OACCA - Outcomes Data Project (ODP)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Updated: 05/06/2009

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On the intake forms, the educational questions about achievement scores refer to true scores (question 9). On the discharge form, the educational summary (question 8) asks for grade equivalent rather than scores. Shouldn't the forms ask for the same type of data? Also, if scores are utilized rather than GE's, should the type of achievement test be noted? I see in the definitions that it is the test utilized by the school where the child is placed, but I am concerned that scores will not be comparable if one school uses the CATs and another uses the Ohio ones.

ANSWER:
You are correct. The forms should ask for the same type of data. Question 8 on the Education Summary asks for the Achievement Scores, related to "grade level". Question 9 on the Child Risk Factors asks for actual Achievement Scores. The instructions in the User Manual for Completing the Packets erroneously indicate that one should fill in the actual scores from the achievement tests for both question 9 in the Child Risk Factors and question 8 in the Education Summary. All scores entered from achievement tests should be in term of grade equivalency.
Your observation about knowing the type of the achievement test, the consistency between intake and discharge, as well as between one program and another is one that the Steering committee needs to consider in terms of how prescriptive the tools will need to be to enable a good analysis of the data. The attempt to score achievement in terms of grade equivalency, however, is one method of attempting to equalize the differences between all the tests that are in the field.

Is there anyway that the client survey that is part of the discharge summary could be moved to past tense? I feel that the ambiguous language about living environment is potentially confusing since it is done at discharge, when the child is moving to a new environment where he/she may have been doing pre-placement visits or something similar.

ANSWER:
This is a good suggestion. Since the forms have been posted on the web in Version 1.0, this change can be made in Version 1.1 which is planned for early 2007. In the mean time use the form as best you can. Perhaps explain to the child that the survey is specifically about the living environment he/she is leaving. As you use the survey form in its current version we will be interested in other issues you may encounter. Please give us more feedback if you encounter other issues so we can take the feedback into consideration in the next version. Thanks

The follow-up packet assumes that children are discharged to home. What if this isn't the case - how should agencies proceed in completing the discharge packet?

ANSWER:
Questions 1 through 6 are to be asked regardless of the child's living circumstances. Questions 7 through 10 are to be asked of the child's caregiver only if the child is living in a family setting. This instruction has been added in the User Manual for Completing the Packets, Follow-Up Summary. However, it is not stated on the form itself. In Version 1.1 this will be an important addition to the Follow-Up Summary.

Is there a certain minimum length of stay that should apply in completing the forms? For instance, if a child comes into our TFC for 8 days, should this be reported into the ODP? I am just wondering for usefulness of data and consistency from agency to agency.

ANSWER:
In the latest version of the Policies and Procedure adopted on November 17, 2006 by the Steering Committee, item 6, page 4 spells out the answer to this question - "All children entering a program ? shall be entered into the ODP database regardless of the length of stay in that program."

Question has been depricated

Question has been depricated

Regarding environmental factors at intake, what if the child's placement prior to intake was a residential, psychiatric hospital or correctional setting? Perhaps the question and definitions should be phrased to reflect that the question is about the permanent home? Or, should the choices available be the same as those listed in question three (3) under Child Risk Factors?

ANSWER:
If the child's placement before intake (or after discharge) was/will be a group living setting, one should not complete the Environmental Factors. Perhaps this is not clear on the form. Joe and I have been discussing a question at the top of the form asking whether the child was previously placed in a group living setting and if the answer is yes indicating that the form does not need to be completed. However, it will probably not be changed until Version 1.1.

What if child's discharge was unsuccessful - that is, the client did not return home? There are no options for such an outcome on the environmental summary for discharge.

ANSWER:
The Environmental Factors completed at discharge is on the family with which the child is being placed regardless of the success (or lack of it) of the placement. If the child is being placed in a group living setting, then one will not complete the Environmental Factors. If the placement was unsuccessful and the child is being placed in a foster home, then the Environmental Factors will be completed on that foster home, etc.

What if satisfaction surveys cannot be completed or people refuse to cooperate? Currently, absence of survey data would prevent all information from being submitted. If the discharge is unplanned, e.g. AWOL, there is no way to get the satisfaction survey data from the child. If there is no parent involved, should all N/As be entered?

