Contracting

July 1, 2018 marked the beginning of the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and the commitment to improving outcomes for families with Performance-Based Contracting (PBC). DCYF has been strategically implementing performance standards in client service contracts across three key areas: Services (the "What"), Quality (the "How"), and Outcomes (the "Result"), as directed in House Bill 1661.

Standards in each area are intended to link client service-level data to outcomes, allow for data analysis on services, and adapt to the needs of children and families as contracts adapt to change. The goal of PBC is to partner with providers and advocates to achieve DCYF's long-term child and family outcome goals.

PBC measures will be selected based on:

  • - Existing state and federal requirements
  • - Feedback from contractors and other key stakeholders
  • - Data analysis results (support from data analytic partners)
  • - Align with at least one DCYF Outcome Goal

Key Performance Areas

Key Performance Areas

PBC works in four areas:

  1. 1. Link services (what we do) to quality metrics (how well we do it) to help influence outcomes (the results for children, youth, and families).
  2. 2. Build logic models based on existing measures (from state or federal requirements).
  3. 3. Engage with stakeholders as partners and Tribal governments to ensure equitable  and collaboration of efforts.
  4. 4. Data analytics to align with DCYF outcome goals for children, youth, and families.

By focusing on these key performance areas, PBC is able to evaluate the effectiveness of programs with a focus on disproportionality and disparity within program areas.

Each DCYF contract group uses the key performance areas to identify client-level services, a quality metric (including a target and a performance management tool) and an outcome metric (including a target and a performance management tool) to incorporate into existing contracts. PBC will incorporate more metrics in future contract iterations as client-level service data is available for analysis and with the support of stakeholder engagement.

Measuring Performance

DCYF contract groups identify which performance metrics to incorporate into client service contracts through the PBC phased process. Service metrics are standardized and include client demographics for program services. Program-specific quality and outcome metrics are developed in partnership with service providers, data analytics and stakeholder input. Data will be used in a continuous improvement process for determining future metrics.

Contracting Timeline

Equity

Programs within DCYF, currently and historically, have large disproportionalities and diparities, contradicting DCYF’s commitment to better outcomes for children, youth, and families. PBC is a method used to ensure access to adequate data, stakeholder engagement, and ability to review current contracts to determine disproportionalities and disparities. Equity (eliminating disproportionalities and disparities) is the number one goal of PBC.

Contract groups have been going through the PBC process with deliberate attention to equity efforts in identifying metrics. Because of this, beginning in FY21, all PBC data will be disaggregated by race/ethnicity, income, and geographic location.

Data and Research

DCYF’s Office of Innovation, Alignment, and Accountability (OIAA), Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) Research and Data Analysis (RDA), and Department of Health (DOH), have partnered with the contract groups to take on the large task of the data analytics portion of PBC. Each contract group has a dedicated entity assisting in:

  • Review of literature for best practices.
  • Review of current program data.
  • Developing the necessary client-level data needs for new or existing metrics.
  • Creating data displays to support the ongoing PBC feedback loop to providers.

The data analytics partnership is vital to ensuring that contract groups are able to establish metrics that connect to outcomes and to review service, quality, and outcome metrics for continuous improvement. PBC could not be a successful measure of equity or program improvement without the commitment from the data analytics partnerships.

Stakeholder-Partner Engagement & Input

PBC continues to build on its equity commitment by focusing attention on partner input, engagement, and feedback. Our external partners are the key to understanding the service needs of the populations served, equitable quality metrics, and improving outcomes.

Partner engagement can range from informing where the agency is heading to full shared leadership of an entire project. PBC utilizes a continuum of partner engagement on many different levels for involvement in decision-making and in collaboration. Each contract group identifies its partners to guarantee all voices are heard in the development of metrics.

Phased Approach

There are more than 1,000 contracts for client service in DCYF. PBC began with four contract groups and has added additional contract groups over the last two years. This process is deliberately spaced out into phases to allow provider and stakeholder input, evaluation, and review of best practices and current services, and for data reporting and collecting.

Client service contracts have been placed into 25 contract groups to group similar services together for evaluation, but not necessarily to create the same quality and outcome metrics. Out of the 25 groups, 17 groups are currently engaged with the PBC phased process, with the remaining eight to start PBC in 2023. As new contracts are established for an array of client services, they are incorporated into an existing contract group or brought into the PBC phased approach in their own grouping.

