Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Testifying in Court about Trauma: The Court Hearing
This tip sheet helps clinicians prepare to testify in court regarding trauma (PDF, 7 pages) and its impact on children. It provides insight into the different types of cases and tips on how to testify effectively.
ACF Recovering from Disasters and Other Disruptions
After disasters and other breaks in continuity of services, child welfare agencies' tasks are continuing to manage, capturing lessons learned, and rebuilding better systems. In this section you will find federal and state resources for longer term recovery and rebuilding from natural disasters or other major unexpected events, including resources on mental health services and research.
Administration for Children and Families
This site provides information about resources for children, youth, and families, including child care, Head Start, child support enforcement, domestic violence services, runaway and homeless youth programs, child welfare services, and more.
Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS)
AFCARS collects case level information on all children in foster care for whom state child welfare agencies have responsibility for placement, care, or supervision, and on children who are adopted under the auspices of the state's public child welfare agency. AFCARS also includes information on foster and adoptive parents.
Child Welfare Outcomes 2006–2009: Report to Congress
The tenth in a series of reports from the Department of Health and Human Services this report is designed to inform Congress and child welfare professionals about national and state performance on several measures of outcomes for children served by child welfare systems across the United States.
Children's Bureau
The Children's Bureau (CB) is one of two bureaus within the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, of the Department of Health and Human Services. The Children's Bureau seeks to improve the safety, permanency and well-being of children through leadership, support for necessary services, and productive partnerships with states, tribes, and communities. It has the primary responsibility for administering federal programs that support state child welfare services.
Child Welfare Information Gateway
Child Welfare Information Gateway connects child welfare and related professionals to comprehensive information and resources to help protect children and strengthen families.Tools to build logic models, as well as examples of program approaches, are provided for a range of child welfare topics.
Child Welfare Outcomes 2008–2011:Report to Congress
This report, from the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families' Children’s Bureau, informs Congress and professionals in the child welfare field about national and state performance on multiple outcomes measures for children in the child welfare system that address safety, permanency, and well-being.
Coping with Disasters and Strengthening Systems: A Framework for Child Welfare Agencies
This resource was developed by the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement (NRCOI) a service of the Children's Bureau and provides information for before a disaster occurs, during a disaster, and after a disaster.
Creating a New Narrative: Collaborative and Effective Evaluation in Tribal Communities
This video from the Child Welfare Evaluation Virtual Summit Series introduces a vision for the future of evaluating tribal child welfare and a guide for developing culturally and scientifically rigorous evaluations.
Cutting the Red Tape for Foster Youth Success
This blog entry discusses the Uninterrupted Scholars Act, a new law that added child welfare professionals to the list of approved people who can access foster youths’ education records and help transfer their credits to new schools. This can help ease the transition to a new school and increase the chances of these young people graduating from high school.
Four Tips for Serving LGBTQ Young People in Rural Communities
This blog post addresses the unique challenges of serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in rural places. Written by the executive director of Tumbleweed Runaway Program in Billings, MT, it also suggests how youth-serving professionals in rural areas can make their services and communities welcoming to all young people.
Identifying and Serving LGBTQ Youth: Case Studies of Runaway and Homeless Youth Program Grantees
This report from the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) highlights the findings from case studies of four agencies receiving grants from the ACF Family and Youth Services Bureau’s Runaway and Homeless Youth Program. It includes information on the collection and use of sexual orientation and gender identity data, needs and capacities among LGBTQ runaway and homeless youth, approaches to serving this population, and gaps in research and services for practitioners and policymakers to consider.
Keep in Touch
Young people offer advice on staying connected and living independently
LGBT Populations: A Snapshot of the Knowledge Base and Research Needs
These chapter briefs summarize the knowledge base and research needs related to low-income, at-risk lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their interactions with human services. The briefs are separated into three topic areas:
- Low-income and at-risk LGBT populations
- The child welfare system and LGBT youth and LGBT adults
- LGBT youth, particularly related to runaway and homeless youth and sexual health
Measurement Matters: How Should My Program Measure Changes in Child Well-Being?
Released as part of the Child Welfare Evaluation Virtual Summit Series, the Children’s Bureau has developed the video "Measurement Matters: How Should My Program Measure Changes in Child Well-Being?," which presents guidance about issues to consider when attempting to measure changes in well-being outcomes over time.
Mental Health: The First Step to Well Being
This collection of articles from the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth analyzes some of the most prominent mental health issues facing at-risk youth in order to provide youth workers with insight into the prevention and treatment of mental health challenges. Post-traumatic stress disorder, the risks and uses of psychotropic medications, and postpartum depression in teen mothers are discussed.
Meeting the Needs of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Youth
The National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth released a Q&A with Shannon Minter, legal director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, featuring tips for working specifically with transgender and gender non-conforming youth.
National Child Welfare Resource Center for Tribes
The National Resource Center for Tribes will join the Children's Bureau's Child Welfare Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) Network which is designed to improve child welfare systems and to support States and Tribes in achieving sustainable, systemic change that results in greater safety, permanency, and well-being for children, youth, and families.
National Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues
National Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues provides consultation, training, and technical assistance on all legal and judicial aspects of the child welfare system, including federal law, court improvement, agency and court collaboration, permanency planning, legal representation, and other emerging child welfare issues. The Resource Center, funded by the Children’s Bureau, is comprised of the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, the National Center for State Courts, and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections
The National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections at the Hunter College School of Social Work is a training, technical assistance, and information services organization dedicated to help strengthen the capacity of State, local, Tribal and other publicly administered or supported child welfare agencies in order to: institutionalize a safety-focused, family-centered, and community-based approach to meet the needs of children, youth and families. NRCPFC is a service of the Children's Bureau at the Department of Health and Human Services.
The NRCPFC is committed to providing T/TA & Information Services that are:
- Proactive
- Integrated
- Culturally Competent
- Collaborative
- Individualized
- Strength-based
- Family-centered practice
- Community-based practice
- Evidence-Based & Evidence-informed
National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth (NCFY)
NCFY is a free information service for Community, organizations, and individuals interested in developing new and effective strategies for supporting young people and their families. Their website includes youth development resources, funding announcements for FYSB's programs, free publications, and a calendar of conferences and trainings.
National Youth in Transition Database
The National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) will collect case-level information on youth in care including the services paid for or provided by the State agencies that administer the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (CFCIP), as well as the outcome information on youth who are in or who have aged out of foster care.
Preparing for Disasters and Disruptions to Service Continuity
Preparing for disasters involves creating plans, preparing to manage during a disaster, and enhancing critical infrastructure prior to a disaster. In this section of the Child Welfare Information Gateway, you will find federal and state resources for professionals and families to prepare for disasters—both natural (e.g., hurricanes, floods, fires) and human created (e.g., terrorism) —including examples of state disaster plans.
Podcast: Teen Pregnancy Prevention for LGBTQ Youth
In a podcast featured in the latest update from the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth, Bryan Samuels, commissioner of the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, and Andrew Barnett, executive director of the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League, discuss the need to include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth in teen pregnancy prevention efforts.