White Papers

In addition to the rich resources available regarding Choices, including our annual reports and external evalations of Choices, we periodically conduct and publish our own research, available here in our white paper library.

Staying Ahead of the Budget Shortfall: Serving More Youth with the Same Amount of Money (or Less)

Excerpt: Currently, many state budget agencies are requiring administrators to look at primary expenses, such as Medicaid, and figure out ways to serve the same number of people (or more) with less money. Indiana is one of a handful of states that has stayed ahead of the budget shortfall and continues to operate in the black. Many factors contribute to Indiana’s successful fiscal management, but its child welfare system has seen remarkable change in a short amount of time. Indiana has experimented with and implemented several reforms. One of which saves the state an average of $3 million for every 100 youth served.
[Read Now]
[View Interactive Flash Version]

Optimizing Current Spending for Child Welfare

Excerpt: In today’s economy, state and local government leaders are pressed more than ever to cut, cut and cut costs again in efforts to balance their budgets with ever shrinking resources. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,1 45 states plus the District of Columbia have enacted drastic budget cuts that affect services for children, the elderly, the disabled, families, early childhood education and access to higher education. Officials have made these cuts because collections from income, sales and other taxes used to pay for basic services have sharply declined during the recession. The bad news is that revenues are likely to remain near these reduced levels at least into 2011.
[Read Now]

Fiscal and Clinical Models of Choices

Excerpt: The primary purpose of this document is to describe the breadth of funding models under which Choices’ CMOs manage. Choices operates multiple funding models – each with its own attributes – because Choices allows each community to tailor a funding model for its system of care that best meets its needs and desires. However, irrespective of the funding model, Choices’ philosophy of care and its clinical operations do not change.
[Read Now]

Choices Annotated Bibliography

In the Choices Annotated Bibliography, you will find information on presentations made by Choices staff, publications by our staff, and publications about Choices. 
[Read Now]