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PART II: PROGRAM PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT

ACF's program efforts are carried out through partnership with the State, Territorial, local and Tribal governments and non-profit/private sector grantees that implement its programs. Social research, demonstration and evaluation programs are directed at developing reliable knowledge to support program policies, learning about effects on children and families, identifying paths to program quality improvement, and discovering better ways to conduct technical assistance, disseminate information, and deliver effective services.

Performance goals have been stated under the program sections throughout the eight strategic program objectives and two management improvement objectives in this plan. This approach continues to provide a framework for individual programs and program activities to collaborate and direct their efforts to achieve ACF-wide crosscutting program goals. This framework enables ACF partners in State, Territorial, Tribal and local governments and nonprofit and private agencies to use the various program resources within ACF to focus on early childhood enrichment and economic and social well-being and productivity of families. "Data sources" under the various measures refer to OMB-approved program data collection instruments. The programs that support each of the goals and objectives are listed below:

Strategic Goal 1: Increase economic independence and productivity for families

  1. Increase employment
    Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
    Developmental Disabilities: Employment
    Refugee Resettlement
    Social Services Block Grant
  2. Increase independent living
    Developmental Disabilities: Housing
    Assets for Independence
  3. Increase parental responsibility
    Child Support
  4. Increase affordable child care

Child Care: Affordability

Strategic Goal 2: Improve healthy development, safety and well-being of children and youth

  1. Increase the quality of child care to promote childhood development
    Child Care: Quality
    Head Start
  2. Improve the health status of children
    Head Start: Health Statu
  3. Increase safety, permanency, and well-being of children and youth

Child Welfare
Developmental Disabilities: Education
Developmental Disabilities: Health
Youth Programs

Strategic Goal 3: Increase the health and prosperity of communities and Tribes

  1. Build healthy, safe and supportive communities and Tribes

Community Services Block Grant
Family Violence Prevention Program
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance
Native Americans Programs

Strategic Goal 4: Build a results-oriented organization

  1. Develop and retain a highly skilled, strongly motivated staff
  2. Improve automated data and management systems

In most cases, baselines have been established in either FY 1998 or FY 1999 for the FY 2002 measures. Because of the time lag in receiving data from States and localities for some measures in the FY 2000 report, ACF has not completed its review and verification for a number of measures. In Section A.6 of the Appendix, a budget table has been provided in which performance goals and measures for each of the ten strategic objectives are included. The relationship between these goals and the mission of DHHS as reflected in the DHHS Strategic Plan is shown in the table in Section A.3 of the Appendix.

Program research and evaluations focus on measuring and understanding the impacts of ACF programs on children and families. They provide information to design and improve the results of those programs, and inform performance measurement methodologies. (A table listing selected evaluations is included in Section A.6 of the Appendix.)

Because ACF is interested in trends of improvement over time, measured against a carefully-chosen starting point, many (though not all) of the baselines in the following section are likely to remain the same in subsequent annual editions of this plan, rather than rolling forward to a new baseline year. Such baseline stability is important if, for example, the baseline year has been selected because it indicates with reliable data when a new program initiative, statute or rule begins to have a measurable effect.

STRATEGIC GOAL 1:

INCREASE ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE AND PRODUCTIVITY FOR FAMILIES

 

Rationale

Economic independence and self-sufficiency are central to families being able to lead stable and productive lives. Achieving this goal requires assisting welfare-dependent individuals and recently-arrived refugees to obtain sustained employment through appropriate work requirements and time-limited assistance. Strategies to increase earnings and income, through activities such as child support enforcement, and to support work by providing essential services, such as affordable child care, are critical to assuring that children are not living in poverty and that they are adequately cared for while their parent(s) are working.

The job market, economic cycles, changing demographics, and the mores of family formation and child bearing (e.g., rates of divorce, which create the need for child support or the incidence of out-of-wedlock teen pregnancies, which increase the caseloads of hard-to-serve welfare recipients) influence outcomes under this goal. Such economic and social factors influence people's ability to find work, meet their families' needs and support obligations, and achieve self-sufficiency.

For nearly all the "economic independence" programs, State welfare reform decisions have had a significant impact on program directions and results. ACF is constantly in dialogue with its partners to learn their objectives and share knowledge about practices that improve results.

The FY 2002 budget includes a request for $64 million to fund a new initiative to promote responsible fatherhood. Of this request, $60 million would fund faith-based and community organizations that help fathers improve their job skills and establish positive relationships with their children and their children’s mothers and promote marriage among parents. The additional $4 million would fund programs through grants, contracts or cooperative agreements that focus on public education and awareness, the use of mass media campaign, development of best practices, research, and technical assistance.

The objectives and major program areas under this goal are:

1.Increase employment

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Developmental Disabilities: Employment
Refugee Resettlement
Social Services Block Grant (SSBG)

2.Increase independent living

Developmental Disabilities: Housing
Assets for Independence

3.Increase parental responsibility

Child Support

4.Increase affordable child care

Child Care


 

 

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