This guide is designed to support administrative leaders in states and other jurisdictions in using data to assess and identify ways to improve their service array.

Learn about the range of practices comprising the continuum of youth engagement to youth empowerment.

Learn about a framework for applying safety science to promote a culture of safety in child welfare agencies.

Explore successful cross-system collaboration across three phases of child welfare interactions with families experiencing co-occurring issues—front-end investigation, case planning/service provision, and case resolution. 

Explore how data reported in AFCARS about youth who run away from state custody can be used to inform interventions.

Explore the need for involving multiple voices in developing and implementing prevention plans, as well as the important role courts play in prevention.

Use this tool with your prevention planning team to prepare for and tackle the adaptive challenges that many states face as they develop and implement prevention plans. 

Browse the themes and key takeaways from the How We Partner With the Community to Improve Service Options podcast series.

Learn about the importance of successful collaboration and engagement for implementing prevention-focused systems.

This publication looks at buzzwords in the context of words or phrases commonly used in child welfare reporting and documentation that can be subjective or carry negative connotations, and offers strategies to minimize their negative impact.

Buzzwords: Moving to Behavioral Descriptors doodle video is a short, animated video that follows a child involved in a child welfare investigation. The video describes what buzzwords are and illustrates the impact they can have on children and families. It also demonstrates how to recognize buzzwords and offers strategies for transforming buzzwords into objective, behavior-based descriptors.

Use this crosswalk to start thinking concretely about prevention planning as a change and implementation process. 

This manual examines the roles and responsibilities of child protective services (CPS) workers. It describes the purposes, key decisions, and issues of each stage of the CPS process and strategies for casework supervision, training, and support.

Available on CAPLearn; registration required.
Parts 1, 2, and 3 offers best practices information on responding to sex trafficking of children and youth in child welfare, and building knowledge on the special needs of trafficking victims and youth at risk of becoming victims.

Available on CapLEARN; registration required.
Provides a broad overview of the Child Welfare Response to Child and Youth Sex Trafficking learning curriculum and explores how the curriculum could be integrated into agency training programs.