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.

Learn the definition and find information about normalcy and the reasonable and prudent parent standard in the PL 113-183.

Frankie is 14 years old and lives with his sister, brothers, and moms. He and his sister were adopted when they were 2 years old and 4 years old, respectively. He loves spending time with his aunts, uncles, and cousins and loves being part of a big family.

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

Explore how child welfare professionals and organizations can build capacity for implementing the reasonable and prudent parent standard (RPPS) for children and youth in foster care. 

Listen to a judge and a child welfare agency leader discuss the challenges, achievements, and strategies of the Tompkins County Family Treatment Court. This longstanding collaboration between the child welfare, substance use treatment, and judicial systems has been steadily growing its Family Treatment Court Team and improving outcomes for families since 2001.

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.

Get informed about creating normalcy for LGBTQ children and youth in foster care and browse relevant examples.

See strategies and examples for partnering with faith-based communities and leaders on behalf of children and youth in foster care waiting to be adopted.

Learn how leveraging NGO connections in the community can help child welfare systems be more flexible and adaptable in achieving program goals.

Get ideas for working with community foundations, endowments, and charitable trusts to improve outcomes for children and youth.

Identify data sources to explore your state’s system of foster and adoptive parent licensing, recruitment, and retention.

Examine a five-step framework that helps organizations promote youth engagement in normalcy conversations about the youth’s own care.

Explore the various aspects of the importance of normalcy for children and youth in care.