Adoption Incentives Assessment
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Program Code 10003500
Program Title Adoption Incentives
Department Name Dept of Health & Human Service
Agency/Bureau Name Administration for Children and Families
Program Type(s) Block/Formula Grant
Assessment Year 2005
Assessment Rating Adequate
Assessment Section Scores Section Score
Program Purpose & Design 100%
Strategic Planning 62%
Program Management 78%
Program Results/Accountability 16%
Program Funding Level
(in millions) FY2008 $4
FY2009 $4
Ongoing Program Improvement Plans
Completed Program Improvement Plans
Program Performance Measures
Questions/Answers (Detailed Assessment)
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Ongoing Program Improvement Plans
Year Began Improvement Plan Status Comments
2006 Identifying and addressing the barriers to increasing the proportion of children adopted from the foster care system. Milestone: Distribute recruitment and retention training material "Road to Adoption and Foster Care" to Children's Bureau Regional Office staff.
Action taken, but not completed Milestone: Distribute recruitment and retention training material ??Road to Adoption and Foster Care?? to Children??s Bureau Regional Office staff. Milestone to be completed January 2009.
2006 Utilize newly developed efficiency measure to monitor and improve program efficiency and effectiveness. Milestone: Review an additional 10 states through CFSR in FY 2009.
Action taken, but not completed Milestone: Review an additional 10 states through CFSR in FY 2009. Milestone to be completed September 2009.
2006 Exploring programmatic or policy changes in order to set more ambitious adoption targets. Milestone: Distribute recruitment and retention training material "Road to Adoption and Foster Care" to Children's Bureau Regional Office staff.
Action taken, but not completed Milestone: Distribute recruitment and retention training material ??Road to Adoption and Foster Care?? to Children??s Bureau Regional Office staff. Milestone to be completed January 2009.
Completed Program Improvement Plans
Year Began Improvement Plan Status Comments
2006 Identifying and addressing the barriers to increasing the proportion of children adopted from the foster care system. Milestone: Convene a Permanency Dialogue involving State adoption foster care, and family preservation managers to discuss leading their agencies through system change to improve child welfare outcomes, particularly in the area of adoption and other forms of permanency.
Completed Milestone: Convene a Permanency Dialogue involving State adoption foster care, and family preservation managers to discuss leading their agencies through system change to improve child welfare outcomes, particularly in the area of adoption and other forms of permanency. Milestone to be completed October 2008.
2006 Developing an efficiency measure, which ties more closely to the program's goals.
Completed OMB approved the following efficiency measure in May 2006: "Maintain or decrease the average administrative claim per IV-E Adoption Assistance child."
2006 Utilize newly developed efficiency measure to monitor and improve program efficiency and effectiveness. Milestone: Encourage more timely adoptions, resulting in reduced adoption assistance administrative costs, by incorporating into the new Child and Family Service Review (CFSR) composite measures components addressing "Progress Toward Adoption of Children Who Are Legally Free for Adoption" and "Exits to Permanency for Children with TPR" (termination of parental rights), and begin using composites in second round of CFSRs.
Completed Milestone completed October 2006.
2006 Exploring programmatic or policy changes in order to set more ambitious adoption targets. Milestone: Report FY05 adoption numbers/rate and assess whether current adoption targets are appropriate.
Completed Milestone completed October 2006.
2006 Utilize newly developed efficiency measure to monitor and improve program efficiency and effectiveness. Milestone: Complete 2nd round of Child and Family Service Reviews (CFSR) in 14 states.
Completed Milestone completed September 2007.
2006 Exploring programmatic or policy changes in order to set more ambitious adoption targets. Milestone: Launch Spanish-language component of the national adoption PSA campaign to promote the adoption of children nine and older.
Completed Milestone completed December 2007.
2006 Utilize newly developed efficiency measure to monitor and improve program efficiency and effectiveness. Milestone: Review an additional 18 states through CFSR in FY 2008.
Completed Milestone: Review an additional 18 states through CFSR in FY 2008. Milestone to be completed September 2008.
2006 Exploring programmatic or policy changes in order to set more ambitious adoption targets. Milestone: Convene a Permanency Dialogue involving State adoption foster care, and family preservation managers to discuss leading their agencies through system change to improve child welfare outcomes, particularly in the area of adoption and other forms of permanency.
