In 2007, the New York City Administration for Children's Services launched a new initiative to build coalitions of community organizations with the goal of improving outcomes for children served by the child welfare system. In this essay Fred Wulczyn urges a clear focus on outcomes in the case of New York, with attention to both the process and quality of care. Monitoring success, he argues, depends in part on understanding performance within the context of the communities they serve. This essay was originally published in Child Welfare Watch, Volume 14, Summer 2007, and is posted with permission.