ASFA TRAINING PROJECT
PHONE POLL OF CHILD WELFARE AGENCIES
2003

Rhode Island

1. How would you rate your agency's staff in terms of their understanding of ASFA requirements? We are particularly interested in the level of understanding of managers, supervisors and workers. Please rate their understanding on a scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being 'poor' and 5 being 'comprehensive'.

a. Managers:

Comments:

b. Supervisors:

Comments:

c. Workers:

Comments: My region has a lot of young workers who learn about ASFA in training.

2. Following are some of the skills that managers, supervisors and workers need to have to implement ASFA. Please rate each of these on a scale of 1-5 with one being 'do not need it' and 5 being 'extremely important.'

a. Managers:

Case work skills:

Collaborative skills

Understanding requirements of ASFA

Understanding how to implement ASFA requirements

Using data effectively

Other, please specify and rate:

b. Supervisors:

Case work skills:

Communication skills:

Collaborative skills:

Understanding how to implement ASFA requirements

Using data effectively

Other, please specify and rate:

c. Workers:

Case work skills:

Collaborative skills

Communication skills:

Understanding how to implement ASFA requirements

Using data effectively

Other, please specify and rate:

3. In the past year, since our earlier survey, as part of your ASFA implementation has the agency undertaken any activities in the following areas:

Agency structure? No Yes
If yes, please describe.
We have assigned someone to coordinate our CFSR activities and are working collaboratively with Yale University on some planning/management activities.

Internal communication? No Yes
If yes, please describe.
We have set up a combined managers meeting of operational managers which meets monthly to discuss internal and external issues. The senior management team members are invited to participate. The group is a useful forum for bringing problems up and looking for short and long term solutions and most importantly opening lines of communication across divisional lines.

Performance appraisals? No Yes
If yes, please describe.

Job descriptions? No Yes
If yes, please describe.

Staff recruitment? No Yes
If yes, please describe.
Our Child Welfare Institute was a good experience and gives a longer period of time to assess a workers qualities and abilities. It was beneficial to work side by side with the trainers.

Case Review? No Yes
If yes, please describe.
I use CY Active, a monthly report that looks at data from our SACWIS (RICHEST) system and gives a quick look at case data, data such as age, openings, closings, status of case plans, last contact date and legal status.

Foster/Adoptive parent recruitment? No Yes
If yes, please describe.
We have consolidated all foster/adoptive parent recruitment and licensing in one central location and have set a target of recruiting foster parents for 100 teens by the end of the summer.

4. In the past year, since our earlier survey, has there been any ASFA training for child welfare agency personnel? No Yes
If yes, go to question 4a. If no, go to question 4e.

a. What topics were covered in that ASFA training?

Adoption, advanced family assessment

b. Which of the following did you use for the ASFA training?

Statewide training
In service training
Pre-service training
Forums on ASFA topics
Conferences on ASFA topics
Regularly scheduled meetings
Managers train people
Interactive video on ASFA topics
Teleconferences on ASFA topics
Training by federal agencies
Information is circulated about ASFA

c. Who did the training?

Agency/training unit staff
Outside consultants
State university
Court staff
Central office staff
Regional staff

d. Was the training just on ASFA or was it incorporated into other training that you provide?

Incorporated
Incorporated into new worker training
Not incorporated

e. In the past year, since our earlier survey, have you done any of the following ASFA training with or for the courts? No Yes
If yes, continue with this question; if no go to question 4g.

Joint training sessions
Agency and court staff have worked together on local level
Court Improvement Project events attended by agency people
ASFA workgroups of agency and court staff
Agency staff have trained court people
Agency published a newsletter for court staff
Other

f. What topics were covered in that ASFA training for the courts?

g. Have you done ASFA training with or for any of the following:

Schools
Health care providers
Mental health providers
Tribes
Other, please specify

h. What topics were covered in the ASFA training?

5. Thinking about future training for your agency and community partners (not just on ASFA), what do you think is the number one training need of:

a. Agency managers:

b. Agency supervisors:

Working with the courts

c. Agency workers:

Family assessments

d. Foster parents:

What the agency is about and why we do what we do

e. Schools:

f. Health care providers:

g. Mental health providers:

h. Tribes:

We have little contact with tribes in my region.

i. Courts:

j. Is there any other group you think has a training need? Please specify.

6. How well does your information system support the work of managers, supervisors and workers in implementing ASFA? Please rate the support provided by your system on a scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being 'poor' and 5 being 'outstanding'.

a. Why did you give your system that rating?

We now have people who put the information that needs to be there into the system; at least for child welfare people entering data is second nature. The system gives you good data. I wish the system were child based not family based so information about the nature of the agency’s status with a particular child would be more accurate.

b. If a rating of 1 or 2 is given, probe as to the status of the SACWIS system.

7. Please rate the importance of the following in terms of supporting staff as they implement the ASFA requirements, with 1 being 'not important' and 5 being 'crucial.'

Training

Increased communication

Resources to support staff

Collaborative efforts with stakeholders

Seeing ASFA as good casework practice

Management support

Revising policy to support ASFA

Monitoring implementation

Other, please specify and rate:

8. Do you see any of the following as barriers to your agency's support for staff as they implement the requirements of ASFA (check if 'yes')?

Lack of resources
Difficult relationship with courts
Staff turnover
Limitations or lack of computer system
Lack of understanding/knowledge about ASFA
Heavy workload
Lack of support
Difficulty meeting ASFA requirements
     Comment: We have a lot of kids in the system strictly because of MH,
     physical or DD needs, with little to no typical child welfare involvement. It
     doesn’t seem that ASFA was designed to apply to children in these situations.
     These kids frequently remain in the system longer than ‘child welfare kids’
     strictly to access the range of placement and treatment options available
     through the system. This presents a number of difficulties
Large number of cases
Differences in interpretation
Lack of services
Lack of time
Lack of training
Problems caused by a county-based system
Other, please specify:

9. (For County based systems only.) Do any of the following impact your ASFA implementation (check if 'yes')?

Must be responsive to local needs
Lack of uniform practice standards
Communication can be difficult
Approach is fragmented
Limited state control
Limited resources
Other

10. At which point in the Child and Family Service Review process is your agency?

a.

Planning
Statewide assessment underway
Review complete
Working to complete the activities described in the PIP

b. Are there any significant lessons you learned from the CFSR? If so, please describe.

Our challenge is figuring out a way to do the assessment without removing people from the day to day work.

11. Is there anything else that you want to tell us regarding the best way to support staff as they implement the requirements of ASFA and the CFSR?

There should have been more realistic goal setting for the CFSR. How can you set out measures that you expect everyone will fail, especially in the well-being area where there isn’t even a common understanding of what well-being means?

Do you mind if we call you again if we need additional information?

No
Yes

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