§ 629e — Evaluations; Research; Technical Assistance

(1) The Secretary shall evaluate and report to the Congress biennially on the effectiveness of the programs carried out pursuant to this subpart in accomplishing the purposes of this subpart, and may evaluate any other Federal, State, or local program, regardless of whether federally assisted, that is designed to achieve the same purposes as the program under this subpart, in accordance with criteria established in accordance with paragraph (2). (2) In developing the criteria to be used in evaluations under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consult with appropriate parties, such as— (A) State agencies administering programs under this part and part E; (B) persons administering child and family services programs (including family preservation and family support programs) for private, nonprofit organizations with an interest in child welfare including community-based partners with expertise in preventing unnecessary child welfare system involvement; and (C) other persons with recognized expertise in the evaluation of child and family services programs (including family preservation and family support programs) or other related programs. (3) Beginning in 2003, the Secretary shall submit the biennial report required by this subsection not later than April 1 of every other year, and shall include in each such report the funding level, the status of ongoing evaluations, findings to date, and the nature of any technical assistance provided to States under subsection (d). (b) The Secretary shall develop procedures to coordinate evaluations under this section, to the extent feasible, with evaluations by the States of the effectiveness of programs under this subpart. (c) Of the amount reserved under section 629g(b)(1) of this title for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall use not less than— (1) $1,000,000 for technical assistance to grantees under section 629g(f) of this title and to support design of local site evaluations with the goal of publishing and submitting evaluation findings to the clearinghouse established under section 676(d) of this title, or to award grants to allow current or former grantees under section 629g(f) of this title to analyze, publish, and submit to the clearinghouse data collected during past grants; and (2) $1,000,000 for technical assistance required under section 628d of this title to support effective implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 [25 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.] and to support development of associated State plan measures described pursuant to section 622(b)(9) of this title. (d) To the extent funds are available therefor, the Secretary shall provide technical assistance that helps States and Indian tribes or tribal consortia to— (1) develop research-based protocols for identifying families at risk of abuse and neglect of use in the field; (2) develop treatment models that address the needs of families at risk, particularly families with substance abuse issues; (3) implement programs with well-articulated theories of how the intervention will result in desired changes among families at risk; (4) establish mechanisms to ensure that service provision matches the treatment model; (5) establish mechanisms to ensure that postadoption services meet the needs of the individual families and develop models to reduce the disruption rates of adoption; and (6) use grants under section 629g(f) of this title in coordination with other Federal funds to better serve families in the child welfare system that are affected by a substance use disorder. (1) The purpose of this subsection is to provide resources to the Secretary to support the conduct and evaluation of a family recovery and reunification program replication project (referred to in this subsection as the “project”) and to determine the extent to which such programs may be appropriate for use at different intervention points (such as when a child is at risk of entering foster care or when a child is living with a guardian while a parent is in treatment). The family recovery and reunification program conducted under the project shall use a recovery coach model that is designed to help reunify families and protect children by working with parents or guardians with a substance use disorder who have temporarily lost custody of their children. (2) The family recovery and reunification program conducted under the project shall adhere closely to the elements and protocol determined to be most effective in other recovery coaching programs that have been rigorously evaluated and shown to increase family reunification and protect children and, consistent with such elements and protocol, shall provide such items and services as— (A) assessments to evaluate the needs of the parent or guardian; (B) assistance in receiving the appropriate benefits to aid the parent or guardian in recovery; (C) services to assist the parent or guardian in prioritizing issues identified in assessments, establishing goals for resolving such issues that are consistent with the goals of the treatment provider, child welfare agency, courts, and other agencies involved with the parent or guardian or their children, and making a coordinated plan for achieving such goals; (D) home visiting services coordinated with the child welfare agency and treatment provider involved with the parent or guardian or their children; (E) case management services to remove barriers for the parent or guardian to participate and continue in treatment, as well as to re-engage a parent or guardian who is not participating or progressing in treatment; (F) access to services needed to monitor the parent’s or guardian’s compliance with program requirements; (G) frequent reporting between the treatment provider, child welfare agency, courts, and other agencies involved with the parent or guardian or their children to ensure appropriate information on the parent’s or guardian’s status is available to inform decision-making; and (H) assessments and recommendations provided by a recovery coach to the child welfare caseworker responsible for documenting the parent’s or guardian’s progress in treatment and recovery as well as the status of other areas identified in the treatment plan for the parent or guardian, including a recommendation regarding the expected safety of the child if the child is returned to the custody of the parent or guardian that can be used