The results of this phone poll indicate that child welfare agencies are actively implementing ASFA---they have developed and provided ASFA training for staff, courts and community partners, they are beginning to make needed administrative and organizational changes and they tend to view ASFA requirements as 'good case practice'. Child welfare managers, supervisors and workers generally have a good understanding of ASFA and have received some training on its requirements. Child welfare respondents report that skills and knowledge in casework, communication, collaboration and understanding ASFA requirements are the key to implementing ASFA. From the court improvement project perspective child welfare supervisors and workers need to have knowledge of the law, its requirements and how to testify in court regarding permanency and safety planning. The poll also showed that child welfare agencies were more likely to have made changes in agency structure and internal communication as part of ASFA implementation and less likely to have changed performance appraisals, job descriptions or undertaken any staff recruitment as a result of ASFA.

An interesting finding was that respondents seldom mentioned the need for managers, supervisors and workers to use and understand data and how that skill links to the ASFA requirements for reporting. The fact that respondents gave an average rating of 3.14 on a scale of 1 to 5 to the information system currently in use may offer a partial explanation for this omission. It implies that not all systems provide the support needed, therefore, staff may not have access to the data they need to incorporate into management decision making. In spite of lack of system support, future ASFA training should include more material directed to information management and how to think about using data to support the achievement of positive outcomes for children and families.

Successful implementation of ASFA depends largely on the ability of child welfare supervisors and managers to understand and therefore incorporate the changes ASFA requires into their daily routine, practice and the work of those they supervise. Although supervisors and managers may not be involved in the details of casework, they still must supervise and direct staff to reduce the time children stay in foster care. In addition, supervisors and managers must become familiar with and comfortable working within a system that measures outcomes associated with delivering services to children and families, not just the process. As middle managers, they are responsible for leading the transition to a performance based system, while at the same time supporting frontline workers as they incorporate ASFA responsive practice changes into their ongoing casework. Child welfare supervisors and managers must be aware of the content of the laws and regulations, understand the reporting requirement and know how to select and use appropriate data to justify service planning and development, respond to federal requests for outcome information, allocate scarce resources and inform policy.

ASFA's mandates regarding the achievement of outcomes and the use of data carry clear expectations for supervisors and managers. However, the phone poll indicates that more work needs to be done to assure that the day to day responsibilities of child welfare supervisors and managers are informed by data and reports, to enhance skills needed to support collaboration with the courts and other community partners and build a framework for decision making in a 'teaming' environment.

In conclusion, the 'promising practices' highlighted throughout the RESULTS section of this report and detailed in the individual state poll responses on the website ---practices such as creating videos and brochures for workers to use when discussing permanency with families, building and communicating a clear vision for what the agency wants services for children to look like, reinforcing successes and developing case plans that have ASFA outcomes built in--- should prove a valuable source of information for child welfare agencies as they continue to develop ways to support staff and partners during the implementation of ASFA. In addition, the poll results provide the project team an excellent starting place to develop a curriculum for child welfare supervisors and managers which will enhance their capacity to implement ASFA, strengthen their ability to manage and increase the use of data to improve outcomes for children in the system.

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