ANSWER:
This is a question which we did not think about because we focused so much on the other tools. We will need to make an option that the person asked to complete the survey was either unavailable or refused to cooperate. Watch for an update soon about this issue.

On the discharge education summary, if you check "no discipline problems" under question 1, you are prompted to skip to question three. However, question 2 must have an answer or an error message appears because data is missing.

ANSWER:
Even though what you see allows for question 2 to be answered, when you indicate "now discipline problems" question 2 is blanked out on Joe's end. So try submitting and see if you get an error message. If the error message continues, let me know immediately but to expedite matters go ahead and indicate "unknown" and submit it.

You indicated that on the follow-up packet, "Questions 1 through 6 are to be asked regardless of the child's living circumstances. Questions 7 through 10 are to be asked of the child's caregiver only if the child is living in a family setting. This instruction has been added in the User Manual for Completing the Packets, Follow-Up Summary. However, it is not stated on the form itself."

ANSWER:
You are right that it would be helpful to have this stated on the form itself. It will be done in the next version.

If [Follow-Up] contact is unable to occur (to get answers about the child's present status), the web-based interface doesn't allow for omissions. Should items simply be marked "unknown" if contact is not possible? If so, can an "unknown" be added to the ROLES?

ANSWER:
Yes, for now simply mark unknown. For ROLES mark everything "0".

Questions 7 to 10 do not have a choice of unknown and require an answer to be submitted (an error warning appears about the missing data.)

ANSWER:
We will need to correct this in the next version to allow for the person being unavailable or unwilling to answer the questions.

How recent should the full scale IQ be if one is available?

ANSWER:
Generally an IQ score from testing administered within a year previous to the date of admission is acceptable.

How does one change their agency password?

ANSWER:
The ability to change the agency password was inadvertently overlooked in the creation of the system. It should be fixed by the end of January.

Regarding "Markers" on the Ohio Scales Worker Form, should "school placement" be submitted? Couldn't this possibly identify the agency?

ANSWER:
This is correct. School placement could possibly identify the agency. The Steering Committee will discuss this toward the possibility of deleting it in the Outcomes Data Project.

I submitted data on one child in accordance with the instructions you provided. In spite of having "incomplete" packets, I was still able to submit everything to the aggregate. Although it makes sense with your instructions/answers, should this really have happened? I was expecting an error message.

ANSWER:
Hitting "Submit to Aggregate" only marks that packet as a possible candidate for analysis. You can have no tools filled out and still mark the packet as a candidate for analysis. The only way the individual tools themselves are analyzed is if the tool itself is marked as "OK" on the Placement Record. If it is "ERROR", "Missing Data", or "Incomplete", then that tool will not be analyzed by OU.

If a child is in Family Foster Care but residing in a Treatment Foster Home and is placed in another program, in what type foster home (EF Q21) was the child residing? Or similarly if a child is moving to a Family Foster Care program and the home into which the child will be placed is a Treatment Foster Home, in what type foster home (EF Q21) will the child be residing?

ANSWER:
Question 21 on the Environmental Factors tool is a question about the foster home not about the program in which the child has been/will be placed. If the child was residing/will reside in a Treatment Foster Home but is in a Family Foster Care program, mark "Treatment Foster Home" because that is the status of the foster home.

Under what conditions should "Sexually active" (CRF Q17,A) be answered "yes"?

ANSWER:
The question should be answered "yes" if the child has engaged in any of the following sexual activity: consensual or non consensual, oral, genital, or anal sexual intercourse.

How should birth control medications to prevent pregnancy and medications given to prevent bed wetting be classified (CRF Q15)?

ANSWER:
Both should be classified as "Chronic Health" medications because the situations they are addressing are not acute nor are the medications psychotropic.

In the Definitions Manual it appears that any references to "abuse" require that the abuse be substantiated by a child protective authority, but references to neglect are vague and seem to only require that it be indicated by the child protective authority. This seems inconsistent.

ANSWER:
Yes, this is a situation in which there is inconsistency. The intent is that one will check neglect (or abuse) only if the child protective authority has substantiated the neglect or abuse.

Questions 7, 8, 9, and 10 on the Child Risk Factors regarding education do not take into account serving preschool children. How should these questions be answered for a preschool child?

