During 1995, WRMA was awarded a five-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract, under which WRMA performed quick turnaround policy and program assessments and administrative studies for the programs administered by the ACYF and its component divisions—the NCCAN, the Children’s Bureau (CB), the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB), and the Head Start Bureau (HSB).
The work performed by WRMA under this contract impacted ACYF programs and constituencies in a number of different ways, including the formation of national policies and priorities, and national, regional, and local program administration. In addition, this work has affected such future research, as demonstration, evaluation, initiative development; training and technical assistance planning; monitoring; and management information systems data collection and analysis. Examples of two delivery orders follow.
Work Group on Developing Strategies for Providing Quality Services to Head Start Families in Alaska and Other Rural/Remote Areas
This project included a number of interrelated activities that focused on identifying the unique problems of providing Head Start services to children and families residing in remote, rural regions of Alaska. The project examined the current issues, service gaps, and barriers to service. A strategic plan was developed for implementation by the American Indian Program Branch of Head Start, related federal and state agencies, and other related systems and organizations. This strategic plan focused on improving the availability and provision of services to children and families in remote areas of the state.
Because of the complex logistics of working with Alaska programs, the strategic plan was developed using an abbreviated process consisting of three two-day meetings of a Work group of stakeholders including Alaska Head Start Directors, representatives of the State Head Start Office in the Alaska Department of Community and Regional Affairs, federal representatives from both the American Indian Program Branch and the Seattle Regional Office, and technical assistance providers for Alaska and other Head Start programs. These meetings were supplemented by several site visits and other on-site data collection efforts that facilitated the briefing papers and draft reports disseminated for the work Group's review and comment before each meeting.
The Alaska Strategic Plan that resulted from this effort included a series of issues, recommendations, and potential strategies. Some of the issues addressed were internal to Head Start and could be implemented primarily within the Head Start system; others require action across a number of Alaska human services systems. Some strategies suggested actions that did not require additional resources, but could require changing priorities or a new focus for current practices.
Support Preparation of a Report to Congress on State Performance in Achieving Outcomes in Child Welfare and a Report to Congress on Performance-Based Financial Incentives in Child Welfare
Section 203 of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), when it was signed into law, amended Title IV of the Social Security Act with the requirement that the Secretary of Health and Human Services: 1) develop a set of outcome measures to be used to assess the performance of state child welfare programs; 2) develop a system for rating the performance of states with respect to outcome measures; and 3) make recommendations regarding a performance-based incentive system under parts B and E of Title IV of the Social Security Act. ACF contracted with WRMA to assist the department in meeting these requirements for the project's initial year, and then awarded a second task order as a result of the company's performance on the project.
During the first year of the project, WRMA worked in conjunction with staff from ACYF to assemble a consultation group for the project, conducted meetings for consultation work group members, and prepared working papers and reports on an as-needed basis. WRMA staff also assisted in developing and refining the outcome measures and various models of performance-based incentive systems and in analyzing the data to be used to assess the performance of state child welfare programs. For the second task order, WRMA 1) prepared a list of proposed outcomes, outcome measures, and context variables for the ACYF report to Congress; 2) analyzed national data on a state-by-state basis, as it related to the outcome measures and variables; 3) worked with each state in understanding their reports and completing related tasks; 4) designed and implemented an outcome analysis data base; 5) analyzed the associated data; and 6) prepared briefing papers on key issues as they were identified.
