Illinois Permanency Enhancement Initiative
Data Acquisition Protocol
Background:
Permanency Enhancement Symposiums were held in each of the Department’s six regions over
the course of 2007 and 2008 with the goals being to raise awareness and also actively address the
systemic issues impacting the over representation of African American children in the Illinois
child welfare system as well as the overall low reunification rates for children in substitute care.
Action Teams, comprised of DCFS and private agency child welfare professionals, Juvenile
Court representatives, and other key stakeholders such as foster/adoptive parents and community
providers were subsequently formed in the Central, Southern, Northern and Cook regions of the
state. These Action Teams were then charged with the responsibility of developing action plans
that target the underlying issues impacting the over representation of African American children
in care and at improving the state’s reunification rates.
The Permanency Enhancement Action Teams that have been meeting to date have been using a
variety of different sources of statistical data both to pinpoint areas needing improvement as well
as to assess the successful implementation of their team action plans. This Data Acquisition
Protocol has been developed in an effort to bring about greater consistency in terms of the use of
data among the various action teams and to also streamline and improve upon the ability of
action teams to access data.
Overview of Data Sources:
Statistical data that will be made available on a regular basis to the Permanency Enhancement
Initiative Action Teams will come primarily from the following three data sources:
1. Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS): Contains all
Illinois case intake and investigation related data.
2. Management Accounting and Reporting System (MARS) and Child and Youth
Centered Information System (CYCIS): Contains data regarding all DCFS wards and
families receiving on-going services. These systems track demographic, placement and
permanency related data in addition to DCFS ward legal status and court hearing results
as well as worker and agency assignment data.
3. Adoption Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS) and National Child
Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS): Represents the state’s official record of
data provided to the Federal government. Contains select investigative and DCFS ward
related placement and permanency data.
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Types of Data Reports to Be Made Available:
The DCFS Division of Quality Assurance’s Office of Agency Operations Analysis will build and
maintain an internal database that select authorized DCFS users will utilize in order to
run a variety of statistical reports on a quarterly basis. The reports will then be
disseminated at the beginning of each state fiscal quarter to the DCFS and Community
Partner Action Team Co-Conveners for them to distribute as needed to members of their
teams. The Illinois African-American Family Commission and University partners
assisting action teams will also receive copies of all statistical reports specific to their
respective assigned regions. These particular quarterly reports will reflect the most
current information available from the Department’s SACWIS and MARS/CYCIS
systems and will contain the following types of statistical data:
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Basic child abuse and neglect statistics by age, race and gender, indicated/unfounded
status, protective custodies, etc.
Child intake data during the previous 12 months by type (standard, from intact or add-on
cases) along with age and race demographics.
Permanency data by type (reunification, adoption, subsidized guardianship) for the
previous 12 months and average/median length of time to permanency achievement along
with age and race demographics.
Current child ward population statistics by race and age along with breakouts by:
o
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Living arrangement
Legal Status
Permanency goal
Length of time case has been opened
DCFS/POS agency assignment
The Children and Family Research Center (CFRC) with the School of Social Work at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign also maintains the Illinois Child Welfare Measures
database that contains Illinois NCANDS and AFCARS data and is utilized by the Department to
assist in outcomes monitoring and improvement. This database contains AFCARS data that is
updated every six months with state NCANDS data being less frequently updated based upon
Federal reporting requirements. Due to the breadth of information available on this system,
reports will not be run every quarter but rather on an ad hoc basis as requested by action teams.
Access to this database will also be limited to select authorized DCFS users. The types of data
available include but will not be limited to the following:
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Substantiated abuse/neglect reports
Types of maltreatment
Removals to foster care and reason
Children in care (by placement type)
Median length of stay in foster care
Historical trends – key measures
County and regional rankings
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CFSR composite measures
% of children adopted w/in 24
months
% of children with 2 or fewer
placements
% of children reunified w/in 12
months
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Finally, actions teams can, on their own, continue to access additional data directly from the
Conditions of Children Outcomes database which is maintained by the CFRC at
http://xinia.social.uiuc.edu/outcomedata/fb_index.html. Data from this website was utilized
extensively as part of all of the original Permanency Enhancement Symposiums and include
indicators centered around four primary themes: child safety, stability of family life, continuity
of social ties, and legal permanence. All of the indicators on the website are longitudinal
indicators and follow children from the point of entry to exit from foster care. Measuring
indicators in this manner allows for a complete picture of the life of a child in foster care and
allows change to be tracked over time. These indicators can be viewed through various
geographic breakouts (i.e. Illinois total, DCFS region, LAN, County, and Chicago Community
Area). The data can also be broken out by age, gender, or race/ethnicity of the child. The website
includes detailed instructions on how to access and view the data, as well as information for
questions and assistance.
