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- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
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.
Upcoming Event: November is National Adoption Month
This observance aims to increase national awareness of the need for permanent families for children and youth in the foster care system. This year’s theme, “We Never Outgrow the Need for Family—Just Ask Us,” reflects a focus on the importance of identifying permanent families for the thousands of 15- to 18-year-olds in foster care who are currently less likely to be adopted or who may age out of the system without a stable home. A new tip sheet, Talking with Older Youth About Adoption (PDF, 2 pages) provides child welfare professionals with a framework for how to talk with older youth about permanency and includes suggestions for how to make these conversations more effective.
Report: Child Maltreatment 2015
This report from the Child Welfare Information Gateway provides state-level data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System on reports of abuse and neglect made to child protective services (CPS) agencies, the children involved, types of maltreatment, CPS responses, child and caregiver risk factors, services, and perpetrators.
Resource: Engaging Youth in Foster Care
This podcast shares the perspective of a youth formerly in foster care. It provides tips to caseworkers for engaging youth in developing their case plans and identifying supportive adults in their lives. This resource can help caseworkers as they work with youth who are in foster care or preparing to transition to adulthood.
Share with Youth: Being an Engaged and Involved Teen in Foster Care
This webpage provides information to teens in foster care about their permanency options, tools to help them transition to adulthood, and how to find support from other teens who have been in foster care.
Supporting Families Impacted by Incarceration — A Dialogue with Experts
This report, developed by the National Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Assistance and Strategic Dissemination Center, is the outcome of a meeting that convened national child welfare experts on families impacted by incarceration. It features key issues around this topic for practitioners and identifies needed resources and tools to support the workforce and families, along with a practical framework of intervention points from arrest to release.
John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood
The John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (the Chafee program) provides funding to support youth/ young adults in or formerly in foster care in their transition to adulthood. The program is funded through formula grants awarded to child welfare agencies in States (including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and participating Tribes. Chafee funds are used to assist youth/ young adults in a wide variety of areas designed to support a successful transition to adulthood. Activities and programs include, but are not limited to, help with education, employment, financial management, housing, emotional support and assured connections to caring adults. Specific services and supports are determined by the child welfare agency, vary by State, locality and agency, and are often based on the individual needs of the young person. Many State or local agencies contract with private organizations to deliver services to young people.
Grants.gov
Grants.gov is a secure, reliable entry way to discretionary federal grants from multiple agencies. Applicants can use a single comprehensive site to discover and apply for opportunities from all 26 federal grant-making agencies.
Report: 2016 Monitoring the Future Survey
This webpage provides information on the 2016 Monitoring the Future Survey, an annual survey of drug use and attitudes among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in the U.S. The results show a continued long-term decline in the use of many substances, including marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco, and the misuse of some prescription medications.
Report: Monitoring the Future 2017 Survey Results
This annual survey of eighth-, 10th-, and 12th-graders measures how teens in the U.S. report their drug and alcohol use and related attitudes. In 2017, 47,703 students from 360 public and private schools participated in the survey.
Action Guide for Emergency Management at Institutions of Higher Education
This guide has been developed to give higher education institutions a useful resource in the field of emergency management.
A Guide to School Vulnerability Assessment Key: Principles for Safe Schools
This guide is a companion piece to the Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities (above). It emphasizes a valuable part of emergency management planning—ongoing vulnerability assessment—and is intended to assist schools with the selection and implementation of an effective vulnerability assessment tool.
Archived Webinar: Using Data to Identify Programmatic Interventions
The Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students’ Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center held a webinar on December 14, 2011, “Using Data to Identify Programmatic Interventions.” It covered the need to use school climate data to identify needs, selecting evidence based programs to address these needs, and implementing these programs effectively within a school or district.
Archived Webinar: School Climate Webinar Series: Enhancing Peer-to-Peer Relationships to Strengthen School Climate
The Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center, supported by the Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students, delves into the importance of fostering healthy student-to-student relationships in the webinar, “Enhancing Peer to Peer Relationships to Strengthen School Climate.” This resource is meant to help administrators, teachers, support staff and student support personnel in creating a nurturing learning environment.
Compendium of School Discipline State Laws and Regulations
Developed by the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, which is funded by the Department of Education's Office of Safe and Healthy Students and the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Compendium of School Discipline State Laws and Regulations provides information on school discipline laws and regulations for each of the 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. Users can search by state or category and can also download the full Compendium in PDF format.
ED Office of Safe and Healthy Students Emergency Planning Website
The U.S. Department of Education (ED)'s Office of Safe and Healthy Students' (OSHS) Center for School Preparedness provides support, resources, grants, and training to support emergency management efforts for local educational agencies and institutions of higher education.
Emergency Planning for Schools
This website, Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS), provides information that can help school leaders plan for any emergency, including natural disasters, violent incidents and terrorist acts.
Human Trafficking of Children in the United States: A Fact Sheet for Schools
The Office of Safe and Healthy Students developed a fact sheet to inform schools about human trafficking, how it can affect schools, potential signs, how to help, and additional resources.
Human Trafficking in America’s Schools
Human Trafficking in America’s Schools was developed to help school officials understand how human trafficking affects schools, recognize the indicators of possible human trafficking, and develop policies, protocols, and partnerships to address and prevent the exploitation of children. Available online and in PDF (PDF, 18 pages) format, the guide also offers links to resources and publications, trainings, and services for victims.
Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities
Taking action now can save lives, prevent injury, and minimize property damage in the moments of a crisis. Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities is designed to help navigate the process of reviewing and revising school and district plans. The guide is intended to give schools, districts, and communities the critical concepts and components of good crisis planning, stimulate thinking about the crisis preparedness process, and provide examples of promising practices.
Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools
The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools (OSDFS) administers, coordinates, and recommends policy for improving quality and excellence of programs and activities related to youth safety and drug prevention.
REMS TA Center Introduces New Tools for School Emergency Planning
The REMS TA Center has created new, interactive tools that can assist schools, school districts, and institutions of higher education (IHEs) in assessing their knowledge of emergency management, and in creating and evaluating emergency operations plans (EOPs):
- EOP ASSESS: This tool guides users through a series of questions to assess understanding of elements critical to creating and maintaining a high-quality EOP
- EOP ASSIST: This tool, offered as a web-accessible software application, directs users through a six-step planning process that will result in the output of an EOP, developed according to the federal guidelines.
- EOP EVALUATE: This tool can help schools and IHEs evaluate an established EOP to determine whether there are areas where it can be adjusted and improved.
The Challenge
A principal vehicle by which OSDFS communicates with the field, and provides information on research-based activities, best practices, and other information related to effective drug abuse and violence prevention strategies.
Resource: Academic Performance, Retention, and Alcohol Use
This article (PDF, 3 pages) discusses the effect of alcohol on academic performance, retention, and college graduation. It also describes evidence-based strategies college and universities can use to address high-risk drinking and shares what some institutions are doing to prevent risky alcohol use and promote healthy decision making.
Resource: SITE ASSESS: A Mobile Application for K-12 Schools and School Districts
This free mobile application, developed by the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center, allows school and school district personnel to walk around school grounds and examine their safety, security, accessibility, and emergency preparedness.