Overview

The County follows a state system created to improve outcomes for children in foster care and hold agencies responsible for the results. The California Child and Family Services Review System (C-CFSR) was modeled on a federal system.   

The C-CFSR System includes: 

  • A County Self-Assessment which includes a peer review 
  • A five-year System Improvement Plan (SIP)
  • Annual SIP Progress Reports 
  • Data Reports 

County Self Assessment (CSA) 

This is a review of the County’s foster care system and probation placement programs. The assessment is done every five years with help from community partners. It looks at how well practice, programs, and resources are doing while finding ways to improve. A peer review is done as part of the assessment, which provides information by looking at the practices and policies that impact outcomes for children and families. 

System Improvement Plan

The SIP is a guide of goals and strategies to improve safety, permanency, and the well-being of children. It’s the County’s commitment to improving the system of care for children and families, and it is also done every five years. The County gives the yearly SIP update to the state. The SIP shows what progress has been made and what needs to be done differently.  

Data Reports  

To measure the County’s progress, the state provides data reports. The data for these reports comes from the Child Welfare Services/Case Management System (CWS/CMS), which every county in the state uses. Counties are responsible for entering data into CWS/CMS as part of the foster care system process. Data entry from CWS/CMS from each county continues to be upgraded. 

Data can change between counties for different reasons, so comparing one county to another should be done with caution. Data on all 58 counties in California can be found on the University of California Berkeley Child Welfare Research Center. 

Page last updated August 17, 2026