Use this resource to prompt discussion and adopt a change management approach  during the development of child welfare information systems.

Addresses the importance of agency resources, such as caregiver support groups and specialized training, to equip caregivers to work successfully with children and youth who have severe therapeutic needs. This video highlights a therapeutic foster parent's belief that effective advocacy relies on agency resources and training as well as community support.

This handout is part of the series, “Perspectives on Normalcy: Videos and Discussion Questions.” It is designed to facilitate discussion about the issues raised in the video, “Kinship Adoption: You Get a Call, ‘Do You Want These Kids?’”

Find out where evidence-based programs and services are being implemented to prevent children from entering foster care.

Examine the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program's purpose, objectives, history, funding, and requirements. 

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.

Highlights the importance of recognizing the foster family as an extension of a child’s biological family and the role of effective communication between caregivers and biological family members. This video shares the experience of one caregiver who found that successful collaboration with biological family members, along with agency assistance to promote family engagement, proved effective for family reunification.

Hear from a family about the challenges of dealing with an autism diagnosis and other issues while navigating the child welfare system.

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

​​Examine how implementation science principles can be applied to decisions about staging and scaling up new programs and practices at a child welfare agency.​ 

Highlights motivating factors for caregivers serving children with therapeutic needs, including the value of caregiver support networks, continuous training, and a commitment to strengthen families within the caregiver’s community. This video shares a foster mother’s experiences collaborating with biological families toward positive outcomes for the children in her care.

Learn a research-informed framework for agencies to explore implementation of CQI systems across seven areas, including leadership support and modeling, staff and stakeholder engagement, communication, administrative structure, use of quality data, case record review process, and application of CQI findings.

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

Demonstrates the power of positive caregiver perspective alongside child welfare agency encouragement and support. In this video, caregivers share the concerns they had about becoming foster parents and discuss the resources that helped them become committed and effective foster parents.

Use the integrated Theory of Change video workbook to record your questions and ideas for changing practice, which you can then use to apply the theory of change development process at your agency.