How Do We Know What Works? Challenges and Opportunities for Building Evidence for Practitioners focuses on the role of frontline staff as important (and discerning) consumers of evidence, critical data, and information from children, youth, and families to inform their practice. This session also addresses the role of frontline staff in continuous quality improvement (CQI) processes and as contributors to building evidence in child welfare.

This session explores how research, evaluation, and continuous quality improvement (CQI) efforts can help you strengthen practice to achieve a common goal of all child welfare professionals: becoming more effective in your work and being better able to ensure that children are safe, in healthy and intact families, and thriving.

The Power of Feedback: Being a Vocal Participant in the Process, Elevating the Voices of the Workforce, Children, Youth, Families, and Communities Presentation

Learn about quality contacts, why they are important, and how an agency can successfully implement them.

Get tips, guidance, and information about the CQI system assessment and implementation process, and learn how the Center helps agencies build capacity.

Learn to facilitate a normalcy conversation and to promote normal and developmentally appropriate experiences for youth in foster care.

This workbook and this video series are part of a collection of resources designed to help child welfare agency leaders, managers, and teams select, adapt, or design an intervention to address an identified problem. Use this workbook to further your understanding of concepts and prepare to move learning into action with your team.

Gather your staff to watch the “Deciding What to Implement to Achieve Successful Change” webinar to learn about how a structured approach to selecting an effective intervention can help your agency evaluate solutions to identified problems or needs and achieve goals for change. Then, use this guide to facilitate discussions and lead your team to move learning into action.

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

Find out how simulation training is used in child welfare and learn the five key steps for developing and implementing a simulation programs.

Use this resource to prompt discussion and adopt a change management approach  during the development of child welfare information systems.

Learn about State Liaison Officers, who they are, their roles, responsibilities, and the Center for States resources available to them.

Learn a research-informed framework for agencies to explore implementation of CQI systems across seven areas, including leadership support and modeling, staff and stakeholder engagement, communication, administrative structure, use of quality data, case record review process, and application of CQI findings.

Use the integrated Theory of Change video workbook to record your questions and ideas for changing practice, which you can then use to apply the theory of change development process at your agency.

Theory of Change discussion and activity guide  to support knowledge and skill development for individuals and teams and facilitate team discussion and targeted action planning.