Administrators and program managers play key roles in identifying and initiating system reform and inspiring innovation throughout their organizations. Building and sustaining reform efforts requires careful thought and consideration. Keeping abreast of evidence-based practices, legislation and policy, and other system change agents can be challenging, and understanding the roles of each of these factors is an important part of the improvement process. The following resources discuss a range of approaches to help administrators and managers keep pace with the permanency needs of the children, youth, and families they serve. Resources include State and local examples.
Creating a Permanence Driven Organization: A Guidebook for Change in Child Welfare (PDF - 9,156 KB)
Jones, LaLiberte, & Meyer (2013)
Anu Family Services & University of Minnesota Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare
Demonstrates how agencies can shift from helping youth involved with child welfare survive to helping them thrive through a permanence-driven framework.
Integrated Systems Approach to Permanency-Focused Programs
Chang, Emerson, Hinson, Byrne, Bodner, & Jackson (2014)
National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections
Presents audio and materials from a webinar about programs and practices that are working well to achieve permanency and how to address permanency across systems.
Ten Things That Youth Want Child Welfare Professionals to Know: Engaging Youth in Foster Care (PDF - 186 KB)
National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections, Virginia Department of Social Services, & United Methodist Family Services (2013)
Highlights youth engagement tips for child welfare workers developed by youth who have been adopted or who have experienced foster care.
State and local examples
California Child Welfare Services: Eleven-County Pilot Project Evaluation Report (PDF - 601 KB)
Wright, Tickler, & Vernor (2008)
The Results Group
Assesses the effectiveness of three strategies (standardized safety assessment, differential response, and permanency and youth transition) being piloted in 11 California counties to improve outcomes for children and families served by the child welfare system.
Charting the Course Towards Permanency for Children in Pennsylvania: An Administrator's Overview
Davis & Miller (2014)
Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center
Presents course materials for a training intended for new Pennsylvania child welfare administrators about permanency and case planning.
Child Welfare Practice: Creating a Successful Climate for Change: Findings and Considerations From an Institutional Analysis (PDF - 1,034 KB)
Center for the Study of Social Policy (2012)
Presents the findings of an institutional analysis in Los Angeles, CA, of the policies and practices that may impact the implementation of a project to find and/or support legally permanent homes for African American and Native American children.
Evaluation Brief on the Status and Activities Related to Florida's IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project: First 18 Months (PDF - 580 KB)
King-Miller, Armstrong, Sowell, Jordan, Sharrock, Vargo, et al. (2008)
University of South Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute
Summarizes findings from the first 18 months of a IV-E waiver demonstration project to determine the effectiveness of expanded child welfare services and supports in improving permanency and safety outcomes for children in or at risk of entering out-of-home placement.
Foster Care and Permanence Task Force Final Report (PDF - 1,321 KB)
Colorado Foster Care and Permanence Task Force (2008)
Presents the recommendations of the Colorado Foster Care and Permanence Task Force regarding ways to improve the design, delivery, and outcomes for children in foster care and their families.
Illinois Permanence for Older Wards Waiver: Final Evaluation Report (PDF - 1,823 KB)
Quinn, MacAllum, Ciarico, & Rogers (2009)
Westat
Discusses results from an evaluation of the Illinois Permanency for Older Wards Waiver, an initiative that offered an enhanced set of transition and postpermanency services to youth who were considering subsidized guardianship or adoption.
Minnesota Permanency Demonstration Final Evaluation Report: A Report for the Children's Bureau on the Minnesota Title IV-E Child Welfare Waiver Demonstration (PDF - 1,362 KB)
Siegel, Loman, & Filonow (2011)
Institute of Applied Research
Discusses the activities and outcomes of the Minnesota title IV-E child welfare waiver demonstration program, which sought to determine the effect of a continuous benefit program on permanency rates and foster care stays among children who have been in foster care for an extended period of time.
Place Matters in Maryland: A Report on Child Welfare 2007 Through 2009 (PDF - 694 KB)
Maryland Department of Human Resources (2009)
Highlights the progress the State of Maryland has made since launching a child welfare reform effort that emphasizes the importance of finding permanent families for as many foster children as possible.