July/August 2014Vol. 15, No. 7NRCA's Readiness Assessment Tool
The National Resource Center for Adoption (NRCA) created a tool to help States, Tribes, and territories evaluate their locality's assets and readiness to provide postpermanence supports and services for children, youth, and families. The tool offers a consistent framework to assist public child welfare systems looking to build and improve coordinated postpermanence services in their communities. States, Tribes, and territories can use the tool to evaluate their community-based systems of care to determine service areas or components that can be added or enhanced.
The readiness assessment tool consists of two elements. The first is an assessment that helps localities evaluate which areas they can improve in their system of care through increased community engagement and coordination. The assessment is based on six specific components that are necessary for a strong permanence preservation program:
- Vision and Governance
- Theory of Change and Ecosystem
- Importance of a Backbone Organization
- Leveraging Community Assets
- Parents as Civic Entrepreneurs
- Evaluation
The second element of the tool is an overview that explains the importance of a systems approach in postpermanence services and offers detailed information on the six components that are the focus of the assessment. States, Tribes, and territories can look to this document to assist them in the implementation of a particular component.
To access the full Readiness Assessment Tool for a Community-Based System of Care, visit the NRCA website: