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- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
3 Bold Steps for School Community Change
Based on the lessons learned from the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, the toolkit cultivates an approach that has left a legacy of success in schools and communities. This toolkit will show you how partnerships with representatives from sectors including education, law enforcement, mental health, juvenile justice, children’s services, families, and faith-based associations can take Three Bold Steps to create positive lasting change among our nation’s students.
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.
America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-being, 2012
Prepared by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, “America’s Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2012” highlights 14 key indicators on important aspects of children’s lives across seven domains:
- Family and social environment
- Economic circumstances
- Health care
- Physical environment and safety
- Behavior
- Education
- Health
America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well Being
The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics produces this publication annually on the well being of children and families across the U.S.
Browse NCSACW From Your Phone or Tablet
NCSACW has updated its website to a responsive web design approach. Users can now easily navigate to tools, resources, and online tutorials related to substance abuse using mobile phones and tablets.
Birth Parents and Trauma Histories in the Child Welfare System
A guide released by The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, “Birth Parents and Trauma Histories in the Child Welfare System: A Guide for Resource Parents,” aims to help resource, or foster, parents to better understand the birth parents with whom they work.
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Human Services
The Office of Human Services in the Bureau of Indian Affairs promotes the safety, financial security and social health of Indian communities and individual Indian people.
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.
Childhood Exposure to Trauma: Comparative Effectiveness of Interventions
This document, created by the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, compares the effectiveness of various interventions for children and youth exposed to maltreatment in addressing well-being and child welfare outcomes.
Charting the Course: Supporting the Career Development of Youth with Learning Disabilities
This Guide was developed to help youth service professionals better understand issues related to learning disabilities so that they can help youth with learning disabilities develop individual strategies that will enable them to succeed in the workplace.
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.
Diagnoses and Health Care Utilization of Children Who Are in Foster Care and Covered by Medicaid
This report examines the prevalence of mental health and substance use disorders among children and youth in foster care who are covered by Medicaid, as well as utilization rates of health services among this population.
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.
Facilitating Cross-System Collaboration: A Primer on Child Welfare, Alcohol and Other Drug Services, and Courts
Reviews the population, framework, legislation, funding sources, and services of the child welfare, substance abuse service, and court systems and their capacity to support cross-system coordination within state, county, and tribal jurisdictions.
Fact Sheet: Improving Outcomes for Our Nation’s Foster Youth
This fact sheet illustrates the steps that the Obama administration and its federal partners are taking to support foster youth. These efforts include ensuring access to healthy meals, protecting the welfare of Native youth, building financial security, keeping young people out of the justice system, creating paths to employment, supporting educational success, and developing public service and private investment opportunities.
Guidance to Improve Educational Outcomes of Children and Youth in Foster Care
This guidance, released by the Department of Education, provides states with information to implement the Uninterrupted Scholars Act, making it easier for caseworkers, child welfare agencies, and tribal organizations responsible for the placement and care of children and youth in foster care to have direct access to their education records.
Joint Letter: Supporting the Well-being of Students in Foster Care
Released by the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, this joint letter to education authorities discusses increasing educational stability for children and youth in foster care.
Information Memorandum: Serving Youth Who Run Away From Foster Care
This Information Memorandum provides guidance on services for youth under age 18 who run away from foster care and come in contact with runaway and homeless youth programs.
Keep in Touch
Young people offer advice on staying connected and living independently