Child Welfare Information Gateway

The Children's Bureau hosted a webinar to share the lessons and experiences of two jurisdictions whose Title IV-E Prevention Plans received approval from CB. In "Family First – Title IV-E Prevention Plan Implementation Updates – Part 1," leaders from two jurisdictions—Washington, DC, and Utah—speak about their different approaches to implementing Family First.

This episode shares the second half of the webinar where CB shared tips to aid prevention plan developers as they shape their plans to align with Family First. Child welfare leaders from Washington, DC and Utah also answer questions submitted during the webinar by participants. The Children's Bureau provides tips that address prevention planning topics including service selection, ensuring child s...

To help agencies implement Family First, The Children's Defense Fund released Implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act, a guide developed by a coalition of organizations to offer clear information about the provisions of the law and the congressional intent behind it. This episode shares insight on how states and jurisdictions should use the guide, common misperceptions about implemen...

How can child welfare agencies, Federal partners, judicial and legal entities, and community organizations shift both the perception and application of foster care to one that supports families? Dr. Jerry Milner, Associate Commissioner of the Children's Bureau, explains his support for systemic change across child welfare systems: where foster care is viewed as a last resort for families facing ch...

This episode explores a series of evaluation and assessment tools to review and monitor one prevention-focused program across an entire State. Listen to representatives from Kentucky's Community Collaborations for Children. Grantees detail how they ensure prevention is considered when funding grants, developing policy and delivering services tailored to meet region-specific needs.

This episode is part of a series focusing on Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP)grantees. These grantees are in a unique position of leadership as they assume responsibility for directing, leading, and evaluating the network of public-private partnerships and the continuum of preventive services for children and families in their states. Listen as grantees detail how states work to ensu...

This episode is part of a series focusing on Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) grantees. Listen as grantees share from a local community and a statewide perspective how EBPs were selected and tailored to meet the needs of the grantees' specific constituency groups.

This episode discusses a virtual reality-based home visiting training currently being used by the university's B.S.W. students — Virtual Home Simulation (VHS) — which was developed by the University of Utah College of Social Work in partnership with the university's games and applications lab. While other online trainings exist, the developers of the VHS training point to the following features th...

This episode is intended for those working with or for organizations looking to make a difference. It shares the insights and experiences of Families Forward Virginia, a nonprofit, prevention-focused organization. Since 2017, Families Forward Virginia and its network of local affiliates have provided statewide leadership and support for a multitude of Virginia programs through evidence-based and m...

'Birth-Foster Parent Mentoring Teams,' features a conversation with both birth and foster parent mentors and leaders, along with the 2018 California Social Worker of the Year. Together, the group describes the work toward changing the culture around foster care to support reunification by creating relationships and partnerships between birth and foster parents.

'Five Steps to a Stronger Child Welfare Workforce' explores the key components and requirements of a five-step process developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The process rose out of a 3-year effort to improve child protective services staff that was tested and evaluated through partnerships with Ohio's Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services and Colorado's Jefferson County Di...

This episode is part of a series featuring the work of Tribal Court Improvement Program grantees. Listeners will hear examples of Tribal courts partnering with families and enabling families to shape how they use Tribal child welfare and support services for rehabilitation and reunification. "Being Family Centered" shares stories from Tribal court and child welfare staff from the Saint Regis Mohaw...

This episode, 'Overcoming Challenges to Working With States', is part of a series featuring the work of Tribal Court Improvement Program grantees. The episode shares examples of Tribal court and Tribal child welfare agencies navigating legal and jurisdictional challenges from the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, told by Tribal social services court staff, respectively. Some...

This episode, 'Building Relationships With State Counterparts', is part of a series featuring the work of Tribal Court Improvement Program grantees. The episode features successful examples from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and Saint Regis MohawkTribes, told by Tribal social service and court leadership. Some of the topics discussed include the following: What a statewide survey told Alaska's Office...

'Foster Care: A Path to Reunification – Part 2' explores all the partnerships, training, and coordination within San Diego County's Children's Services. Listeners will learn about trauma-informed assessment tools, the collaboration with a county-based community college to support training, as well as listen to birth families and older youth as they share their experiences to enhance resource famil...

'Foster Care: A Path to Reunification – Part 1' shares the work of the Center for Family Life, an organization that aims to stabilize families by providing an array of neighborhood-based family and social services in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Foster care is one of their programs, and families involved in the center's foster care program are linked to other services to address the family's specific ne...

'Partnering With Tribal Social Services' shares the stories from three Tribes strengthening their partnerships with their Tribal social services departments and agencies. This episode is part of a series featuring the work of Tribal Court Improvement Program grantees. The episode features the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, and Taos Pueblo of New Mexico. Some...

'Revising Your Children's Code' features the challenges faced and methods used by two different Tribal courts in reviewing and updating their court's Children's Code. This episode is part of a series featuring the work of Tribal Court Improvement Program grantees. The episode showcases the experiences of the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and Taos Pueblo of New Mexico, told by chief Tribal court judges.

'Housing's Critical Connection to Child Welfare' — Part 2 continues a conversation exploring how the San Francisco Human Services Agency partnered with the San Francisco Housing Authority and the Homeless Prenatal Program to help families obtain vouchers and locate affordable housing in the Bay Area. Part 1 demonstrated how child welfare and housing specialists partner to identify families, suppor...

'Adapting to Child Welfare Cases', is part of a series featuring the work of Tribal Court Improvement Program grantees. The episode shares the stories and perspectives from the Saint Regis Mohawk and Mashpee Wampanoag Tribes, told by a chief judge and chief of the Tribe's Elders Judiciary Committee, respectively.

'Casework: What it Really Takes', features a conversation with three former caseworkers who are current staff members of Child Welfare Information Gateway—Marla Belian, child welfare program manager, out of home care; Kelly Canter, discretionary grants manager; and Kari Kryda, child welfare content specialist—in which they share their insight and perspective.

'Housing's Critical Connection to Child Welfare' — Part 1 explores how the San Francisco Human Services Agency partnered with the San Francisco Housing Authority and the Homeless Prenatal Program to help families obtain Family Unification Program vouchers and locate affordable housing in the Bay Area. The project, originally called "Families Moving Forward," was developed through Partnerships to D...

'Family Group Decision-Making: Becoming a Family-Centered Agency,' features the lessons learned and experiences gained through the YMCA Families United Family Group Conferencing Program, a recipient of a 2015 Children's Bureau grant within the Building the Evidence for Family Group Decision-Making in Child Welfare discretionary grant cluster.

In 'The Power of the Parents' Voice' three members of the Parent Advisory CouncilVisit disclaimer page provide guidance for agencies regarding: -Ways to identify and engage parents to share their voice and experience -How to involve parents across the entire system to improve outcomes -The biggest 'a-ha' moments practitioners have when hearing parent's stories for the first time

'Stabilizing Families Through TANF' showcases the Oregon Department of Human Services' Family Support and Connections, a Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention program. Family Support and Connections works with families participating in Oregon's TANF program to identify their needs, connect them to community resources, and further develop parenting skills. Family Support and Connections family adv...