About the Center for States
Who We Are
The Capacity Building Center for States (Center for States), part of the Children’s Bureau’s Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative (Collaborative), helps transform how child welfare agencies work, enabling them to make lasting and equitable practice and system improvements that can keep families healthy, strong, and together.
What We Do
The Center for States provides support to state and territorial public child welfare agencies and their partners to deliver services that are grounded in racial equity, engage people with lived experience and expertise in child welfare, follow evidence-based processes and practices, and keep children, youth, and families safe and thriving.
We are committed to advancing the Children’s Bureau’s priorities for preventing child abuse and neglect, sustaining equitable child welfare practice, and keeping families healthy, together, and strong. Our work helps agencies address current child welfare challenges and strengthen their performance through continuous quality improvement, effective implementation of child welfare programs and practices, and development of a stable, healthy, diverse, and inclusive workforce.
Resources
The Center for States offers a library of publications and trainings to expand understanding, increase awareness, and build knowledge and skills around core organizational and practice topics.
Our Services
The Center for States offers child welfare agencies the following services:
- Providing tailored, expert coaching and consultation on projects that aim to improve child welfare outcomes and support agencies’ strategic and long-term goals. (Contact your Center for States Liaisons for more information)
- Developing and disseminating publications, tools, and learning experiences on a variety of child welfare topics to increase awareness and knowledge of federal child welfare initiatives and child welfare policy and practice
- Hosting virtual and in-person events for increasing knowledge, skills, and peer-networking opportunities
- Supporting peer groups that allow child welfare professionals to virtually connect with colleagues working in similar practice areas or on common initiatives (membership is open to relevant audiences and determined by the Children’s Bureau)
- Providing access to national child welfare expertise, including young adults and families with lived experience and expertise in child welfare
- Responding to information requests for resources, publications, programs, statistics, legislation, and research focused on building capacity at child welfare agencies
- Working to advance race equity, diversity, and inclusion at all levels of the child welfare system
Connect With Us
Learn how we can help your agency build the capacity to thrive.
Email: capacityinfo@icfi.com
Phone: 1.844.222.0272
Visit the Center for States' Contact Us webpage for more information.
Learn About the Collaborative’s Capacity Building Approach
Capacity building is an ongoing, evidence-informed process that helps create a productive and effective child welfare system to better serve all children, youth, and families.
Read the following publications to learn more about capacity building at the Center for States and the Collaborative:
You can also explore the Center for States’ online Guide to Five Dimensions of Organizational Capacity for additional details about capacity building in child welfare.
