Efforts-to-Outcome (ETO) FAQs
Administrative Costs
Administrative costs are defined as costs incurred for common or joint objectives that cannot be identified specifically with a particular project, program, or organizational activity. Depreciation, software, and office equipment are examples of administrative costs. Allowable costs that would not have been incurred had it not been for the programs are direct program costs not administrative (e.g. program personnel, training, supplies, and travel).
- No more than ten (10) percent of CAPIT funds may be used for administrative costs
- No more than ten (10) percent of CBCAP funds may be used for administrative costs
- Counties shall use no more than 5 percent of the amounts in the county children's trust fund for administrative costs.
CAPIT
The realignment of state funds to counties, including CAPIT, allow for more flexibility. With the passage of SB 1013 (Chapter 35, Statutes of 2012) in June of 2012, counties now have the ability to use CAPIT funds in-house and are no longer required to go through a competitive bid process for the selection and funding of services. Funds may also be used to contract with public or private, non-profit agencies. (Also see the “Program Requirements” section in this document.) For more info view the Child Abuse Prevention, Intervention and Treatment Program (CAPIT).
CAPIT funds are used to fulfill federal Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) grant matching and leveraging requirements. As such, these funds cannot be used as a non-federal match for other federal funds. For more info view the Child Abuse Prevention, Intervention and Treatment Program (CAPIT) .
For CAPIT funding, applicant agencies must demonstrate the existence of a ten (10) percent cash or in-kind match (other than funding provided by the CDSS), which will support the goals of child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention. For more info view the Child Abuse Prevention, Intervention and Treatment Program (CAPIT) .
CAPTA
The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is the key legislation used to address the issue of child abuse and neglect. CAPTA is known for providing federal funding to states in support of prevention, assessment, investigation, prosecution, and treatment. For more info view the Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect in Federal Law.
CBCAP
"A state must obligate these federal funds no later than three years after the end of the federal fiscal year in which the funds are allocated. This means that the FFY 2013 funds must be obligated by September 30, 2017. The Office of Administration (OA), Office of Grants Management (OGM), in cooperation with the Administration for Children, Youth & Families (ACYF), will review the state’s financial reports. If the state does not fully obligate or liquidate these funds as set forth in the Terms & Conditions that will accompany its award, all unobligated and/or unliquidated funds will be subject to being recouped.”
Counties and grantees are strongly encouraged to spend CBCAP funds during the allotted program year. In the event that there are monies unspent, it is the decision of the Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) that CBCAP funds may be rolled over according to the timeline established by the Administration for Children & Families. Funds must be spent within 3 years. However, counties and grantees shall notify the OCAP prior to end of current fiscal year of subject rollover. The OCAP shall notify Fiscal Bureau of intended county action upon receipt of notice.
CBCAP-funded activities are those designed to strengthen and support families to prevent child abuse and neglect. In general, these funds should be used to support primary prevention (a.k.a. universal) programs and strategies which are available to all families, as well as secondary (a.k.a. targeted) prevention efforts, which target children and families at risk for abuse or neglect. CBCAP funds are intended for use with children and families not involved in child welfare services.
Counties are not required to participate in the CBCAP Program. Counties who elect to participate in the CBCAP Program are required to meet the requirements set forth in the federal CBCAP guidelines, California Child and Family Services Review (C-CFSR) system and the OCAP annual reporting process. Counties are required to apply for funds annually. For more info view the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention Program (CBCAP) .
CCTF
Local commissions designated by the county boards of supervisors shall collect and publish the following data relevant to local children's trust funds (CCTF):
- Descriptions of types of programs and services funded by local children's trust funds and the target population benefiting from these programs.
- The amount in the CCTF as of June 30 each year, as well as the amount disbursed the preceding year.
According to the statute, counties receiving less than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) per year in their county Children’s Trust Fund (CCTF) from birth certificate fees must use the amount of CBCAP funds necessary to bring the trust fund balance up to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000). CBCAP funds deposited into the CCTF must adhere to CBCAP requirements. For more info view Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention Program (CBCAP).
Money in the children's trust fund of each county shall be used to fund child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention programs operated by private nonprofit organizations or public institutions of higher education with recognized expertise in fields related to child welfare. For more info view Welfare and Institutions Code Section 18965-18971.
What if I want to make changes to the OCAP expenditure plan?
Changes to Expenditure Plan for CAPIT, CBCAP or PSSF funds must be pre-approved by OCAP. Contact your County Consultant.
What is prevention?
Prevention is a pro-active process of helping individuals, families and communities to develop the resources needed to develop and maintain healthy lifestyles so that child abuse and neglect does not occur. Prevention focuses upon the development of innovative programs and carefully planned interventions that are implemented before the onset of physical, psychological, emotional or social problems. Prevention is broad based in the sense that it is intended to alleviate a wide range of at-risk behaviors and causal factors.
How do I evaluate prevention activities?
Evaluating the outcomes of prevention and family support programs is critical for program growth and improvement. Programs need to provide convincing evidence that their work makes important differences for the children, families, and communities they serve. The FRIENDS National Resource Center for CBCAP has developed resources to assist family support and child abuse prevention programs conduct meaningful evaluations of their services. For more info see the Evaluation Tool .
