Children’s physical safety should not be attained at the expense of their emotional and psychological well-being—this can perpetuate trauma for children and parents alike. Physical safety is one critical aspect of well-being, but well-being also requires social, educational, economic, behavioral, cognitive, and relational functionality. Addressing all aspects of well-being helps improve risks of harm and strengthens critical protective factors for ending patterns of maltreatment and trauma. The resources below can help agencies support the well-being of children, youth, and families.

Learning Experiences

(Available on CapLEARN; registration required)

• Quality Matters: Improving Caseworker Contacts With Children, Youth, and Families offers videos, discussion guides, and assessment tools that agencies can use to discover strategies for engaging families and including family voice in case planning, identifying elements of quality contacts, practicing self-assessment and action planning, and promoting effective supervisory conversations.
• Family Empowerment Leadership Academy e-learning modules provide foundational information on encouraging change through family empowerment, building meaningful partnerships, and providing peer-to-peer support to families.
• Supporting and Affirming LGBTQ Children and Youth highlights best practices to improve and nurture the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning children and youth and outlines the impact of harmful practices, such as conversion/reparative therapies.

Series

• A Look Inside Sharing Power in Child Welfare: A Podcast. Listen to this podcast series by and about people with lived experience in child welfare and about their partnerships with leaders within child welfare agencies.

Videos and Recorded Webinars With Discussion Guides

• Perspectives on Normalcy: Videos and Discussion Questions helps states and territories implement the reasonable and prudent parent standard (RPPS) by illustrating normalcy for children and youth in foster care and generating discussion about how to implement it.
• Authentic Voices Video Series: Sharing Our Perspective shares stories of foster and adoptive parents, children, youth, and professionals—focusing on themes of belonging, connection, development, and normalcy for children and youth in out-of-home care.

Publications

• Quality Matters: Improving Caseworker Contacts With Children, Youth, and Families series supports child welfare agencies and contracted service providers in building capacity to conduct quality contacts between caseworkers and children, youth, parents, and resource parents.
• Having the Normalcy Conversation series describes the importance of normalcy for children and youth in foster care and provides guidance for facilitating a normalcy conversation.
• White House Convening on Developmentally Appropriate Services for Children, Youth, and Young Adults in Foster Care addresses developmentally appropriate services for youth in foster care and identifies best practices to support the well-being of youth.
• Affirming and Supporting LGBTQ Children and Youth in Child Welfare tip sheet provides information on how child welfare systems can avoid harmful practices and use healthy approaches when working with LGBTQ children and youth.
• Considerations for LGBTQ Children and Youth in Foster Care: Exploring Normalcy as It Relates to P.L. 113–183  presents information related to the normalcy needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning children and youth.
• CQI Training Academy: Using Data to Implement Change Handbook builds a common understanding of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) best practices and learn how your CQI team can apply those practices as your agency works to strengthen families, deliver equitable services, and build more resilient communities.

Peer Groups

The following peer groups can help connect child welfare professionals focused on supporting the well-being of children, youth, and families. Visit the Center’s Current Peer Groups page for more information or to sign up for a peer group.

Virtual Events

• Visit the Center’s Events page to learn about upcoming events focused on addressing all aspects of child and family well-being.

The Center also offers tailored services to states and jurisdictions to help build agency capacity for supporting the well-being of children, youth, and families. For more information, contact your State Liaison.