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 the definition and find information about normalcy and the reasonable and prudent parent standard in the PL 113-183.

Read about the services available under two federal programs and how to use them to improve outcomes for pregnant or parenting youth in out-of-home care.

Frankie is 14 years old and lives with his sister, brothers, and moms. He and his sister were adopted when they were 2 years old and 4 years old, respectively. He loves spending time with his aunts, uncles, and cousins and loves being part of a big family.

Learn about negotiating boundaries, communication, support, and normalcy from a young person formally in foster care and her adoptive parents.

Discover how the Capacity Building Center for States is working in partnership with the Children’s Bureau to advance racial equity in child welfare.

See statistics on increased risks for LGBTQ youth and learn how child welfare systems can use healthy approaches when working with LGBTQ children and youth.

Learn about various instruments used to measure well-being for program, case planning, and evaluation purposes.

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 strategies to engage individuals with lived experience as advisors for groups, committees, boards, and more. 

Explore additional resources for engaging individuals with lived experience as advisors for groups, committees, boards, and more.

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

Learn strategies for accurately and safely collecting data on LGBTQIA2S+ youth and young adults.

Explore additional resources to learn how to accurately and safely collecting data on LGBTQIA2S+ youth and young adults.