Chapter III: The Review Teams: State Guide to an AFCARS Assessment Review

Chapter III: The Review Teams

A. Introduction

This chapter identifies the individuals that must be involved in the AFCARS Assessment Review. It includes information on who is responsible for various tasks in each phase of the review, and who should be present for each of the on-site segments. In general, the AFCARS review team is composed of two groups, the State team and the Federal team. Membership on the review team involves a significant commitment of time and effort. Both State and Federal team members are responsible for the following activities:

participation in conference calls scheduled prior to the review;
implementation of all assigned activities associated with the review;
participation in review activities during the on-site review; and
participation in entrance and exit conferences.

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B. Composition Of The Review Teams

At a minimum, the following individuals should be considered members of the State team:

Child Welfare Administrator;
AFCARS Project Manager (or a person responsible for AFCARS);
SACWIS Project Manager (or a person responsible for SACWIS), for those States implementing a SACWIS;
Adoption Program Specialist;
Foster Care Program Specialist;
Policy Director;
Child and Family Services Review Coordinator;
System Analyst/Programmer familiar with AFCARS data extraction routines;
Field staff; and
Contractor Representative, if applicable.

There is not a designated limit on the number of individuals that can be members of the State review team. The State team may include staff other than those listed above. For instance, the agency may want to include members from their eligibility or financial units during the discussion of the foster care and adoption elements, or sources of income. Section C below provides additional guidance on who should participate in each segment of the review, and expectations for team members.

At a minimum, the Federal team will consist of:

Children's Bureau Representative(s);
Office of Information Services (OIS) Representative(s);
ACF Regional Child Welfare Program Specialist;
Fiscal Specialist; and
ACF Regional Information Technology Specialist (if applicable)

The Federal team may include other staff than those listed above, either program or systems staff. Contract staff from OIS may also be part of the review team.

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C. Roles And Responsibilities Of Team Members

Exhibit 3 provides summary information on the role and responsibilities of the State and Federal team members' responsibilities.

1. State Team

This section gives additional guidance on who should participate in the AAR and their responsibilities. State team members should be identified as soon as an AAR has been agreed upon by ACF and the State agency. Also, the agency should designate a State Review Team Coordinator.

Administrators (such as the Child Welfare Administrator, Commissioner, Division Directors)

Administrators are not expected to participate in the entire review process, but are considered an integral component of the State team. Administrators should be informed of the AAR and should attend the entrance and exit conferences.
The State Review Team Coordinator

The State review team coordinator serves as the liaison with the Federal review team coordinator to plan the AAR and to ensure follow-through on the pre-site visit activities. The coordinator disseminates information internally on the nature and scope of the AAR in order to prepare program and data processing staff who participate in the on-site review. A checklist of activities that may be used to prepare for the AAR is included in Appendix E. This individual will continue to be the liaison between the State and the Federal review team during the post-site review phase, and if applicable, the AFCARS Improvement Phase.
Foster Care and Adoption Managers

Program staff representing the State's foster care and adoption units are integral members of the State AFCARS review team. In order to assess the State's collection and reporting of the AFCARS data, the State's child welfare policies and practices need to be taken into account. Additionally, since it is often the program staff who are using and explaining the data, having them participate in the AAR provides an opportunity for them to further examine the quality of the data.
SACWIS Project Manager

The SACWIS Project Manager should participate in all components of the onsite review process. Since part of the analysis of a State's AFCARS relates to how data are recorded in the SACWIS, it is important that the SACWIS Project Manager be involved, if necessary, regarding potential changes to the SACWIS. It may also be necessary for the SACWIS Project Manager to explain how and why certain components were developed in the SACWIS.
Field Staff

Field staff (front line case workers, supervisors, regional staff, etc.) should participate in the case file review. The State may decide the level and number of staff that participate in the case file review. See chapters IV and V for more information on the case file review process. The State is not limited to having field staff present only during the case file review. If the State agency has "super users," i.e., primary contacts for providing assistance and information on the system, etc., in its field offices, then the agency may want to consider adding these individuals to the State team. The agency may include them for the full week or for selected segments of the review.
Technical Staff

Technical staff representing the State's child welfare system are part of the core review team. This also includes any staff under contract to the State agency to develop or operate the information system. The technical team is primarily responsible for describing how the system collects and extracts the AFCARS data. The person primarily responsible for developing the program code and writing the routines for AFCARS data extraction must be present during the week of the review.
Additional Staff

The State may choose to bring in representatives from other agencies that provide data to the State for its AFCARS reporting. Their participation may be useful during the general discussion of the types of information that are needed for AFCARS or for the data element review. Examples include representatives from juvenile justice, the courts, mental health, contract providers, or Tribes. Additionally, the State may want to include training and fiscal staff.

2. Federal Team

A Federal review team coordinator will be identified as soon as the State has been scheduled for an AFCARS Assessment Review. The Federal review team coordinator serves as the liaison with the State review team coordinator to plan the AAR and to ensure that pre-site visit activities are completed in a timely manner. The Federal review team coordinator is responsible for finalizing arrangements for the site visit, clarifying expectations and answering questions about the AAR process, and ensuring the State has submitted all the needed documents on time to ACF.

Exhibit 3: Review Team Roles and Responsibilities

Title	Roles/Responsibilities
State AAR Team	Represent areas of the State's child welfare program under review. Provide expertise in team members' respective areas, including foster care, adoption, program policy, and information technology. Attend on-site sessions.
State AAR Team Coordinator	Serve as the liaison with the Federal review team coordinator through all phases of the AFCARS Assessment Review. Provide a list of State team members to Federal review team coordinator. Ensure the timely delivery of materials to all team members. Ensure that State information system documentation is sent to ACF Regional and Central Offices staff on time. Handle logistics for calls, schedules, and documentation dissemination. Ensure that the test cases are entered into the State's information system. Ensure that paper case files are pulled and sent to the office where the review will be held. Schedule State review team members for on-site review. Reserve a room large enough to accommodate the State and Federal review teams during the site visit. Reserve additional space for reviewing the case files, if necessary. Ensure access to the State information system for the entire week. Ensure that State team members attend the on-site review meetings.
Federal AAR Team	Conduct site visit. Produce findings. Provide applicable technical assistance. Produce and review draft final reports.
Federal AAR Team Coordinator	Schedule pre-site visit conference calls. Finalize due dates for documentation exchange, and ensure documents are received by the ACF Regional and Central Offices. Finalize arrangements for the on-site review with the State review team coordinator. Follow up with team members on their assignments. Send letter to State confirming the dates of the site visit, names, positions, and telephone numbers of the Federal team members.
Federal Technical Lead	Review State's system documentation. Assume lead responsibility in technical matters related to the review. Run frequency and case file review reports on raw data.

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Continue to Chapter IV: Procedures for the Pre-Site Visit Phase

Attachments:

ACYF-CB-IM-02-05

State Guide to an AFCARS Assessment Review HTML or PDF(332 KB)