Chapin Hall

Chapin Hall is partnering with the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to build, implement, and sustain a comprehensive Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) system that supports the state’s Family First Prevention Services (FFPS) work. CQI is a structured, ongoing process that helps agencies understand what is working well, identify challenges, and use data and feedback to improve services so children and families experience better outcomes. 

This multi-year initiative advances California’s Title IV-E Prevention Plan by developing the governance structures, tools, and workforce capabilities needed to make CQI part of everyday practice. Through this partnership, Chapin Hall is helping CDSS strengthen prevention services, elevate lived and community expertise, and build the state’s capacity to use data to guide decision-making. 

A central focus of the project is operationalizing the FFPS CQI plan and aligning it with CDSS’s broader prevention priorities. Chapin Hall is designing the core infrastructure for a statewide CQI system—supporting agency capacity, improving data collection and reporting processes, and developing training and tools for both state and county CQI specialists and the wider workforce. 

The initiative also includes launching a statewide regional learning collaborative—the Prevention Continuous Quality Improvement (PCC)—to promote shared learning and continuous improvement across all regions. The PCC will help county FFPS and CQI staff review data, monitor performance, and inform strategic decisions, while supporting peer exchange and best-practice adoption. Embedding compensated lived experts within these processes ensures that California’s CQI system reflects the needs and priorities of families and communities in the state. 

The final phase focuses on sustainability—ensuring California has the structures and capacity to maintain a robust CQI system long after the project concludes. The resulting framework will support continuous improvement, advance equity, and help the state’s prevention system better meet the needs of children and families for years to come. The CQI resources the Chapin Hall team has already produced for this project can be viewed here (choose “Continuous Quality Improvement” from the category drop-down menu on the far left).

Chapin Hall brings deep, nationwide expertise in continuous quality improvement (CQI) for child welfare and human-service systems. As a trusted partner to public and private agencies, Chapin Hall supports the adoption of CQI not as a one-time fix, but as an embedded way of working so every cycle of planning, action, study, and adjustment becomes part of how the organization drives lasting improvement.