Bipartisan Policy Center’s Post

The US Child Welfare System must adopt a 'Prevention and Family Preservation First Platform'. The Preservation Department must proactively engage with the community to define needs and to provide community members with support and services PRIOR to child welfare involvement. Once an investigation is initiated, the well-trained Family Preservation Department should respond to determine the family's needs and provide the family with support and services to ensure the family is safe, healthy, and thriving. The Child Removal Department will be engaged only if abuse is present. This approach is not only humane, but it also benefits all of society AND is cost-saving. There are no reasons why these reforms cannot be enacted. Hundreds of thousands of families are needlessly being torn apart and traumatized EVERY YEAR. This is a HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS that must end IMMEDIATELY! Call and write to Congress! Tell them we will NOT let this stand! https://lnkd.in/eciS2BZX Rise up and DEMAND Federal Reforms to the US Child Welfare System.

Are you a child welfare caseworker in the United States? I am researching how caseworkers use reflective practice skills to guide their practice. If you meet the criteria and are willing to answer the required personal, identifiable, and demographic questions, I would love to hear from you! Here's what you need to know: - Participation is voluntary - Activities include answering demographic questions and a 1:1 interview or focus group via Zoom - Exclusion criteria: not a child welfare caseworker or not working in the United States If you have questions about this study, please contact me at srudd3@my.gcu.edu or LinkedIn. Let's work together to improve child welfare practices through reflective practice skills!

Explore the Child Welfare Information Gateway casework practice resource collection during #SocialWorkMonth. Find resources about trauma-informed practice, decision-making, continuous quality improvement, co-occurring factors, and more!

Transparency and Empathy in Child Welfare with Dr. Marya Wright In this clip, Dr. Marya Wright discusses the value of being upfront and honest with clients in the child welfare system. Marya highlights how clarity and transparency can lead to better outcomes and build trust. "So many things can happen if you aren't [upfront and honest]. Miscommunication, lack of understanding. I value clarity, especially in situations like this." - Marya Wright Marya also shares her approach to interacting with families: "The system that I work for, the agents that I work for expect me to do this. So I'm communicating with them exactly what the steps are because I don't like to hold on to that stuff." About Marya Wright Marya Wright, MSW DSW, is a distinguished social worker, consultant, educator, international trainer, and facilitator with expertise in organizational leadership, child welfare services, and curriculum development. As President and CEO of Wright Community Services LLC, she empowers system-involved families and provides consultation and training to agencies. A registered Associate Clinical Social Worker (#81167) working towards her LCSW, Marya holds a DSW from USC, an MSW from California State University, East Bay, and a BSW from San Diego State University. She is a qualified expert witness, private dependency investigator, and serves on the Board of Directors for the California Society of Clinical Social Work. Her research includes Child Sexual Exploitation, Foster Care, and algorithmic decision-making in child welfare. Additionally, she lectures at Cal State East Bay, teaching Sociology of Sexualities, Child Welfare Policy, Sociology of Family, and Sexual Violence. Questions for dialogue and reflection How can transparency and empathy improve interactions with clients in the child welfare system? What are the benefits of clear communication and honesty when working with families in crisis? #SocialWork #ChildWelfare #Advocacy #Transparency #TrustBuilding #CriticalSocialWork #RevolutionarySocialWork

Disabled parents and their children are disproportionally involved with the child welfare system and, once involved, experience significant disparities. Join the Mid-Atlantic ADA Center for their August 16th webinar describing the experiences of parents with disabilities within the child welfare system. It will then explore the ADA’s application to the child welfare system, including recent enforcement efforts by the federal government and court decisions. Finally, the webinar will discuss strategies and solutions for representing disabled parents and their children. Learn more and register for the webinar using the link below. [IMAGE: A light-skinned person wearing a white t-shirt holding a light-skinned young boy wearing a white t-shirt in their arms.] #ADA #DisabledParent #ChildWelfare

In my new role, I've had the incredible opportunity to contribute to a suite of resources designed to support and enhance service delivery within Tribal child welfare programs and beyond. Today, I'm excited to share this work with you all, marking my first published contribution in this capacity! We've developed a comprehensive approach to tackle the challenges many Tribal child welfare programs face, especially those related to coordinating services outside of tribal jurisdiction. Our solution? Process Mapping. This collaborative method helps programs visualize and refine their service delivery, ensuring that Indigenous families receive the support they need to thrive. With process mapping, teams can: - Connect various activities and understand their sequence - Recognize everyone involved in delivering services - Promote consistency and support staff training - Identify and leverage strengths for service improvement - Enhance the experiences of families, partners, and staff #ChildWelfare #TribalChildWelfare #SupportingFamilies

Data from the Institute's Florida Study of Professionals for Safe Families (FSPSF) study is now available to child welfare researchers through the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN)! The Institute's GROW Center was created to address many of the findings uncovered by the FSPSF study. Data from this five-year longitudinal study captures responses from nearly 1,500 newly hired child protection investigators and case managers on individual and organizational influences on child welfare employee retention. Through this release of data from Florida, our hope is to facilitate a national impact on workforce well-being. The Institute recognizes that supporting our workforce is crucial to our mission of improving outcomes for children and families involved in the child welfare system. The findings and database are available at FICW.FSU.EDU/FSPSF and bit.ly/NDACAN respectively. #Childwelfare #ChildWelfareResearch #turnover #EmploymeeRentention #MentalHealthAwareness #Wellbeing #Selfcare #CWworkforce #Florida #WorkforceWednesday #WorkforceWellbeing #FICWGROW

This #DeloitteRippleEffect story explores technology transformation for Idaho child welfare caseworkers. Read more about their powerful stories here. https://deloi.tt/45aHEC0

Within the child welfare system, there is increasing momentum in a new direction—one that prevents child welfare involvement by ensuring that family needs are addressed earlier through an integrated and holistic child and family well-being system. Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, with the support of the Doris Duke Foundation, has developed a strategic framework to support this change. Meeting Family Needs: A multi-system framework for family and child well-being is a detailed tool to build a child and family well-being system that buoys families facing adversity and helps address inequities. This framework provides both a vision of this system and the practical steps to get there. #childwelfare #childabuseprevention #prevention #intervention #childwellbeing #familywellbeing

Federal COVID-19 relief efforts created an opportunity for child welfare leaders to take advantage of additional federal dollars and flexibilities within existing funding streams to quickly respond to the evolving needs of their staff and the children and families they serve. A new Child Trends brief from Maggie Haas, Kristina Rosinsky, and Alyssa Corine Ibarra describes how states’ pandemic-era strategies for coordinating available federal funding streams can be carried into the future.