This tool is a role-playing activity, designed to help child welfare workers and supervisors become more familiar with the process of recognizing and translating buzzwords into descriptive language.

Identify data sources to explore your state’s system of foster and adoptive parent licensing, recruitment, and retention.

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

Discusses new software and technologies used in child welfare.

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.

Examine strategies for building a healthy, innovative, and supportive agency culture.
 

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.

Identify data sources to explore how well your state’s quality assurance system is functioning.

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.

Identify data sources to explore service array and resource development.

Identify data sources to explore functioning of staff and provider training.

Identify data sources to explore how well your state’s statewide information system is functioning.