Ensuring Quality in Contracted Child Welfare Services

December 2008 This issue paper was written by Nancy Pindus and Erica Zielewski of The Urban Institute, Charlotte McCullough of McCullough and Associates and Elizabeth Lee of Planning and Learning Technologies, Inc. Paper review and comments were provided by Crystal Collins-Camargo, University of Louisville, Kentucky. Quality assurance for contracted child welfare services is strengthened by the expanded use of performance-based contracts. States and jurisdictions use performance- or risk-based contracts to improve agency outcomes, frequently those specified by the federal Child and Family Services Review. As a result, contracts are being monitored and, in some cases, providers rewarded . . .