Completed Milestone: Convene a Permanency Dialogue involving State adoption foster care, and family preservation managers to discuss leading their agencies through system change to improve child welfare outcomes, particularly in the area of adoption and other forms of permanency. Milestone to be completed October 2008.
Program Performance Measures
Term Type
Long-term/Annual Outcome Measure: Increase the adoption rate.
Explanation:The program will replace the absolute adoption measure with an adoption rate measure. Adoption rate is defined as the number of adoptions divided by the number of children in foster care at the end of the prior year. Updated 11/7/05. Language of measure changed from "Increase adoption rate to 10% by FY 2008" to "Increase adoption rate from 9.4% in FY 2003 to 10% by FY 2008." based on the FY07 budget submission. This measure is currently under appeal with OMB; a decision is pending. Also, years were out of order on PARTWeb, revised years and data to be in chronological order.
Year Target Actual
2003 58,500 9.67% (50,000)
2004 53,0005 10.22% (52,000)
2005 Baseline 10.26% (52,000)
2006 9.85% 9.91%
2007 9.90% 10.00%
2008 10.00% Oct-09
2009 10.10% Oct-10
2010 10.20% Oct-11
2011
2012
2013 10.50% Oct-14
Long-term/Annual Outcome Measure: Decrease the gap between the percentage of children nine and older waiting to be adopted and those actually adopted by 15 percentage points between FY 2006 and FY 2015.
Explanation:In FY 2003, the gap between the percentage of children nine and older waiting to be adopted and those actually adopted was 17 percentage points. An incentive to address this issue was added to the legislation as of the FY 2003 earning year. This measure will assess whether or not this new incentive is achieving its purpose. Updated 11/7/05. Years out of order on PARTWeb, revised years and data to be in chronological order. Data for FY 2006 will be available in October 2007. There are no results to report at this time.
Year Target Actual
2005 Baseline 15.7%
2006 16.7% 16.4%
2007 15.2% 16.8%
2008 13.7% Oct-09
2009 12.2% Oct-10
2010 10.7% Oct-11
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015 1.4% Oct-16
Annual Efficiency Measure: Maintain or decrease the average administrative claim per IV-E Adoption Assistance child.
Explanation:This efficiency measure sets annual targets to demonstrate improved efficiency through a gradual reduction in the average administrative claim per IV-E Adoption Assistance child. This is calculated by total computable claims submitted by states on the IV-E-1 for administrative costs divided by the average monthly number of children receiving Adoption Assistance maintenance payments.
Year Target Actual
2001 Pre-baseline $1,951
2002 Pre-baseline $1,833
2003 Pre-baseline $1,678
2004 Baseline $1,627
2005 $1,598 $1,560
2006 $1,566 $1,674
2007 $1,535 $1,777
2008 $1,504 Oct-09
2009 -2% under prev actl Oct-10
2010 -2% under prev actl Oct-11
Questions/Answers (Detailed Assessment)
Section 1 - Program Purpose & Design
Number Question Answer Score
1.1 Is the program purpose clear?
Explanation: The purpose of the Adoption Incentives Program is to encourage states to find permanent homes for children in the public foster care system through adoptions. The program provides financial incentives to states that increase the number of adoptions over the baselines in the following categories: 1) adoptions from the public foster care system ($4,000 per child), 2) adoptions of children with special needs under age nine ($2,000 per child), and 3) adoptions of older children, ages nine and older ($4,000 per child). While the number of adoptions in each of the three categories in FY 2002 served as the original baseline, the baseline has adjusted to reflect increases in the number of adoptions over the years.
Evidence: Social Security Act. Section 473A: Adoption Incentive Payment.
YES 20%
1.2 Does the program address a specific and existing problem, interest, or need?
Explanation: The program addresses the problem of "foster care drift," which describes children lingering in foster care without ever achieving permanency. According to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) the average length of stay in foster care was 22 months in FY 2003. Between FY 1998 and FY 2003, the proportion of children ages 9 and older waiting to be adopted increased from 39% to 49% while the proportion of children ages 9 and older who were adopted remained less than one third. Also, the average age of children waiting to be adopted increased from 7.8 to 8.7, and close to 8% of all children were emancipated from care and did not achieve permanency.
Evidence: Analysis of data available as of August 2004 from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
YES 20%
1.3 Is the program designed so that it is not redundant or duplicative of any other Federal, state, local or private effort?