What is program evaluation?
Program evaluation is the systematic process of studying a program (or practice, intervention, or initiative) to discover how well it is working to achieve intended goals. For more info view the Evidence-Based Program Evaluation .
What is a Logic Model?
The Logic Model provides an effective method for charting progress from initial and short-term outcomes toward intermediate and long-term outcomes. A Logic Model focuses on identifying the logical links between the outcomes you desire, your program assumptions or theories, and your program strategies or services. As you work through each step, you will build a road map showing how your program works. The logic model will help you get started in planning an evaluation of your program. The Child Welfare Information Gateway Logic Model Builder helps programs identify anticipated outcomes, indicators of success, and evaluation instruments that may be appropriate to measure success. For more info view the Logic Model Builders toolkit .
What is “unmet need?”
In the context of a Needs Assessment, the words “problem,” “situation,” “opportunity” or “need” are often used interchangeably. Avoid citing the lack of a method or service as the need or the problem. Needs are supported by evidence drawn from your experience, from statistics provided by authoritative sources and/or from the testimony of persons and organizations (e.g. stakeholders, experts) known to be knowledgeable about the situation. Use these sources to identity the problem you will address, then select the strategy or solution best suited to address that problem.
A simplified example, “the problem is high number daytime crime by juveniles.” Then, your objective might be “to establish a youth center” and your outcome could be a “80% decrease in daytime crime by juveniles after the youth center opened.”
Avoid statements such as, “the need in this community is for a youth center.” This leads to circular reasoning: the need is a youth center; the objective is to create a youth center; the plan is to build a youth center; and the outcome is that we now have a youth center. Nowhere in this discussion are youth mentioned as the most important part of your plan.
What is an output?
Outputs are the direct products of program activities (e.g. number served, number of classes, number of sessions, etc.)
What is an outcome?
An outcome is a change that is likely to take place as a result of the target population’s participation in your program. There are 3 types of outcomes: short-term (changes in skills or knowledge that you expect, usually occur within 1-3 years); intermediate (changes in skills & behaviors that you want); long-term (changes in status and conditions that you hope for). For more info view the Details for what is an outcome?
That is Continuous Quality Improvement?
Continuous Quality Improvement is a process to ensure programs are systematically and intentionally improving services and increasing positive outcomes for the families they serve. CQI is a cyclical, data-driven process; it is proactive, not reactive. A CQI environment is one in which data is collected and used to makes positive changes—even when things are going well—rather than waiting for something to go wrong and then fixing it. CQI is an ongoing process that involves the Plan, Do, Study, Act cycle. For more info view Continuous Quality Improvement.
What is a cost-benefit analysis?
Cost-benefit analysis may be viewed as a way to calculate society's "return on investment" from an activity or program. These analyses attempt to calculate the actual costs of delivering services and the monetary value of improving particular outcomes for children and families, and to measure whether the benefits exceed the costs. Measuring return on investment in combination with program evaluation that measures change at client, community or systems level can be powerful information that you can convert to sound bites to garner support for your investments and long-term sustainability of worthy programs. For more info view Cost-Benefit Analysis.
What is an evidence-based or evidence-informed program?
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines "evidence-based practice" as a combination of the following three factors: (1) best research evidence, (2) best clinical experience, and (3) consistent with patient values (IOM, 2001). These three factors are also relevant for child welfare.
Where can I learn about evidence-based programs?
There are a number of program registries that rate program effectiveness. The California Evidence-based Clearinghouse is a nationally recognized source. Other sources: Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention , SAMHSA National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices
What is a Child Abuse Prevention Council?
A child abuse prevention coordinating council is a community council whose primary purpose is to coordinate the community's efforts to prevent and respond to child abuse. For more info view the Welfare and Institutions Code Section 18982-18982.4
What is a Family Resource Center?
Family resource centers are one of several community approaches in California focused on improving the well-being of children, youth, families and communities. Family resource centers, like many community building strategies, share the key principles of family support, resident involvement, public/private partnership, community building and shared accountability. For more info view the Family Resource Centers.
What is the Strengthening Families Framework?
Strengthening Families is a research-based, cost-effective strategy to increase family strengths, enhance child development and reduce child abuse and neglect. It focuses on building the Five Protective Factors that promote healthy outcomes: 1) parental resilience; 2) social connections; 3) knowledge of parenting and child development; 4) concrete support in times of need; and 5) social and emotional competence of children. For more info view the The Strengthening Families Approach.
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Elizabeth Johnson
elizabeth.johnson@dss.ca.gov
(916) 651-8045
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Freny Dessai
freny.dessai@dss.ca.gov
(916) 653-1148
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Jagdish Kaur Maiju
Jagdish.Majju@dss.ca.gov
(916) 651-6952
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Rachael Fritts
rachael.fritts@dss.ca.gov
(916) 651-6711
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LaFatima Jones
lafatima.jones@dss.ca.gov
(916) 651-6796
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