Policy & Practice | Summer 2023

it, must always be kept at the center of any transformation effort. Decisions on policy changes must not be made in a bubble without considering the real impact on the people it affects. For example, as technology continues to evolve, agencies should consider how it could help people do their jobs better. Resist the urge to invest in technology that looks cutting-edge but doesn’t have a tangible impact on how care is delivered. There is evidence that transforma tional change is beginning to happen in the area of child welfare. Several states have allocated funding to address child abuse and neglect, to upgrade system technology, and to create pilot programs that change the way care is delivered. As agencies consider their own cir cumstances and what a transformation strategy might look like, here is some guidance on how to approach three critical areas: workforce, operations, and systems. Workforce A wave of challenges in recruiting and retaining high-quality child welfare and family support workers is significantly impacting the services that agencies offer. Agencies approach these workforce challenges with one primary focus: people. A TMO will collaborate with the agency to effectively manage communication, mitigate change impacts, and train all participants. A thoughtful approach to workforce optimization, organization redesign, recruitment, and retention can lead the agency to achieve better outcomes for children and families. Approaches to consider: n Increase efforts by leveraging veteran child welfare employees to build up new staff and forge new relationships to increase support n Identify opportunities to focus on career development and investment in your supervisory staff n Address implicit bias and grow diver sity, equity, and inclusion initiatives through training plan modifications Operations The TMO works with the agency to establish interrelated processes for evaluating, selecting, prioritizing, and allocating resources against agency

needs to best accomplish organizational strategies. By setting clear standards, consistency within the organization and across individual projects can be achieved. Once processes, proce dures, and tools are developed and the TMO governance and organizational structure is defined, they must be imple n Evaluate process flow to identify gaps and opportunities to move toward objectives and goals n Execute a transformation planning session to set the overarching trans formation vision n Ingrain continuous quality improve ment skills and practices into all levels and functions within the agency Systems Child welfare systems have the following key purposes: enabling staff to effectively serve children and families; tracking, monitoring, and reporting for leadership to enable evidence-based decisions in real time; and informing financial decision making. An effective TMO will guide the agency through the process of envisioning, procuring, managing, funding, and implementing a system replacement to fulfill these purposes. Approaches to consider: n Requirement gathering and further understanding of current system challenges and dependencies n Implement a human-centered design approach to process changes through discovery and outcome based objectives n Mapping to new regulatory require ments and evolving state and federal guidelines Reference Notes 1. Children’s Bureau Express (February 2023). Adoption and foster care analysis and reporting system (AFCARS) report #29. https://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/ article/2023/february/afcars-report-29/ a47818711b7bd91080f4631ee54bcb8f 2. Child Welfare Information Gateway (March 28, 2023). Family first prevention services act. https://www.childwelfare .gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/ federal/family-first/ mented and maintained. Approaches to consider: Danielle Barnes is EY Americas Government and Public Sector Leader.

6.Interdepartmental silos: Silos hamper communication and collabo ration and make it difficult to make decisions and effectively manage new and existing technology and transformation initiatives. 7. Difficulties in redesigning child protection: Local departments have trouble maximizing investments for improving the affordability and quality of child protection. missions in human services: ensuring the safety and well-being of children. Six of these seven challenges make that mission more difficult to achieve. The seventh, the FFPSA legislation, is geared to help, but is another wrinkle in a complex system that is already tough to manage. As new challenges continue to arise for the sector, it’s time to re examine how agencies function and embrace the opportunity to transform child welfare from the inside out. With the right support, the child welfare system can work toward comprehen sive, systemic transformation designed to care for the people it serves. The transformation roadmap is one approach to consider. It lays out a plan for how to implement change and create an operating model that consistently delivers better outcomes for the commu nities that agencies serve, their partners, and the organization itself. A key part of this strategy is the TMO. The business of child welfare does not pause for trans formation, or for anything else in today’s world. Having a leader dedicated to the change effort without being distracted by unrelated needs and responsibilities is critical. The TMO can define, imple ment, and monitor compliance to achievable, realistic performance indi cators and measures of success. Listen toThose on the Front Line The importance of hearing the voice of front-line workers and using their perspective to inform decision making cannot be overstated. One of the most important functions of the TMO is to hear the voice of the front-line worker and use that perspective to inform decision making. Those who provide service, as well as those who receive Child welfare agencies are tasked with one of the most important

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Summer 2023 Policy & Practice