ANSWER:
Serving preschool children was not considered when the Child Risk Factors was developed. In Version 1.1 this will be corrected with options to answer appropriately for preschool children. Until Version 1.1 is developed (target date July 1, 2007) answer Question 7, A: Unknown; Question 7, B: Unknown; Question 7, C: No; Question 7, D: No; Question 7, E: No; Question 7, F: If the IQ is known then check the appropriate line otherwise check unknown; Question 8: Unknown; Question 9, A, B, C: Unknown; Question 10: Not sure.

I entered the wrong SS number for my client. Now I have a client ID number and a hash assigned to the client with the wrong ID number. How do I correct this situation?

ANSWER:
We hope this does not happen too often, but when an organization makes this error contact Jim Burkett immediately who will ask Joe Thielen to make the correction to the client file. Joe is the only person who has the authorization to make this correction.

When children under 5 are discharged, what do we complete on the Education Summary? Do we complete an Ohio Scales on the child?

ANSWER:
Neither the Education Summary nor the Ohio Scales need to be completed for children under 5 at Discharge.

Some of the children discharge are discharged without notice. It has been difficult to obtain a Child Satisfaction Survey and a Caregiver Satisfaction Survey for these children. What should I do? If the surveys are not completed will my information be excluded from the aggregate?

ANSWER:
Children under 5 are too young to write and fill out forms. They will not complete a Child Satisfaction Survey. However, it would be great if children who are old enough to complete the survey and their caregiver could complete the Child and Caregiver forms respectively. Yours was an emergency discharge. If it is possible to contact them and ask them to complete the satisfaction forms, I would encourage you to do so. If this is impossible, there will be no response on your submission. You are correct that this would constitute incomplete data and not be included in the aggregate as the project is currently formatted. In Version 1.1 we are correcting this situation to allow for incomplete data to be included. Additionally we are adding a response option to the satisfaction surveys that will indicate the respondent was either unable or unwilling to complete the form. Until July 1, 2007 incomplete data will not be included in the aggregate. After July 1 it will be included. Make a note and resubmit the data after July 1, 2007 and it will then be included.

Children we served were admitted and discharged before we could obtain Social Security numbers for them. The referring agency is unwilling to give us the Social Security numbers. We need a Social Security number to generate a client identification number for the Outcomes Data Project. How do we obtain a client identification number?

ANSWER:
This problem is not uncommon. If it occurs at your agency simply email your agency ID number (it should be a number in the 10000's) and the child's date of birth to Jim Burkett jkburket@bright.net. He has the authority to create a unique client ID number for children who do not have Social Security numbers.

Problem – Instructions on the Environmental Factions ask for information on the family with whom the child lived in the past 90 days. Q1 asks where the child lived immediately prior to admission. If the answer is other than a family setting the rest of the form grayed out not allowing the entering of data about the child's family. This is a problem if the child resided in a group setting just prior to admission but for less than the previous 90 days. The data on the family could not be entered.

ANSWER:
The temporary fix - The EF has been modified so that auto-blanking is now disabled. However, upon testing, this revealed a further problem. Now that the auto-blanking is disabled, EVERY question must be answered. If not the form will error as "incomplete" and hence, not entered into the aggregate.
The temporary fix here is to enter "Z: NO ANSWER" for ALL not relevant questions. So, if choosing Jail, and the child was previously in a bio home, then all the foster questions need to be "Z: NO ANSWER".
Unfortunately, this is a MANUAL process but it is a fix for now.

Problem - When selecting "P" that the child is too young the rest of the question appropriately grayed out but an error report was generated because the rest of Q7 was not answered.

ANSWER:
The fix - An error report no longer is generated when selecting "P" to answer Q7A.

Problem - Version transition; some children had been partically entered in V1.0 but now V1.1 instruments (slightly different in some cases) were the only instruments available.

ANSWER:
The fix - System is now set up for "versioning". If any tool in a packet is created, then the whole packet (Intake/Discharge/Follow-Up) is then "marked" with that version. All the other tools in that packet, regardless of the date of creation, will be created and edited using the marked version. For example, if a given intake packet was created before 7/17 (the V1.1 rollout date) and at least one tool was entered for that packet before 7/17, that packet would be marked as "V1.0". Then, even after 7/17, any tools for that intake packet would be created using the V1.0 format. This has no effect on the other packets until the first tool is entered for them. For instance, even if our intake packet is marked as "V1.0", then the discharge is not for five years, the discharge will make use of the current version AS OF the date of the first tool record created for the discharge packet (V1.1, V1.2, V2.0, etc...). Version numbers are reported, per tool AND packet, in the export file.

