Performance Strengthens the Safety Net

We ensure that District child welfare makes a positive difference to children and families, by providing internal and external evaluation and measurements to regularly test the strength and effectiveness of the safety net.

CFSA Strategic Agenda

The Four Pillars is CFSA's self-determined strategic agenda for significantly improving outcomes for children, youth, and families at every step in their involvement with District child welfare. The Four Pillars Scorecard is CFSA's quarterly report to the community regarding progress in achieving eight key outcomes.

Court-ordered Benchmarks

The District continues to work to shed court oversight of child welfare under the lawsuit originally filed as LaShawn A. v. Barry in 1989. For the first time, the Implementation and Exit Plan that U.S. District Court issued in December 2010, includes clear sustainability and exit provisions.

• The Court-appointed Monitor issues a report about CFSA performance against benchmarks in the Implementation and Exit Plan every six months.
• CFSA's LaShawn infographic provides a quick overview of the court-ordered requirements and visually summarizes the Court Monitor's most recent findings.
• Annual Public Report

Each year, CFSA evaluates and reports on how well local child welfare is doing in meeting requirements of the District's Adoption and Safe Families Act.

Preliminarily Approved Settlement Agreement

In August 2020, parties of the LaShawn v. Bowser lawsuit came together to reach a settlement agreement to end court oversight in June 2021. The agreement clearly outlines commitments and measures that CFSA must achieve to exit the lawsuit. U.S. District Court issued an order preliminarily approving the settlement agreement, approving the notice plan, and scheduling a fairness hearing for June 2021.