Accessing Data:
All of the action teams fall under the six larger DCFS regions across the state of Illinois. The
DCFS Division of Quality Assurance Regional Quality Specialists, as members of the various
action teams, will be responsible for accessing and disseminating the following types of data
reports to the action teams:
1. Quarterly SACWIS/MARS/CYCIS Statistical Reports: These reports will reflect the
most current available data and contain the types of information previously detailed in
this protocol. These reports will be run the first week of every quarter by the DCFS
Regional Quality Specialists assigned to each of the six regions and any other DCFS
authorized users of this special database and then emailed to the DCFS and Community
Partner Action Team Co-Conveners, with a cc to the assigned University Partner
Liaison(s). The Action Team Co-Conveners will then be responsible for disseminating
the data reports to other action team members as appropriate.
2. CFRC Child Welfare Measures Statistical Reports: These reports are based on
Illinois DCFS AFCARS and NCANDS submissions to the Federal government.
AFCARS data is generally updated every six months, however NCANDS data will only
be as current as the most recently Federally required Illinois NCANDS submission which
can be as much two years old. Information contained within this database (previously
detailed) should still be considered extremely useful to action teams as information
reflected via this database is consistent with the way in which the Federal government
evaluates state performance and the data can also be displayed visually via detailed
graphs and charts. Reports from this database will not be generated and distributed on a
regular (i.e. quarterly) basis however action team members should feel free to call upon
their Regional Quality Specialist(s) for data from this system whenever needed.
3. Conditions of Children – Outcomes Data: Action team members can still directly
access additional data (previously detailed) from the Conditions of Children Outcomes
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database which is maintained by the CFRC using the following link at
http://xinia.social.uiuc.edu/outcomedata/fb_index.html.
Any other information needed by action teams that require the assistance of the DCFS Regional
Quality Specialist (RQS) or other DCFS authorized users are considered ad-hoc reports. Action
teams needing such information will be required to have their Co-Conveners complete the
“Action Team Data Request Form” (see attached) and submit it to the RQS (or other authorized
user) who will process the request as expeditiously as possible.
The following information is provided to assist Action Team Co-Conveners and other team
members in accessing the services and assistance of the DCFS Regional Quality Specialists in
each of the six regions:
Southern Region: Darlene Bushue (618-583-2142, Darlene.Bushue@illinois.gov)
Central Region: Cynthia Richter (309-647-0051, Cynthia.Richter@illinois.gov) and Deanna
Large (217-786-6967, Deanna.Large@illinois.gov)
Northern Region: Cheryl Conner (630-790-6870, Cheryl.Conner@illinois.gov) and Anne Gold
(815-338-1068, Anne.Gold@illinois.gov)
Cook North: Gregory Smith (312-328-2479, Gregory.Smith@illinois.gov) and Linda Gulledge
(773-866-5675, Linda Gulledge@illinois.gov)
Cook Central: Robin Albritton (773-292-7714, Robin.Albritton@illinois.gov) and Tammy
Harvey (708-338-6760, Tammy.Harvey@illinois.gov)
Cook South: Roben Winters (773-371-6018, Roben.Winters@illinois.gov) and Chandler
Mackey (773-371-6031, Chandler.Mackey@illinois.gov)
If any action team needs additional assistance, they should feel free to contact the following
individuals who will be available to assist them:
Terry Whipple: Downstate DCFS Quality Assurance Manager (618-244-8412,
Terry.Whipple@illinois.gov)
Gregory Smith: Lead for the Cook Regional Action Teams (see above)
Joan Nelson Phillips: Deputy Director, DCFS Division of Quality Assurance (312-814-5527,
Joan.Nelson-Phillips@illinois.gov)
Yolanda Green: Director, Foster Care Utilization Review Program (312-328-2084,
Yolanda.Green@illinois.gov or Ygreen@illinois.edu)
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Action Team Data Request Form
PERMANENCY ENHANCEMENT DATA REQUEST
DATE OF REQUEST:
REQUESTER:
Region Site LAN:
HOW WILL THE DATA BE USED?
PURPOSE/WHY IS THE DATA NEEDED?
INDICATE DATA REQUEST(S):
1.
2.
3.
4.
INDICATE THE SPECIFIC DATA BREAKDOWNS NEEDED BELOW
What grouping is needed for the report(s) – circle one:
a) legal county
b) LAN
c) assigned team
List the count(ies) LAN(s) or Team(s):
Should this data be a snapshot of current ward data?
Yes:
No:
...OR, if this report should count events (e.g. intakes, placements, new licenses, etc.) over a period of time,
Beginning date
Ending date
Date Request received by QA Data Specialist:
Action Taken to Respond:
Date Response Forwarded to the Action Team:
Check Method: E-mail:
Fax:
Other
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