Listen to child welfare agency leaders in the District of Columbia talk about how they work with partners to use their different data lenses to understand the needs of families and to structure a set of services to best meet the full spectrum of needs. In Kentucky, child welfare agency leaders describe the process of finding the story behind the numbers to transform their system.

Highlights the advocacy work of state and regional youth leadership councils. Two paid regional and state youth specialists and the Texas Director for Transitional Living Services describe how including youth voice by providing them a “seat at the table” at the state capital enhances the child welfare system. All three discuss the rewards and personal impact of their work.

Learn about quality contacts, why they are important, and how an agency can successfully implement them.

Tells the story of the relationship, initially forged over a shared meal, between a youth and her CASA worker. The CASA worker’s advocacy for concrete supports to meet the youth’s needs helped grow the trust in their relationship.

In this introduction to the podcast series How We Partner With the Community to Improve Service Options, agency leaders talk about the changing culture of their organizations. Leaders from Kentucky discuss their Child Welfare Transformation initiative, three transformational goals, and culture of safety.

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

Learn about the challenges faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) families involved with the child welfare system and ways to help them.

Learn how to create an agency organizational culture that is inclusive and knowledgeable about the unique needs of LGBTQ children, youth, and families.

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

Explore the efforts agencies, community collaborative organizations, and others are making to bring families, youth, and communities to the table as they strive to improve the child welfare system in this podcast. 

Explore innovative programs and strategies that child welfare professionals can use to support reunification and emphasize caregiver and parent voice.

Explore the types of simulation training available, the benefits, costs, and other considerations, when setting up a simulation training program.

Learn how to support state planning and implementation of the reasonable and prudent parent standard (RPPS), which is required by the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (P.L. 113–183), to help children and youth in foster care experience normal childhood and adolescent activities. 

Use the template and instructions provided to develop parent partner program manuals.

Learn how child welfare professionals and family leaders can use the Parent Partner Program Navigator, a web-based, interactive resource that offers guidance for designing and implementing parent partner programs at child welfare agencies.