The idea of performance contracting or performance based contracting has become increasingly popular in the child welfare aren

The idea of performance contracting or performance based contracting has become increasingly popular in the child welfare arena. This isn’t surprising, in that it comes on the heels of two very powerful shifts in the provision of child welfare services since the early 1990s: a rapid growth in privatization and the emergence of major accountability efforts from the federal government in the form of the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR). Unfortunately, too often the label “performance contracting” gets applied to efforts that are either strictly about privatization or strictly about accountability—rarely do these models capture the interests of both. The privatization of child welfare services and mechanisms designed to ensure accountability are both important strategies for ensuring results, but unless these ideas are leveraged appropriately in the contract, they won’t drive real improvements in performance.