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Addresses child welfare's work with immigrant children and families; examines current issues related to immigration and child welfare; provides examples of programs and promising practices; and points to resources for professionals, families, and youth. Cultural competency and trauma-informed practice are also discussed.

Summarizes State laws on immunity from prosecution for persons who in good faith report suspected instances of child abuse or neglect. Immunity statutes protect both mandatory and voluntary reporters from civil or criminal liability that they might otherwise incur. The publication also discusses the provision of immunity for taking photographs or x-rays, performing medical examinations or tests, and participating in the investigation or prosecution of child abuse or neglect cases. Laws for all 50 States and territories are included.

Provides an overview of the seven core issues in adoption and how they may affect the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of children and adults who have been adopted, birth parents, and adoptive parents. Although adoption is often a joyful and exciting occasion, it can also give rise to lifelong challenges for members of the adoption constellation. Awareness of these issues can help families better understand each other and the personal effects of the adoption experience.

Ofrece una visión general de las siete cuestiones centrales de la adopción y cómo pueden afectar los pensamientos, sentimientos y experiencias de niños y adultos que han sido adoptados, padres biológicos y padres adoptivos. Aunque la adopción es a menudo una ocasión alegre y emocionante, también puede presentar desafíos de por vida para los miembros de la constelación de adopción. El conocimiento de estos problemas puede ayudar a las familias a comprenderse mejor entre sí y a entender los efectos personales de la experiencia de adopción.Provides an overview of the seven core issues in adoption and how they may affect the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of children and adults who have been adopted, birth parents, and adoptive parents. Although adoption is often a joyful and exciting occasion, it can also give rise to lifelong challenges for members of the adoption constellation. Awareness of these issues can help families better understand each other and the personal effects of the adoption experience.

Provides child welfare professionals an overview of the importance of a trauma-informed child welfare system, its components, and steps needed to transition to trauma-informed child welfare. This issue brief also includes examples of State and local programs incorporating trauma-informed care.

To carry out their responsibilities of protecting children at risk of maltreatment, CPS caseworkers must effectively engage families that often both present and face great challenges. These can include substance abuse, mental health problems, economic stress, unemployment, separation and divorce, inadequate housing, crime, and incarceration. Figuring out how best to work with and engage these families, always with the safety of and permanency for the child as the goal, is not easy. This manual also speaks to both the opportunities and challenges presented by one participant in the family sagas that CPS caseworkers deal with everyday: the father. Working with fathers who are the perpetrators of child maltreatment is different than working with mothers or other perpetrators. In addition, fathers whose children were victimized by someone else, even fathers not living with their children, can prove to be a valuable ally as the CPS caseworker pursues his or her case planning objectives. Whether the father is the perpetrator or not, the abuse of a child can be a direct affront to how a father views himself as a man and a father. How well a caseworker understands these reactions and feelings and how effectively the caseworker can address them will make a major difference when trying to either help an abusing father become a protecting father or engaging a father as an ally in addressing the family dynamics that made the situation unsafe for the child. Effectively involving fathers in case planning and service provision presents unique challenges for caseworkers. This may explain in part why they often may not include fathers. This manual is also known as, "The Fatherhood Manual," and "The Fatherhood User Manual."

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 topics covered in the discussion of the infrastructure components, and examples from the field to highlight the variety of activities undertaken by the grantees. Finally, a set of worksheets is provided that correspond to the nine systems of care infrastructure components to assist the decision-making of those leading and participating in systems of care development and implementation. 23 references.

In 2011, the Children’s Bureau published a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) titled “Improving Services Delivery to Youth in the Child Welfare System” (HHS-2011-ACF-ACYF-CW-0186). Through this FOA, the Children’s Bureau awarded 5-year grants to support the effective implementation of strategies to help youth at risk of aging out of foster care develop skills to strengthen and manage relationships with biological family members and other important people in their lives. The strategies implemented by the grantees were designed to facilitate reunification, when safe and appropriate, or other legal permanency for older youth in foster care and promote a healthy transition to adulthood. In addition to achieving permanency and/or establishing permanent connections for youth, grantees were charged with developing, implementing, and supporting a framework or practice model to promote protective mechanisms in youth that allowed for increased capacity and skills to build and maintain lasting, healthy relationships. The Children’s Bureau awarded grants to four organizations, which were listed on the first page of this report.

Provides caseworkers with an overview of current and historical issues affecting child welfare practice with American Indian and Alaska Native families; practice implications, including the application of the Indian Child Welfare Act; and cultural considerations.

Among the strategies that are critical for increasing the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families involved with child welfare is tailoring services to unique needs by building upon strengths. As child welfare agency administrators and policy-makers continually strive to improve services and outcomes for children and families, establishing child welfare policies and practices that promote and facilitate an individualized, strengths-based approach is essential. Policy is crucial to sustaining strengths-based practices, because without it such practices may be inconsistently applied and diminish with staff turnover.

Discusses State laws that provide safe places for parents to relinquish newborn infants. The purpose of these laws is to prevent these babies from being abandoned at places where they may come to harm. The responsibilities of and immunity from liability for providers who accept the infants, legal protections from prosecution for the parents, and the effect of relinquishment on parental rights also are discussed. Summaries of laws for all States and U.S. territories are included.

Provides an overview of child welfare in-home services, components of effective service delivery, and Federal funding sources for services. It also points to core practice elements of in-home services, evidence-based programs used during the provision of in-home services, and State examples of efforts to improve their in-home services delivery.

Serving children involved in the child welfare system calls for services and support from a variety of human service and community organizations, which is often a challenging aspect of child welfare casework. Interagency collaboration, a core principle in systems of care, focuses on bringing together and engaging critical stakeholders, such as juvenile justice, mental health, education, law enforcement, and Tribal authorities, in a coordinated and integrated effort to serve children whose needs cross multiple systems. This issue of A Closer Look considers the challenges and strategies associated with building and sustaining interagency collaboration in a child welfare driven system of care. The report draws on current research in the field as well as the knowledge and experiences of nine grant communities currently in the fifth year of a 5-year demonstration grant.

This factsheet provides a guide to intercountry adoption, including information on requirements and processes you may need before and after you are matched with a child; how to select the adoption service provider that is right for you; and eligibility, immigration, and citizenship requirements. There is also information about how to prepare for parenting an internationally adopted child, bringing your child home, and tips for adjusting to a new family structure for you and your new child. A list of additional resources is also provided.

Explores what is currently known about intergenerational patterns of maltreatment, the limits of our current knowledge, implications of what we know and what we do not know (including promising prevention strategies), and areas for further research. This issue brief also describes theories to explain intergenerational maltreatment (IGM) and practical implications to IGM.

Discusses the right of an adopted child to inherit from his or her adoptive parents whether or not the parent has written a will. In some States, an adopted person also may retain the right to inherit from a birth parent. The right of inheritance of an adopted child who has been omitted from a will also is discussed. Summaries of laws for all States and U.S. territories are included.

This guide describes the primary data-reporting systems used in the child welfare, alcohol and other drug services, and court systems. The document describes 15 data-reporting systems, including 8 child welfare systems, 5 alcohol and other drug service systems, 2 initiatives to implement a national data reporting system in the courts, and 1 enterprise health information system for data on American Indian and Alaska Native families. (Author abstract)