Explanation: This is the only Federal program that rewards adoptions with a bonus payment. The adoption incentives payments may be used toward allowable activities as defined in Title IV-E and IV-B of the Social Security Act, including the following: 1) recruiting adoptive families; 2) conducting home studies for foster care and adoptive families; 3) providing post-adoption services: and 4) promoting reunification through such services as mental health, parent training, and drug treatment. No such program exists with the adoption bonus design to incentivize more difficult adoptions at the state and local governments nor private and non-profit sectors,
Evidence: Social Security Act. Title IV-B: Child and Family Services and Title IV-E: Federal Payments for Foster Care and Adoption Assistance.
YES 20%
1.4 Is the program design free of major flaws that would limit the program's effectiveness or efficiency?
Explanation: There is no evidence that another approach or mechanism would be more efficient or effective to achieve the intended purpose. The adoption bonus payments serve as a strong incentive for states in encouraging adoptions and supp
Evidence: Social Security Act. Section 473A: Adoption Incentive Payment.
YES 20%
1.5 Is the program design effectively targeted so that resources will address the program's purpose directly and will reach intended beneficiaries?
Explanation: States are required to reinvest the adoption incentives bonus in the child welfare program for any services and activities allowable under title IV-B and title IV-E of the Social Security Act. The Annual Program and Services Report (APSR) requires states to identify how the incentive funds were spent. State primarily use the funds for activities related to recruiting adoptive parents, providing staff training on adoption related issues, and providing post-adoption services.
Evidence: PI 05-04. Annual Program and Services Report (APSR).
YES 20%
Section 1 - Program Purpose & Design Score 100%
Section 2 - Strategic Planning
Number Question Answer Score
2.1 Does the program have a limited number of specific long-term performance measures that focus on outcomes and meaningfully reflect the purpose of the program?
Explanation: The program has a clear purpose to increase the number of adoption, with a particular emphasis on older children (ages 9 and older) and children with special needs. Currently, the program has a long term goal of finalizing 327,000 adoptions between FY 2003 and FY 2008, as published in the FY 2005 Annual Performance Plan. The program proposes to replace the current measure with the following adoption rate measure: Number of adoptions divided by the number of children in foster care at the end of the prior year. The program also proposes a new measure for decreasing the gap between the percentage of children nine and older waiting to be adopted and those actually adopted by 15 percentage points between FY 2006 and FY 2015, which meaningfully support the program's purpose. Finally, the program does not propose a measure for special needs children under age nine, because they are already adopted at a higher proportion than they appear in the waiting population.
Evidence: Final FY 2005 Annual Performance Plan, Final Revised FY 2004 Performance Plan, and FY 2003 Annual Performance Report.
YES 12%
2.2 Does the program have ambitious targets and timeframes for its long-term measures?
Explanation: A decrease in the adoption gap of older children by 15% in FY 2015 is an ambitious long-term target. However, the proposed long-term targets for the adoption rate measures are not sufficiently ambitious because the minimal incremental increases will result in a decrease in the actual annual number of adoptions. The proposed revised targets also fall significantly short of the original published adoption targets.
Evidence: See measures tab.
NO 0%
2.3 Does the program have a limited number of specific annual performance measures that can demonstrate progress toward achieving the program's long-term goals?
Explanation: The long term measures also serve as the program's annual measure, which assesses incremental gains made in achieving the long term goal.
Evidence: See measures tab.
YES 12%
2.4 Does the program have baselines and ambitious targets for its annual measures?
Explanation: The annual targets for the adoption rate measure are not sufficiently ambitious, because the actual number of annual adoptions would decrease from FY 2003 to FY 2008. The measure for decreasing the adoption gap for children ages 9 and older has a FY 2006 target of 16.7% whereas the FY 2003 actual gap was 16.9%. This is not ambitious since the FY 2006 target would essentially maintain the FY 2003 level for four years from FY 2003 to FY 2006.
Evidence: See measures tab.
NO 0%
2.5 Do all partners (including grantees, sub-grantees, contractors, cost-sharing partners, and other government partners) commit to and work toward the annual and/or long-term goals of the program?
Explanation: The program's bonus design ensures that partners work toward the common goal of increasing adoptions, especially adoptions of children for whom it is difficult to find a placement. State partners support the overall goal of the program, as evidenced by their participation in the Children Bureau's AdoptusKids project, which promotes the adoption of children waiting to be adopted and emphasizes adoptions of older children. State activities include the following: 1) listing children available for adoption on www.AdoptusKids.org; 2) establishing a recruitment response team, which responds to families inquiring about adoptions; 3) participation in technical assistance on issues such as working with the faith-based communities for effective recruitment strategies. Also, state partners measure and report performance information by submitting adoption data on a bi-annual basis through the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
Evidence: 1) Social Security Act. Section 473A: Adoption Incentive Payment.
