Information system design in foster care

Abstract

John Poertner, DSW, is Assistant Pro fessor, Lincoln College, Lincoln, Illi nois. Charles A. Rapp, MSW, is Research Associate, School of Social Work, University of Illinois, Urbana. The authors are listed alphabetically. The project on which this article is based was made possible through a Title XX training grant. The authors express their appreciation to Jesse Viers and Joan Kelly for their leader ship in mounting the project and to Merlin Taber and Richard Bolan for their assistance in the conceptualiza tion of this article. In 1959 Maas and Engler found that have this information enhance organi more than half the children they studzational control. Information systems ied seemed likely to live a major part have not helped social service person of their childhood in foster families nel make decisions that enhance the and institutions.1 Nearly twenty years achievement of goals. Sophisticated later, Fanshel and Shinn found that computer hardware, prepackaged com after five years 40 percent of the chilputer software, and experts in man dren they studied were still in longagement information systems have term foster care.2 The phenomenon of become ubiquitous, and this new tech children in unplanned, long-term fosnology has been heralded as the savior ter care is contrary to the accepted of large bureaucracies. Any manager notion of foster care as a short-term who wants to can have a desk or a service. This phenomenon has been closet full of computer printouts. How termed the of children into ever, these printouts never seem to long-term care, and it is well docucontain the information that managers mented in the literature on child welneed to make important day-to-day fare.3 In Illinois, over half the children decisions. in foster homes have been in care more It is widely recognized that the cul than two years. This is approximately prits concerning the unfulfilled promise 4,700 children, 42 percent of whom of management information systems are less than 12 years old and most are the traditional designs of these sys of whom have no serious handicap. tems.7 The traditional approach has re Several innovative attempts to relied on models from business or com duce the number of children in longputer science rather than on models term foster care have had positive outfrom child welfare or social service, comes. Emlen's Permanent Planning Designers have worked to the specifi Project, Stein and Gambrill's Alameda cations of a few top-level administra County Project, and the Child Welfare tors rather than to those of the broad League's Second Chance for Families range of personnel who become the all obtained positive results.4 Yet the users of the systems. It has also simply problem remains. Implementation of been assumed that administrators and successful innovations has been slow, managers need the information they The term implies that the want, rather than involving these indi system is aimlessly carrying the child viduals in determining and testing into long-term care; it is not a characdecision-related rules, teristic of the child that is causing the Managers have traditionally as need for long-term care. Several intersumed little or no role in the design ventions that emphasize correcting sysprocess. They dismiss information sys tems have been applied to the problem terns as inaccurate and therefore use of drift. Case management, case planless. They have been slow to recognize ning, and case review systems are exthat there is a relationship between the amples of such solutions. Fanshel validity of a system and the extent to highlighted the potential of computerwhich it is used. They also view infor ized management information systems mation systems as synonymous with to help reduce drift.5 When such syscomputers, failing to recognize that tems collect and maintain records on such systems are sets of methods for such activities as the caseworker's congathering, storing, and retrieving in tact with the parents and the parents' formation and for aiding in the control contact with the child, the computerof organizations, ized reports can be used to control The project described in this article these critical variables. However, as responded to the difficulties of design Fanshel and Grundy observe, !nS useful management information systems by using a mutual-learning ap it is one order of activity to collect data proach to develop a case review sys about thousands of children it is yet tem tha{ would redl]Ce the drift of another task to distill useful informa,, . . , ~ _ tion from this effort.* chlldren m ^Herm foster care. Mu tual learning refers to the sharing of It is still another order of activity to knowledge and experience by the users