CHILD WELFARE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT
THE PENNSYLVANIA CHILD WELFARE DEMONSTRATION PROJECT
In 1994, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) authorized Child Welfare (Title IV-E) Waiver Demonstration Projects to provide states with opportunities to use federal funds to test innovative approaches to child welfare service delivery and financing. Unlike competitive discretionary grants, waiver demonstration projects do not provide additional funding to carry out new services; rather, they allow for more flexible use of federal funds in order to test new approaches to service delivery and financing structures in an effort to improve outcomes for children and families involved in the child welfare system.
In 2012, Pennsylvania's Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF) and five self-selected counties (Allegheny, Dauphin, Lackawanna, Philadelphia, and Venango) proposed a demonstration project to DHHS. DHHS subsequently approved the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Demonstration Project as well as projects from eight other states. The number of counties grew to six in July 2014 when Crawford County joined the Project.
The Project was carried out in FY 2013-2018. Pennsylvania's Project focused on implementing or expanding the use of family engagement strategies, conducting comprehensive assessments of child and family needs and strengths, and utilizing evidence-based practices (EBPs) in each of the participating counties. It was the intent that these activities would lead to improved placement decisions and child and family functioning, and would ultimately result in improved safety, permanency, and well-being outcomes for children and families involved in the state's child welfare system.
The University of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center served as the independent evaluator for Pennsylvania’s Title IV-E Waiver Child Welfare Demonstration Project conducted between July 2013 and June 2018. The Evaluation Team implemented an evaluation to investigate the processes, outcomes, and costs associated with the project. The process and outcome evaluations focused on assessment, family engagement, and evidence-based practices in addition to collecting and synthesizing fiscal and outcome data. The waiver evaluation data collection ended June 30, 2018. The Evaluation Team developed the Final Evaluation Report in collaboration with Chapin Hall and submitted it to OCYF in January 2019. A summary of findings is shared below.
Outcome Evaluation Findings
The outcome evaluation used an interrupted time series design with each county acting as their own control. Analyzing across multiple years of data per county, the evaluation found that the likelihood of entering a kinship placement as a first placement increased for all waiver counties with available data, ranging from a 4 percent increase in Dauphin County to a 20 percent increase in Lackawanna County. This increase was statistically significant for Allegheny, Lackawanna, and Philadelphia counties (p < .05). The likelihood of entering congregate care as a first placement decreased for all counties with available data except for Dauphin County; this decreased likelihood of an initial congregate care placement was statistically significant in Allegheny and Philadelphia counties (p < .05). While we cannot say with certainty that these results were due to the waiver interventions (family conferencing and assessment), the timing and mechanism point toward the waiver interventions being associated with this shift in practice.
Fiscal Evaluation Findings
Fiscally, all six demonstration counties saw total child welfare expenditures increase from SFY 2013 levels, although the magnitude of the increase varied by county. Crawford, Dauphin, and Venango saw double digit increases in overall expenditures, while Allegheny, Lackawanna, and Philadelphia saw more modest increases, between two to six percent. All demonstration counties saw an increase in all other child welfare expenses (from 9% in Philadelphia to 37% in Crawford) over the course of the waiver which points towards all counties investing in greater capacity and/or new interventions during the waiver. Finally, the trend in out of home (OOH) placement costs and the relationship between changes in OOH placement days, OOH placement costs and the proportion of OOH placement costs of all child welfare expenditures varied by county. Even controlling for inflation, all of the counties increased their total child welfare expenditures during the course of the waiver. In addition, the increase in all other child welfare expenses suggests that the counties invested in greater capacity and/or new interventions during the waiver period.
Process Evaluation Findings
Findings from the process evaluation identified that family conferencing could be implemented for almost all families referred to children and youth services, and delivered with fidelity, producing plans which reflected family input. Assessment, while more challenging to implement, was in place by the end of the waiver. Evidence-based practices were the most difficult aspect of the waiver intervention to implement. Caseworker attitudes did not show change over time regarding making referrals, but modest improvements were observed in one county after implementing the evidence-based program, Triple P. Several counties “de-adopted” interventions due to the misfit between client needs and intervention requirements.
You may access the complete Final Evaluation Report here.
CWDP Final Evaluation Report
Final Evaluation Report Appendices
Pennsylvania's Waiver Application
CWDP Information Guide
CWDP Evaluation Liaisons
Family Engagement Resources:
Tools: Family Engagement Study OverviewBaseline Form
Family Conference Survey
- Spanish Version
Facilitator Face Sheet
Follow-Up Form
User's Guide
Frequently Asked Questions
Instructional Video
Pennsylvania's Child Welfare Demonstration Project Newsletters:
2019 Newsletters
October 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
January 2019
2018 Newsletters
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
2017 Newsletters
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
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August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
February 2017
January 2017
2016 Newsletters
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
February 2016
January 2016
2015 Newsletters
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
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April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
2014 Newsletters
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
2013 Newsletters
November 2018
October 2018
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August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
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April 2018
March 2018
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January 2018
November 2017
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