Preliminary Activities to Support Future Data Collection for the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW)

Reimagining NSCAW

Collaborator Discussion Guide

A tailored introduction will be provided for each of the sessions. Below is a list of anticipated questions to be asked of more than 9 individuals.

We expect each session to last about 60 minutes. We estimate that individuals will spend about 45 minutes responding to questions, dependent on the amount of information they choose to share. Participation in this feedback session is completely voluntary. The data collected in this session will not be shared outside of the federal and project staff directly involved with the project.

General Introductory Script

In 2021, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established the Preliminary Activities to Support Future Data Collection for the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well‐Being (NSCAW) project – hereafter referred to as Reimagining NSCAW – to carry out preliminary activities to guide future NSCAW data collections. These include (a) developing potential design option(s), (b) actively engaging with various collaborators and experts, (c) conducting preliminary or pilot data collections, and (d) disseminating findings from these efforts.

NSCAW relies upon Child Protective Services information submitted by state and county child welfare agencies for sampling and cohort building. The purpose of this voluntary data collection is to gather input from state and county child welfare agency personnel about the development of design options and preliminary or pilot data collections intended to inform future NSCAW efforts. Each session will last approximately 60 minutes, during which we estimate that individuals will spend about 45 minutes responding to questions, depending on the amount of information they choose to share. Participation in this feedback session is completely voluntary. The data collected in this session will not be shared outside of the federal and project staff directly involved with the project.

PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13) STATEMENT OF PUBLIC BURDEN: Through this information collection, ACF is gathering information to solicit feedback on future National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being data collections. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per respondent. This is a voluntary collection of information. Agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The OMB # is #0970-0356 and the expiration date is XX/XX/XXXX. If you have any comments on this collection of information, please contact Melissa Dolan: mdolan@rti.org

Agency Efforts to Track Child/Family Well-Being

1. Do you systematically collect or obtain from another data source(s) information about child or parent well-being? If yes:

   1. What type of well-being data does it include? (e.g., child physical health, child developmental milestones, child mental/behavioral health, educational outcomes, parent physical health, parent mental/behavioral health, or parent substance abuse).

   2. If you collect this information:

      1. At what level is the information collected (agency, county, state)?

      2. How frequently do you collect this information?

      3. Who is the respondent/source of data? A caseworker, parent/caregiver, child/youth, or some other source? Do you use any standardized instruments or assessment tools (e.g., Child Behavioral Checklist/CBCL, Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths/CANS, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire/SDQ)?

      4. Do you use it to create dashboards, conduct analyses, produce analytic files or other reports?

      5. Who has access to this data (e.g., research partners, agencies)?

      6. What are some of the barriers or challenges of collecting well-being data that is not currently being collected but that would be informative?

      7. Did you need to engage with local IRBs/Unions/other organizations to ensure collections took place?

   3. If you obtain the information from another data source(s) such as a partnering entity:

      1. Who are the partnering entities?

      2. Does the partnering entity transfer data to the agency or are findings only shared?

   4. If you receive data from a partnering entity:

      1. At what frequency is data provided?

      2. Is the data integrated into the agency’s child welfare data system or is it stored separately?

      3. How long is data stored/maintained?

      4. What are some best practices you engaged in to partner with these entities to obtain this information?

2. Could the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) contribute well-being data or findings from data collections that you don’t currently have or that you need to help with operations or decision-making at your agency? What questions of interest would this data help to address? What feasibility concerns may you have with NSCAW obtaining, sharing, and reporting the well-being data to agencies?

Agency Perspectives on Potential Sampling Strategies and Data Sharing

3. We are considering broadening the NSCAW sampling frame to include children and youth who are at-risk of being involved in the child welfare system (CWS). To identify this population, we are considering looking at screened out cases, or cases that are referred to the CWS but do not get investigated. Do you retain information on screened out cases?

If yes:

1. How long do you retain information on screened out cases?

2. What type of information is included (e.g., contact information, linkable case ID, case disposition)?

4. We are aware that some states open a resource referral case for families that have been screened out at the report stage. Does your state engage in a similar formal process, and if so, what does it look like?

5. For states whose child welfare confidentiality laws prohibit the sharing of family contact information, could Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS) data stripped of identifiers be provided? What data, if any, can be provided to a third party beyond National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) and Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data? Can that data be merged with AFCARS and NCANDS data?

6. In your experience in your state, how likely is it that an outside party can get Personally Identifying Information (PII) rosters of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Medicaid enrolled participants?

   1. What data would you need to be able to link an external sample to your CCWIS system?

   2. If you do not have experience or knowledge on getting PII rosters of SNAP or Medicaid enrolled participants, do you have suggestions on someone we might reach out to who has expertise in this area?

7. One idea for a future NSCAW is to include a state identifier for every state so we can better understand the larger state policy context in which child welfare agencies are operating. Would you have any concerns about a state’s participation in NSCAW being disclosed?

   1. Another idea is to include a county identifier for every county to better understand local policy context in which child welfare agencies are operating. Would you have any concerns about a county’s participation in NSCAW being disclosed?

Thank you so much for participating in this session and sharing your helpful input.