The Child and Family Services Review Round 4 Community of Practice promotes collaboration and learning among states or territories engaged in Round 4 of the Child and Family Services Review. Its focus includes the components of the CFSR and the priorities of the Children’s Bureau in Round 4 including robust use of data and evidence, engagement of those with lived experience, and advancing racial equity. It is currently open to Years 1 and 2 jurisdictions. The membership includes CFSR Managers/Leads, Child Welfare Directors, Case Review Coordinators, CQI Managers/Leads, Court Improvement Administrators, Legal/Judicial partners, Data System Managers, Data Analysts, individuals with lived experience and lived expertise, relevant partners to an individual jurisdiction and anyone who is part of a jurisdiction’s CFSR planning and implementation team. Membership is open to those who meet the criteria and must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

Child Welfare Training Directors Peer Group promotes collaboration among training directors and managers to enhance child welfare training and education. Membership is open to state-level training directors and other entities that provide foundational training to the state's child welfare workforce, including managers and contracted training system directors and managers. Membership requests must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

Children’s Justice Act (CJA) Grantees Peer Group promotes collaboration among organizations and agencies that have received the CJA grant to achieve positive outcomes for child abuse and neglect victims. CJA grants are established by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and are provided to develop, establish, and operate programs aimed at improving the handling and investigation of child abuse and neglect. Membership is open to CJA coordinators and state task force members. Requests to join must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

Citizen Review Panels Peer Group promotes collaboration and peer-to-peer learning and networking among state coordinators and panel members for jurisdictional citizen review panels. Panel members must be volunteers and include those who have expertise in the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect and may include adult former victims of child abuse or neglect. Panels review policies, procedures, and practices. Membership is open to state coordinators and panel members; requests to join must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)/Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) Managers Peer Group promotes collaboration among state or territory CQI and CFSR managers to achieve quality improvements in child welfare practice and positive outcomes for children, youth, and families. Members of this group include managers who oversee statewide assessment reports, Program Improvement Plans and case reviews, and staff responsible for Child and Family Services Plans. Membership is open to those who meet the criteria and must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

County-Administered State Partnership Peer Group promotes collaboration among peers from county-administered state child welfare programs to brainstorm peer-driven solutions that support effective management and to discuss best practices and issues related to urban and rural counties, differing budgets and local resources, and how to respond to federal requirements. This group is open to members who meet the criteria of programmatic leadership at the state level in California, Colorado, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin and is subject to approval by the Children’s Bureau.

The Disaster Planning, Response, and Recovery Peer Group promotes collaboration among child welfare agency staff who work on agency disaster planning, response, and recovery efforts. Members of this group include program managers, administrators, and other team members responsible for developing, updating, and implementing their agency’s disaster plans. Membership is open to those who meet the criteria and must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

Extended Federal Foster Care (EFFC) Programs Peer Group promotes collaboration among state coordinators and other partners of EFFC programs to achieve positive outcomes for youth ages 18 to 21 in voluntary foster care. Members of this group include title IV-E extended foster care managers and staff whose agencies are implementing federally approved extended foster care plans. Membership is limited to members who serve in this role and must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

Family Leaders in Child Welfare Community of Practice promotes collaboration among family leaders involved in the child welfare system to achieve improvement in family empowerment and positive outcomes for children, parents, and families. Members of this group include family empowerment and parent partner program leaders, other family or parent leaders engaged by state child welfare agencies, family consultants and advocates, and state and county leaders with an interest in and responsibility for increased family and fatherhood engagement and empowerment. Membership is open to interested members and must be approved by group leads.

FFPSA Prevention Plan Leaders supports collaboration and learning between state leads who are responsible for supporting prevention plan development and/or implementation in their jurisdictions to meet the requirements of the Family First Prevention Services Act. The purpose of FPPL is to bring prevention plan state office leaders and/or their state office teams together virtually to support the development and implementation of Title IV-E Prevention Program plans to support systems as they work to become more prevention-focused. Membership is open to state child welfare leaders and teams charged with implementing and/or developing their jurisdictions’ Title IV-E prevention program plan under the FFPSA.  This also includes regional/county team members that may be working with their state office team on implementation.

