Outcome measures for private residential and foster care treatment programs share the same definitions. Data for outcome measures are collected monthly and reported quarterly. Some of the outcome measures are included in the PCC Comparative Report. Brief definitions of the outcome measures follow:
Critical Incidents per 100 Days Ratio: Reported separately for children 11 and under and for children 12 and older. “Critical incidents” are defined as possession of a deadly weapon, serious injury to a resident requiring professional medical attention (excluding first aid), elopement requiring notification of law enforcement, suicide attempt requiring professional medical attention, a criminal activity requiring notification of law enforcement (excluding status offenses), injury to other and sexual acting out (outside of developmental norms). “Number per 100 Resident Days” is computed as a ratio of number of critical incidents to number of 100-day units for those residents present in reporting period. “Success” is defined as a lower number of critical incidents per 100 days.
Critical Incident Rate: Reported separately for children 11 and under and for children 12 and older. This measure is defined as the ratio of the number of residents experiencing one or more critical incidents (see above) to the total number of residents during the reporting period. “Success” is defined as a lower rate, with the lowest rate being 0.0.
Discharge to Home-Like Placement Rate: Reported separately for children 11 and under and for children 12 and older. “Home-like” is defined as parent, relative, DCBS or PCC foster care, pre-adoptive or supervised apartment living. Expressed as a proportion of home-like to total discharges, with “success” being higher rates to a maximum of 1.0.
Discharge to Less Restrictive Placement Rate: Reported separately for children 11 and under and for children 12 and older. “Less restrictive” is defined as the new placement being rated as less restrictive on the Kentucky Restrictiveness of Living Environment Scale, e.g., PCC foster care is less restrictive than residential care. Expressed as a proportion of less restrictive to total discharges, with “success” being higher rates to a maximum of 1.0.
Agency or System Discharge Rates: Reported separately for children 11 and under and for children 12 and older, an “agency or system” discharge is defined as being due to: agency non-compliance with contract or licensing, provider voluntarily closes program/service, needs different/additional specialized services, move from short term temporary placement, court orders placement change, dissatisfaction with service delivery or pre-adoption disruption. Expressed as a proportion of agency or system discharges to total discharges, with “success” being lower values to a minimum of 0.0.
Behavioral Difficulty Discharge Rates: Reported separately for children 11 and under and for children 12 and older, a “behavioral difficulty” discharge is defined as being due to: property destruction, aggressive to peers, aggressive to caregivers, sexual acting out, sexual aggression, runaway behavior, homicidal behavior, suicidal behavior, self-abusive behavior, substance abuse, defiant oppositional behavior or other behavioral/emotional problem. Expressed as a proportion of behavioral discharges to total discharges, with “success” being lower values to a minimum of 0.0.
Child Progress toward Permanency Discharge Rates: Reported separately for children 11 and under and for children 12 and older, a “progress discharge is defined as being due to: adoptive or pre-adoptive placement, placement with siblings or child, placement closer to home, placement with non-relative, placement with relatives, educational/vocational placement, placement with a parent, needs less restrictive care, trial home visit or released from DCBS custody. Expressed as a proportion of progress discharges to total discharges, with “success” being higher values to a maximum of 1.0.
Caretaker Incapacity Discharge Rates: Reported separately for children 11 and under and for children 12 and older, an “incapacity” discharge is defined as being due to: caretaker’s physical illness/incapacity, caretaker’s emotional problem, caretaker’s employment or caretaker’s death or caretaker’s change in life situation. Expressed as a proportion of incapacity discharges to total discharges, with “success” being lower values to a minimum of 0.0.
Caretaker Failure Discharge Rates: Reported separately for children 11 and under and for children 12 and older, a “failure” discharge is defined as being due to: the caretaker’s non-compliance with requirements, caretaker’s incarceration, caretaker’s abandonment, caretaker’s relinquishment or caretaker’s leaves public or private agency: child moves. Expressed as a proportion of failure discharges to total discharges, with “success” being lower values to a minimum of 0.0.
Caretaker Investigation Discharge Rates: Reported separately for children 11 and under and for children 12 and older, an “investigation” discharge is defined as being due to: CPS investigation, APS investigation, or Criminal investigation. Expressed as a proportion of investigation discharges to total discharges, with “success” being lower values to a minimum of 0.0.
Runaway Discharge Rates: Reported for all children, a “runaway” discharge is a subset of the behavioral difficulty discharge set. It is defined as being due to runaway behavior. Expressed as a proportion of runaway discharges to total discharges, with “success” being lower values to a minimum of 0.0.
In Home-Like Placement 4 Months after Discharge: Defined as above and measured at four months after discharge.
In Less Restrictive Placement 4 Months after Discharge: Defined as above and measured at four months after discharge.
No Critical Placements during 4 Months after Discharge: “Critical placements” are defined as elopement or any time in detention, crisis stabilization, psychiatric inpatient, extended care hospitalization, or PRTF. Expressed as a proportion of number of discharges without any critical placement during the first four months since discharge to the total number of discharges, with “success” defined as higher ratio, with the maximum being 1.0.
Physical Management per 100 days ratio: Reported separately for children 11 and under and for children 12 and older. Physical management is defined as “transports or team holdings, excluding escorts that occur during an incident that is reported on an incident report.” “Number per 100 Resident Days” is computed as a ratio of the number of physical managements to the number of 100-day units for those residents present in the reporting period. Success is defined as lower numbers of physical management.
Physical Management Rate: Reported separately for children 11 and under and for children 12 and older. This measure is defined as the proportion of the number of residents experiencing one or more physical management to the total number of residents during the reporting period. “Success” is defined as a lower rate, with the lowest rate being 0.0.