Identify data sources to explore agency responsiveness to the community.

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. 

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.

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.

Examine current research and how best to build organizational capacity in five areas, and learn about possible challenges and solutions.

Identify data sources to explore how well your state’s case review system is functioning.

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

This tool is a role-playing activity, designed to help child welfare workers and supervisors become more familiar with the process of recognizing and translating buzzwords into descriptive language.

Identify data sources to explore your state’s system of foster and adoptive parent licensing, recruitment, and retention.

Discover how parent partner programs support family reunification by guiding and motivating parents into constructive interactions with the child welfare system and courts.

Learn about applications that can make information gathering more efficient, increase useful data, and help you better understand those you serve. 

Discusses new software and technologies used in child welfare.

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

Listen to a youth support partner tell her story of living in kinship care with her grandmother and being reunified with her mother. She discusses the difficulties during her time in care and the system support that might have helped to promote a better relationship with her mother. As a mentor, she helps youth heal from trauma and use their voice in positive ways.

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