The Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy (NICRP), as part of an interdisciplinary team of UNLV researchers, will conduct performance audits of the state's child welfare agencies through a one-year, $175,000 grant from the Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau.

The grant, a product of the passage of Assembly Bill 629 during the 2007 Nevada Legislative Session, calls for an independent consultant to conduct random, unannounced visits to agencies that provide child welfare services and review files of open and closed cases involving children who have been abused and neglected.

The UNLV research team, made up of staff from the NICRP, the School of Social Work and the William S. Boyd School of Law, will perform up to 300 in-depth reviews of cases involving substantiated and unsubstantiated abuse, conduct interviews and focus groups with agency management and field workers, and provide an analysis of current policies.

"In 2006, nearly 15,000 reports of child abuse and neglect were made in Nevada," said Denise Tanata Ashby, executive director of the NICRP and principal investigator on the grant. "The primary purpose of this audit is to gauge how well Nevada's three child welfare agencies are fulfilling their responsibilities to protect those children from harm."

The review process will explore how agencies document, respond to and report cases of child abuse or neglect. Researchers will also evaluate the effectiveness and availability of intervention services, including how often agencies interact directly with children placed in foster care; review procedures used to determine when to close a case; and examine whether agencies have incorporated recommendations from the state's Blue Ribbon Panels for the Review of Child Deaths.

As part of the grant, the research team will prepare monthly reports for the Legislative Counsel Bureau Audit Division and a final project report by next October. Agencies audited as part of the grant will be provided a preliminary copy of the report, and appropriate feedback will be incorporated into the final report.

The lead investigators on the UNLV research team include Denise Tanata Ashby, Jennifer Zipoy and Tara Swanson from the NICRP in the School of Public Health; Joanne Thompson, Leroy Pelton and Maryanne Hamrick from the School of Social Work; and Annette Appell from the William S. Boyd School of Law.