Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
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.
Child Maltreatment, 2013
”Child Maltreatment, 2013” (PDF, 250 pages) is the 24th edition of the annual report on child abuse and neglect data collected through the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. According to the report, from 2009 to 2013, overall rates of victimization declined from 9.3 to 9.1 per 1,000 children in the population.
Child Abuse Prevention Month Activities
The Administration for Children and Families’ Child Welfare Information Gateway provides these resources on the “Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect” section of its website in order to support preparation for National Child Abuse Prevention Month in April.
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.
Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB)
FYSB supports the organizations and communities that work every day to reduce the risk of youth homelessness, adolescent pregnancy and domestic violence. Learn more about FYSB programs.
FYSB: New Video
Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) provides news and resources related to issues such as homelessness, adolescent pregnancy, and domestic violence. Watch FYSB's new video “The Family and Youth Services Bureau — Join Us” to learn more about FYSB work and programs.
Five Groups of Teens Who Need Pregnancy Prevention More Than Some Might Think
This slideshow, developed by the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth, highlights five groups of teens that sexual health educators should include in pregnancy prevention efforts. The list includes young men, teen moms, rural youth, LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning) youth, and teens living in areas where pregnancy rates have declined.
Interview with Director of the Union City Sustained Youth Development Project
In this podcast from the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth, Karl Kallgren, director of the Union City Sustained Youth Development Project, discusses the youth program that has helped teen pregnancy rates drop by 20 percent in a rural Pennsylvania community.
Incorporating Relationship Abuse Prevention into Your Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Programming
In this video, the Family and Youth Services Bureau (FYSB) presents to Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention grantees on incorporating relationship abuse prevention into their programming. FYSB also shares a web-based toolkit available to grantees to incorporate into their programming.
Keep in Touch
Young people offer advice on staying connected and living independently
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.
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.
New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research
Released by the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, and commissioned by ACYF, “New Directions in Child Abuse and Neglect Research” examines current research on the extent, causes, and consequences of child abuse and neglect. This report provides recommendations for establishment and implementation of a coordinated national infrastructure to support future research on child abuse and neglect.