Moore Pathways

ANCHOR Methodology

ANCHOR Methodology

Anchored Narrative Citations with Hierarchical Observational Rating

A research project building the structure that Indiana's supervised-visitation rating standard leaves out. Not new labels, but a disciplined, evidence-anchored method for deciding how each rating is assigned, so the results are consistent, defensible, and fair. ANCHOR is not currently in use or being piloted. It is under active development and validation.

In active research

The gap it studies

Indiana already has a standard for rating supervised visits: six criteria, each scored Strong, Adequate, Limited, or Destructive. What the standard does not provide is a method for deciding which label fits a given observation. Two providers can watch the same visit and assign different ratings, because the labeling is left to individual judgment. A 2025 study of child-welfare rating found inter-rater reliability of just 0.50, with about a quarter of the variation coming from the rater rather than from what was observed. These ratings can travel from case files into custody and child-welfare proceedings, so the inconsistency carries real weight. ANCHOR researches the structure the standard leaves out: how a rater should decide, justify, and anchor each label.

The existing standard

Indiana supervised-visitation providers already rate each visit against six criteria on a standard Visit Report, and each criterion takes one of four ratings tied to how often the parent demonstrates it. ANCHOR does not change this scale. It is the field's existing standard and the starting point for the research.

The six criteria already in use

  • Parental role
  • Knowledge of the child's development
  • Responsiveness to the child's verbal and nonverbal cues
  • Putting the child's needs first
  • Empathy toward the child
  • Focus on the child

Rated by how often it is observed

Each criterion is scored on how frequently the parent demonstrates it during the visit, on an ordinal scale.

A frequency scale used to rate each criterion: Always, Often, Occasionally, Rarely or Never.

Four ratings, with Adequate as the baseline

Each frequency maps to one of four ratings. Adequate is the expected rating for a competent parent doing the work, not a deficiency.

  • Strong = Always
  • Adequate = Often
  • Limited = Occasionally
  • Destructive = Rarely or Never

What ANCHOR adds

The existing standard says what to rate and which labels exist, but not how to decide which label a given observation earns. That is the gap ANCHOR researches. The methodology adds the missing structure: a baseline for what is normal for each parent, and an evidence rule for what it takes to move a rating off that baseline. ANCHOR is single-rater by design, so this structure is what guards against one rater's drift.

A rolling baseline and a three-layer evidence rule

Each rating starts from the parent's own recent pattern, a rolling-median baseline across their last several visits, rather than the rater's impression that day. Any rating that moves away from that baseline, in either direction, must be supported by three independent layers. If any layer is missing, the rating returns to baseline.

  1. Observational narrative

    The moment recorded in the visit's chronological, factual narrative.

  2. Named strength or concern

    The same moment named explicitly as a strength for a higher rating, or a concern for a lower one.

  3. Cited rationale

    A short rationale tying the moment to a published framework, with a note on how the rating may and may not be used.

Grounded in published frameworks

In the methodology, every rating that moves off baseline is anchored to an established, published source, so the reasoning is transparent and defensible. ANCHOR is observational by design and does not perform clinical assessments.

  • Indiana DCS Practice Model
  • Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines
  • CSSP Strengthening Families Protective Factors
  • Indiana DCS Quality Service Review
  • Child and Family Team Meeting (CFTM) policy
  • Indiana CANS caregiver items
  • DCS Father Engagement Standard
  • Healthy Families Indiana
  • SVN Standards (2024)

Research status

In active research

ANCHOR is a research project. It is not in use or being piloted. Moore Pathways LLC is developing, refining, and auditing the methodology with the goal of producing peer-review-ready inter-rater reliability evidence and accreditation-pathway documentation. All work uses synthetic, fictional scenarios under a strict clean-separation principle: the research never involves real client data. A prior-art review across national standards, academic literature, eight US states, and five international jurisdictions found no comparable per-visit rating methodology, so ANCHOR addresses a documented gap. It has not yet completed peer-reviewed validation, which is the aim of the current work.

Learn more

ANCHOR is an active research and methodology-development effort by Moore Pathways LLC. It is not a product or service currently offered. For professional or research inquiries about the methodology, get in touch.

Get in touch