Resource Library

The Center for States designs products, services, and learning experiences to increase understanding and awareness, and build knowledge and skills. The Center focuses its attention on developing products and resources on several core organizational and practice topics.

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The Center for States provides research assistance and responds to information requests on building capacity in child welfare.

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Showing 121 - 135 of 158 resources
Video

See how listening and relatability helped build trust between a youth and his attorney.

Video

This webinar provides an overview of the Family First Prevention Services Act provisions and strategies related to reducing reliance on congregate care.

Video

Underscores the importance of consistency and encouragement in trusting relationships. A Fostering Success peer mentor gave impactful advice to the youth she mentored: Stop listening to the people who don’t believe in you.

Video

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.

Podcast

Explore a family-focused program that embodies many of the changes that Kentucky wants to see throughout its child welfare system in this podcast. The START, program demonstrates a shift in organizational culture to focus on family and serves as an example of a truly collaborative team that uses early intervention and a shared decision-making model to work with families.

Video

Highlights the importance of recognizing the foster family as an extension of a child’s biological family and the role of effective communication between caregivers and biological family members. This video shares the experience of one caregiver who found that successful collaboration with biological family members, along with agency assistance to promote family engagement, proved effective for family reunification.

Video

Hear from a family about the challenges of dealing with an autism diagnosis and other issues while navigating the child welfare system.

Podcast

In this episode leaders from the District of Columbia child welfare agency and a community collaborative organization discuss their longstanding partnership. The commissioner for Kentucky's child welfare agency describes the agency’s strategic communication plan and considers the role of the agency as part of the larger child welfare system.

Video

Demonstrates how showing up and listening are foundational to developing a nourishing relationship with youth. A young woman describes the constant support she and her family received from a social worker as she evolved from a youth into a teen mom and an advocate.

Video

Recorded webinar of youth with lived expertise and child and family serving agency leaders discussing strategies to support meaningful youth engagement and integrating family and youth voices at individual, practice, and system levels.

PDF

Explore tips and strategies to effectively engage and sustain the involvement of families and youth at the agency level. 

PDF

Explore coaching steps and tips supervisors can use to help workers strengthen skills and meet goals.

PDF

Learn to prepare transgender children and youth for court and support them in the courtroom.

Video

Addresses motivations for becoming a kinship parent and the importance of having agency guidance and support to navigate shifting family roles and dynamics. This video presents one family's transition from kinship care to adoption, and highlights resources that contributed to their success and their ability to provide permanency for their adoptive daughter.

Video

Highlights motivating factors for caregivers serving children with therapeutic needs, including the value of caregiver support networks, continuous training, and a commitment to strengthen families within the caregiver’s community. This video shares a foster mother’s experiences collaborating with biological families toward positive outcomes for the children in her care.