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Capacity Building

CENTER FOR STATES

Prevention-Focused Systems

The Center for States helps child welfare agencies strengthen the ability of communities to support children and families so that children can thrive at home. Explore the Center’s resources to learn more about preventing maltreatment, preventing foster care entry, and increasing child and family well-being by strengthening families in their communities before problems occur or escalate.

To assist agencies with their prevention efforts, the Center offers publications, digital resources, peer networking, and technical assistance. The Center’s resources can help states establish a vision for prevention, strengthen the prevention continuum (primary, secondary, tertiary) through collaborative partnerships, increase knowledge related to effective prevention services, and partner with youth and families to plan for a more racially equitable, prevention-oriented approach to child welfare.

Looking for resources to support your agency’s response to the FFPSA? Check out the Center’s Family First Prevention Services (FFPSA) page.

Spotlight

Reflecting on Racial Equity & Prevention-Focused Systems Discussion Guide_2023-1
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Reflecting on Racial Equity and Prevention-Focused Systems Discussion Guide

Use this discussion guide with the “Reflecting on Racial Equity and Prevention-Focused Systems” video to facilitate team discussions about your agency’s current practice and opportunities to take action.

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Reflecting on Racial Equity and Prevention-Focused Systems

Watch this video to explore the connection between racial equity and prevention-focused systems.​

Becoming a Family-Focused System

Use this collection of resources to help enhance agency culture and climate, identify areas that need attention, and implement improvements.

Visioning for Prevention: Protecting Children Through Strengthening Families

Browse a collection of publications and digital resources for the information and tools you need to move toward a more prevention-focused system.

Prevention Planning Into Action

Use this collection of resources to support your agency’s prevention planning efforts.

A Look Inside Sharing Power in Child Welfare: A Podcast

Listen to this podcast series by and about people with lived experience in child welfare and about their partnerships with leaders within child welfare agencies.

Strengthening Families Through Prevention and Collaboration: Child Welfare Virtual Expo (CWVE) 2020

Explore collaborative approaches to advance prevention presented by people with lived and professional child welfare expertise. 

Family Leaders in Child Welfare Community of Practice

Family Leaders in Child Welfare Community of Practice promotes collaboration among family leaders involved in the child welfare system to achieve improvement in family empowerment and positive outcomes for children, parents, and families. Members of this group include family empowerment and parent partner program leaders, other family or parent leaders engaged by state child welfare agencies, family consultants and advocates, and state and county leaders with an interest in and responsibility for increased family and fatherhood engagement and empowerment. Membership is open to interested members and must be approved by group leads.

FFPSA Prevention Plan Leaders

FFPSA Prevention Plan Leaders supports collaboration and learning between state leads who are responsible for supporting prevention plan development and/or implementation in their jurisdictions to meet the requirements of the Family First Prevention Services Act. The purpose of FPPL is to bring prevention plan state office leaders and/or their state office teams together virtually to support the development and implementation of Title IV-E Prevention Program plans to support systems as they work to become more prevention-focused. Membership is open to state child welfare leaders and teams charged with implementing and/or developing their jurisdictions’ Title IV-E prevention program plan under the FFPSA.  This also includes regional/county team members that may be working with their state office team on implementation.

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April 2022 Spotlight on Helping Families Thrive

Explore resources that can help agencies respond to the FFPSA and build capacity for prevention.

CBX Article

Narrow the Front Door: Community Partnerships and Primary Prevention

Proactively trying to prevent harm to children from occurring is the focus of primary prevention, a set of strategies or programs to stop maltreatment before it happens that can be accessed by and benefit all members of the community

CBX Article

Partnering for Prevention: Centering Lived Expertise

Explore the importance of centering lived expertise in prevention. This article offers discussion prompts and resources for teams to use as they brainstorm about how to amplify lived expertise in their prevention efforts.

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Protective Factors Approaches in Child Welfare

Learn about national protective factors approaches to prevent child abuse and neglect. This issue brief is designed to help child welfare professionals, administrators, service providers, policymakers, and other interested individuals understand the concepts of protective and risk factors in families and communities and learn ways in which building protective factors can help lower the risk of child abuse and neglect now and in the future. 

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In-Home Services to Strengthen Children and Families

Most children involved with the child welfare system are not separated from their families but instead receive services while living at home. This issue brief explores effective in-home services that are being used to promote safety and help keep children and families together, as well as practical considerations for their implementation.

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National Child Abuse Prevention Month

National Child Abuse Prevention Month recognizes the importance of families and communities working together to strengthen families to prevent child abuse and neglect. Learn about this initiative month and spread the word about child abuse prevention.

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Family Preservation Programs: State and Local Examples

Find examples of state and local efforts to develop and implement family preservation services in this collection of resources collected by the Child Welfare Information Gateway.

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Spotlight On Partnering to Develop Community-Based Prevention Services

Family well-being is more than the absence of abuse and neglect—how can child welfare support equitable and just community-based prevention services and economic supports to help families thrive?