National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement: Provides information on a growing trend in child welfare – using managers, supervisors, peers, trainers and others to coach staff. Offers a brief definition of coaching and the coaching process, and a discussion of the seven critical components of coaching programs, all illustrated with real world examples of programs already underway. Highlights the experience of one participant in the Leadership Academy for Middle Managers coaching program, and provide some resources. Link to pdf Description
Tag Archives: child welfare
Economically Disconnected Families and the Child Welfare System.
January 2012, University of Washington. West Coast Poverty Center: Families in the child welfare system often face barriers meeting their basic needs as well as being able to retain or regain custody of their children. While some of these barriers, such as substance abuse, mental health problems, or limited income, could be addressed through employment or social service receipt, emerging research suggests that a substantial share of child welfare-involved families seems to be grappling with these issues without any connection to employment or some of the major social service programs. With support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Administration for Children and Families, researchers from Partners for Our Children and the West Coast Poverty Center examined data from a survey of child welfare-involved parents in Washington State to measure the extent and nature of “economic disconnection” among these families and to explore the relationship between disconnection and engagement in child welfare services.
This brief explores their findings. We begin with a brief overview of what is known about economic disconnection. We then present findings from the Washington State survey about how many child welfare involved families are economically disconnected and how these families’ economic circumstances and their patterns of engagement with the child welfare system compare with those of families who are connected to the labor market or social services. We end with a summary of the reactions of policymakers and practitioners to this research as well as their suggestions for extending the work in the future. Link to Brief
What You Need to Know about Child Well-Being and Serving Children in Family Drug Courts
July 11, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: Parental substance use disorders are a factor in majority of CWS cases. Research linking the two issues is compelling. Substance use and child maltreatment are often multi-generational problems that can only be addressed through a coordinated approach across multiple systems working in conjunction to address the needs of both the parents and the children. Link to pdf Slides
Concurrent Criminal And Child Protective Services Investigations: Research Brief
June 2012, Children and Family Research Center: In some cases, child abuse and neglect is a crime and law enforcement needs to investigate. Some professionals raise concerns that law enforcement and child protective services may interfere with each other’s work, but others suggest that police and caseworkers can provide substantial assistance to each other. One study found that families were more likely to receive a range of services when police were involved in child protective service investigations, even when differences in case characteristics were taken into account statistically. Link to Research Brief
Keeping Families Together Matters: An Introduction to Creating Supportive Housing for Child Welfare-Involved Families
2012, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Keeping Families Together was designed to address the needs of the most vulnerable families. The model shows real promise in preventing child welfare involvement and reuniting children with their families in a safe, stable environment.
The Keeping Families Together innovative supportive housing approach combines affordable housing with customized case management services. By leveraging the collaboration of a number of city agencies, the program helps families overcome the bureaucratic hurdles that can arise when trying to navigate these services on their own. The Keeping Families Together pilot achieved promising outcomes for high-need families (see the Metis Evaluation report found at http://www.csh.org/resources/keeping-families-together-guidebook). Although the model is not yet considered evidence-based, CSH attributes much of the success of the pilot to its five core components and recommends that any community wishing to initiate a similar project incorporate them. Link to KFT Guidebook