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Home > Conference Calendar > Conference Exhibits > 2009 Meeting for Agencies and Courts

2009 Meeting for Agencies and Courts

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The following Information Gateway materials were made available at the 2009 Meeting for Agencies and Courts held August 3 to 6, 2009, in Arlington, VA.

A Coordinated Response to Child Abuse and Neglect: The Foundation for Practice

Author(s): Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (HHS)
Goldman, Salus, Wolcott, Kennedy
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Year Published: 2003 - 114 pages
 
Written for new child protective services (CPS) caseworkers, professionals working with children and families, other professionals and concerned community members, this manual addresses the definition, scope, causes, and consequences of child abuse and neglect. It presents an overview of prevention efforts and the child protection process from identification and reporting through investigation and assessment to service provision and case closure. This manual is intended to accompany each profession-specific manual in the User Manual Series. Appendices include a glossary of terms, resource listings of selected national organizations concerned with child maltreatment, and State toll-free child abuse reporting numbers. 150 references.

Abuse-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Child Physical Abuse

Series Title: Issue Briefs
Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway
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Year Published: 2007 - 11 pages
 
Abuse-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (AF-CBT) has been found to improve functioning in school-aged children who have experienced physical abuse, as well as in their parents, caregivers, and families. This issue brief explores the characteristics and benefits of AF-CBT to help child welfare caseworkers, other professionals who work with at-risk families, and caregivers make more informed decisions about family participation in AF-CBT. It includes information about what makes AF-CBT unique, key components, target populations, effectiveness, and what to look for in an AF-CBT therapist.

Addressing the Needs of Young Children in Child Welfare: Part C -- Early Intervention Services

Series Title: Bulletins for Professionals
Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway
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Year Published: 2007 - 16 pages
 
The Part C referral provisions in CAPTA and IDEA offer child welfare administrators an opportunity to expand the array of supports and resources for young children and their caregivers in order to enhance child well-being. This bulletin provides examples of State efforts to implement the new referral provisions and provides lessons learned about accessing early intervention services for children and families identified by the child welfare system. It includes background information about child welfare and early intervention, promising strategies, funding strategies, resources, and contact information for State and local programs.

Alternative Responses to Child Maltreatment : Findings from NCANDS

Author(s): United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation., Walter R. McDonald and Associates.
Shusterman, Hollinshead, Fluke, Yuan
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Year Published: 2005 - 69 pages
 
This report is the second in a series of three reports, based on the Secondary Analysis On Child Abuse and Neglect Topics of Current Policy Interest. This research examined case-level data reported to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) by six States Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Wyoming that offered both alternative response and traditional investigation. Case characteristics, circumstances of reports, and outcomes were examined for 313,838 children of whom 140,072 received an alternative response during 2002. Overall, the findings from the included States indicate that the use of alternative response was either increasing or ...

The Basics of Adoption Practice

Series Title: Bulletins for Professionals
Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway
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Year Published: 2006 - 13 pages
 
Adoption is a highly specialized field that focuses on placing children with families and providing services to ensure that these placements are permanent. In recent decades, the emphasis of adoption practice has shifted from helping families find children to finding safe and permanent families for children. Adoption workers are now expected to have extensive knowledge and understanding of the recruitment and assessment of adoptive families, the placement of children with a variety of strengths and needs, and supportive postadoption services to promote attachment and permanency for children. This bulletin provides an overview of the basics of adoption practice and the ...

Child Maltreatment 2006

Author(s): United States. Children's Bureau., Walter R. McDonald & Associates.
Gaudiosi
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Year Published: 2008 - 194 pages
 
This report summarizes child abuse statistics submitted by states to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) during 2006. See a list of all Child Maltreatment Reports. The data are presented in aggregate and by state, and trends are reported when available. Topics include sources of reports; time for response; victimization rates; types of maltreatment; age, race and gender of victims; age and gender of perpetrators; relationship of perpetrators to the victim; number of child fatalities; types of services provided; and additional research related to child maltreatment. During FFY 2006, an estimated 905,000 children in the 50 ...

Child Protection in Families Experiencing Domestic Violence.

Author(s): Office on Child Abuse and Neglect., Caliber Associates.
Bragg
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Year Published: 2003 - 108 pages
 
Domestic violence is a devastating social problem that affects every segment of the population. While system responses are primarily targeted towards adult victims of abuse, increasing attention is now focused on the children who witness domestic violence. Studies estimate that 10 to 20 percent of children are at risk for exposure to domestic violence. Research also indicates children exposed to domestic violence are at an increased risk of being abused or neglected, and that a majority of studies reveal there are adult and child victims in 30 to 60 percent of families who experience domestic violence. This manual provides background ...

