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Appendix C
Timeframes for Child and Family Services Review Activities

9 months before the onsite review:

• The Children's Bureau Regional Office, in conjunction with the Children's Bureau Central Office and the Child Welfare Review Projects¹, schedules a meeting or conference call with the State to provide an overview of the review procedures and to discuss timeframes for review activities.

No later than 8 months before the onsite review:

• If necessary, the State transmits to the Children's Bureau Regional Office an alternate source of data for use in preparing the data profiles for the Statewide Assessment, in the absence of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) and National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) data.²
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office, in consultation with the Children's Bureau Central Office, approves or disapproves the alternate source of data.
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office transmits the alternate data to the Children's Bureau data staff for use in preparing data profiles.
  
  
• The State identifies the State members of the review team who will be involved in the Statewide Assessment.

7 months before the onsite review:

• The Children's Bureau data staff prepare the data profiles for the Statewide Assessment, including:
  • The safety profile, based on data from the NCANDS or an alternate source provided by the State and approved by the Children's Bureau Regional Office
    
    
  • The point-in-time permanency profile, based on the AFCARS data
    
    
  • The first-time entry cohort permanency profile, based on the AFCARS data
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office, in conjunction with the Children's Bureau Central Office, provides orientation on the Statewide Assessment to the State members of the review team who will complete the Statewide Assessment.³

6 months before the onsite review:

• The Children's Bureau data staff transmit the data profiles to the Children's Bureau Regional Office, which promptly transmits these to the State.⁴
  
  
• The State begins to complete the Statewide Assessment, using the Statewide Assessment Instrument found on the Children's Bureau Web site.

3-6 months before the onsite review:

• The Children's Bureau Regional Office provides guidance to the State in preparing the Statewide Assessment, including assisting in analyzing and integrating the data.
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office discusses with the State site selection and criteria, including the number of in-home services or other case types to be included in the sample and the impact on site selection.
• The State submits to the Children's Bureau Regional Office an electronic version of the State Policy Submission Form for inclusion in the Review Information Packages that are distributed to the review team before the onsite review.

3-4 months before the onsite review:

• The Children's Bureau Regional Office, in consultation with the Children's Bureau, identifies the Federal members of the review team.
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office requests a list of available and eligible consultant reviewers from the Child Welfare Projects, which provides the information to the Children's Bureau Regional Office.
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office requests the draft Statewide Assessment from the State for review and comment before receiving the final document.
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office reviews the draft Statewide Assessment and provides feedback to the State.
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office and State, in consultation with the Children's Bureau Central Office, determine the local review sites.
  
  
• The State provides names of suggested hotels for the review team accommodations.
  
  
• The State provides the list of in-home services cases for sample selection.

No later than 2 months before the onsite review:

• The Children's Bureau Regional Office and State, in consultation with the Children's Bureau Central Office, determine the composition of the case sample for each site.
  
  
• The State provides the list of the universe of in-home services cases electronically to the Children's Bureau Central Office and notifies the Children's Bureau Regional Office when the list is transmitted.
  
  
• The State submits an electronic version of the completed Statewide Assessment to the Children's Bureau Regional Office for approval.
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office transmits the Statewide Assessment to the Child Welfare Review Projects to include in the Review Information Packages that are distributed to the review team before the onsite review.
  
  
• The Children's Bureau data staff select the sample of in-home services cases from the list of in-home services cases that the State provided and the sample of foster care cases stratified into four categories from the State's AFCARS data for the period under review. The Children's Bureau data staff transmit the sample to the Children's Bureau Regional Office and the State.
  
  

No later than 45 days before the onsite review:

• The State completes the identification of State members of the Onsite Review Team.
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office, in consultation with the State, matches the Federal Review Team members with the State Review Team members and assigns each pair to a local review site.

30-45 days before the onsite review:

• The State identifies the cases to be reviewed on site from the samples of in-home services cases and foster care cases and sets up case-related and stakeholder interviews.

