Performance evaluation of child welfare departments using Data Envelopment Analysis: A comparative study across US states

IF 6.2 2区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Socio-economic Planning Sciences Pub Date : 2024-11-05 DOI:10.1016/j.seps.2024.102101

Sepideh Sedghi , Shima Azizi , Katherine Canada , Vincent Charles , Andrew C. Trapp

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Public child welfare agencies play a pivotal role in safeguarding the well-being of children and thus, the future of our society. While the performance of child welfare agencies is of critical importance, limited previous research relying on operations research and advanced analytics appears to exist in the analysis of their performance. We conduct a multi-criteria analysis for benchmarking the performance of the United States child welfare system, using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to evaluate the performance of public child welfare agencies across different US states. We select as outputs various statewide data indicators from the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR), while our inputs include the total annual expenditure by each state on the child welfare system. We use clustering to differentiate agencies based on the presence of the “Alternative Response” policy, which provides for preventive and support options for families, and apply DEA to each homogeneous cluster. We identify best-practice agencies and provide benchmarks for the remaining agencies to enhance their performance. Our study offers data-driven directions for child welfare agencies to improve safety and permanency outcomes for children.

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利用数据包络分析法对儿童福利部门进行绩效评估：美国各州比较研究

公共儿童福利机构在保障儿童福祉、进而保障社会未来方面发挥着举足轻重的作用。虽然儿童福利机构的绩效至关重要，但以往依靠运筹学和高级分析技术对其绩效进行分析的研究似乎十分有限。我们使用数据包络分析法（DEA）对美国各州的公共儿童福利机构的绩效进行了评估，从而对美国儿童福利系统的绩效基准进行了多标准分析。我们从《儿童与家庭服务回顾》（CFSR）中选取各种全州数据指标作为输出，而输入则包括各州每年用于儿童福利系统的总支出。我们采用聚类的方法，根据是否存在 "替代性回应 "政策（该政策为家庭提供预防和支持选择）来区分机构，并对每个同质聚类应用 DEA。我们确定了最佳实践机构，并为其余机构提供了提高绩效的基准。我们的研究为儿童福利机构提供了数据驱动的方向，以改善儿童的安全和永久性结果。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Socio-economic Planning Sciences OPERATIONS RESEARCH & MANAGEMENT SCIENCE-

CiteScore

9.40

自引率

13.10%

发文量

294

审稿时长

58 days

期刊介绍： Studies directed toward the more effective utilization of existing resources, e.g. mathematical programming models of health care delivery systems with relevance to more effective program design; systems analysis of fire outbreaks and its relevance to the location of fire stations; statistical analysis of the efficiency of a developing country economy or industry. Studies relating to the interaction of various segments of society and technology, e.g. the effects of government health policies on the utilization and design of hospital facilities; the relationship between housing density and the demands on public transportation or other service facilities: patterns and implications of urban development and air or water pollution. Studies devoted to the anticipations of and response to future needs for social, health and other human services, e.g. the relationship between industrial growth and the development of educational resources in affected areas; investigation of future demands for material and child health resources in a developing country; design of effective recycling in an urban setting.