ASFA TRAINING PROJECT
PHONE POLL OF CHILD WELFARE AGENCIES
2003

Arizona

1. How would you rate your agency's staff in terms of their understanding of ASFA requirements? We are particularly interested in the level of understanding of managers, supervisors and workers. Please rate their understanding on a scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being 'poor' and 5 being 'comprehensive'.

a. Managers:

Comments: We are through the CFSR, received our final report, submitted our PIP and had it approved. By involving everyone in the process increased familiarity with ASFA in persons through out the agency.

b. Supervisors:

Comments:

c. Workers:

Comments:

2. Following are some of the skills that managers, supervisors and workers need to have to implement ASFA. Please rate each of these on a scale of 1-5 with one being 'do not need it' and 5 being 'extremely important.'

a. Managers:

Case work skills:

Collaborative skills

Understanding requirements of ASFA

Understanding how to implement ASFA requirements

Using data effectively

Other, please specify and rate:

Leadership/setting direction

b. Supervisors:

Case work skills:

Communication skills:

Collaborative skills:

Understanding how to implement ASFA requirements

Using data effectively

Other, please specify and rate:

Leadership/setting direction

c. Workers:

Case work skills:

Collaborative skills

Communication skills:

Understanding how to implement ASFA requirements

Using data effectively

Other, please specify and rate:

Gathering, analyzing and making decisions from data and information

3. In the past year, since our earlier survey, as part of your ASFA implementation has the agency undertaken any activities in the following areas:

Agency structure? No Yes
If yes, please describe.
Recently, Arizona's Division of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) restructured so that the managers for child welfare/protection “program services” such as training, prevention, policy, and behavioral health report to one administrator. Arizona's new Governor has made children's issues a primary focus. Under the Governor's leadership, 7 committees are looking at child welfare/protection issues. Recommendations from the committees will be made to the Governor in June 2003.

Internal communication? No Yes
If yes, please describe.
Participating in the Leadership for a High Performance Organization has helped us with internal communication. Also, the DCYF Management Team meets monthly to focus on our performance. The DCYF Assistant Director regularly sends division-wide E-Mails on performance, program, and budget issues. These E-Mails are favorably viewed by staff statewide.

Performance appraisals? No Yes
If yes, please describe.

Job descriptions? No Yes
If yes, please describe.

Staff recruitment? No Yes
If yes, please describe.
Arizona is now working closely with the University to recruit and retain a more qualified workforce. DCYF has implemented an Educational Leave Program that gives staff part of their salary as they earn an MSW.

Case Review? No Yes
If yes, please describe.
Arizona has a clinical supervision policy, in addition to a formal/structured Peer Record Review process. The process is modeled after the Child and Family Services Review Tool.

Foster/Adoptive parent recruitment? No Yes
If yes, please describe.
In Tucson, we have an excellent program called Resource Families for Concurrent Planning, which identifies foster families willing to be involved with biological families. We would like to expand this program.

4. In the past year, since our earlier survey, has there been any ASFA training for child welfare agency personnel? No Yes
If yes, go to question 4a. If no, go to question 4e.

a. What topics were covered in that ASFA training?

Revised safety and risk assessments.

b. Which of the following did you use for the ASFA training?

Statewide training
In service training
Pre-service training
Forums on ASFA topics
Conferences on ASFA topics
Regularly scheduled meetings
Managers train people
Interactive video on ASFA topics
Teleconferences on ASFA topics
Training by federal agencies
Information is circulated about ASFA

c. Who did the training?

Agency/training unit staff
Outside consultants
State university
Court staff
Central office staff
Regional staff

d. Was the training just on ASFA or was it incorporated into other training that you provide?

Incorporated
Incorporated into new worker training
Not incorporated

e. In the past year, since our earlier survey, have you done any of the following ASFA training with or for the courts? No Yes
If yes, continue with this question; if no go to question 4g.

