Grantee/Evaluator: Merrill-Palmer Institute, Wayne State University
Project Period:
Principal Investigator: Dr. Daphna Oyserman, Ph.D.
Internet: daphna@umich.edu
Phone Number: 313/647-7622
Federal Project Officer: James V. Dolson
Internet:jdolson@acf.dhhs.gov
Summary: The project successfully transferred to Michigan an innovative Clinical Information System for Foster Care (IIS-FC) developed (and now mandated) in Israel. The computerized system is based on a model that combines structured, systematic monitoring of each child with the aggregation of this information across the entire agency. The IIS-FC has been running in a multi-site private non-profit child welfare agency in Michigan (Lutheran Child and Family Service of Michigan. All reports to the Michigan Department of Social Services and to the courts are generated via the system. A data base has accumulated for analyses, and administrative reports are available for supervision, management and administrative purposes.
Additional funding enabled the grantee to develop (a) a link between foster care and adoption information collection and documentation and (b) a foster family's licensing and training module. The need for this development was highlighted by two basic realities. First, a substantial number of children who enter foster care are eventually freed for adoption and are often adopted by their foster parents. Second, information about the child's early experiences and family of origin that is needed for the adoption process is often only accessible in the initial period after removal from the home. The resulting adoption module contains both Child Summary and Home Study modules which allow information to flow from foster care as well as set up an orderly information documentation system and data base specifically for foster family licensing and child adoption. The modules contain a large number o discrete variables that take the form of single- and multiple-choice lists and open-ended information. Open-ended information is integrated with a word-processing tool including a spell check. All information contained in the variables is available for report generation.
A description of the overall framework of the IIS is currently in press in the professional journal: Computers in Human Service Organizations. The adoption module highlighted child psycho-social and academic-cognitive development in ways that would be beneficial for foster care progress reports. The foster family licensing component provided structure for the assess ment of family functioning in the adoption home study.
The current foster care tools are running on a DOS platform. Future versions of the software will run on the new generation of data-base development tools. The current foster care information system contains open-format data that would need to be converted to list form in order to fully comply with adoption requirements. However, such a conversion of the open-format data to the more structured close-ended requirements of the adoption tools would require large scale re-writing of the foster care program. Since such an extensive revision is best conducted as part of a next stage effort for advancement of child welfare information tools, the grantee decided to develop an interim summary report of the foster care experience for children entering adoption from a foster care agency using the Integrated Information System. The interim report will allow workers to take advantage of the information currently collected until a new generation of tools is developed. The next generation of the software for use with adoption is being developed in conjunction with Spaulding for Children.
The current IIS software is installed at LCFS, with four additional installations planned -Spaulding for Children, St. Francis Home, Evergreen Children's Services and Catholic Social Services of Grand Rapids. Spectrum Human Services purchased the software three years ago. Approximately 100 front-line workers are using the software as part of their daily routine. None of the reports generated by the software have ever been returned with problems from the Family Independence Agency (formerly the Department of Social Services). Front-line staff particularly appreciate the fact that by answering all of the queries in the software, they are sure not to miss any reporting information. A DOS version of the IIS was extensively customized to meet the licensing requirements of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is currently being used by Episcopal Community Services of Philadelphia.
Report availability: Contact the federal project officer to request a copy of the final report.