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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Module 1:Community
Framework for Transition, Independent Living, and Self-Sufficiency
Services
There are 95
statements in module one that cover the following:
the
critical and universal needs that ensures the healthy development
and survival of youth in out-of-home
care.
the details the core principles and values that are required by agencies and
communities to meet those needs.
the seven practice domains developed by
youth in collaboration with Casey Family Programs that are critical
to a successful young adulthood
It will take the user approximately 60 - 90 minutes to
complete. Scoring for each module ranges from 1 to 5 with a score of zero for
"not applicable."
Module 2:The System
for Delivering Transition, Independent Living and Self-Sufficiency
Services
The second
module covers those elements important to an organization's
coordinated system of delivery of services to youth. The domains
are:
provision of support, resources, and
assistance
youth-driven
services
leadership and coordination of
services
culturally competent
services
inclusion of
diversity
building supportive relationships and
connections
links to adult serving
systems
There are 95 statements in module
two. It will take the user approximately 45 - 90 minutes to
complete. Scoring for each module ranges from 1 to 5 with a score of
zero for "not applicable."
Module 3:Organization and Administration of Transition, Independent
Living, and Self-Sufficiency Services
Module three
examines the components of a management framework and governance
structure necessary to deliver quality services. It will determine
that:
an agency is culturally competent
they develop, maintain and
update their policies, procedures, and outcomes
staff has everything they need to do
their work well
the information management system
captures and evaluates information important to effective service
delivery
and, it examines the roles youth can
play in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of services at the
community, agency, and individual levels.
There are 229 statements in module
three. It will take the user approximately 60 - 120 minutes to
complete. Scoring for each module ranges from 1 to 5 with a score of
zero for "not applicable."
Module 4:The
Continuum of Individual Care/Case Management for Transition,
Independent Living, and Self-Sufficiency
Services
The fourth
module 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
including young people in their
transition planning
Agencies can
assess elements such as
identity
formation
building supportive relationships and
community connections for youth
insuring physical and mental
health
employment.
There are 179 statements in module
four. It will take the user approximately 60 - 90 minutes to
complete. Scoring for each module ranges from 1 to 5 with a score of
zero for "not applicable."
Module 5:Ensuring
Safe and Supportive Transitional and Independent Living Arrangements for Youth
Module five
assesses the following
the safety, security, health, and other
basic needs of youth in order to provide appropriate living
arrangements
if an agency has a planned, progressive
program of services that correspond to the youth's abilities and
needs, and in accordance with time limits in federal and state law
There
are 49 statements in module five. It will take the user approximately
45 - 60 minutes to complete. Scoring for each module ranges from
1 to 5 with a score of zero for "not applicable."
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.
[1] Child Welfare League of
America. (2005) CWLA Standards of
Excellence for Transition, Independent Living, and Self-Sufficiency Services. Washington,
DC: Author
