Project Details
Florida District 10 and 11 Pilot Program Evaluation
Description
The pilot program in Districts 10 and 11 was created by Ch. 2006-30, Laws of Florida ( HYPERLINK "http://election.dos.state.fl.us/laws/06laws/ch_2006-030.pdf" http://election.dos.state.fl.us/laws/06laws/ch_2006-030.pdf). The law outlines key changes to the child welfare system in Florida, not all of which are unique to the pilot program.
Fiscal monitoring, administrative monitoring, and programmatic monitoring shall be conducted by independent, nongovernmental third party entities under contract with the Department and shall be conducted in a manner jointly agreed to by the lead agencies and the Department. The Department shall fund the cost of contracting these entities.
The programmatic performance of the pilot program’s lead agencies will be measured and monitored by outcome measures contained in their contracts with the Department and new outcomes designed to best determine the quality of the lead agencies and developed by the lead agencies and the Department in conjunction with the programmatic monitoring entity.
Lead agency contracts will be fixed price funded, allowing unspent state funds to be carried forward to the next fiscal year, and the lead agencies were given greater flexibility in their expenditures of funding.
The purpose of FMHI’s evaluation is to understand whether the pilot program leads to improved resource management and cost efficiency for the two lead agencies, and whether these changes have an affect on child outcomes. This study employs a mixed-method approach to fully and accurately document both the process of transitioning to the new oversight and monitoring requirements (year one) and to determine how well the pilot program serves it’s legislated purpose over time (years two and three). Specifically, the evaluation includes three primary research questions:
- What is the pilot program and is it being implemented as intended?
- Does the outsourcing of lead agency fiscal and administrative oversight to an independent entity lead to improved fiscal efficiency and resource management in the community-based system of care?
- Does the outsourcing of lead agency programmatic oversight to an independent entity and changes in performance measures lead to improved safety, permanency, and well being outcomes for children and families involved in the child welfare system?
Based on preliminary findings, it is recommended that key stakeholders continue to build upon the open communication that currently exists between the independent monitoring agents, the CBC lead agencies, and the Department of Children and Families in order to develop a more comprehensive dispute resolution process between the lead agencies and the Department, with clearly defined expectations of each party.