Contract Groups

There are 17 contract groups who are currently involved with the PBC implementation process. The remaining eight contract groups will start the process in 2023. Because the approach is staggered for contract groups to begin the PBC implementation process, groups vary within the project by phases. As of FY23, the 17 contract groups account for approximately 1000 contracts within the implementation process of PBC.

Contract Groups by Phase

Contract groups are in different phases and focus on different aspects of PBC.

Phase 1: Service metrics and foundational research for contracts

Phase 2: Quality and Outcome metrics to enhance the current contract with the assistance of data analytics.

Phase 3: Continuous Improvement and ongoing management.
 

On Hold Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

Placement Support Services

Physical Health & Safety (CW)

Physical Health & Safety (JR)

Behavioral Health (JR)

Legal

Chaplain/Cultural Services

Jail/Detention Services

Gang Reduction and Intervention Program

Adolescent Housing

Placement Services

Behavioral Health (CW)

Independent Living Services

Combined In-Home Services

Family Time

Behavioral Rehabilitation Services (BRS)

Adoption Services

Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT)

Strengthening Families WA (SFWA): Home Visiting

Early Childhood Intervention and Prevention Services (ECLIPSE)

Juvenile Court

Reentry

Tribal Services

SFWA: Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP)

Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP)

Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ)

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts in PBC FY20 Expenditures (partial)
July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023 (FY23) 1013 (FY23) $328.6 million

*Does not include all contract group expenditures

Implementation Timeline

PBC is a massive undertaking -creating change to services by ensuring more than 1,000 client service contracts set up successful services for children, youth, and families across Washington State. To have lasting impact, PBC’s timeline reaches that goal by systematically developing an iterative process. Because of this, the timeline spans from 2018-2026. Although this appears to be a slow-moving process, each contract group is joining PBC at different stages in a staggered approach to allow for data analysis, partner input, and continuous improvement efforts. This timeline also aligns with DCYF’s 2021-2026 Strategic and Racial Equity Plan. Because contract cycles differ depending on program, each program may only be able to implement contractual changes at the beginning of a contract cycle – calling for a timeline that allows for contractual changes at the beginning of a contract cycle instead of through amendments.

implementation Timeline

Fiscal Year Reporting

Contract periods may fall under the state fiscal year or the federal fiscal year. For the purposes of PBC, we follow the state fiscal year and collect data according to the contract period. PBC identifies each contract period as the year below.

Year Contract Cycle
FY20 July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020 October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020
FY21 July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021 October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2021
FY22 July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022 October 1, 2020 – September 30, 2022
FY23 July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023 October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2023
FY24 July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024 October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2024

Program Areas

Listed below are the current Service, Quality and Outcome metrics and summaries for the program areas. These metrics represent the PBC aspects of contracts, not the overall success of programs. All contracts have additional metrics to support success of the programs outside of PBC and are listed elsewhere on the DCYF website.

PBC FY22 Update

Independent Living Skills
(Phase 2)

The goal of the Independent Living (IL) program is to prepare current and former foster youth (15 – 23 years old) to live independently by increasing their skills, knowledge and competency in key areas. The IL program is voluntary and is open to all youth that meet eligibility criteria.

The IL program implemented the PBC service standard by including quality measures, targets, and performance management tools (PMTs) into its FY21 contracts. The quality standard will continue to be evaluated as part of a program redesign to include quality measures, targets, and PMTs into its FY23 contracts.

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY21 Expenditures
Aug. 1, 2021 - Sept. 30, 2022 (FY22) 12 (FY22) $2.8 million (plus $3 million from temporary CHAFEE funds)
Adolescent Housing: Responsible Living Skills Program
(Phase 1)

The Responsible Living Skills Program (RLSP) is offered under a regional contract in each of DCYF’s six regions. RLSP provides supervised residential services (in either institutional or home-based living situations) that encourage positive youth development and teach young people independent living skills.The goal of RLSP is to prepare foster youth (16-21 years old) to live independently by increasing their skills, knowledge, and competency in key areas.

RLSP is working to implement Phase 1 of PBC, focusing on meeting the services standard.

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY20 Expenditures
Aug. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2022 (FY22) 5 (FY22) $740,000

PBC FY22 Update

Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program
(Phase 3)

The goal of Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) is for families, ECEAP providers, and local communities to work together to ensure the growth of healthy, resilient children. The program does this by committing to dismantling racism and building an equitable state-funded B-5 system that provides child-centered, individualized education and health coordination services built on a foundation of strengths-based, responsive partnerships with families to best serve families.

