Solano County Health & Social Services Department

Mental Health Services / Employment and
Public Health Services / Eligibility Services
Substance Abuse Services / Children’s Services
Older & Disabled Adult Services / Administrative Services

Gerald Huber, Director

Aaron Crutison, Deputy Director / P.O. Box 12000, MS 5-230, Vallejo, CA 94590
Child Welfare Services / (707) 784-8280 Fax (707) 784-8280

MEMORANDUM

To:Child Welfare Services Staff

From:Aaron Crutison, Deputy Director

Date:July 15, 2015

Subject: Federal Case Review implementation

The Administration of Children and Families (ACF), Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) requires that the states complete case reviews in cooperation with ACF to assess for quality of caseworker/client engagement and services. In the third round of the CFSR, California has been approved to complete these reviews at the county/state level. To implement this, all 58 counties in California are currently engaged in training staff to complete case reviews in order to report qualitative (evaluative) data to the federal government. The goal of the federal case review process is to promote excellence in our child welfare practice, and determine how effectively our agency is producing positive outcomes for children and families.

Solano County has implemented this through the creation of the Continuous Quality Improvement unit, which currently includes a supervisor and a social worker III position. Supervisor Kim McDowell recently attended a 4 day training series, and is conducting some practice case reviews. The Social Worker III will begin the training soon, which will also take several months. Both are also required to complete a certification process. The county is expected to begin officially reviewing cases in September, 2015.

The cases to be reviewed (including current practice cases) are selected by CDSS based on criteria pre-determined by the federal and state agencies. The case is then reviewed during an 18-month time period. Cases will be selected from both in-home and foster care cases, and may be open or closed at the time of review. Each county in California will be going through the same process in order to report theirfindings to the federal government. In conducting federal case reviews, we will be looking at CWS/CMS, reviewing case files, and interviewing children, parents, caregivers, social workers, and others. The goal is to distill a great deal of complicated information, and gauge how successfully we are providing assistance and services to children and families.

A “Quick Reference Items List” is attached, which incorporates all of the areas under review. Each of these items is composed of a number of criteria, and very specific definitions apply. These are not new criteria, as the state has measured the quantitative data in these areas for years. Our County Self-Assessment (CSA) and System Improvement Plan(SIP) were developed to increase performance on these measures. The case reviewer’s role includes providing information to the agency about how to meet expectations, and providing information to the government at multiple levels about our Department’s strengths and challenges.

The case review process requires review of documents, interviews with involved parties,and ancillary tools such as SDM or SafeMeasures. Individual or agency impact with this may include:

  • The case reviewer may be assigned secondary assignment on the case
  • The social worker will be asked to provide the case file for several days for review. This may require some preparation and filing prior to submission.
  • This time period will be established as far in advance as possible, and is negotiable if necessary
  • Current and previous social workers will be asked to schedule an interview with the case reviewer regarding the time period. The interview will likely take at least an hour, possibly two; and may require follow-up if additional information is needed (especially as the reviewers are training).
  • Case reviewers will also be arranging interviews with:
  • Child clients (in person interviews)
  • Parents (in person interviews)
  • Supervisors (for interviews if the social worker is not available, or for additional collateral information)
  • Others as necessary

Case reviews are NOT a worker-specific performance assessment. The tool captures agency performance in an aggregate form which is reported to the federal government. We are developing a policy and procedure to assist with ways to provide agency feedback regarding areas scored as “Area for Improvement”, but it will not be individually focused.

For more information, information is available from the Federal Government at or questions can be referred to Supervisor McDowell.

Thank you all for your assistance with making the Case Review process one that helps us all demonstrate our good social work practices, explore ways to improve our practice, and develop a professional Quality Improvement program.

CC: Gerald Huber, H&SS Director