Becoming a Workforce of Everyday Scientists: Frontline Staff in the Legal Community Legal Presentation

Becoming a Workforce of Everyday Scientists: Frontline Staff in Agencies and Tribes

How Do We Know What Works? Challenges and Opportunities for Building Evidence for Leaders and Decision Makers examines evidence-based practice from the point of view of leaders and managers, who must process information about what works or not, decide if it is credible and is having the intended effect, and assess the implications of their decision at every level of the organization. 

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.

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

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. 

Get guidance for completing the CQI self-assessment instrument, see suggested sources for local assessment data, and learn to rate assessment results.

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

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.

Explore how having access to the right information at the right time can improve assessment and decision-making at the child/family level, and how aggregate data can be used to support system improvements. 

Explore the four thematic pillars necessary for organizational capacity that supports engagement with young people currently and formerly in foster care.

Learn about adolescent brain development, trauma-responsive care, and the importance of normalcy.

Learn effective strategies to collect, analyze, and use data related to caseworker visits.

Learn how to build capacity in each of four component areas to promote a culture and climate that encourages youth engagement at all levels of an organization.

Learn the characteristics and results that describe the right people to engage youth and get guidance for recruiting, hiring, and retaining these employees.