Out-of-Home Services
Out-of-Home Services
The Center for States helps child welfare agencies build capacity to develop, implement, and sustain a broad continuum of out-of-home services that promote safety, permanency, and well-being for children and youth. Capacity building strategies include developing programs and practices that support kinship and guardianship families and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) children and youth; addressing normalcy and reasonable and prudent parent standards; and preventing child sex trafficking. The Center’s work promotes best practices and strategies for improving placement stability and permanency.
Series
- Congregate Care in the Age of Family First
- Becoming a Family-Focused System
- Quality Matters: Improving Caseworker Contacts With Children, Youth, and Families
- Menu for Youth Engagement
Publications
- What Factors Support Family Reunification? (Children's Bureau Express article)
- Engaging Youth as Advocates for Themselves and Others (Children's Bureau Express article)
- Engaging Families in Congregate Care (Children's Bureau Express article)
- Coaching to Improve Family Engagement (Children's Bureau Express article)
- Transitioning to Trauma-Informed Congregate Care (Children's Bureau Express article)
- Strategies for Authentic Integration of Family and Youth Voice in Child Welfare
- Creating and Sustaining Cross-System Collaboration to Support Families in Child Welfare With Co-Occurring Issues: An Administrator's Handbook (PDF - 1,418 KB)
- Parent Partner Program Navigator
- Parent Partner Program Manual: Sample Policies and Procedures
- (PDF - 536 KB)
- Redefining Myself: Finding Normalcy After Congregate Care
- Helping LGBTQ Families Navigate the Child Welfare System (PDF - 121 KB)
- Supporting Transgender Children and Youth Involved in the Court System
- (PDF - 107 KB)
- Affirming and Supporting LGBTQ Children and Youth in Child Welfare
- (PDF - 236 KB)
- Considerations for LGBTQ Children and Youth in Foster Care: Exploring Normalcy as It Relates to P.L. 113–183 (PDF - 139 KB)
Videos
- Stories From the Field: Jaslyn’s Story
- Then and Now: Looking Back and Moving Forward in Support of Children, Youth, and Families
- A Judge's Perspective on Family Reunification
- Perspectives on Normalcy: Videos and Discussion Questions
- Authentic Voices Video Series: Sharing Our Perspective
- Empowering Caregivers, Strengthening Families Video Series
- It’s All Relative: Supporting Kinship Care Discussion Guides and Video Series
- Family Mosaic Discussion Guide and Video Series
Learning Experiences
- Agencies & Courts: Putting Families Front and Center Videos and Discussion Guide
- Family Empowerment Leadership Academy (FELA)
Register through CapLEARN to access learning experiences.
- 2016 Virtual Expo Recorded Sessions
- Empowering Caregivers, Strengthening Families
- Achieving Placement Stability
- Child Welfare Response to Child and Youth Sex Trafficking - Part 1
- Child Welfare Response to Child and Youth Sex Trafficking - Part 2
- Child Welfare Response to Child and Youth Sex Trafficking - Part 3
Webinars
- Stories From the Field: Practical Strategies for Engaging Young People Recorded Webinar
- Collaborating With Courts to Promote Foster Care as a Support to Families, Not a Substitute for Parents
- It's All Relative: Supporting Kinship Connections
- It's All Relative: Fostering Relationships Through Visitation
- Safely Reducing the Use of Congregate Care: Considerations in the Age of Family First archived webinar
Register through CapLEARN to access the Webinar Library.
- Post-Reunification Supports and Prevention of Reentry into Out-of-Home Care
- Meeting Health-Care Needs of Children and Youth in Foster Care
- Family Empowerment Leadership Academy Training of Trainers
- Implementing Parent Partner Programs and Supporting Reunification
- Parent Partner Program Navigator Launch
- Helping LGBTQ Families Navigate the Child Welfare System
- Considerations for LGBTQ Children and Youth in Foster Care: Exploring Normalcy as It Relates to P.L. 113-183
- State Perspectives on Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standards
- Building Organizational Capacity in the Implementation of the Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard in Accordance With P.L. 113-183
Resources From Related Topics
- Having the Normalcy Conversation Series
- White House Convening on Developmentally Appropriate Services for Children, Youth, and Young Adults in Foster Care (PDF - 364 KB)
- Toolkit to Support Child Welfare Agencies in Serving LGBTQ Children, Youth, and Families
Podcasts From Information Gateway
- Foster Care: A Path to Reunification – Part 1
- Diligent Recruitment – Intelligent Recruitment
- Diligent Recruitment – Regional Resource Navigators
- Supporting Kinship Caregivers
- Working With the Correctional System and Incarcerated Parents
- Engaging Youth in Foster Care
- Developing and Sustaining a Parent Partner Program
- The Power of the Parents’ Voice
- Family Group Decision-Making: Becoming a Family-Centered Agency
More From Information Gateway
- Health screening for children and youth in foster care [Library Search Results]
- Health-care issues for youth transitioning from foster care [Library Search Results]
- GAO reports on health-care issues with children and youth in foster care [Library Search Results]
- Health-care needs of children in foster care [Library Search Results]
