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.

Adapt proven strategies from this publication to improve specific areas of culture and that support collaborative development of an effective service array.

Adapt strategies from this publication to improve specific areas of culture and climate to support partnering with families after conducting an assessment.

Get guidance, tips, and strategies for assessing agency culture and climate. 

Learn about the importance of successful collaboration and engagement for implementing prevention-focused systems.

Buzzwords: Moving to Behavioral Descriptors doodle video is a short, animated video that follows a child involved in a child welfare investigation. The video describes what buzzwords are and illustrates the impact they can have on children and families. It also demonstrates how to recognize buzzwords and offers strategies for transforming buzzwords into objective, behavior-based descriptors.

This publication looks at buzzwords in the context of words or phrases commonly used in child welfare reporting and documentation that can be subjective or carry negative connotations, and offers strategies to minimize their negative impact.

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

Access strategies to better understand and implement the family engagement requirements of the FFPSA.

This tool is a role-playing activity, designed to help child welfare workers and supervisors become more familiar with the process of recognizing and translating buzzwords into descriptive language.

Find family engagement strategies for survivors, children, and perpetrators of domestic violence.

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 information and get guidance about sex trafficking and identification of sex trafficking victims.

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.