Read recent research on child welfare workforce management, including recruitment and retention, professional development, and organizational culture.

Describes strategies to change staff attitudes, engage families in developing their case plans, and keep children in foster care connected with their families and community. Rosa, the parent partner, shares how she joined the team, what she does in her role, and how the workgroup is helping the agency improve the support and services provided to families.

Shows strategies for child welfare staff to work with the court system to support family involvement. Joe, the Court Improvement Program lead, talks about his experience in the workgroup and the corresponding changes made in the court system to improve the support and services provided to families.

Browse casework activities to use before, during, and after a caseworker visit with children, youth, and families.

Learn how supervisors and program managers can assist child welfare caseworkers in conducting quality visits with parents.

Describes practices that embed and sustain changes in organizational culture. Caseworkers Tyler, Angela, and Laurence and program manager Francie talk about all the changes in the past year that have shifted the culture to better support families.

Explore the key components of engaging youth and families in individual permanency planning.

Presents strategies to promote engagement and support of families and kin, and describes the importance of continuous feedback. Steven, the kinship navigator, shares how he joined the team, what he does in his role, and what the workgroup is doing to help the agency improve the support and services provided to families.

Explore coaching steps and tips supervisors can use to help workers strengthen skills and meet goals.

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

Support agency staff in the authentic engagement of youth and families in individual permanency planning processes.

Watch this short, animated video to examine how changing the language and messaging we use can support a shift to a more prevention-focused child welfare system.

Listen to Indiana’s child welfare partners talk about making the shift to an upstream approach to prevention services possible in this short podcast. 

Learn about the Indiana Department of Child Services’ upstream prevention approach to training and development, expanding the service array, and collaborating with system partners and providers in this recorded webinar.

Engage staff and partners with activities in this guide to start a dialogue and create a vision for a more prevention-focused child welfare system.