Measuring organizational health in child welfare agencies

•Understanding organizational health imperative in child welfare agencies•Need a comprehensive, accessible, structurally sound measure•Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment (COHA) assesses 23 dimensions.•Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirms instrument structure.•COHA used to assess organizational functioning, guide organizational intervention and measure

In recent years, federal funds have been directed toward programs to improve the organizational health and functioning of public and tribal child welfare agencies. This study introduces a battery of instruments aimed at holistic measurement of organizational health factors in public, private, and tribal child welfare agencies. The Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment (COHA) was designed as part of a federally funded grant to aid development of organizational interventions in child welfare settings. Assessment results are used diagnostically to identify strengths and challenges and to guide the development of targeted systems-change interventions and to track change over time. This study describes the iterative process of developing and testing the measurement tools, including results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The final, revised set of measures includes 20 scales and 3 indices measuring aspects of individual, work unit, and organizational functioning.