August 13 , 2007
Dear Fellow Nebraskans:
The division charged with improving services for vulnerable children and families within the new Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services recently unveiled a new tool to help Nebraskans track our performance in serving children in need throughout our state.
The Division of Children and Family Services has taken a significant step toward improving accountability and transparency by launching a new interactive website that tracks progress when it comes to improving Nebraska’s child welfare system.
Officially known as Children’s Outcomes Measured in Protection and Safety Statistics, but better known as COMPASS, this program makes it easy to see what’s happening with our foster care and child welfare system.
The COMPASS site is updated monthly, and allows anyone to dial-up the most current data tracking the work of the Division of Children and Families. Because we work closely with Nebraska courts on every child welfare case, information can be displayed according to specific judicial districts or by geographic region. The site also tracks performance in key areas identified as priorities by both state and federal agencies.
In recent years the federal government has begun measuring each state’s child welfare system according to a list of performance measures. Regular reviews are done to track progress in achieving safe outcomes for children and success in developing stronger families. Nebraska was last reviewed in 2002 and just as in other states; there was considerable room for improvement. A follow-up review is scheduled for next year and I have made it a priority that we show clear improvement over the 2002 review.
The launch of the COMPASS site is a turning point because it is the first time this level of detail has been made available on the performance and achievements of the Division of Children and Family Services. It demonstrates our willingness to share information in an open and honest way – regardless of whether it shows success or the need for improvement.
Now and in the coming year, the entire Division of Children and Family Services will be focused on strengthening performance in several key areas of the federal review, including: achieving stable placements for state wards, ensuring the safety of children while in foster care, reuniting children with their families, completing adoptions within a reasonable time frame, and helping ensure that children do no re-enter the system. The status of each of these measures is reflected on the new COMPASS site.
The COMPASS project is the result of improved collaboration between the Department of Health and Human Services and our courts, and I want to express my appreciation to all those in our judicial branch who are helping improve service to children and families.
I encourage anyone with an interest in these issues to visit the COMPASS website, available online at http://www.dhhs.ne.gov/compass, and to help track our progress in the year ahead.
We are in the midst of a major improvement effort and this new tool will help make our progress more accessible to all Nebraskans by demonstrating improvement in our efforts to provide opportunities for children to grow to their fullest potential here in our great state.