ECEAP implemented the agency’s PBC service and quality standards in FY20 by introducing aligned metrics, targets, and performance management tools (PMTs) across all of its contracts. ECEAP also implemented outcome standards in FY23 contracts by introducing metrics, targets, and performance management tools (PMTs) for Social Emotional Learning Growth and Family Engagement in Mobility Mentoring. 

(Outcome data will be available in FY23)

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY22 Expenditures
July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2022 (FY22) 57 (FY22) $160+ million
FY20 Service and Quality Metrics

ECEAP prefers not to use numbers of children to avoid confusion between the number of children served and the number of slots due to turnover.

Number of funded slots (class spaces): 15,000+

Interrater Reliability

  • 94% (653 of 695) of ECEAP Lead Teachers who have been employed six or more months shall maintain active Teaching Strategies GOLD® IRR Certification
    • DCYF ECEAP is aware from ongoing communication with contractors across the state that COVID-19 impacted completion rates for teachers. This is something we will explore in the coming months of analysis.
Early Childhood Intervention and Prevention Services
(Phase 3)

Early Childhood Intervention and Prevention Services (ECLIPSE) addresses the wide range needs of children and families impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) by offering comprehensive and coordinated care through monthly home visits with families and daily therapeutic care with an emphasis on social- emotional learning for children ages birth through five in developmentally age appropriate infant, toddler, and preschool environments.

In FY22, ECLIPSE was folded into ECEAP programming as part of its program redesign. ECLIPSE will move forward with aligning its PBC implementation with ECEAP’s existing PBC standards for quality and outcome measures, targets, and performance management tools (PMTs).

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY20 Expenditures
July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021 (FY21) 2 (FY21) $4.65 million

PBC FY21 Update

Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention
(Phase 3)

Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) collaboratively with Washington State organizations to fund and support capacity-building. The goal is to implement high quality family support programming to increase the Strengthening Families Protective Factors for families and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. CBCAP, a federally funded grant program, is explicitly capacity-building for primary and secondary child abuse and neglect prevention. These contracts are one aspect of CBCAP-funded work in Washington.

In addition to funding programming for families, these contracts also focus on building the capacity of community providers to evaluate their services and use the results to make improvements. Because of this unique focus, CBCAP is identifying tools and measurement approaches for its FY22 contracts that measure the impact of the capacity-building efforts. They are doing this to assess the agency's capacity to evaluate and assess program impact. This will require new data collection and sharing process in FY22 with initial assessment of this approach in FY23.

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY21 Expenditures
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022 (FY22) 6 (FY22) $283,790
Early Support for Infants and Toddlers
(Phase 2)

The goal of Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) is to build on family strengths by providing coordination, supports, resources and services to enhance the development of children with developmental delays or disabilities through everyday learning opportunities. 

ESIT started implementing the agency’s PBC service, quality, and outcome standard in FY20 by introducing aligned quality and outcome metrics across all of its contracts. In FY22, ESIT procured a new data collection system for service data, which will be implemented in FY23 and support its continued PBC implementation. (Service data will be available in FY24)

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY21 Expenditures
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022 28 (FY22) $99,331,995
Home Visiting
(Phase 2)

The goal of Home Visiting (HV) is to provide regular home visits from a trained professional to pregnant mothers or families to improve parent-child relationships, school readiness, and child health.

HV implemented the agency’s PBC service and quality standard in FY20 by introducing aligned metrics, targets, and performance management tools (PMTs). HV also implemented the outcome standard in FY20 by introducing a healthy birthweight metric, target, and PMT in their FY20 Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) contracts.

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY21 Expenditures
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022 (FY22) 44 (FY22) $15.04 million
FY21 Service, Quality, and Outcome Metrics

Clients Served: 2,585 families were served during SFY21.

Participants are defined as actively enrolled if they received at least one home visit during the 90 days prior to the last day of the measurement period. During Q4 of SFY20, this definition was expanded to having received at least one home visit or one encounter during the 90 days.

Family Retention

  • 698 families remained engaged in the program for 12 months after enrollment.
  • 618 families remained engaged in the program for 18 months after enrollment.

*All 2,786 participating families were not necessarily eligible to meet the 12 and 18 month retention milestones, depending upon when they enrolled in the program (e.g. they were newly enrolled during SFY20 or they had been enrolled longer than 18 months at the start of SFY20). 

