The readiness webinar summarizes the process of assessing agency readiness for a child welfare change and implementation process. It includes an overview of how an agency might facilitate the process of assessing readiness to put new programs and practices in place,as well as stories from the field on what assessing readiness looks like in practice.

Watch the Change and Implementation in Practice: Overview video to learn how key steps, tasks, and concepts fit together to support your agency’s change initiatives. 

Explores the second task of creating a data plan to investigate the problem further. Creating a well-thought-out data plan helps the team plan for exploring the identified problem and move toward identifying a possible root cause or causes.

Explores the fifth task of team building: guiding the change process by creating a detailed, comprehensive work plan based on the team charter that organizes the work through each step of the change and implementation process.

Examines why teams should understand the factors influencing readiness, use a structured approach to develop and conduct readiness assessments, and analyze results. This video helps teams understand what needs to be in place before assessing readiness and sets up teams for success as part of a change and implementation process at a child welfare agency.

Presents the third task of collecting and analyzing data identified in the data plan to help answer research questions. Examining data helps teams tell a more complete story and understand the scope and impact the problem is having on the community.

Explores the first task of how to gather information on the problem statement, root cause(s), and target population and provides examples of how to apply strategies.

Presents the sixth and final task of team building: debriefing, evaluating, and identifying the next steps to assess completion and determine how the team will sustain the intervention. As explained in this module, at this point teams also determine whether they need to continue with their work or whether another team needs to be convened.

Explores how the factors of motivation, general capacity, and intervention-specific capacity influence agency readiness for change. This video provides examples of and considerations for conducting readiness assessments.

Hear a foster and adoptive father of African American boys talk about fighting cultural biases to support his sons’ well-being.

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.

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.

This video is a part of the Empowering Caregivers, Strengthening Families Video Series. It demonstrates key aspects of agency support to caregivers, including the importance of quality personal contact, training, and resources to empower caregivers through the process of moving from foster parenting to adoption.

Presents strategies for building a systemwide organizational culture that promotes working collaboratively to improve service array.