YES 12%
2.6 Are independent evaluations of sufficient scope and quality conducted on a regular basis or as needed to support program improvements and evaluate effectiveness and relevance to the problem, interest, or need?
Explanation: There are no independent evaluations of the Adoption Incentives Program. However, the Adoption Incentive Program supports program improvement since states earn bonus money based on increasingly better performance.
Evidence: No independent evaluations exist.
NO 0%
2.7 Are Budget requests explicitly tied to accomplishment of the annual and long-term performance goals, and are the resource needs presented in a complete and transparent manner in the program's budget?
Explanation: ACF includes the budget request for Adoption Incentives in the annual Congressional Justification (CJ.) ACF submitted a fully integrated performance budget for the FY 2006 budget request (Performance Budget) with program performance summary information and results along with the core budget request information and budget tables. The budget request includes a crosswalk table with a presentation of performance summary information. The FY 2006 budget projection of $31,846,000, is the same as the FY 2005 enacted budget and enables the program to cover the incentives it gives to states during the fiscal year. These incentives, in turn, help realize the long-term performance measure of increasing the number of adoptions, as expected by the performance
Evidence: FY 2006 Administration for Children and Families Budget Justification.
YES 12%
2.8 Has the program taken meaningful steps to correct its strategic planning deficiencies?
Explanation: The Adoption Incentives Program is a data-driven program. In FY 2003, analyses of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data resulted in significant amendments to the program during re-authorization. One significant change was the provision of a new incentive for the adoption of older children. Also, states had substantially increased the number of adoptions during the early years of the program so that it became increasingly difficult to exceed the baseline. For example, only 26 states earned a total of $15 million in FY 2002 versus the program's all time high of 44 states earning $51 million in FY 1999. The baselines have been reset in all categories of adoption incentives to correspond to the number of adoptions finalized in FY 2002.
Evidence: 1) Adoption Promotion Act of 2003. P.L. 108--145.
YES 12%
Section 2 - Strategic Planning Score 62%
Section 3 - Program Management
Number Question Answer Score
3.1 Does the agency regularly collect timely and credible performance information, including information from key program partners, and use it to manage the program and improve performance?
Explanation: The program collects Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data from states on a semi-annual basis. The program analyzes the data to determine trends in adoption, as well as monitor state's progress in meeting the old long-term goal of finalizing 327,000 adoptions between FY 2003 and FY 2008. In fact, upon developing acceptable performance measures, the program will use AFCARS data to collect baseline data. Also, analysis of AFCARS data led to adjustment of program priorities and informed the program's reauthorization. This included a new incentive for adoptions of older children and re-setting the baseline for determining incentive payments.
Evidence: 1) Adoption Promotion Act of 2003. P.L. 108-145. < thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:HR03182:|TOM:/bss/d108query.html>; 2) Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
YES 11%
3.2 Are Federal managers and program partners (including grantees, sub-grantees, contractors, cost-sharing partners, and other government partners) held accountable for cost, schedule and performance results?
Explanation: Federal managers of the Adoption Incentives program are held accountable for achieving results, as evidenced by the individual performance plans where satisfactory ratings are dependent on the program achieving the adoption targets. The performance plans also contain performance goals for conducting quality data assessment and analyses, and accurate calculation of adoption bonus payments. In addition, states must submit Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data in the required format and within the specified time frame to be eligible to earn bonuses. Throughout the year, the program updates states with reports of where they stand with the number of overall adoptions, adoptions of older children, and adoptions of children with special needs. States are held accountable, as the adoption data are made available in the Annual Child Welfare Outcomes Report to Congress. Also, the program holds states accountable through the on-site Child and Family Services Review and develops Program Improvement Plans for states where areas of deficiencies have been identified.
Evidence: 1) The ACF Assistant Secretary's performance contract; 2) Child Welfare Outcomes 2001 - Annual Report.
