Call for Performance-based Child Welfare Contracts in Los Angeles

The Chronicle of Social Change

The dean of the University of Southern California School of Social Work is pushing the Los Angeles County Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Protection to consider performance-based contracting and to retain relationships with community-based service providers as part of its final recommendations for the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. “We’re tracking inputs and processes, but we’re not monitoring the overall program,” said [NASW member] Marilyn Flynn, who is one of ten commissioners. “We know how it translates because when we look at how kids are functioning, it’s horrible. Not uniformly horrible, but it’s deeply troublesome for some groups of kids. Tracking outcomes for kids is not currently part of the contract.”

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