Child Welfare Information Gateway

Successful Title IV-E Prevention Services Programs begin with a determined agency, ready to overcome the challenges of marketing stipend programs and supporting young adults through all levels of their education. Building buy-in for supporting postsecondary education within the workforce not only increases passion for driving title IV-E programs in the short term—it also builds a culture that welc...

The University of Kentucky has sought to build the future of the child welfare workforce through the development of its Child Welfare (CW) PREP program—a Title IV-E Prevention Services Program, as amended by the Family First Prevention Services Act, focused on building pathways to careers in social work for young people eligible for Chafee and Education and Training Voucher funding. This episode i...

Restorative justice is an approach that focuses on collaboration between the offender and the community. It requires the offender to accept responsibility for their decisions and the impact of their offenses on the victim and the community. For juvenile offenders who are involved in both the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, restorative practices often involve teaching skills to live ind...

Youth can face many challenges as they transition to living independently as adults. For youth in foster care, overcoming obstacles may require additional support and skills to be self-reliant. Caseworkers and child welfare professionals assist youth with securing employment, secondary education, housing, financial literacy, and other needs. However, additional support is needed to provide encoura...

Lived experience is a representation and understanding of an individual's human experiences, choices, and options and how those factors influence one's perception of knowledge" from one's own life. Those with lived experience in child welfare have a unique, firsthand perspective on issues that can inform partnerships, policies, and solutions that best meet the needs of children and families. This...

Kinship caregivers and families may be faced with needs, questions, and constraints that are different than those of resource foster care families. Child welfare agencies continue to address these unique needs through kinship navigator programs that help caregivers manage the foster care licensing process; connect families to available supports and services; and understand legal, medical, or other...

Kinship caregivers and families may be faced with needs, questions, and constraints that are different than those of resource foster care families. Child welfare agencies continue to address these unique needs through kinship navigator programs that help caregivers manage the foster care licensing process; connect families to available supports and services; and understand legal, medical, or other...

As jurisdictions place a higher emphasis on placing children and youth in relative or familiar settings, some are expanding and advancing the support provided to kinship caregivers. The podcast series, Advances in Supporting Kinship Caregivers, comprises episodes featuring the advances created and implemented by child welfare agencies and their partners to strengthen kinship families and meet the...

This episode features a group of kinship-centered services and programs from Rhode Island. The State's Department of Children, Youth, and Families created a separate team dedicated to family search and engagement that identifies and attempts to create relationships with family members or those with connections to children and youth. The department also leverages caregiver peers as mentors and navi...

This episode focuses on Away From Home, a report developed by Think Of Us to understand the perspectives, attitudes, and experiences of young people with recent histories in institutional placements, and to understand their beliefs around reforming or ending institutional placements. The conversation in this episode dives into the findings and recommendations from the study's authors on improving...

"Engaging Fathers – Putting Lessons Into Practice" is a three-part series to share strategies implemented from three of the five State or county agencies: Los Angeles County, California; Hartford, Connecticut; and Prowers County, Colorado. Part three focuses on the strategies developed within Prowers County. The Fathers and Continuous Learning in Child Welfare (FCL) project sought to improve place...

"Engaging Fathers – Putting Lessons Into Practice" is a three-part series to share strategies implemented from three of the five State or county agencies: Los Angeles County, California; Hartford, Connecticut; and Prowers County, Colorado. Part one focuses on the strategies developed within Hartford, Connecticut. The following individuals are featured in this episode: • Angela Parks-Pyles, deputy...

"Engaging Fathers – Putting Lessons Into Practice" is a three-part series to share strategies implemented from three of the five State or county agencies: Los Angeles County, California; Hartford, Connecticut; and Prowers County, Colorado. Part one focuses on the strategies developed within Hartford, Connecticut. Topics discussed include the following: -The benefits of including community partners...

This episode features a conversation surrounding the California Family Urgent Response System (FURS)-a coordinated statewide, regional, and county-level system designed to provide collaborative and timely phone-based State-level response and a county-level in-home, in-person mobile response during situations of instability—to preserve the relationship of the caregiver and the child or youth. The i...

This episode shares insight from the National Native Children's Trauma Center for those caseworkers and agencies that are working or will work with indigenous communities to support children and families. Recognizing how Tribal communities approach child-rearing, community and family structures, justice, and law enforcement—and how those approaches may differ from what caseworkers may view as heal...

This episode is the second of a two-part series. "Foster Care Alumni – Making Lived Experience Matter, Part 2," focuses on the healing journey alumni take and the importance of community and family support, along with guidance for future or current advocates and recommendations for improving the foster care system. "Foster Care Alumni – Making Lived Experience Matter, Part 1" shares stories of suc...

This episode focuses on the current reality of reunification across our public child welfare system. Listeners will hear a conversation among child welfare professionals, members of the American Bar Association (ABA) Center on Children and the Law, the Children's Bureau, and an alumnus of foster care. Topics discussed include the following: • What the data indicate regarding reunifying families in...

Developing or reviewing policies or programs through the lens of lived experience can help improve child welfare practice by recognizing trauma, providing more family-centered services, or increasing the likelihood of successful transition to adulthood. Successfully engaging foster care alumni requires more than asking youth to share their personal experiences with an audience. This episode, "Fost...

The drive to reshape child welfare in the United States into a system with a greater focus on prevention and equity can not—and must not—involve the child welfare system alone. Stronger community partnerships and leadership at all levels are crucial to promoting family and community well-being. The Children's Bureau, Casey Family Programs, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Prevent Child Abuse Ame...

The drive to reshape child welfare in the United States into a system with greater focus on prevention and equity cannot—and must not—involve the child welfare system alone. Stronger community partnerships and leadership at all levels are crucial to promoting family and community well-being. The Children's Bureau, Casey Family Programs, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and Prevent Child Abuse Americ...

This episode continues a series looking into the lessons the child welfare field learned during 2020. The coronavirus pandemic forced agencies to approach their work and interactions with children and families differently. Agencies adopted precautions to maintain the safety of their staff and clients and began to build information-sharing and teaming partnerships. One such partnership is between c...

This episode is part of a series that examines what the child welfare field learned during 2020 and identifies potential changes or shifts in how the field operates. Listeners will hear from Andrew Winters, a member of the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), about interventions to build resiliency among caseworkers and supervisors, including interventions aimed at streng...

Approximately 1 in 4 children in the United States has a foreign-born parent. When child welfare cases involve international borders, caseworkers may find additional challenges in ensuring children have safe and permanent homes and family connections. These challenges include finding resources to identify family connections, understanding how children encounter State and local child welfare system...

Child welfare agencies continue to seek effective, affordable, and time-saving professional development for caseworkers. This episode features the Institute for the Advancement of Family Support Professionals, a collaboration between State agencies, universities, and home visiting organizations that offers 66 e-learning modules supporting the National Family Support Competency Framework. The frame...

In support of National Adoption Month 2020 and its "Engage Youth, Listen and Learn" theme, this episode shares two examples of jurisdictions increasing youth involvement with their own permanency plans. Listen to these examples of Ohio and Washington's Adoption Call to Action efforts to increase youth engagement and have more success with their ACTA plans and beyond.