Joint training sessions
Agency and court staff have worked together on local level
Court Improvement Project events attended by agency people
ASFA workgroups of agency and court staff
Agency staff have trained court people
Agency published a newsletter for court staff
Other

f. What topics were covered in that ASFA training for the courts?

IV-E regulation training on judicial determinations, the new safety assessment tool.

g. Have you done ASFA training with or for any of the following:

Schools
Health care providers
Mental health providers
     Comment: Top administrators are meeting together;
     training might be one of the results of the meetings
Tribes
Other, please specify

h. What topics were covered in the ASFA training?

5. Thinking about future training for your agency and community partners (not just on ASFA), what do you think is the number one training need of:

a. Agency managers:

High Performance Leadership skills and leadership for the future, including succession planning and management (already underway, involves mentoring and shadowing)

b. Agency supervisors:

High Performance Leadership skills

c. Agency workers:

How to gather and analyze information to assess safety and risk (forensic interviewing) How substance abuse and domestic violence can affect parenting.

d. Foster parents:

e. Schools:

Mandatory reporting requirements

f. Health care providers:

HIPPA, Special health care needs of kids in care

g. Mental health providers:

h. Tribes:

How ASFA and ICWA interact

i. Courts:

Judicial determinations

j. Is there any other group you think has a training need? Please specify.

Media—in light of possible open court proceedings, how the media will use the information presented during the court proceedings.

6. How well does your information system support the work of managers, supervisors and workers in implementing ASFA? Please rate the support provided by your system on a scale from 1 to 5 with 1 being 'poor' and 5 being 'outstanding'.

a. Why did you give your system that rating?

We have an approved SACWIS, which was rated highly during the CFSR. Our system can hold all the necessary pieces of information. Ideally we would like it to be a bit more user friendly and easy to navigate but it gives us what we need for reports and information.

b. If a rating of 1 or 2 is given, probe as to the status of the SACWIS system.

7. Please rate the importance of the following in terms of supporting staff as they implement the ASFA requirements, with 1 being 'not important' and 5 being 'crucial.'

Training

Increased communication

Resources to support staff

Collaborative efforts with stakeholders

Seeing ASFA as good casework practice

Management support

Revising policy to support ASFA

Monitoring implementation

Other, please specify and rate:

Tribal resources to provide permanency for their children

8. Do you see any of the following as barriers to your agency's support for staff as they implement the requirements of ASFA (check if 'yes')?

Lack of resources
Difficult relationship with courts
Staff turnover
Limitations or lack of computer system
Lack of understanding/knowledge about ASFA
Heavy workload
Lack of support
     Comment: Case aides and support in the field.
Difficulty meeting ASFA requirements
Large number of cases
Differences in interpretation
Lack of services
Lack of time
Lack of training
Problems caused by a county-based system
Other, please specify:

9. (For County based systems only.) Do any of the following impact your ASFA implementation (check if 'yes')?

Must be responsive to local needs
Lack of uniform practice standards
Communication can be difficult
Approach is fragmented
Limited state control
Limited resources
Other

10. At which point in the Child and Family Service Review process is your agency?

a.

Planning
Statewide assessment underway
Review complete
Working to complete the activities described in the PIP

b. Are there any significant lessons you learned from the CFSR? If so, please describe.

The PIP is the driver for us; it helped us prioritize our work and communicate our priorities. We also learned the importance of having accurate data; we’ve done a lot of data clean –up and have emphasized the need to enter good data into the SACWIS system.

11. Is there anything else that you want to tell us regarding the best way to support staff as they implement the requirements of ASFA and the CFSR?

Try to stress strengths. The CFSR report mentions strengths but the PIP only focuses on areas needing improvement-- so it is up to managers to remind people of the strengths of the agency and the work that is done. You don’t want to lose sight of your strengths that have been identified and assessed by national child welfare experts.

Do you mind if we call you again if we need additional information?

No
Yes

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