​​Explore various perspectives on how child welfare professionals can engage youth and young adults in child welfare practice.​ 

Hear a summary of the 2022 CWVE themes and learn strategies for moving forward with prioritizing lived expertise in child welfare. 

Explore ways to increase commitment to partnering with people with lived expertise in child welfare.

Explore additional resources on how to increase commitment to partnering with people with lived expertise in child welfare. 

Explore promising practices in pregnancy, parenting, and prevention services and view practice examples, including evidence-based programs, in-home services, and specialized units.

Read this resource to learn about direct financial assistance and emergency financial assistance available to young people.

Build skills in community engagement in quality improvement and enhanced data exploration. 

Explore strategies for redesigning the child welfare service array to meet the needs of youth and young adults currently and formerly in foster care.

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

Explore ways to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) children and youth.

Explore tips to help promote youth mental health and wellness services, jurisdictional highlights, and links to relevant resources and tools.

Engage staff and partners with activities in this guide to start a dialogue and create a vision for a more prevention-focused child welfare system.

Ensure that youth and young adults exiting foster care can obtain their vital documents before transitioning from foster care.

Addressed developmentally appropriate services for youth in foster care and identified best practices for Federal support of States and territories in implementing provisions of the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113-183).

Brandon is a 21-year-old alumnus of the foster care system. He was in the foster care system for about 10 years and serves as a foster care advocate, working in State government for the last 3 years. He feels that normal activities for all youth in foster care should include getting a driver’s license, going on out-of-State and overnight trips, and participating in sports.