This video raises key motivating factors for caregivers, including the need for strong family and community support networks.

Hear a first-hand account of a kinship and adoptive mother raising her nephew, fulfilling roles as both aunt and primary caregiver.

Hear about the challenges and successes and how Donaniece is teaching her grandson the meaning of family.

Shares Molene’s story about becoming the primary caregiver for her four nieces, raising them, adopting them, negotiating the child welfare system, and creating a family.

Bruce and Brenda have been married for 33 years and have four daughters. From 2006 to 2009, they provided a kinship placement for their four grandchildren. In 2010, the couple adopted Bruce (now 18 years old), Tre’Nae (now 15 years old), Mason (now 13 years old), and Kiaunna (now 10 years old).

Learn to be more intentional about creating opportunities to relate to the staff and families you serve and to infuse more empathy into your agency.

Learn how child welfare organizations can create equity in the workforce. 

Emphasizes the need for agency assistance and openness toward creative therapeutic services such as music lessons and highlights the need for a strong caregiver support group. This video shares one caregiver’s positive experience working with older youth with special needs in therapeutic foster care.

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.

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

Hear a summary of the 2022 CWVE themes and learn strategies for moving forward with prioritizing lived expertise in child welfare. 

Explore ways to increase commitment to partnering with people with lived expertise in child welfare.

Is your team responding to or recovering from a disaster? Are you looking for ways to prepare more effectively in the future? Come together to watch “Rising to the Challenge: Lessons Learned in Responding to Disasters” and hear directly from youth, families, and agencies with lived expertise tackling the immediate crisis of disasters.

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.