Member
Profile
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member profiles)
Jenifer R. Swift, Director of
Quality Assurance
Tabor Services, Inc.
- Size of your organization (total staff, total revenue)
- Primary services provided
- Accredited? By Whom?
- How long has your organization had dedicated QI/QA staff?
- How is your QI/QA function organized? Reporting Structure, Staff, Teams, Responsibilities, etc.
- Describe your process or plans to measure outcomes, compare to benchmarks, etc.
- Describe your data collection system in relation to QI/QA
- What memberships and/or resources have you found to be valuable in your work (books, organizations, people, tools, etc.)
- What do you enjoy most about working in the QI/QA field?
- How has the Quality Leader's Network been of value to you?
Size of your organization (total staff, total revenue)
Staffing: 150, Revenue: 8.5M
Primary
services provided
Primary Services: Foster Care,
Services to Children in their Own Homes (SCOH), Family Preservation, Supervised
Independent Living, Adoption, Mental Health Counseling, Day Care
Accredited?
By Whom?
Accredited by the Council on
Accreditation (COA)
How
long has your organization had dedicated QI/QA staff?
Dedicated QA staff for 6 years
How
is your QI/QA function organized? Reporting Structure, Staff, Teams,
Responsibilities, etc.
QA Structure:
QA reports directly to the executive director. Direction and priorities are determined by the Ex. Dir and QA Dir. The Quality Advisory Council (QAC), a top level QA committee, is made up of agency administrators and direct service representatives. Agenda items for the bi-monthly QAC meetings are determined by COA requirements and issues identified by the Exec. and QA.
All information and documentation is managed and compiled by the QA department. Sub-Committees which include the Dir. of QA then report to the QAC and include:
Quality Assurance and Program Evaluation (QAPE) and include service directors, supervisors and line staff. This committee is responsible for file reviews, utilization, satisfaction, grievance review, COA documentation compliance and service outcomes.
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) includes directors and line staff. This group reviews incidents and accidents, staff training for quality & outcomes, follow up on quality initiatives/implementation, process improvement
Safety Committee has a balanced number of administration and all job functions in the agency. The committee addresses incidents and accidents, physical plant safety and field safety issues.
Strategic Planning involves board and administration as the core committee with all levels of staff involved at various times.
All committee minutes are reported to the QAC.
Describe
your process or plans to measure outcomes, compare to benchmarks, etc.
Outcomes measurement:
Currently the family preservation services measure outcomes based on the
discharge summary prepared. We measure
1) the goals accomplished to determine
improved family functioning and
2) those children that remain with a natural family care giver to demonstrate
positive permanency outcomes.
With a capacity building grant from the PEW Charitable Trusts, outcomes for in-home services are bring automated in a concerted effort to allow for electronic storage, identification and selection of data indicators and report generation in a more detailed manner.
Permanency is reported for all other programs based on our database permanency report. Coded information on a discharging case flow which identifies reasons for discharge such as a planned return to family or a finalized adoption.
We are currently working on the Family Assessment Form (FAF) as an automated tool to demonstrate improved family functioning.
We are working in concert with the Department of Human Services (DHS) on the foster care outcomes project. Also
we are working on an automated method to demonstrate goals accomplished from
each child's Individual Service Plan (ISP) to demonstrate:
1) improved child
functioning through indicators such as school attendance, grade report and goals
accomplished
2) family functioning through natural parent visitation and goal
achievement
3) quantifying types of visits to look at what it takes to achieve
reunification or free a child for another type of permanency.
Supervised Independent Living (SIL) is identifying goal accomplishment quarterly to demonstrate improved functioning and preparation for emancipation.
Satisfaction surveys are available at the Philadelphia office for those who drop in, at group meetings of foster parents or birth parents and youth groups. Surveys are also mailed out to all who receive services a minimum of annually.
Describe
your data collection system in relation to QI/QA
Data collection varies from our database reports which QA can access directly
and paper documents which are submitted to the QA office for tabulation.
What
memberships and/or resources (books, organizations, people, tools, etc.)
have you found to be valuable in your work
Books:
- Kennedy, Larry; "Quality Management in the Non-profit World";
Jossey-Bass Publishers, Oxford, 1991.
- Pecora, Seelig, Zirps & Davis ed.; "Quality Improvement and Evaluation in Child Welfare and Family Services"; CWLA Press, Washington,D.C. 1996.
- Magura & Moses; "Outcome Measures for Child Welfare Services"; CWLA Press, Washington,D.C., 1986.
- Rosenthal, Seymour J.; "A Guide to Mental Health Planning, Planning Workbook", Center for Social Policy; Temple University, 1979.
Organizations:
Trieschman Center now a part of the CWLA has been an exceptional training
resource for all issues related to QA.
The American Humane Association provided training on outcomes and works in concert with DHS.
Tools/People:
The COA standards provide excellent structured expectations for the major
issues to be addressed by QA.
One trainer who has been helpful is Sue Ann Savas.
What
do you enjoy most about working in the QI/QA field?QA offers a broad view of the entire agency function. The detail, interaction with all levels of staff, providing measurement to qualitative issues, demonstration of program effectiveness, and opportunities to train staff and other professionals all add to job satisfaction.
How
has the Quality Leader's Network been of value to you?
QLN has offered dialogue, benefit from other's experience, and receive
support for a specialized area in the non-profit setting. A functioning network
of quality personnel adds to our positions validity. The resource is very
valuable.
