Creating a Family-Centered Agency Culture

Successful implementation of a family-centered approach to working with children and families requires the creation of an agency culture that embraces family participation and engagement, focuses on family strengths and assets, enters into true collaborative partnerships with families and communities, and provides culturally sensitive services across the service continuum. Agencies must assess their organizational culture to identify their own strengths and challenges, and use the results to build support throughout the organization for a change to more family-centered practice.

• State and local examples

Building Support for Innovation Inside Child Welfare Agencies (PDF - 511 KB)
Annie E. Casey Foundation (2002)
Describes the organizational development approach used by Family to Family initiatives to build support for innovation inside child welfare agencies.

Can Encouraging Employee Buy-In Change an Organization's Culture
Welfare Information Network
Resources for Welfare Decisions, 6(6), 2002
Identifies useful resources and publications that address fostering employee commitment and buy-in while undergoing a change initiative, and describes some reform initiatives that required major changes in organizational culture.

Changing the Culture of the Workplace
Milner (2003)
Describes the Children's Bureau vision of how States can embark on changing the culture of the workplace to create family-centered, community-based systems that provide individualized services and strengthen the capacity of parents to provide for their children's needs.

Embracing the Chaos: Moving from Child-Centered to Family-Centered
Villiotti
Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, 13(2), 1995
View Abstract
Examines a residential treatment center that made the transition from a child-centered program to one that is more family-centered. Families were encouraged and expected to play a larger role in their children's recovery.

Family-Centered, Culturally Competent Partnerships (PDF - 341 KB)
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2001)
Offers case study examples and a variety of tools for communities to use as they implement, monitor and institutionalize family partnership and culturally competent policies and practices.

Family Strengthening at the Tipping Point: Emerging Transformation in the Human Services Field (PDF - 279 KB)
Family Strengthening Policy Center, National Human Services Assembly (2007)
Describes advances at national and community levels in human services organizations to integrate place-based, family-strengthening approaches into policies, programs, and practices.

Implementing the Values and Strategies of Family to Family (PDF - 300 KB)
Annie E. Casey Foundation (2001)
A practical resource for child welfare agencies and their partners to use in crafting a more family-focused and neighborhood-based service system. Includes helpful hints for each step of the implementation process and recommendations for institutionalizing policy and practice changes.

Improving the Quality of Care for the Most Vulnerable Children, Youth, and Their Families: Finding Consensus (PDF - 460 KB)
Child Welfare League of America (2005)
Addresses what is known to improve the quality of care for the most vulnerable children, youth, and families. Supports the development of a consensus agenda for system-culture change to support integrated services.

Integrating Family-Focused Practice into Group Care: Introduction to Section II
Braziel, Day, & Stuck (1996)
In Family-Focused Practice in Out-of-Home Care: A Handbook and Resource Directory
View Abstract
Provides managers with information on the process that brings a family focus to a child welfare agency's policy, administration, and program structure. Describes a framework for and major elements of the agency change process.

An Introduction to the Practice Model Framework: A Working Document Series (PDF - 129 KB)
National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement & National Child Welfare Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning (2008)
Presents a framework to help child welfare agencies and Tribal social service programs develop and implement a comprehensive, written, and articulated practice model.

Shifting the Organization's Culture: A Self-Assessment Guide
North Carolina University School of Social, Chapel Hill (2001)
View Abstract
The self-assessment dialogue outlined in the guide is intended to help public social service agencies consider how their culture should change to support a participatory style of service delivery. The domains of leadership, outcomes, community-building, organizational structure, information sharing, funding, and accountability are addressed.

The Supervisor in Child Welfare (PDF - 226 KB)
University of Michigan (2003)
Explores the legal and organizational framework for the provision of child welfare services, current thinking about best practices in child welfare, managerial elements of supervision, and the challenges in transforming child welfare agencies into learning organizations.