Maine Child Welfare Waiver Demonstration (Printer-Friendly Format)

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Maine Child Welfare Waiver Demonstration

General Information

Evaluator(s)	Muskie School, University of Southern Maine
Investigator(s)	Michel Lahti (Muskie School, University of Southern Maine)

Domain	Child/Family
Status	Operational
Duration	Mar 1999 - Mar 2004
Type	Research and/or Program Evaluation
Program/Policy Description	Adoption Training Curriculum and Post-Adoption Support Services: The intervention includes: 1.) Provide training on special-needs adoption to mental health and other professionals who work with adoptive families, adoptable children, and public and private adoption providers in year one. 2.) Years 2-5 will provide a comprehensive array of post-adoption services from trained providers to families that have adopted special-needs children. The evaluation includes random assignment to experimental and control groups. 60 children per year in each group are expected. Major goals are to increase number of special needs adoptions, decrease incidence of special-needs adoption disruptions, decrease average length of stay in foster care, and strengthen adoptive families.
Notes	This project is part of ACYF IV-E Waiver Demonstration.

Last Updated	08/01/04
Type of Summary	Unreviewed
Contact(s)	John Levesque Maine Bureau of Children and Family Services Department of Human Services (T) (202) 287-5011
Submitter(s)	Research Forum Staff (info@researchforum.org) National Center for Children In Poverty 215 West 125th St, 3rd Fl (T) (646)284-9600 (F) not reported

Populations Studied

Target Population	Children
Subgroups Analyzed	Children 7-18
Sample Size and Unit	Approximately 120 children in foster care.
Execution	Not yet available.

Sites Studied

Maine

Program Components, Policies, and Activities Evaluated

Social/Support services

Administration/Implementation

Foster Care Services

Variation in program components across sites?

Outcomes Assessed

Program implementation

Financial costs and benefits/cost-effectiveness

Family and relationship outcomes

Policy changes

Child Outcomes

Types of Studies

Type	Impact Study (Controlled Experiment)

Data Sources

Source	Administrative data

Source	Survey

Source	Interview
Title	Client 18-month anniversary telephone interview:
Sample Characteristics/Data Collection	N=1,366 cases reached 18-month anniversary, although 408 were excluded for a variety of reasons. N=958 valid cases reached their 18 month anniversary;
Sites	All study sites
Response Rate/Attrition Notes	Response rate: 71.4%
Additional Execution Notes	MAXIMUS conducted telephone interviews with all clients 18 months after they applied for welfare. Two separate interviews were developed, depending on the client’s welfare status in their 18th month. Core questions included questions about changes in their family situation and personal lives, educational attainment of their children, utilization of health services, and child care issues. Specialized questions included information about the respondent's work history and wages and unmet needs of the clients.

Findings Available

Not Yet Available

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