In reviewing this data point over time:

  • More than 32% of families exit before one year; this has steadily declined.
  • Percent of families enrolled for two or more years has steadily increased, up to 48%. 

Depression Screening

  • 175 primary caregivers who screened positive for depression received a referral to services.

Programs may conduct depression screening with participants outside of the time frame for the definition of this milestone, which go unreported here. 

Healthy Birthweight (NFP contracts)

  • 313 (89%) of participants gave birth to an infant of healthy birthweight.

A healthy birthweight is defined as greater than or equal to 2,500 grams and less than 4,500 grams.

PBC FY22 Update

Tribal Services
(Phase 2)

In addition to direct services provided by DCYF, Tribal services are funded through contracts with federally recognized Indian Tribes and other Indian organizations in the state, enabling providers to serve their own Tribal members and off-reservation Indians. These contracts include Indian Child Welfare (ICW) and Community Juvenile Accountability Act (CJAA).

These contracts include Indian Child Welfare (ICW) and Community Juvenile Accountability Act (CJAA).This contract group implemented the PBC quality standard by including quality measures, targets and performance management tools (PMTs) into its FY21 contracts.

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY21 Expenditures
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2023 (FY22) 29 ICW and 13 CJAA (FY22) $3.07 million

PBC FY22 Update

Adoption Services
(Phase 2)

The Adoption Services Contract Group provides services to reduce adoption barriers for children in Washington. This program provides three main services: Out-of-State Adoption Services, Adoption Recruitment Services, and Adoption Home Study Services.

The Adoption Services program implemented the PBC Quality Standard by including quality measures, targets, and performance management tools (PMTs) into its FY20 contracts.

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY22 Expenditures
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022 (FY22) 1 private out-of-state agencies (FY22) $1,666,061.11
FY22 Service and Quality Metrics

Clients serviced: between 200 and 250 at any given time.

Complete In-Depth Profile Service (IDPS)

  • 83% of eligible youth have a completed IDPS,

Timely Ware Registration

  • 97% of eligible youth are registered in WARE within 14 calendar days of contractor receiving youth’s completed WARE registration packet each contract year.

Monthly Health and Safety Visits

  • Youth shall have a monthly, in-person, private contact 90% of time with at least 75% of the visits being in home (data will be available in FY23).
Behavior Rehabilitation Services
(Phase 2)

The goal of Behavior Rehabilitation Services (BRS) is to provide temporary intensive wraparound support and treatment program for children and youth with high-level, complex service needs. 

BRS started implementing the agency’s PBC service and quality standards in FY19 by introducing aligned quality metrics and targets across all of its FY20-21 contracts.

(Data will be available in FY22)

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY21 Expenditures
Oct.1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2022 (FY22) 37 (FY22) $100 million
FY21 Service and Quality Metrics

Clients Served: 405 youth

Acceptance Rate

  • Percent of referrals accepted by each provider.
  • 53% acceptance rate as of end of FY21.

*Data will be available in FY23.

Youth Transition to Less Restrictive Services or Planned Services

  • Percent of cases resulting in transition to lesser levels of care or planned transitions, such as permanency, foster home, transitional housing, CLIP.
  • 57.53% of youth transitioned to less restrictive or planned services.
Combined In-Home Services
(Phase 2)

The goal of Combined In-Home Services (CIHS) is to improve family functioning to promote the child’s or adolescent's health, safety, and welfare; thereby allowing the family to remain intact, and children to remain or return home. 

CIHS implemented the agency’s PBC Service Standard in FY19 and Quality Standard in FY20 by aligning quality metric, target, and performance metric target in FY22 contracts. Data for the quality metric will be available in FY23. An outcome metric, target, and performance management tools (PMTs) will be implemented in FY24 contracts. (Full data will be available in FY24)

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY21 Expenditures
Oct. 1, 2021 – Sept. 30, 2022 (FY22) 73 (FY22) $25 million
FY21 Service Metrics

Clients Served: 5,279 families (17,359 individuals)

  • Data collection was interrupted due to COVID-19 in March 2020. Client and family counts are incomplete for FY21.

Engagement Metrics

  • Number of service episodes with three or more treatment sessions that have a completed CANS-F Family Plan for Change assessment.
Family Time
(Phase 2)

The goal of Family Time is to strengthen and preserve the family bond to build strong, safe families and communities. 