30 days before the onsite review:

• The Children's Bureau Regional Office completes the Preliminary Assessment, on the basis of the Statewide Assessment.
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office transmits the Preliminary Assessment and all other information to the Child Welfare Review Projects to include in the Review Information Packages that are distributed to the review team before the onsite review.
  
  
• The State submits logistical information to the Child Welfare Review Projects.

1-3 weeks before the onsite review:

• The Children's Bureau Central and Regional Offices provide training on the onsite review to the State Review Team members via the State Team Training Project.⁵
  
  
• The Child Welfare Review Projects disseminate the Review Information Packages to review team members.
  
  
• The State finalizes the review week schedules for the State Team Leader, Local Site Leaders, and reviewers. The review week activities include case record reviews, case-related interviews, stakeholder interviews, entrance and exit conferences, debriefings, and other scheduled meetings or activities. The State provides the schedules to the Children's Bureau Regional Office, which then forwards them to the National Review Team (NRT) Team Leader, NRT Local Site Leaders, and Child Welfare Review Projects. If these individuals have questions or concerns regarding the schedules, they raise those with the Children's Bureau Regional Office immediately for resolution with the State.

30 days after the onsite review:

• The Children's Bureau Regional Office transmits a courtesy copy of the Final Report to the State within 30 days after the onsite review.
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office transmits the official version of the Final Report to the State 2 weeks after transmitting the courtesy copy.
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office and the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement provide onsite training to the State's Program Improvement Plan (PIP) Development Team.

90 days after the State's receipt of written notification of nonconformity, if any:

• The Children's Bureau Regional Office facilitates PIP planning conference calls with the State.
  
  
• The State submits the completed PIP to the Children's Bureau Regional Office. (The State submits interim drafts for Children's Bureau Regional Office review and comment during the 90-day period.)
  
  
• The Children's Bureau Regional Office reviews the completed PIP and notifies the State of its approval or returns it to the State with comments.

30 days after the Children's Bureau Regional Office's notification of disapproval of the PIP, if applicable:

• The State submits the revised PIP to the Children's Bureau Regional Office.

3 months after PIP approval, and quarterly thereafter:

• The State submits reports on PIP progress to the Children's Bureau Regional Office.

Annually, following PIP implementation:

• The Children's Bureau Regional Office formally reviews the State's PIP progress.

2 years after PIP approval:

• States must complete PIP implementation, with issues affecting child safety addressed first.
  
  
• Written requests for extensions up to 1 year are due to the Children's Bureau Regional Office 60 days before the PIP completion date.
  
  
• States found not to be in substantial conformity on one or more outcomes or systemic factors during the most recent review must begin a full review.

3 years after onsite review:

• States found to be in substantial conformity with all seven outcomes and seven systemic factors during the most recent review must submit a completed Statewide Assessment to the Children's Bureau Regional Office.

5 years after onsite review:

• States found to be in substantial conformity with all seven outcomes and seven systemic factors during the most recent review must complete a full review.

¹ The Child Welfare Review Projects support the Children's Bureau in administering the Child and Family Services Reviews. back
² For the initial review only, a State could provide an alternate source of data in lieu of AFCARS data. For the initial and subsequent reviews, a State may provide an alternate source of data in lieu of NCANDS data. back
³ The Children's Bureau Regional Office provides an orientation on the Statewide Assessment to the State during one of the planning conference calls facilitated by the Child Welfare Review Projects. back
⁴ The Children's Bureau data staff require 2 weeks after a State submits its data to complete the analysis and the data profiles. If a State has not provided its NCANDS data in time for the Children's Bureau to send out the profiles within this schedule, the Children's Bureau can send the AFCARS portion of the profiles and update these profiles later when the State submits the NCANDS data. back
⁵ The State Team Training Project trains State agency staff on the Child and Family Services Reviews on behalf of the Children's Bureau. back

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