February 2003Vol. 4, No. 1QICs Define Regions, Topics of Focus

Having completed needs assessments and identified topics of interest for their regions, the four Quality Improvement Centers (QICs) in the areas of child protective services (CPS) and adoption, implemented under cooperative agreements awarded by the Children's Bureau, are proceeding to the next phases of their projects.

The purpose of the QICs (three CPS and one adoption) is to promote knowledge development with the overarching goal of improving child welfare services. The QICs represent an experiment by the Children's Bureau to examine the feasibility and benefits of increasing regional involvement in designing and managing research and demonstration efforts. During the first year of their projects, the QICs collected data and identified topics of focus, with input from a regional advisory group and with Federal approval. During years 2 through 4, the QICs will fund, monitor, and evaluate research or demonstration projects. They will disseminate findings during year 5.

More information about the QICs, their self-defined regions, and accomplishments can be found on the following websites:

CPS

Rocky Mountain QIC (American Humane Association)
Region: AZ, CO, ID, WY
Website: http://www.americanhumane.org/site/ PageServer?pagename=pc_best_practice_rmqic_homepage
Key Contacts: Myles Edwards (303-925-9419) and Kim Murphy (303-792-9900)
Topic of focus: test programs or practice models that are designed to strengthen families who struggle with both child abuse/neglect and substance abuse problems.

Southern Regional QIC for Child Protection (University of Kentucky Research Foundation, College of Social Work)
Region: AL, AR, GA, KY, LA, MO, MS, SC, TN, WV
Website: http://www.uky.edu/SocialWork/trc/indexqic.html
Key Contacts: Chris Groeber (859-257-7156) and Crystal Collins (859-257-5476)
Topic of focus: study supervisory enhancement of worker skill in assessment and the application of that data to case planning and targeted interventions.

Frontline Connections (University of Washington School of Social Work, Northwest Institute for Children and Families)
Region: AK, OR, WA
Website: http://depts.washington.edu/nwicf/Training_and_Systems/fl_frontline.html
Key Contacts: Katharine Cahn (206-685-1675) and Indra Trujillo (206-696-3823)
Topic of focus: implement and evaluate promising culturally appropriate interventions that increase the capacity of the system to engage parents, kin, and communities of Native American or African American families involved with CPS due to child neglect.

Adoption

QIC on Adoption (United Methodist Services of Virginia)
Region: VA
Website: http://www.umfs.org/adopt/qica.html
Key Contacts: Jackie Burgeson (804-353-4461, ext. 1301) and Katherine Mayo (804-353-4461, ext. 1303)
Topic of focus: what is the impact on the adoption of children from foster care when services are delivered by specially trained staff in a private agency in collaboration with a public child welfare system?

Read more about the QIC Initiative on the Children's Bureau website at www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/tta/index.htm#qips.