Discover strategies to effectively integrate people with lived expertise into the child welfare workforce.

Learn about State Liaison Officers, who they are, their roles, responsibilities, and the Center for States resources available to them.

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.

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.

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

Explore sex trafficking prevention best practices for implementing provisions of the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113-183).

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

Read about the value of collaboration as the key to prevention, safety, and long-term stability for children and families.

Learn how people with lived expertise have used their experiences to advocate for changes in approach, practice, and policy in child welfare. 

Explore how caseworkers, supervisors, and stakeholders can use data and feedback to improve child welfare practice. 

Learn about key considerations to sustain research and evaluation partnerships with people with lived expertise and minimize harm. 

Explore additional resources to learn about key considerations to sustain research and evaluation partnerships with people with lived expertise and minimize harm. 

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.

The infographic provides a visual reference for the cultural shift needed to protect children through strengthening families.