Family Time implemented the agency’s PBC Service and Quality Standard in FY20 by introducing aligned metrics and targets across all of its FY20-21 contracts. They are currently implementing the Outcome Standard and will include an outcome metric, target, and performance management tools (PMTs) in FY23 contracts.

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY20 Expenditures
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022 (FY21) 65 (FY22) $39.6 million
FY21 Service and Quality Metrics

Clients served: Approximately 1,670 families and 12,000 scheduled visits each month.

Timeliness of Service Metrics

  • Number of visits occurring within five days of accepted referral.
Placement Services
(Phase 1)

Placement services contracts provide for short term and long-term placements of children in DCYF care. Placement Services are working to implement Phase 1 of PBC, focusing on meeting the service standards.

(Data will be available in FY24)

Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY21 Expenditures
July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022 (FY22) 207 (FY21) To be announced*

*Not all phase 1 contract groups have reported the amount of expenditures for FY21.

PBC FY22 Update

Juvenile Courts
(Phase 2)

The goal of Juvenile Courts is to serve the highest-risk youth with the intention to prevent recidivism by connecting youth to services using research-based treatment approaches that span a continuum of care.

Juvenile Courts started implementing the agency’s PBC service and quality standard in FY19. Juvenile Courts recently identified the following PBC metrics for their FY24 contracts (Data will be available in FY25):

Service Measures:

  • Eligibility
  • Enrolled (Program Starters) – current FY22 PBC measure
  • Completed

Quality Measures:

  • Quality and timely completion of risk assessments
  • Meet established Evidence-Based Practices (EBP) model fidelity standards

Outcome Measures:

  • Reduced risk factors / increased protective factors
  • Reduced recidivism
Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY Expenditures
July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023 (FY23) 56 (FY23) $3.02 million (FY22)
FY21 Service and Quality Metrics

Clients Served: 743 youth.

Program Starts

  • 58.3% (743 of 1,273) of youth estimated in contractors’ applications to start an EBP who started an EBP.
Office of Juvenile Justice
(Phase 3)

The goal of the Office of Juvenile Justice (OJJ) provides leadership, education, and coordination of juvenile justice system improvement and reform efforts. OJJ leads innovation and collaboration to reduce the impact of racial and ethnic disparities throughout the juvenile justice system. By providing compliance monitoring, funding, and training, OJJ acts as a resource to juvenile justice partners. The system provides a continuum of prevention, early intervention, intervention and rehabilitative services operated by both the county and state governments.

Thirty-three juvenile courts serve as the administrative authority for youth (under the age of 18) who come in contact with the justice system. Because of this unique focus, OJJ identified PBC metrics for its FY24 contracts, measuring the impact on contractors and the system as a whole. (Data will be available in FY25)

Quality Measures:

  • Contractors have a completed and approved data collection policy for race and ethnicity before the first quarterly data report is due
  • Contractors submit quarterly progress and data reports on time and accurately
  • Contractors confirm the TA received met the identified need in their request (system-level metric; informational only)

Outcome Measures:

  • Improved accuracy in race and ethnicity data reporting
  • Make use of improved race/ethnicity data to plan for appropriate array of services to meet needs of diverse population served
  • Increased contractor capacity to serve more youth as program grows (system-level metric; informational only)
  • Reduction in racial and ethnic disparities (system level metric; informational only)
Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY Expenditures
Oct. 1, 2022 – Sept. 30, 2023 (FY23) 12 (FY23) $1.2 million (FY23)
Reentry
(Phase 2)

The goal of Reentry is to

support the successful transition of Juvenile Rehabilitation youth reentering their communities through post-secondary education, workforce skills, and job training opportunities. 

Reentry started to implement the agency’s PBC service and quality standards in FY19. Reentry recently identified the following PBC metrics for their FY24 contracts (Data will be available in FY25):

Service Measures:

  • Eligibility
  • Enrolled
  • Completed - current FY22 PBC measure

Quality Measures:

  • Dosage
  • Certifications and/or college credit obtained

Outcome Measures:

  • Reduction in need
  • Reduced Recidivism
Contract Cycle Number of Contracts FY Expenditures
July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023 (FY23) 9 (FY23) $1,147,166. (FY22)
FY22 Service and Quality Metrics

Clients Served: 320 youth.

Program Completion Metrics

  • 59% of youth completed the program.

Questions?

Janis Jordan, Implementation Support Specialist, Performance-Based Contracting, DCYF Office of Innovation, Alignment and Accountability:

Janis.Jordan@dcyf.wa.gov