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Voluntary Status
Reports can be filtered by the voluntary or involuntary nature of the case. A Voluntary Status indicator in CWS/CMS specifies whether the parent/guardian of the case child has agreed to accept services on a voluntary basis and/or signed a voluntary agreement/Case Plan. Children coded with a "yes" on the Voluntary Status indicator are categorized as Voluntary, while those coded with a "no" are categorized as
Court Ordered
. When Voluntary Status is not selected as a dimension, the default filter includes
Missing
values, and both
Court Ordered
and
Voluntary
status types.
Note: When we cross reference Voluntary Status with the "Legal Authority for Placement" we find irregularities in the data (e.g., children with a WIC 300 Legal Authority but a Voluntary indicator), suggesting that this filter should be used with caution.