FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 12, 2009

MEDIA CONTACT: Lauren Kidd 609-633-8507

DCF to Implement Comprehensive Manage-By-Data Initiative
Receives Extended Technical Assistance and Support from NCIC

The New Jersey Department of Children and Families (DCF) announced today that it will roll out a comprehensive manage-by-data initiative to significantly expand the state's current efforts to use data to manage child welfare, as well as increase training for child welfare managers so they may utilize data to guide their decisions in order to best serve children and families.

The initiative was made possible through extended technical assistance and support from the Northeast and Caribbean Child Welfare Implementation Center (NCIC), a member of the Federal Training and Technical Assistance Network, within the U.S. Administration for Children and Families.

"We are thankful for this technical assistance and excited about this work," DCF Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts said. "This initiative, coupled with our effort to empower and engage families, is a strong complement to our ongoing reform and will lead to sustainable improvements in outcomes for children and families."

The extended technical assistance and support will arm DCF managers with the capacity to use concrete data, in the form of reports and other user-friendly tools, to guide decisions about areas on which to focus resources and efforts to improve performance.

The ultimate goal of the project is to implement a comprehensive statewide management and supervisory practice that will lead to improved outcomes for children and families and that is transportable to other jurisdictions with similar needs. Managers throughout DCF’s entire supervisory chain will be trained to use data to identify problems, monitor progress and document successes.

The initiative began in July 2009 and will run through June 2013. The model will be a tool for managers to utilize every day, and will be sustained long after the implementation is complete.

The extended technical assistance and support will allow DCF to:

• Develop an evidence-based model founded on the use of data to inform management and supervision practice;
• Introduce the use of the model and supporting tools at all DCF management and supervisory levels;
• Develop a training curriculum consistent with the management model to build supervisors' and managers' understanding of the value of data and the ability to use data in management and supervisory practice; and
• Introduce the training curriculum to all DCF supervisory and management staff, and other select DYFS staff, by providing an intensive program of classroom and field training, coaching and mentoring.

The NCIC - the organization providing DCF with the extended technical assistance and support - is one of five regionally-focused Child Welfare Implementation Centers, formed to engage child welfare agencies to provide resources and support, aimed at improving the quality and  effectiveness of child welfare services for children, youth and families. 

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