When a child has a short term summer only placement, how do we complete the Education Summary?

ANSWER:
If the child is enrolled in summer school, either through the agency or as part of the public school system, use the child’s data from the summer school experience to answer questions 1, 2, and 8 (A & B). If the child is not enrolled in a summer school program then the answers to Education Summary, Question 1, 2, and 8 (A & B) should be marked “Unknown”.

We have a child in foster care that graduated from high school and is attending college. How do we answer question 6 on the Education Summary in the Discharge Packet?

ANSWER:
Check the option of: 1-12: (enter grade level). For the grade level enter the actual grade which the child is attending, e.g. if the child is a freshman in college enter grade 13. Since there is no allowance for children attending college this will be a discussion for the next revision.

In answering question 7 in the Discharge Summary, if a child was only in one home while in placement what number do we use, one or zero?

ANSWER:
The answer would be zero. The question asks how many moves the child had while in placement at your agency. The child was only in one foster home so there were no moves after entering placement at your agency. However, if the child had two foster homes while placed with your agency, he/she would have one move when he/she moved from FH1 to FH2.
This question (number 7) has more nuances. The ways in which the federal government defines a move in the CFSR will be studied and our definition updated to reflect the intent of the CFSR. It is intended that this definition update will be completed by January 1, 2008.

If a child experiences an inpatient admission to a hospital due to an illness, then returns to the placement prior to the hospital admission, how many moves did the child experience and should that move be recorded in the Discharge Summary Question 7?

ANSWER:
Question 7 is somewhat confusing. People often confuse the number of placements with the number of moves. The first rule to remember is that the admission to the program constitutes the first placement. In the above example where the child went to the hospital then returned to the program, the second placement would be the hospital and the third placement will be the return to the program. But the child only moved twice – once to the hospital and again in the return to the program. That constitutes 3 placements and 2 moves. Should the move to the hospital constituted a discharge from the program; the child would not have a second placement while in the agency’s program. The discharge is not considered another move while in the agency’s program. Therefore, in the second scenario the child would have one placement and no moves. Remember, admission and discharge do not count as a move. We are looking for the number of placements/moves a child had while placed in an agency’s program.

Now, how should the move to the hospital be recorded? The options include: 1. child disrupted the placement, 2. foster parents or staff request the move, 3. child “graduated” or moved to a “higher level” (meaning the child showed progress and moved to a less restrictive environment), or 4. the administration directed the move. The options for reasons for a move are in the first edition. They will need to be updated in a later version of the Outcomes Data Project tools. Until that time a child moving to a medical hospital due to illness should be recorded as the fourth option, “The administration directed the move”. When the child returns to the program from the hospital that move should be recorded as “Graduated to a higher level”.

If a child is admitted or discharged from an agency program due to transfer of the foster home, how should the admission/discharge be handled?

ANSWER:When a child accompanies a transferring foster home from one agency to another that constitutes a discharge from the agency that the foster family is leaving and an admission to the agency to which the foster home is transferring

There is not a clear cut category in "reason for discharge" to handle this kind of situation. In considering the various options available, one should indicate the reason for discharge to be an "Administrative Discharge."

On the Worker Experience Survey - Intake question A2 asks "Your experience with Placement Services." The rater is given a number of options in terms of years. Which experience is the question asking about?

ANSWER: The rater (primary person completing the form) should answer this question in terms of the number of years of experience that person has had working in the admissions process in the agency in which they are currently working. For example if a person has worked 5 years at an agency as a case manager for which some of the job duties were to process children into placement at admission, then moves to another agency and has worked 2 years in the current agency in the position of case manager with similar job duties, the answer to the question would be 2 years. That is the number of years of experience the worker has in their current job position that includes duties related to placement services.

When completing the Ohio Scales Worker form at admission is one to wait four weeks so one has an observation period with the youth on which to base the answers, OR is one to complete the assessment as of the day of admission based upon information gathered during the admission process?

