This video tells the story of how a family court judge in Hancock County, Mississippi, works with families and stakeholders to support reunification through a trauma-informed, family-centered approach.

Addresses the importance of being open to agency supports and the necessity of self-care in working through family transitions. In this set of digital stories, Jammie, a kinship parent caring for her niece's children, reflects on family connections and supportive services.

Tells the story of Melissa and her two sons, David and Emilio, following their adoption. This set of digital stories underscores the need for connections, educational supports, and post-adoption services.

Relays the highs and lows of Josh, a young adult with a passion to help children in foster care. While poised for success as he graduates college, Josh meets challenges later in life after the loss of critical supports. In this video, Josh points to trauma-informed strategies that build youth resilience and help create “reserves” for when crises hit.

Underscores the importance of community connections and ongoing supports to child and family well-being. In this set of digital stories, a grandmother, Joan, promotes the idea of “surround-sound parenting” for her adopted grandson, Chad.

Reveals the complexity of family dynamics through the experiences of Shary, a kinship parent caring for her niece, Brianna, and grandson, Random. In the first digital story, Brianna seeks to reconnect the pieces in her family puzzle. The second digital story highlights Random's unflappable resilience despite medical challenges.

Explore actions that can lead to building authentic, collaborative, and prevention-focused child welfare systems.

Explore the need for involving multiple voices in developing and implementing prevention plans, as well as the important role courts play in prevention.

Presents an overview of how a family court judge works in collaboration with families, the child welfare agency, and stakeholders to improve family and children outcomes and significantly reduce the number of children in foster care. 

Watch this recorded webcast to learn what it means to build a complete system of foster care as a support to families, not a substitute for parents.

Explore strategies for building an an organizational culture that promotes collaboration to improve service array.

See the impact of a family court's approach to supporting families.

The videos and activities in this guide can be a vehicle to build mutual understanding and spark change across the child welfare system. Training managers can integrate the content into training for child welfare workers or for cross-system training of court and child welfare personnel.

Explore the types of simulation training available, the benefits, costs, and other considerations, when setting up a simulation training program.

Listen to a judge and a child welfare agency leader discuss the challenges, achievements, and strategies of the Tompkins County Family Treatment Court. This longstanding collaboration between the child welfare, substance use treatment, and judicial systems has been steadily growing its Family Treatment Court Team and improving outcomes for families since 2001.