YES 11%
3.3 Are funds (Federal and partners') obligated in a timely manner and spent for the intended purpose?
Explanation: Each year, adoption incentives funds are awarded prior to the end of the fiscal year. Upon receipt, states have up to two years to expend the funds and are required to submit Form 269, a financial status report, which shows the states' actual disbursements of funds. The first report is due to the ACF regional office 30 days after the end of the twelve-month budget period and the final report is due 90 days after the end of the fiscal year following the award year. Finally, states must spend the bonus for activities as defined in Title IV-E and IV-B of the Social Security Act and report this in the Annual Program and Services Report (APSR). To date, states have most commonly spent the incentives payments for activities pertaining to the recruitment of adoptive parents, staff training on adoption related issues, and post-adoption services.
Evidence: 1) HHS ACF Program Instruction. Procedures for the Implementation of the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-145). Log # ACYF-CB-PL-04-03. Issued on March 23, 2004; 2) Financial status Report. Standard Form # 269; 3) Annual Program and Services Report (APSR).
YES 11%
3.4 Does the program have procedures (e.g. competitive sourcing/cost comparisons, IT improvements, appropriate incentives) to measure and achieve efficiencies and cost effectiveness in program execution?
Explanation: The program has a developmental efficiency measure for decreasing the subsequent submittals, or corrections of Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) adoption data. States must submit AFCARS data by May 15 of the year following the earnings year. When states find errors in their data or fail to submit all of the adoptions that occurred during the earning year, they re-submit the data as subsequent submittals. This measure is weak, because it is process-oriented instead of outcome-oriented. Further, the efficiency measure does not tie to the program's goals of increasing adoptions and decreasing the adoption gap in older children. In other words, a decrease in subsequent submittals will not result in increased adoptions. Also, while the program may not have regular procedures such as competitive sourcing and IT consolidations, the program's design allows for efficiency. This is evidenced by less than 1 FTE dedicated to analyzing and making adoption incentives payments.
Evidence: The proposed efficiency measure is as follows: From FY 2006 to FY 2009, the annual number of subsequent submittals of AFCARS adoption data for inclusion in calculations for the Adoption Incentives Program will decline to 16.
NO 0%
3.5 Does the program collaborate and coordinate effectively with related programs?
Explanation: All Federal adoption programs work together and each has a specific role in achieving the overarching goal of moving children to permanency through adoption. For example, the Adoption Opportunities program develops and tests innovative approaches to removing barriers to adoption. This includes demonstration projects for recruiting families for children awaiting adoption and recruitment strategies for adopting older children. On the other hand, Adoption Assistance provides one time and on-going financial assistance to families who adopt children from the foster care system. This program assures that adequate resources will be available to maintain the adopted child in the adoptive family, thereby removing the financial barriers to adoption. States are able to move children to successful adoptions by employing the innovative strategies developed by the Adoption Opportunities Program and by supporting families through the Adoption Assistance Program. Such innovations are disseminated through technical assistance resource centers, information clearinghouses, and AdoptUsKids. States who employ these innovations and result in increased adoptions, are awarded with the adoption incentives bonus. Also, the Children's Bureau management staff meet on a regular basis to ensure systematic coordination of the adoption activities and meetings are held several times a year with relevant grantees and contractors to facilitate the coordination. Finally, the actual number of adoptions is evidence of the results achieved by this collaboration.
Evidence: HHS ACF Children's Bureau. Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act as Amended by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act of 2003.
YES 11%
3.6 Does the program use strong financial management practices?
Explanation: The program has financial management practices in place, as evidenced by the following: states that submit the financial status report, form #269, on an annual basis; a desk review of states' expenditures documents; and an on-site review by a regional financial management specialist. However, the program lacks evidence to certify that it has minimal erroneous payments, and did not have examples to demonstrated how it integrates financial and performance systems to support day-to-day operations. The program also pointed to a CFO audit where material weaknesses were identified for the Program Support Center, which provides services to the Adoption Incentives Program. The weakness was related to grant advance reporting, reconciliation and analysis, which has since been downgraded to a reportable condition.
Evidence: Financial status Report. Standard Form # 269
NO 0%
3.7 Has the program taken meaningful steps to address its management deficiencies?
Explanation: The Adoption Incentives Program is heavily data driven, with bonuses determined solely from the AFCARS data that states submit electronically. The program identifies data quality-related issues as a key management challenge. For example, there are states that miss the May 15 deadline for submitting finalized adoptions, because they await the court documents for adoptions that actually occurred prior to May 15. Hence, states under-report the number of finalized adoption and do not receive the true bonus payments on a timely basis. While this may be out of the program's control, the program works to ensure high data quality by conducting a quality review to identify data inconsistencies, anomalies, and other issues upon receiving the initial state submissions. This includes detecting submission of duplicate adoptions with a de-duplication software and the state's finalized adoptions are adjusted downward. The program notifies states of the results of the data quality review and the Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology provides technical assistance in correcting data deficiencies.
