Judith Meltzer, Deputy Director, Center for the Study of Social Policy

1. Calibrating for Performance versus ComplianceLessons from the Front Lines of Class Action Lawsuits Judith Meltzer, Deputy Director, Center for the Study of Social Policy Brenda Donald, Director, District of Columbia Child & Family Services Agency Brady Birdsong, Chief Information Officer, District of Columbia Child & Family Services Agency

2. LaShawn v. District of Columbia: History and Context • Basic data was unavailable or inaccurate • Decree commitments were process driven • Outcome standards could not be measured • Data was not used for planning or management • No discussion or agreement on what was good enough for compliance

3. Data Development Over the YearsMonitor’s Perspective • Lawsuits require attention to and provide an incentive for data development • Requires both visionary leadership and IT solutions • Early on audience for data was the Monitor and plaintiff; shift to have internal users must be principal audience • Challenge to have definitions and measurements both useful to management and responsive to lawsuit • Numbers never tell the whole story

4. Data Development Over the YearsAgency’s Perspective • Create a strategic framework not a compliance driven practice • Leadership must be committed to data • Data requirements must be defined in early stages of practice development • Accountability and ownership starts at the front lines

5. Four Pillars Strategic Framework

6. Four Pillars Strategic Framework • Front Door: Children have the opportunity to grow up with their families and are removed from their families only when necessary to keep them safe. • Temporary Safe Haven: Foster care is a temporary safe haven, with planning for permanence beginning the day a child enters care. • Well Being: Every child is entitled to a nurturing environment that supports healthy growth and development, good physical and mental health, and academic achievement. • Exit to Permanency: Every child and youth exits foster care as quickly as possible for a safe, well-supported family environment or life-long connection. Older youth have the skills for successful adulthood.

7. Four Pillars Scorecard

8. LaShawn Infographic

9. LaShawn Infographic

10. Integrated Worker DashboardBusiness Case • Puts data ownership in the hands of social workers and supervisors and assists in tracking tasks and activities • Data displayed in a concise, actionable and interactive format • Integrated in FACES; eliminating need to toggle between two systems • Data displayed in real-time • Help users realize a “sense of achievement” or “reap the fruits of labor” • Work seamlessly with the FACES infrastructure and technology platform and not increase application maintenance costs • Leverage existing resources • Be extensible

11. Integrated Worker DashboardDesign Process • Nine total design and consensus meetings • Forty-one employees participated • The groups were a highly iterative process – going from initial concepts to a final design with near universal consensus

12. What We Learned Workers want simple, impactful displays that tell them important information with as few mouse clicks and other operations as possible

17. Litigation Lessons LearnedStarting, Implementing, and Exiting • Need accurate data picture of strengths and problems • Emphasize data development and managing by data from the start • Prepare staff to understand and use data • Ensure capacity for data analysis • Finalize outcome and performance measures after solid understanding of performance • Be open about the data • Be consistent with existing data requirements • Balance process and outcome measures • Balance quantity with quality • Build in process for renegotiations

18. Contact Information • Judith Meltzer: Judith.Meltzer@CSSP.org • Brenda Donald: Brenda.Donald@DC.gov • Brady Birdsong:Brady.Birdsong@DC.gov