders to develop a set of outcome measures that can be used to assess performance of States in operating child protection and child welfare programs; and Prepare annual report to Congress.

Child Welfare Outcomes Report  Outcomes Report includes 7 Outcomes and 13 Measures and contextual information with all data drawn from NCANDS and AFCARS.

Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR)  Development of new outcomes-focused approach to child welfare monitoring was in process at time ASFA passed.  Part of decision-making for CFSR was question of how to set the line between substantial conformity and non- conformity and how to look at statewide info, not just limited sample of cases.

Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSR)  Decision was made to include statewide data indicators with a national standard.  A subset (7) of the measures used for the annual Child Welfare Outcomes Report were identified to be included in the CFSR process. For the first time a national data standard was set.  But overall framework remains one of continuous improvement.

Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)  Initiative of the Bush Administration.  Seeks to build on GPRA requirements to integrate performance information in budget decision-making.  Seeks to identify strengths & weaknesses of programs to inform funding and management of programs and improve program performance.

Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)  PART uses questionnaire containing 25 questions divided into four sections: The first section of questions asks whether a program's purpose is clear and whether it is well designed to achieve its objectives. The second section involves strategic planning, and weighs whether the agency establishes valid annual and long-term goals for its programs.

Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) The third section rates the management of an agency's program, including financial oversight and program improvement efforts. The fourth section of questions focuses on results that programs can report with accuracy and consistency.

Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)  In addition to outcome measures, PART requires programs to have “efficiency measures.”  “Efficiency measures capture a program's ability to carry out its activities and achieve results (an outcome or output), relative to resources (an input such as cost and/or time). The best kind of efficiency measure addresses the cost of achieving a unit of outcome.” (ExpectMore.gov)

Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)  Based on scores on the questionnaire, as rated by analysts at Office of Management and Budget (OMB), programs are given rating:  Rating Range Effective Moderately Effective Adequate Ineffective  Rating of “Results Not Demonstrated” is given when programs do not have agreed-upon performance measures or lack baselines and performance data.

Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)  To date, 977 programs, about 96% of all Federal programs assessed: Effective - 17% Moderately Effective - 30% Adequate - 28% Ineffective - 3% Results Not Demonstrated - 22%

Children’s Bureau Programs’ PART Ratings  IV-E Adoption Assistance = Moderately Effective  IV-E Foster Care = Adequate  IV-B-1 Child Welfare Services = Moderately Effective  IV-B-2 Promoting Safe and Stable Families = Moderately Effective

Children’s Bureau Programs’ PART Ratings (continued)  Adoption Opportunities = Adequate  Adoption Incentives = Adequate  CAPTA = Results Not Demonstrated  CBCAP = Results Not Demonstrated  ILP = Results Not Demonstrated

PART (Continued)  All Federal PART results are posted on a website called (review example of PSSF)  PART also requires action plans to strengthen management and performance of programs. CBCAP has done a lot of work on PART follow-up.

Putting it All Together  Development of child welfare performance measures at national level began with GPRA.  Those informed development of national child welfare outcomes for annual Child Welfare Outcomes Report. (However, not all of the measures overlap.)

Putting it All Together  Some measures in the Child Welfare Outcomes report were incorporated into CFSR and tied to a national standard.  PART has tied in some GPRA measures, but also introduced many new ones, including efficiency measures.

Putting it All Together  PART process for PSSF and IV-B-1 also introduced new measures based on CFSR results (e.g., percent of States completing penalty-free PIPs and # of States in substantial conformity on various outcomes or systemic factors in 2 nd round CFSR.)

Putting it All Together  Both GPRA and PART require establishing baselines and targets (same targets used) and both are reported in the annual performance plan/reports included with the President’s Budget.  National targets in the GPRA/PART are different from national standards used in CFSR. (CFSR tied at 75 th percentile.)

Putting it All Together  Through combined efforts, the Children’s Bureau now reports on over 35 Long- term, annual, outcome and efficiency measures that are part of the annual performance plan. (See handout.)

Putting it All Together  Bottom line – across government there is increased focus on demonstrating program effectiveness through performance measurement and program evaluation.  We need State/grantee input, support and ideas to help us to develop and disseminate information that will inform practice and paint a reliable picture of the importance of our programs.