This guide is designed to support administrative leaders in states and other jurisdictions in using data to assess and identify ways to improve their service array.

Browse the themes and key takeaways from the How We Partner With the Community to Improve Service Options podcast series.

Reflect on past results to inform plans for future improvements.

Better understand your state’s performance on statewide data indicators related to the safety and permanency of children served by the child welfare system. 

Learn how to engage young people and families with lived expertise in the CFSR process at a child welfare agency. 

See how coordination can improve identification, reporting, and services for youth who are victims or at risk of becoming victims of sex trafficking.

Shares Stephen’s story about being a community-based provider and policymaker in Florida, the need for laws that empower caregiver decision-making, creating Florida’s reasonable and prudent parent standard (RPPS), and the effect RPPS and normalcy laws can have on foster care.

Find information about using collaborative practices and models across human service systems to better serve families dealing with co-occurring issues.

Learn about quality contacts, why they are important, and how an agency can successfully implement them.

Watch this video to learn how community-based partnerships strengthen families and see what jurisdictions are doing to build lines of collaboration and trust.

Explore the process of transitioning to a prevention-focused child welfare system from several perspectives, including those of a mother and son with lived experience and leaders who set the tone and direction for putting families at the center of child welfare work.

Explore the efforts agencies, community collaborative organizations, and others are making to bring families, youth, and communities to the table as they strive to improve the child welfare system in this podcast. 

Learn to use the CFSR Round 4 SPSS syntax to calculate observed performance for a state on all or selected statewide data indicators.

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

Review the steps for running the CFSR Round 4 SPSS syntax to calculate observed performance on statewide data indicators.