Child Protective Services: A Guide for Caseworkers. 2003

Author(s): Office on Child Abuse and Neglect (DHHS)
DePanfilis, Salus
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Year Published: 2003 - 141 pages
 
This manual examines the roles and responsibilities of child protective services (CPS) workers. It describes the purposes, key decisions, and issues of each stage of the CPS process: intake, initial assessment/investigation, family assessment, case planning, service provision, evaluation of family progress and case closure. The manual also covers strategies for casework supervision, training, and support. Appendices include a glossary of terms, resource listings of selected national organizations, State toll-free telephone numbers for reporting child abuse, and the National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics. 8 tables and 173 references.

Child Welfare Casework With Nonresident Fathers of Children in Foster Care

Author(s): United States. Administration for Children and Families., United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Year Published: 2006 - 8 pages
 
Most children in foster care are not living with their fathers at the time they are removed from their homes, and once in substitute care, these children may experience even less contact with their nonresident fathers. Yet fathers and their relatives represent half of a child's potential family connections and kin resources. If ignored, important social or financial support for the child may be missed as permanency planning is conducted. Fathers or their relatives may be potential substitute caregivers for the child, may support a reunification plan with child support, respite or other assistance, or may voluntarily relinquish parental rights ...

The Children's Bureau

Author(s): United States Children's Bureau
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Year Published: 2006 - 12 pages
 
The Children's Burea administers a range of services designed to protect children and strengthen families. With an annual budget of more than $7 billion, the agency works with States, Tribes, and communities to plan, manage, coordinate, and support child abuse and neglect prevention, foster care, child welfare, and adoption programs that improve outcomes for children. and families.

Coming of Age: Employment Outcomes for Youth Who Age Out of Foster Care Through Their Middle Twenties.

Author(s): United States. Department of Health and Human Services. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation., Urban Institute.
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Year Published: 2008 - 84 pages
 
Studies of former foster youth who age out of care find that these youth generally experience high unemployment, unstable employment patterns, and earn very low incomes in the period between ages 18 and 21. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) requested this study to examine employment and earnings outcomes for youth, through their mid-twenties, who age out of foster care. The key question and focus of the study is whether foster youth catch up or continue to experience less employment and significantly lower earnings than their peers even ...

Concurrent Planning: What the Evidence Shows

Series Title: Issue Briefs
Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway
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Year Published: 2005 - 11 pages
 
Concurrent planning is an approach that seeks to eliminate delays in attaining permanent family placements for children in the foster care system. This process involves considering all reasonable options for permanency at the earliest possible point following a child's entry into foster care. This issue brief examines examples of and support for concurrent planning across the United States; reports on practices and evaluations of research in recent literature; emphasizes the important roles of court personnel in achieving timely permanence via concurrent planning; illustrates examples associated with the successful planning and implementation of concurrent planning in public agencies; and establishes some ...

Differential Response to Reports of Child Abuse and Neglect

Series Title: Issue Briefs
Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway.
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Year Published: 2008 - 26 pages
 
A growing number of State and local child protective services (CPS) agencies are employing some form of differential response. In these systems, families reported for suspected child abuse or neglect may receive either a traditional investigation or an assessment alternative, depending on the severity of the allegation and other considerations. This issue brief for child welfare administrators and policymakers provides an overview of differential response, highlights lessons learned through research and experience, and offers some guiding principles for implementation.

Exploring Differential Response: One Pathway Toward Reforming Child Welfare.

Author(s): Thompson, Conley, Oritz, Kirk
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Year Published: 2008 - 104 pages
 
This second double issue on differential response discusses practice, policy, and research related to understanding and implementing a differential response approach as an alternative to traditional investigations into child abuse or neglect. It begins by explaining that differential response focuses on partnering with families to provide services that meet their needs while dismissing the labels of perpetrator and victim and removing the determination or finding. Following articles summarize key findings for the 2006 National Study on Differential Response in Child Welfare; findings from the Parent Support Outreach Project, a pilot project in Minnesota that created a preventive pathway for families; ...

Family Reunification: What the Evidence Shows

Series Title: Issue Briefs
Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway
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Year Published: 2006 - 18 pages
 
Family reunification, the process of returning children in temporary out-of-home care to their families of origin, is the most common goal and outcome for children in out-of-home care. This issue brief examines States' successes and challenges related to family reunification, as documented in the Federal Child and Family Services Reviews; reviews research regarding factors contributing to timely, stable reunifications; offers specific program examples that illustrate these factors; and uses all of the above to suggest several guiding principles for practice in this critical area of permanency planning.

Foster Parent Adoption

Series Title: Bulletins for Professionals
Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway
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Year Published: 2006 - 9 pages
 
This paper discusses issues related to the increasing importance of foster parents as permanency resources for children in foster care. In order to facilitate adoptions by foster parents, professionals should be knowledgeable about the benefits, costs, and practice issues surrounding foster parent adoption. Practice issues include assessment, adoption preparation and postadoption support, and facilitating ongoing connections with birth families.

