Featured
Stay informed with resources that support system change and practice improvement. Discover insights and action steps to advance prevention and racial equity, address pressing child welfare challenges, and meet the needs of children, youth, and families.
Shared language is vital to advancing racial equity. We have created a glossary of diversity, racial equity, and inclusion terms and definitions that you and your team can use as a starting point in your efforts to align language and develop shared language.
Responding to Youth and Young Adult Mental Health Needs
Explore tips to help promote youth mental health and wellness services, jurisdictional highlights, and links to relevant resources and tools.
May is National Foster Care Month
Listen as resource parents explain what it means be a support to families of children in their care rather than a substitute for parents, and the training and support networks that helped them through challenges.
Topics
The Center for States designs products, services, and learning experiences to increase understanding and awareness, and build knowledge and skills. The Center focuses its attention on developing products and resources on several core organizational and practice topics.
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Find Liaison
The first step in working with the Center for States is contacting your state liaison. Identify your Center for States liaison and see their contact information to get started.
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Learn More
The CWVE is an annual one-day event that brings together child welfare professionals from federal, state, and local organizations across the country to engage in online activities, discussions, and skill building activities that provide information, explore strategies, and offer innovative ideas and action steps to support child welfare agencies.
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Browse All Events
Discover how you can connect with peers and experts around the country and access resources.
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Learn More
Center for States child welfare experts have a deep understanding of the issues and challenges facing the child welfare profession that comes from years of experience at the local, state, and federal levels. Our experts can assist you with your practice needs in a variety of areas.
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Explore
Center for States peer groups connect child welfare professionals working in similar practice areas or on common initiatives. Membership is open to relevant audiences and determined by the Children’s Bureau.
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Request Library Services
The Center for States offers child welfare agencies research assistance on child welfare topics and responds to information requests on building capacity in child welfare.
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Improve Your Processes
Are you looking to address complex problems and challenges in your agency or system? The Change and Implementation in Practice series is a collection of research-informed and user-friendly resources that can help agencies achieve meaningful changes in child welfare practice and improve outcomes.
Voices of Lived Experience and Jurisdictional Stories
Are you wondering how other states are approaching their work—or what mix of services might be right for you? Take a look at stories shared by jurisdictions about how they are tackling complex problems in partnership with the Center for States and how they build capacity and improve outcomes for children, youth, and families.
Videos in these galleries reveal how support and partnership with peers, mentors, and agency staff support healing, well-being, and positive development.
Explore Our Featured Series
Dive into our new series and stay up to date with resources that fill in the gaps in the child welfare field:
- Visioning for Prevention: Protecting Children Through Strengthening Families
- A Look Inside Sharing Power in Child Welfare: A Podcast
- Becoming a Family-Focused System
- Prevention Planning Into Action
- CFSR Planning Tools
- Co-Creating Race Equity Tools: Practical Strategies for Evaluation and Continuous Quality Improvement Efforts
“Spotlight on” Messages
Connect With Us
Learn how we can help your agency build the capacity to thrive.
Email: capacityinfo@icfi.com
Phone: 1.844.222.0272
Visit the Center for States' Contact Us webpage for more information.