Description

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Kansas Strong Adoption Tracking Tool (ATT) through surveys, focus groups and interviews with agency and court personnel from 6 pilot counties. ATT is a case-tracking tool for agency workers and court/legal personnel newly designed to document the adoption process and support communication across agency and court personnel. Data were collected from surveys and focus groups to evaluate implementation in 6 pilot counties. Individuals across sectors responded favorably to the ATT, but differences in local court procedures, court delays due to COVID-19, and differential exposure to the ATT in practice impacted implementation.

The ATT was developed in collaboration with court and child welfare agency leaders to:

• Clarify and streamline procedures
• Improve communication between caseworkers and courts
• Expand efforts to identify barriers to timely adoption
• Increase collaborative accountability
• This study evaluates the effectiveness of the ATT in meeting these goals through surveys, focus 

Suggested Citation

Brown, A., Alford, D., Byers, K., & Akin, B. A. (2022, January). The Adoption Tracking Tool: Creating Structures to Improve Cross-Sector Collaboration. 26th Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, Social Work Science for Racial, Social, and Political Justice, Washington, DC. (Refereed).