--- name: child-welfare-policy-environment-scanner description: "Produces a structured scan of the federal and state child welfare policy environment — covering Family First Prevention Services Act, Title IV-E, CCWIS, and active legislative and regulatory developments — and translates each into implications for program strategy, funding eligibility, and advocacy priorities. Use when assessing how policy shifts affect a child welfare organization's programs, funding, or advocacy agenda, or when preparing strategic planning, board, or funder materials." argument-hint: "[org-type] [state]" allowed-tools: ["Read"] --- # Child Welfare Policy Environment Scanner ## Purpose Translate the complex, fast-moving federal and state child welfare policy landscape into a usable strategic brief — identifying which laws, funding streams, and regulatory developments actually affect the organization, and what each one means for program design, funding eligibility, and advocacy positioning. ## When to Use Invoke this skill when the user asks to: - Assess how Family First, Title IV-E, CCWIS, or other federal policy affects their programs - Prepare a policy environment section for a strategic plan or board retreat - Determine eligibility implications for a new or existing funding stream - Build or update an advocacy agenda for the upcoming legislative session - Brief a funder or board on the current child welfare policy landscape - Evaluate whether a program model aligns with reimbursable, evidence-based service categories ## Inputs Required Before starting, collect: - **Organization type**: Nonprofit provider / foundation / public child welfare agency / advocacy org / coalition - **State(s) of operation**: The primary state(s) whose policy environment matters - **Program areas**: Current or planned services (e.g., prevention, foster care, kinship, residential, post-permanency) - **Funding streams in use**: Current sources (Title IV-E, IV-B, FFPSA prevention claiming, state general funds, private philanthropy) - **Strategic question**: The decision this scan should inform (program expansion, funding shift, advocacy focus, etc.) - **Advocacy posture**: Whether the org actively lobbies, educates, or stays neutral - **Time horizon**: Planning window (e.g., next legislative session, next 1–3 years) If state-specific implementation details are missing, scan the federal framework fully and flag where state plan variation determines the answer. ## Instructions ### Step 1: Federal Framework Scan Map the core federal architecture and its current state, covering each relevant pillar: - **Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA)**: Prevention services claiming under IV-E (mental health, substance abuse, in-home parent skill-based programs), the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse evidence requirements, QRTP standards and assessment timelines, and the congregate care reimbursement limit. - **Title IV-E**: Foster care maintenance, adoption and guardianship assistance, eligibility "lookback" delinking status (note where states have benefited from delinking), and administrative/training claiming. - **Title IV-B**: Subparts 1 and 2, MaryLee Allen Promoting Safe and Stable Families, and Family Preservation funding flexibility. - **CCWIS (Comprehensive Child Welfare Information System)**: Build requirements, data exchange and quality standards, modular procurement expectations, and enhanced FFP availability/timeline. - **Adjacent levers**: Medicaid (EPSDT, behavioral health, TFC), Chafee/ETV for older youth, and ICWA compliance posture. For each pillar, state: what it is in one line, current status, and the one change most likely to matter in the planning window. ### Step 2: State Implementation Layer Identify how the named state(s) shape what the federal framework actually delivers: - **IV-E Prevention Plan status**: Approved / pending / not pursuing, and which service categories are claimable - **Congregate care / QRTP rollout**: Assessment infrastructure, available QRTP capacity, residential reimbursement posture - **CCWIS implementation stage**: Legacy SACWIS transition status, vendor/modular approach, data-sharing maturity - **State-specific funding mechanics**: How the state draws down federal match, maintenance-of-effort dynamics, and any state-funded supplements - Flag explicitly where a definitive answer requires reviewing the state's current IV-E plan or APSR. ### Step 3: Active Developments Watch Surface the moving pieces in the planning window: - **Federal**: Pending reauthorizations, regulatory/NPRM activity, Clearinghouse rating updates, appropriations risk - **State**: Legislative session priorities, budget cycle pressure points, agency rulemaking, consent decree or settlement obligations Label each item: **Confirmed** / **Proposed** / **Speculative**, with the trigger or date to watch. ### Step 4: Implications Synthesis For the organization specifically, translate the scan across three lenses: **Program Strategy Implications** - Which program models gain or lose alignment with reimbursable, evidence-rated service categories - Where capacity gaps (e.g., QRTP, evidence-based prevention) create opportunity or risk - Model-fidelity or evidence-tier requirements the org must meet **Funding Eligibility Implications** - Which streams the org can newly access, must protect, or risks losing - Evidence-rating, fidelity, or data requirements that gate claiming - Match/MOE and sustainability considerations **Advocacy Priority Implications** - 3–5 positions consistent with the org's posture, ranked by leverage and feasibility - The specific decision-maker, vehicle, and window for each - Where the org's program experience makes it a credible voice ### Step 5: Prioritized Action Set Deliver 6–8 ranked actions, each tagged **Program** / **Funding** / **Advocacy**, with owner-level effort (Low/Med/High) and the policy item it responds to. ## Output Format - **Structure**: Federal framework table → state implementation layer → active developments watch (labeled) → three-lens implications → ranked action set - **Length**: 1,100–1,500 words - **Format**: Structured brief — scannable tables for the framework scan and developments watch; bulleted implications; numbered ranked actions - **Sections**: Federal Framework Scan → State Implementation Layer → Active Developments Watch → Implications (Program / Funding / Advocacy) → Prioritized Action Set - **Tone**: Policy director briefing leadership — precise, sourced in statute and program reality, decisive about what matters and candid about what's uncertain ## Quality Checklist Before delivering output, verify: - [ ] FFPSA, Title IV-E, Title IV-B, and CCWIS are each addressed with current status — not just defined - [ ] State implementation layer explicitly flags where the answer depends on the state IV-E plan or APSR - [ ] Every active development is labeled Confirmed / Proposed / Speculative with a date or trigger - [ ] Implications are split across all three lenses (program, funding, advocacy) and tied to the org's stated strategic question - [ ] The action set is ranked (not a flat list) and each action is tagged Program / Funding / Advocacy - [ ] Advocacy priorities respect the org's stated posture (lobby / educate / neutral) ## Notes - The single most common strategic error is treating FFPSA prevention claiming as automatic — it is gated by the state's approved IV-E plan and by Clearinghouse evidence ratings; always check both before advising on funding eligibility. - Federal framework is national, but the decision-relevant detail almost always lives in state implementation — when state inputs are thin, deliver the framework fully and list the exact documents (current IV-E Prevention Plan, latest APSR, state budget) the user should pull. - Distinguish what is statutorily required from what is optional state flexibility; conflating the two produces advocacy asks aimed at the wrong decision-maker. - For foundations and coalitions, weight the advocacy lens more heavily; for direct providers, weight funding eligibility and program model fit. --- ## How to use this skill This file is a Claude Code skill in [Anthropic's standard format](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills) — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top. **Installing in Claude Code:** - `~/.claude/skills//SKILL.md` — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects) - `/.claude/skills//SKILL.md` — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills) Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register. **Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:** 1. 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