ANSWER: The questions on the intake Ohio Scales Worker form are to be answered as of the day of admission. The general guideline is that the worker should consider the admission materials, make collateral contacts as necessary, talk with the youth, and have the Ohio Scales completed by the time he/she completes the initial treatment plan. It is acceptable if the process takes up to three or four weeks. But the initial Ohio Scales Worker form should always be completed to reflect the youth on the day of admission.

What happens when we have an 11 year old placed who stays in care until past his 13th birthday – when should we administer Ohio Scales?

ANSWER: When the child reaches his/her 12th birthday administer the Ohio Scales Youth form. This is the pre test Ohio Scales. For the purpose of the Outcomes Data Project the post test Ohio Scales Youth form will be administered at the discharge of the youth. However, if the youth is in mental health services that requires the administration of the Ohio Scales, one should consult the ODMH guidelines for administration of the Ohio Scales Youth after the child has passed his/her 12th birthday.

How does one answer question 4 on the Child Risk Factors, Reason for Discharge from the Previous Placement (excluding detention, inpatient hospitalization, or shelter care), if the previous placement was one of those that are to be excluded?

ANSWER: If the previous place of detention, inpatient hospitalization or shelter care was the only placement(s) the child has had, then answer the question “No Previous Placement” because there was no previous placements other than those excluded. However, if the child had previous placements other than detention, inpatient hospitalization, or shelter care but the last placement was one of the excluded placements for the purpose of answering this question, then answer the question "Unknown".

Some agencies have been counseled to not encourage Parents and Youth to answer the satisfaction questions on the Intake Ohio Scales because the questions are confusing about whether the satisfaction is with previous mental health providers, the mental health system, or the current agency to which the youth is being admitted. (The question was originally intended to measure satisfaction with the latter.) Because of the confusing way in which the question has been worded the OSQIG-I committee of ODMH recommends a rewording of the question. However, this will not happen for another 12 to 18 months. Not completing these questions in the OACCA Outcomes Data Project will invalidate the instrument. How should the questions be answered for the ODP if the Parent or Youth does not answer them on the questionnaire?

ANSWER:If the Parent or Youth do not answer these (or any other) questions, on the drop down option for the questions not answered select "No Answer".

It would be great if there were "Not Applicable" check boxes that could keep us from having to complete forms we can't do. For example - OHIO Scales Parent - 98.5% of our kids are in permanent custody, so we won't have this data.

ANSWER: This is a common theme that we have heard. If you don't have the data to fill out a form, then it shouldn't be filled out! We are shooting for 100%, but there are indeed reasons, especially on this form, as to why it may not be filled out. At this point we can not delete it from the Missing Data Records nor can we add an option to not complete it.

Early on we mis-entered data and now we can't simply delete tools entered in error (OHIO Scales Worker entered by parents as mistake, for example). Is there a way to delete things that aren't applicable?

ANSWER: If you have forms in the system that are in error they can be deleted. We hope this does not happen too often, but when an organization encounters this situation contact Jim Burkett immediately who will ask Joe Thielen to make the correction to the client file. Joe is the only person who has the authorization to make this correction. We will need the agency number, the placement number and the forms to be deleted.

On the Ohio Scales, it is unclear how to code individuals that run away.

ANSWER: This is a common issue. Unfortunately at the present time ODMH instructs that a child that is AWOL be classified as "Independent Living". In the next version of the Ohio Scales for Children which is due out in late 2009 or 2010 the category of AWOL will be on the Worker form in the ROLES scale. Until then the only choice is to code the situation as "Independent Living".

When a child has been in placement for 30 days or less what questions on the Intake and Discharge Summaries need to be completed?

ANSWER: Answer question 1 thru 4 AND question 9 on the Intake Summary. Answer questions 1 thru 5 on the Discharge Summary. The Follow-Up Summary will auto fill and submit to the aggregate.

When a child does not have a therapist, how should we instruct him/her to answer Question 7 on the Child Satisfaction Survey "I think my therapist has helped me?"

ANSWER: If you know the child did not have a therapist during the course of placement strike through the question before giving the questionnaire to the child, instructing the child that Question 7 does not need to be answered. When entering the data into the Outcomes Data Project system, check "No Answer" for Question 7