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.

Explore how data reported in AFCARS about youth who run away from state custody can be used to inform interventions.

Reflect on past results to inform plans for future improvements.

Consider whose perspectives are represented on your team. 

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

Discover how parent partner programs support family reunification by guiding and motivating parents into constructive interactions with the child welfare system and courts.

Explore existing frameworks for protective capacities and protective factors and learn how to use them together for better prevention.

Learn how supervisors and program managers can assist child welfare caseworkers in conducting quality visits with parents.

This “Service Array Data Inventory Sample Worksheet” (Worksheet) is a companion tool to A Data-Driven Approach to Service Array Guide developed by the Capacity Building Center for States. To use the Worksheet, you can print it out and fill in the blank squares, or use the questions as a guide.

Discover how the reasonable and prudent parent standard (RPPS) has been implemented in one state to promote normalcy for children and youth in foster care.

Use this brief to explore actionable strategies for meaningful partner engagement in child welfare agency strategic planning, monitoring, and review processes.

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

Learn about the Indiana Department of Child Services’ upstream prevention approach to training and development, expanding the service array, and collaborating with system partners and providers in this recorded webinar.

Listen to Indiana’s child welfare partners talk about making the shift to an upstream approach to prevention services possible in this short podcast. 

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.