The Agency Self-Assessment (ASA) is a strengths-based and comprehensive reporting tool for public and private child welfare agencies, community-based organizations, program administrators, juvenile justice systems, and others concerned with positive youth development.

  The self-administered ASA will help states and counties to:

• Determine what they know about their independent living services and the effectiveness in improving the lives of current and former foster youth.
• Identify gaps in their data collection and analyses to ensure maximum utility of data for aggregation and reporting.
• Utilize their data reports to start, stop, redirect, or improve specific independent living services for youth.

Organizations can use the ASA as a complement to developing and evaluating the Program Improvement Plan (PIP), five-year plans, and determining capacity needs. It could help identify and address incongruities between federal, state, and local reporting, administrative, and fiscal procedures.

To help construct the ASA, we collaborated with a team of experts in the child welfare arena. We asked them to bring historical and current research resources to the table and focus on the primary areas of assessment such as education, employment, housing, cultural and personal identity formation, physical and mental health, substance abuse, and supportive relationships.

Many state, county, and regional systems, and regional offices, are facing the frustrating challenge of shrinking budgets and a greater need for comprehensive services. They are required to collect different sets of outcomes and measures at the state, federal and programmatic levels. Accountability for the dollars they spend and the clients they serve is critical which makes identifying, developing, and selecting youth-focused performance measures more critical than ever before.  

 As a foundation for this tool, we used Child Welfare League of America's Standards of Excellence for Transition, Independent Living, and Self-Sufficiency Services. Transition, independent living, and self-sufficiency services (TILSS) are defined as those programs, services, and opportunities intended to support young people in out-of-home care to develop to their full potential; contribute to their schools, programs, and the community; and succeed in work, family, and community life as adults.[1] It is based on an examination of current best practices and the assumptions on which they are based, a survey of the professional literature and standards developed by others, and a study of the experiences in social work and related fields. And because the standards cover services and programs, best practices, values, and policies, it can serve a broad audience.

The ASA is comprised of five modules. Agencies do not have to take all five and they can be taken in any order. Each module will result in its own score report. Note: "Not Applicable" responses are not scored.

Because each module is thorough and comprehensive, users may choose to Assess and Go - begin a module, leave it, and return to it at a later time. Please note, if you select the Assess and Go option you will need to save the email invitation that you will receive to be able to re-access the assessment.

Module 1:     Community Framework for Transition, Independent Living, and Self-Sufficiency Services

The first module covers:

• universal needs that ensures the healthy development and survival of youth
• core principles and values that is required by agencies and communities to meet those needs
• seven practice domains developed by youth in collaboration with Casey Family Programs that are critical to a successful young adulthood 

Module 2:     The System for Delivering Transition, Independent Living and Self-Sufficiency Services

  Module two describes the elements of a coordinated service delivery that are essential to meeting the transition and preparation services for youth to emancipate successfully.

Module 3:     Organization and Administration of Transition, Independent Living, and Self-Sufficiency Services

The third module gives the components of a management framework and governance structure necessary to deliver quality services.

Module 4:     The Continuum of Individual Care/Case Management for Transition, Independent Living, and Self-Sufficiency Services

Module four covers the range of developmentally and age appropriate in-care and after-care services to youth.  It includes using a multidisciplinary team approach, assessing life skills, education, and including young people in their transition planning.

Module 5:     Ensuring Safe and Supportive Transitional and Independent Living Arrangements for Youth

  Module five describes the safety, security, health, and other basic needs of youth in order to provide appropriate living arrangements.

  Casey Family Programs greatly appreciates Child Welfare of America for allowing us to use this valuable resource as the foundation for this assessment.  The Standards of Excellence for Transition, Independent Living, and Self-Sufficiency Services can be ordered by going to www.cwla.org/pubs.  

 We also want to acknowledge the contributions to the ASA from Mary Wolf, MSW, LCSW. Her professional knowledge of the Indian Child Welfare Act and the importance of American Indian children maintaining their social and cultural identities and ideals were   invaluable.

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