by the caseworker and a court to make permanency decisions regarding the child. (A) The Secretary shall, through a grant or contract with 1 or more entities, conduct and evaluate the family recovery and reunification program under the project. (B) In identifying 1 or more entities to conduct the evaluation of the family recovery and reunification program, the Secretary shall— (i) determine that the area or areas in which the program will be conducted have sufficient substance use disorder treatment providers and other resources (other than those provided with funds made available to carry out the project) to successfully conduct the program; (ii) determine that the area or areas in which the program will be conducted have enough potential program participants, and will serve a sufficient number of parents or guardians and their children, so as to allow for the formation of a control group, evaluation results to be adequately powered, and preliminary results of the evaluation to be available within 4 years of the program’s implementation; (iii) provide the entity or entities with technical assistance for the program design, including by working with 1 or more entities that are or have been involved in recovery coaching programs that have been rigorously evaluated and shown to increase family reunification and protect children so as to make sure the program conducted under the project adheres closely to the elements and protocol determined to be most effective in such other recovery coaching programs; (iv) assist the entity or entities in securing adequate coaching, treatment, child welfare, court, and other resources needed to successfully conduct the family recovery and reunification program under the project; and (v) ensure the entity or entities will be able to monitor the impacts of the program in the area or areas in which it is conducted for at least 5 years after parents or guardians and their children are randomly assigned to participate in the program or to be part of the program’s control group. (A) The Secretary, in consultation with the entity or entities conducting the family recovery and reunification program under the project, shall conduct an evaluation to determine whether the program has been implemented effectively and resulted in improvements for children and families. The evaluation shall have 3 components: a pilot phase, an impact study, and an implementation study. (B) The pilot phase component of the evaluation shall consist of the Secretary providing technical assistance to the entity or entities conducting the family recovery and reunification program under the project to ensure— (i) the program’s implementation adheres closely to the elements and protocol determined to be most effective in other recovery coaching programs that have been rigorously evaluated and shown to increase family reunification and protect children; and (ii) random assignment of parents or guardians and their children to be participants in the program or to be part of the program’s control group is being carried out. (C) The impact study component of the evaluation shall determine the impacts of the family recovery and reunification program conducted under the project on the parents and guardians and their children participating in the program. The impact study component shall— (i) be conducted using an experimental design that uses a random assignment research methodology; (ii) consistent with previous studies of other recovery coaching programs that have been rigorously evaluated and shown to increase family reunification and protect children, measure outcomes for parents and guardians and their children over multiple time periods, including for a period of 5 years; and (iii) include measurements of family stability and parent, guardian, and child safety for program participants and the program control group that are consistent with measurements of such factors for participants and control groups from previous studies of other recovery coaching programs so as to allow results of the impact study to be compared with the results of such prior studies, including with respect to comparisons between program participants and the program control group regarding— (I) safe family reunification; (II) time to reunification; (III) permanency (such as through measures of reunification, adoption, or placement with guardians); (IV) safety (such as through measures of subsequent maltreatment); (V) parental or guardian treatment persistence and engagement; (VI) parental or guardian substance use; (VII) juvenile delinquency; (VIII) cost; and (IX) other measurements agreed upon by the Secretary and the entity or entities operating the family recovery and reunification program under the project. (D) The implementation study component of the evaluation shall be conducted concurrently with the conduct of the impact study component and shall include, in addition to such other information as the Secretary may determine, descriptions and analyses of— (i) the adherence of the family recovery and reunification program conducted under the project to other recovery coaching programs that have been rigorously evaluated and shown to increase family reunification and protect children; and (ii) the difference in services received or proposed to be received by the program participants and the program control group. (E) The Secretary shall publish on an internet website maintained by the Secretary the following information: (i) A report on the pilot phase component of the evaluation. (ii) A report on the impact study component of the evaluation. (iii) A report on the implementation study component of the evaluation. (iv) A report that includes— (I) analyses of the extent to which the program has resulted in increased reunifications, increased permanency, case closures, net savings to the State or States involved (taking into account both costs borne by States and the Federal government), or other outcomes, or if the program did not produce such outcomes, an analysis of why the replication of the program did not yield such results; (II) if, based on such analyses, the Secretary determines the program should be replicated, a replication plan; and (III) such recommendations for legislation and administrative action as the Secretary determines appropriate. (5) In addition to any amounts otherwise made available to carry out this subpart, out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, there are appropriated $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2019 to carry out the project, which shall remain available through fiscal year 2026. (1) The purpose of this subsection is to authorize the Secretary to make competitive grants to support the timely evaluation of— (A) services and programs described in section 671(e) of this title; or (B) kinship navigator programs described in section 674(a)(7) of this title. (2) In accordance with applications approved under this subsection, the Secretary may make grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to carry out projects designed to evaluate a service or program provided by the eligible entity, or an entity in partnership with the eligible entity, with respect to the requirements for a promising practice, supported practice, or well-supported practice described in section 671(e)(4)(C) of this title. (A) An eligible entity may apply to the Secretary for a grant under this subsection to carry out a project that meets the following requirements: (i) The project is designed in accordance with paragraph (2). (ii) The project is to be carried out by the applicant in partnership with— (I) a State agency that administers, or supervises the administration of, the State plan approved under part E, or an agency administering the plan under the supervision of the State agency; and (II) if the applicant is unable or unwilling to do so, at least 1 external evaluator to carry out the evaluation of the service or program provided by the applicant. (B) The application shall contain the following: (i) A description of the project, including— (I) a statement explaining why a grant is necessary to carry out the project; and (II) the amount of grant funds that would be disbursed to each entity described in subparagraph (A)(ii) in partnership with the applicant. (ii) A certification from each entity described in subparagraph (A)(ii) that provides assurances that the individual or entity is in partnership with the applicant and will fulfill the responsibilities of the entity specified in the description provided pursuant to clause (i) of this subparagraph. (iii) A certification from the applicant that provides assurances that the applicant intends to comply with subparagraph (A)(ii)(II), if applicable. (iv) At the option of the eligible entity, a certification from the applicant that the applicant requires an external evaluator secured by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (5), if applicable. (4) In approving applications under this subsection, the Secretary shall prioritize the following: (A) Addressing, with respect to the clearinghouse of practices described in section 676(d)(2) of this title, deficiencies or gaps identified by the Secretary in consultation with— (i) States, political subdivisions of a State, and tribal communities carrying out, or receiving the benefits of, a service or program; and (ii) child welfare experts, including individuals with lived experience. (B) Maximizing the number of evidence-based services or programs to be included in the clearinghouse of practices described in section 676(d)(2) of this title. (C) Timely completion of evaluations and the production of evidence. (D) Supporting services or programs that are based on, or are adaptations to new population settings of, a service or program with reliable evidence about the benefits and risks of the service or program. (A) Before accepting applications under this subsection, the Secretary shall make reasonable efforts to identify at least 1 entity to serve as an external evaluator for any eligible entity that includes a certification under paragraph (3)(B)(iv) with an application under this subsection. (B) The Secretary may not consider whether an eligible entity is in partnership with an external evaluator described in paragraph (A) in approving an application under this subsection submitted by the eligible entity. (A) Within 1 year after receiving a grant under this subsection, and every year thereafter for the next 5 years, the grant recipient shall submit to the Secretary a written report on— (i) the use of grant funds; (ii) whether the program or service evaluated by the project meets a requirement specified in section 671(e)(4)(C) of this title, including information about— (I) how the program or service is being carried out in accordance with standards specified in the requirement; (II) any outcomes of the program or service; and (III) any outcome with respect to which the service or program compares favorably to a comparison practice; and (iii) whether the Secretary has included the program or service in an update to the clearinghouse of practices described in section 676(d)(2) of this title. (B) The Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Finance of the Senate an annual written report on— (i) the grants awarded under this subsection; (ii) the programs funded by the grants; (iii) any technical assistance provided by the Secretary in carrying out this subsection, including with respect to the efforts to secure external evaluators pursuant to paragraph (5); and (iv) any efforts by the Secretary to support program evaluation and review pursuant to section 671(e) of this title and inclusion of programs in the pre-approved list of services and programs described in section 671(e)(4)(D) of this title or the clearinghouse of practices described in section 676(d)(2) of this title. (A) Of the amounts available to carry out this subsection, the Secretary may use not more than 5 percent to provide technical assistance. (B) Amounts made available to carry out this subsection shall remain available until expended. (8) In this subsection: (A) The term “eligible entity” means any of the following providing a service or program or, in the sole determination of the Secretary, able to provide a service or program if awarded a grant under this subsection: (i) A State, a political subdivision of a State, or an agency or department of a State or political subdivision of a State. (ii) An entity described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 626(a)(1) of this title. (iii) An Indian tribe or tribal organization. (B) The term “external evaluator” means an entity with the ability and willingness to evaluate a service or program pursuant to paragraph (2) that is not provided by the entity. (C) The term “service or program”— (i) means a service or program described in section 671(e) of this title; and (ii) includes a kinship navigator program described in section 674(a)(7) of this title.