Building Capacity for Disaster Preparedness at a Child Welfare Agency
Building Capacity for Disaster Preparedness at a Child Welfare Agency
The Capacity Building Center for States (the Center) helps agencies build capacity to improve child welfare practice and achieve safety, permanency, and well-being for children, youth, and families. When disasters such as pandemics or hurricanes occur, having the necessary capacity to quickly respond at all levels is crucial for children, families, and staff.
Select a topic below to learn how child welfare agencies can build capacity to pivot their practices and policies and efficiently deploy or reallocate needed resources in the event of a disaster.
Resources and Technology
The following resources provide information on the materials and technologies that can support programs and practice improvements in disaster preparedness.
- Knowledge Management Research: Telework in Child Welfare (PDF - 338 KB)
Supports child welfare agencies in transferring select operations online and out of a central worksite (Center for States). - Knowledge Management Research: Virtual Meetings in Child Welfare (PDF - 354 KB)
Helps child welfare agencies better understand available technologies and best practices for holding virtual meetings (Center for States). - Inventory of Innovations: Innovations in Software and Technology
Explores ways to use recent developments in software and technology in child welfare to potentially save costs while allowing workers to provide better, more integrated services (Center for States). - Virtual Visitation Resources
Provides information on the use of virtual visitations in child welfare and other fields (Child Welfare Information Gateway).
Policies and Practices
The resources below can help agencies develop policies, frameworks, and operating procedures to be more flexible in their response to disaster and disaster planning.
- Caring for Children in a Disaster
Lists information, tools, and additional resources to keep children and families safe during disasters (Centers for Disease Control webpage). - Knowledge Management Research: Disaster Preparedness, Response, and Communication Planning (PDF - 318KB)
Helps child welfare agencies respond to the need to alter practice and communication routines when “normal” child welfare services have been disrupted and better prepare agencies for future disruptions (Center for States). - Children and Disasters
Provides information and tools to assist families in responding to natural and man-made disasters (American Academy of Pediatrics). - COVID-19 Resources
Presents current guidance and resources on addressing various parts of the child welfare system and practice impacted by pandemics (Children’s Bureau). - Coping With Disasters and Strengthening Systems: A Framework for Child Welfare Agencies
Helps managers think through what they might put in place to cope with disasters and highlights how taking these steps can improve systems for serving children and families (National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement, Muskie School of Public Service). - Disaster Planning for Child Welfare Agencies
Outlines the reasons child welfare agencies should develop disaster plans, provides an overview of plan development, points to resources for creating preparedness plans, and highlights state and local examples (Child Welfare Information Gateway). - Disaster Technical Assistance Center (DTAC)
Helps states, territories, tribes, and local providers plan for and respond to behavioral health needs after a disaster (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration). - Disasters
Provides information, tools, and resources to support families in the case of natural disasters and help them to address the potential traumatic effects (National Child Traumatic Stress Network).
Workforce Needs
The following resources can guide child welfare workers at all levels in disaster planning and response, as well as help build an effective organizational climate for disaster preparedness.
- ASPR Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (TRACIE)
Provides resources to meet the information and technical needs of healthcare and related staff working in the areas of disaster preparedness and response (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). - Becoming a Family-Focused System: Improving Culture Begins With Leaders
Presents strategies to initiate, promote, and sustain improved organizational culture through adaptive leadership and modeling collaboration (Center for States). - The Child Welfare Worker Safety Guide
Examines current research regarding child welfare worker safety, the laws and policies states have used to address the issue, and the strategies that agencies and workers can use to enhance workers’ safety and well-being in the workplace (Center for States). - Virtual Workforce Supports Resource Collection
Offers resources for child welfare staff to help them work from a home environment safely and effectively (National Child Welfare Workforce Institute). - Virtually Supervising Child Welfare Professionals During a Pandemic
Offers strategies for virtual supervision to help support staff, encourage team cohesion, and ensure work continuity (National Child Welfare Workforce Institute and QIC-WD).
Constituency and Tailored Services for Disaster Preparedness
Constituency groups can help connect child welfare professionals working on disaster preparedness and planning. Visit the Center’s Constituency Group webpage for more information or to join a constituency group to help you plan for coordinating and sharing information with peers and colleagues during disasters.
The Center offers tailored services to states and jurisdictions to help build agency capacity for disaster preparedness and review existing disaster plans to support continuous quality improvement (CQI). For more information contact your Tailored Services Liaison.
Visit the Center for States Events page to learn about upcoming events focused on building capacity for disaster preparedness.
