Home > How Federal Legislation Impacts Child Welfare Service Delivery

How Federal Legislation Impacts Child Welfare Service Delivery
Factsheet

Author(s):  Child Welfare Information Gateway

Year Published:  2009

Email  Print  (PDF 288 KB)  Share

Rate This    Not yet rated.

This factsheet provides an overview of the process by which legislative actions and policy changes at the Federal level impact State and Tribal child welfare systems and service delivery. Links to pertinent resources are provided for each step of the process. The steps in the process described in this document do not always occur in the same sequence listed here.

Step 6: The Children's Bureau responds to Congressional mandates to report on State performance in delivering child welfare services.

Reports to Congress may analyze data collected through the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) and the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS); provide information about progress in monitoring programs, such as the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs); or provide results of specific studies mandated by Federal legislation. The information provided in these reports helps to inform future legislation in Congress.

For more information:

• Child Welfare Outcomes Annual Reports
  Children's Bureau
  Required by the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) and designed to inform Congress, the States, and the public about State performance on key child welfare outcomes and changes in performance over time.
• Child Maltreatment Annual Reports
  Children's Bureau
  Provides the most complete national information about child maltreatment known to State child protective services (CPS) agencies, based on reports from the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS).
• Reports and Results of the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs)
  Children's Bureau
  Provides access to Statewide Assessments, Final Reports, Program Improvement Plans, and Individual Key Findings Reports for each State.
• National Incidence Study (NIS)
  Child Welfare Information Gateway
  A congressionally mandated, periodic research effort to estimate the incidence of child abuse and neglect in the United States by combining information about reported cases with data on maltreated children identified by professionals who encounter them during the normal course of their work. NIS-3, the most recent study, was published in 1996. NIS-4 is currently underway.

Email  Print  (PDF 288 KB)  Share

Updated on October 9, 2009