Foundations for Success: Strengthening Your Agency Attorney Office.

Author(s): Laver, Sandt, Inada
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Year Published: 1999 - 221 pages
 
The role of the child welfare agency attorney is examined in this collection of articles published in Child Law Practice, the monthly newsletter of the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law. The first half of the book reviews practice standards for agency attorneys, guidelines for hiring and retaining attorneys, and the benefits of performance evaluations. Part Two describes the responsibilities of agency attorneys and methods for managing the legal staff. Strategies for establishing caseload standards, staffing, and working with caseworkers are discussed. Chapter Ten specifically addresses considerations for ensuring the agency's compliance with the Adoption and Safe ...

How to work with your court : a guide for child welfare agency administrators. 2nd ed.

Author(s): Hardin, Rauber
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Year Published: 2004 - 168 pages
 
Federal laws such as the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 and the Adoption and Safe Families Act increased the role of courts in the implementation of child welfare cases to ensure that agencies are achieving permanency for children. This book for child welfare administrators explains how to establish effective and efficient relationships between their agency and the courts. Tips are provided for meeting with judges to resolve administrative problems, cooperating with other key court staff, working on joint projects with the court, and informing judges and agency attorneys about child welfare service delivery issues. Supervisors also must ...

Improving Child Welfare Outcomes Through Systems of Care : Building the Infrastructure, a Guide for Communities.

Author(s): Technical Assistance and Evaluation Center for Systems of Care., United States. Children's Bureau.
DeCarolis, Southern, Blake
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Year Published: 2007 - 140 pages
 
This guide is designed to clarify for grantees the various activities that federal funds can support under the Improving Child Welfare Outcomes through Systems of Care program. It is organized into nine parts that correspond to the fundamental components of the infrastructure needed to support systems of care: planning, governance, system management, coordination of services and service array, communication, policy, finance, continuous quality improvement, and human resources and staff development. The parts are divided into sections that outline the definitions, goals, activities, personnel, and expected outcomes related to each component. In addition, the guide provides resources that illustrate further the ...

2007 Kids Count Data Book: State Profiles of Child Well-Being: Lifelong Family Connections: Supporting Permanence for Children in Foster Care.

Author(s): Annie E. Casey Foundation.
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Year Published: 2007 - 196 pages
 
This 18th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book provides national and state-by-state information and statistical trends on the conditions of America's children and families. New this year is information on child well-being in Puerto Rico. This year's essay examines the child welfare system and challenges the country to make lifelong connections for children and youth in foster care a national priority. The essay also focuses on the 726,000 children who spend time in foster care each year and what can be done to build and strengthen family relationships.

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy With At-Risk Families

Series Title: Issue Briefs
Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway
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Year Published: 2007 - 14 pages
 
Parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT) is a family-centered treatment approach demonstrated effective for abused and at-risk children ages 2½ to 12 and their parents or caregivers. This issue brief explores the characteristics and benefits of PCIT to help child welfare caseworkers, other professionals who work with at-risk families, and caregivers make more informed decisions about family participation in PCIT programs. It includes information about what makes PCIT unique, key components, effectiveness, and what to look for in a PCIT therapist.

Post-Legal Adoption Services For Children with Special Needs and Their Families : Challenges and Lessons Learned

Series Title: Grantee Lessons Learned
Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway
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Year Published: 2005 - 15 pages
 
With the goal of expanding and enhancing services to adoptive families of children with special needs, post-legal adoption services have been established in annual adoption discretionary grant announcements. Under that priority area in 1998, 15 3-year grants were awarded to increase permanency and well-being for children with special needs by preventing adoption disruption, dissolution, or out-of-home placement. This briefing paper synthesizes the final reports of those 15 projects. The projects targeted post-legal adoptive families and their children with special needs, pre-adoptive families, single adoptive parents, transracial adoptive families, kinship families. Core services included parent support and educational groups, children s ...

Program Evaluation: A Synthesis of Lessons Learned by Child Neglect Demonstration Projects

Series Title: Grantee Lessons Learned
Author(s): United States. Children's Bureau.
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Year Published: 2005 - 18 pages
 
In 1996 and 1997, the Children's Bureau funded 10 demonstration projects to address the prevention, intervention, and treatment needs of neglected children and their families. These projects implemented and evaluated a wide variety of service strategies with large numbers of high-risk children and families. The programs varied considerably in terms of theoretical model (psychosocial or ecological), target population, location (in-home or out-of-home), duration, and intensity. The projects provided a great variety of services, including parent education and support, home visits, and referrals to other resources or services in the community. (For information about the programmatic aspects of these projects, see ...

