How Do We Know What Works? Challenges and Opportunities for Building Evidence for Practitioners focuses on the role of frontline staff as important (and discerning) consumers of evidence, critical data, and information from children, youth, and families to inform their practice. This session also addresses the role of frontline staff in continuous quality improvement (CQI) processes and as contributors to building evidence in child welfare.

This session explores how research, evaluation, and continuous quality improvement (CQI) efforts can help you strengthen practice to achieve a common goal of all child welfare professionals: becoming more effective in your work and being better able to ensure that children are safe, in healthy and intact families, and thriving.

The Power of Feedback: Being a Vocal Participant in the Process, Elevating the Voices of the Workforce, Children, Youth, Families, and Communities Presentation

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.

Explore strategies for developing a comprehensive community prevention framework across all levels of prevention.

Examine new software and technology innovations, which provide better, more integrated services and cut costs for states and jurisdictions.

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. 

Learn about applications that can make information gathering more efficient, increase useful data, and help you better understand those you serve. 

​​Increase awareness and understanding of the healthcare needs of children and youth in foster care, the medical services available to them, and the healthcare services available for children who return home and youth who age out of care.​ 

Learn strategies to address the mental health needs of children, young people, and families.

Read this resource to learn about direct financial assistance and emergency financial assistance available to young people.

Explore strategies for redesigning the child welfare service array to meet the needs of youth and young adults currently and formerly in foster care.

In this episode leaders from the District of Columbia child welfare agency and a community collaborative organization discuss their longstanding partnership. The commissioner for Kentucky's child welfare agency describes the agency’s strategic communication plan and considers the role of the agency as part of the larger child welfare system.

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).