Hotline/Intake/Screening Managers (HISM) Peer Group promotes collaboration among child welfare professionals responsible for overseeing child abuse and neglect reporting systems to enhance hotline, intake, and screening functions and processes. Members of this group include state or county HISMs that are recommended and approved by each state’s State Liaison Officer for child abuse and neglect.

The In-Home Services and Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) Managers Peer Group promotes collaboration among in-home services managers (or managers from program equivalents) and PSSF managers to achieve positive outcomes for children and families that receive in-home services or other PSSF grant funded services. 

In-home services managers oversee programs that provide services to children and families who have been reported to child protective services for possible child abuse or neglect and who are assessed as being able to benefit from services delivered in the home. While the focus of PSSF managers may more directly involve the oversight of the PSSF grant, In-Home and PSSF managers both oversee programs aimed at preventing unnecessary separation, improving the quality of care and services, and ensuring permanency for children. 

Membership is open to individuals who meet the criteria and must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

Kinship Navigators Peer Group promotes kinship family support services and peer-to-peer connection and collaboration among state, territory, and tribal kinship navigator program leaders, contracted providers, technical assistance partners, and advocacy organizations focused on kinship family support services. Membership is open to individuals who meet the criteria and must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) Peer Group promotes collaboration among state coordinators and other partners responsible for collecting data through NYTD. Members of this group include state NYTD coordinators and other staff whose agencies participated in the NYTD federal pilot reviews. Membership is limited to those that meet the criteria and must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

Preventing and Addressing Human Trafficking in Child Welfare Peer Group promotes collaboration among child welfare professionals responsible for coordinating the response to human trafficking and the multidisciplinary partners they work with, including law enforcement, courts, and service providers. Membership is open to individuals who meet the criteria and must be approved by group leads.

Programmatic Data Analysts Peer Group promotes collaboration among programmatic data analysts to improve data quality and use and achieve improvements in child welfare practice and positive outcomes for children, youth, and families. Members of this group include business-level data analysts who translate complex analyses into action-oriented practice discussions and CQI activities. Membership is open to those who meet the criteria and must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

State Adoption Managers Peer Group promotes collaboration among members of the National Association of State Adoption Programs (NASAP) to achieve positive outcomes in the areas of adoption and guardianship. NASAP exists to enable state adoption managers to pool their expertise for progressive improvement in the quality of care to children, youth, and families served by state adoption services. This group is closed, and each jurisdiction currently determines their membership.

State Chafee and Education and Training Voucher Coordinators Peer Group promotes collaboration among Chafee Foster Care Independence Programs (CFCIPs) to achieve positive outcomes for youth transitioning from foster care. Members of this group include child welfare professionals engaged in CFCIPs, such as state child welfare independent living coordinators and staff involved in education training and voucher programs. This group is open only to members who meet the criteria, and membership must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

State Foster Care Managers Peer Group promotes collaboration among members of the National Association of State Foster Care Managers (NASFCM) to achieve positive outcomes for children and youth in foster care. NASFCM exists to enable state foster care managers to pool their expertise for progressive improvement in the quality of care to children, youth, and families served by foster care. This group is open only to state-level foster care managers. The board and the Children’s Bureau determine membership.

State Liaison Officers (SLOs) Peer Group promotes collaboration among SLOs to achieve positive outcomes in the area of child protective services and programs. SLOs serve as the point of contact between a state or territory’s public child welfare agency and the Children’s Bureau for child protective services issues. SLOs also possess knowledge about their jurisdiction’s CAPTA-related policies, procedures, and programming. This group is open only to members who meet the criteria, and membership must be approved by the Children’s Bureau.

The Title IV-E Stipend University Partners (TSUP) Peer Group is a network of university partners committed to public child welfare education through their support of Title IV-E Stipend programs. Participants will build and enhance their knowledge, skills, and share strategies to help their universities improve the organizational and administrative capacity of their undergraduate or graduate-level programs in public child welfare social work and education. TSUP Peer Group events spotlight topics related to title IV-E stipend programs, university initiatives, and public child welfare as an opportunity to support positive systems change. Membership is open to all current title IV-E university partners across the U.S. and territories. Membership requests will be verified by the Center for States.