Rereporting and Recurrence of Child Maltreatment : Findings from NCANDS

Author(s): United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation., Walter R. McDonald and Associates.
Fluke, Shusterman, Hollinshead, Yuan
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Year Published: 2005 - 33 pages
 
Most children who are subjects of a report of maltreatment to the State or local child protective services (CPS) agency are involved just once with CPS during their lives. Other children are referred more than once and their referrals result in repeated investigations or assessments (rereporting). Some of these children are found to have been revictimized (recurrence). This paper focuses on rereporting and recurrence, and on gaining a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding these children with repeated involvement with CPS. Most previous studies of subvsequent reports alleging maltreatment of the same child or of revictimization have included only small ...

Screening and Assessment for Family Engagement, Retention and Recovery (SAFERR)

Author(s): National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare., United States. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Young, Nakashian, Yeh, Amatetti
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Year Published: 2007 - 318 pages
 
This guidebook presents the SAFERR (Screening and Assessment for Family Engagement , Retention, and Recovery) model for helping staff of public and private agencies to families affected by substance use disorders. SAFERR was developed in response to frequent requests from managers of child welfare agencies for a "tool" that caseworkers could use to screen parents for potential substance use disorders in order to make decisions about children's safety. (Author abstract, modified)

Strengthening Families and Communities: 2009 Resource Guide

Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway, Children's Bureau, FRIENDS National Resource Center For Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention
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Year Published: 2009 - 86 pages
 
This Resource Guide was written to support service providers in their work with parents, caregivers, and their children to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect. The guide includes information about protective factors that help reduce the risk of child maltreatment, strategies for changing how communities support families, and evidence-informed practices. It also offers suggestions for enhancing protective factors in families, tools to build awareness and develop community partnerships, information about child abuse and neglect, a directory of national organizations that work to strengthen families, and tip sheets in English and Spanish on specific parenting topics.

Supervising Child Protective Services Caseworkers. [CD-ROM Version]

Author(s): Office on Child Abuse and Neglect., Caliber Associates.
Salus
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Year Published: 2004 - 15 pages
 
This manual provides the foundation for effective supervisory practice in child protective services (CPS). It describes the roles and responsibilities of the CPS supervisor, and it provides practice oriented advice on how to carry out supervisory responsibilities effectively. Best practices and critical issues in supervisory practice are underscored throughout. Topics include: The nature of CPS supervision; Making the transition from caseworker to supervisor; Building the foundation for effective unit performance; Building staff capacity and achieving excellence in performance; Supervisory feedback and performance recognition; Results-oriented management; Clinical supervision; Recruitment and retention; Managing from the middle; and Taking care of oneself and ...

Tribal-State Relations

Series Title: Issue Briefs
Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway
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Year Published: 2005 - 14 pages
 
Both the United States Congress and Tribal governments have articulated the importance of protecting the safety, permanency, and well-being of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) children. Through the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978, Congress stated ". . . that there is no resource that is more vital to the continued existence and integrity of Indian tribes than their children" (25 U.S.C. Sec. 1901). Congress goes on to further assert that "it is the policy of this Nation to protect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and security of Indian Tribes and families by the ...

Understanding Foster Parenting: Using Administrative Data to Explore Retention. Final Report.

Author(s): RTI International., U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
Gibbs
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Year Published: 2005 - 68 pages
 
This study was designed to extend current understanding of foster parent retention by producing unbiased estimates of length of service and examining factors associated with licensure, provision of care, and length of service. The study used administrative data, applying data management and analytic methods that have been used to describe the length of stay for children in foster care. Principal research questions include: How have the characteristics of foster parents changed over time? How can variations in activity levels be described, and what foster parent characteristics are associated with varying activity levels? What is the typical length of service for ...

Understanding Substance Abuse and Facilitating Recovery: A Guide for Child Welfare Workers

Author(s): National Center for Substance Abuse and Child Welfare., United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Breshears, Yeh, Young
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Year Published: 2004 - 34 pages
 
This publication is intended for front line child welfare staff. It discusses the relationship of alcohol and drugs to families in the child welfare system; provides information on the biological, psychological, and social processes of alcohol and drug addiction to help staff recognize when substance abuse is a risk factor in their cases; describes strategies to facilitate and support alcohol and drug treatment and recovery; and explains the benefits of partnering with substance abuse treatment and dependency court systems to improve outcomes for children of parents with substance use disorders. (Author abstract)

What is Child Welfare Information Gateway?

Author(s): Child Welfare Information Gateway
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Year Published: 2006 - 2 pages
 
Child Welfare Information Gateway promotes the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families by connecting child welfare, adoption, and related professionals to information and resources that help them address the needs of children and families in their communities.

 

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