Explore a family-focused program that embodies many of the changes that Kentucky wants to see throughout its child welfare system in this podcast. The START, program demonstrates a shift in organizational culture to focus on family and serves as an example of a truly collaborative team that uses early intervention and a shared decision-making model to work with families.

Discover how the reasonable and prudent parent standard (RPPS) has been implemented in one state to promote normalcy for children and youth in foster care.

Use this brief to explore actionable strategies for meaningful partner engagement in child welfare agency strategic planning, monitoring, and review processes.

Explore strategies to recruit and support caregivers, strengthen their voices, and work together with them to meet the needs of children and youth.

Explore coaching steps and tips supervisors can use to help workers strengthen skills and meet goals.

Read about the value of collaboration as the key to prevention, safety, and long-term stability for children and families.

Learn how people with lived expertise have used their experiences to advocate for changes in approach, practice, and policy in child welfare. 

Learn why the Indian Child Welfare Act and the historical trauma Indigenous people have experienced are important to understand when working with Indigenous families. 

Explore how caseworkers, supervisors, and stakeholders can use data and feedback to improve child welfare practice. 

Learn about key considerations to sustain research and evaluation partnerships with people with lived expertise and minimize harm. 

Explore additional resources to learn about key considerations to sustain research and evaluation partnerships with people with lived expertise and minimize harm. 

Explore tools and resources that can help states plan for family-strengthening activities aligned with the FFPSA and prevention-oriented collaboration strategies.

Discover strategies for using data to build evidence, engage youth, families, and other partners, and move toward racial equity in child welfare. ​

Listen to Indiana’s child welfare partners talk about making the shift to an upstream approach to prevention services possible in this short podcast. 

Learn about the Indiana Department of Child Services’ upstream prevention approach to training and development, expanding the service array, and collaborating with system partners and providers in this recorded webinar.