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.

Use the template and instructions provided to develop parent partner program manuals.

Learn how child welfare professionals and family leaders can use the Parent Partner Program Navigator, a web-based, interactive resource that offers guidance for designing and implementing parent partner programs at child welfare agencies.

Use the four domain areas of the Parent Partner Program Navigator to learn the key components of designing and implementing successful parent partner programs.

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.

This handout is part of the series, “Perspectives on Normalcy: Videos and Discussion Questions.” It is designed to facilitate discussion about the issues raised in the video, “Kinship Adoption: You Get a Call, ‘Do You Want These Kids?’”

Hear about the challenges and experiences of an adoptive family and how they created belonging, healthy development, and normal experiences.

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.

Hear from a family about the challenges of dealing with an autism diagnosis and other issues while navigating the child welfare system.

Recorded webinar of youth with lived expertise and child and family serving agency leaders discussing strategies to support meaningful youth engagement and integrating family and youth voices at individual, practice, and system levels.

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.

Uncovers staff attitudes and beliefs that stand in the way of becoming family focused. Francie, the agency's foster care program manager, has a conversation with two new caseworkers and discovers a disconnect between what the agency promotes through its vision and mission and what is actually happening in practice.

Brandon is a 21-year-old alumnus of the foster care system. He was in the foster care system for about 10 years and serves as a foster care advocate, working in State government for the last 3 years. He feels that normal activities for all youth in foster care should include getting a driver’s license, going on out-of-State and overnight trips, and participating in sports.

Hear how Cortez, and adoptee, overcame his struggles to build an identity in a changing environment.

Desiree is an alumna of the foster care system. She lived with the same foster care family for 14 years. She entered foster care with three of her siblings, and wants to use her experiences growing up in foster care to make a difference for those still in the system.