Evidence: 1) Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).
YES 11%
3.BF1 Does the program have oversight practices that provide sufficient knowledge of grantee activities?
Explanation: The program oversees the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) data system and the states' submission of the data. Data submitted by states are evaluated for duplication, inconsistencies, anomalies, completeness, and other quality issues. The program also provides oversight by collecting and analyzing Form #269 for states' disbursement of bonus funds and the Annual Progress and Services Report (APSR) for states' use of the funds. Also, the ACF regional office conducts site visits and on-site reviews of case level data from the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS).
Evidence: 1) HHS ACF Program Instruction. Procedures for the Implementation of the Adoption Promotion Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-145). Log # ACYF-CB-PL-04-03. Issued on March 23, 2004.; 2) Financial status Report. Standard Form # 269; 3) Annual Program and Services Report (APSR). CITE LINK.; 4) Information on Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) reviews.
YES 11%
3.BF2 Does the program collect grantee performance data on an annual basis and make it available to the public in a transparent and meaningful manner?
Explanation: The Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) is the only data system that can be used to calculate bonuses. The AFCARS data, collected semi-annually, is used to determine bonuses to states. The program notifies states of bonus awards and HHS also makes a public announcement in a press release. As for the AFCARS data and report, they are disseminated through the Child Welfare Outcomes Report and are posted on the ACF website. AFCARS data is made available to the public at national child welfare conferences, and Cornell University's National Data Archives on Child Abuse and Neglect.
Evidence: 1) HHS Press Release. "HHS Awards $17,896,000 in Adoption Bonuses." Released October 14, 2004.
YES 11%
Section 3 - Program Management Score 78%
Section 4 - Program Results/Accountability
Number Question Answer Score
4.1 Has the program demonstrated adequate progress in achieving its long-term performance goals?
Explanation: The adoption rate measure is another way of measuring the number of successful adoptions, in a ratio form. Hence, program can demonstrate progress by examining the absolute number of adoptions. The program's original long-term goal, as published in the FY 2006 HHS Annual Plan, was to complete 327,000 adoptions between FY 2003 and FY 2008. However, the program proposes to revise this measure to 292,000 adoptions. While the proposed revised target is less ambitious than the original published long-term target, the program can demonstrate some progress made in achieving long-term goals by completing about 50,000 adoptions in FY 2003.
Evidence: See measures tab.
SMALL EXTENT 8%
4.2 Does the program (including program partners) achieve its annual performance goals?
Explanation: The program's original FY 2003 adoption target, as published in the FY 2006 HHS Annual Plan, was 58,500. However, the program proposes to revise the target to 50,000, which the program achieved based on preliminary FY 2003 adoption data. While the program can demonstrate progress made in its annual target, it met the less ambitious revised annual goal and did not meet the original ambitious goal.
Evidence: See measures tab.
SMALL EXTENT 8%
4.3 Does the program demonstrate improved efficiencies or cost effectiveness in achieving program goals each year?
Explanation: The program has a developmental efficiency measure and at this time, it is not possible to assess improved efficiencies or cost effectiveness.
Evidence: The proposed efficiency measure is as follows: From FY 2006 to FY 2009, the annual number of subsequent submittals of AFCARS adoption data for inclusion in calculations for the Adoption Incentives Program will decline to 16.
NO 0%
4.4 Does the performance of this program compare favorably to other programs, including government, private, etc., with similar purpose and goals?
Explanation: There are no comparable federal, state, local government, or private sector programs, which provide bonuses for successful adoptions.
Evidence: Social Security Act. Section 473A: Adoption Incentives.
NA 0%
4.5 Do independent evaluations of sufficient scope and quality indicate that the program is effective and achieving results?
Explanation: There are no independent evaluations of the Adoption Incentive Program. However, the Adoption Incentive Program supports program improvement since states earn bonus money based on increasingly better performance.
Evidence: No independent evaluations exist.
NO 0%
Section 4 - Program Results/Accountability Score 16%
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View this program’s assessment summary.
Visit ExpectMore.gov to learn more about program assessment and improvement by the Federal Government.
Learn more about detailed assessments.
Last updated: 01092009.2005FALL
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/detail/10003500.2005.html
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