Child Welfare Information Gateway E-lert! October 2019

Encourage your colleagues to subscribe to E-lert!

Here's what's new from Child Welfare Information Gateway. Use the links below or contact us to request print copies. If print copies are available, we will ship them to you for free.

Stay updated on our publications via email, Facebook, and Twitter!

Get Ready for National Adoption Month!  

Plan now to support National Adoption Month in November! Use the sample press releases, social media posts, and email signatures to get the word out on this year’s theme: "Youth Voices: Why Family Matters." Start the conversation in your community and join us on Facebook and Twitter with #NationalAdoptionMonth. Subscribe to National Adoption Month updates to stay connected during November and year-round!

Child Welfare Outcomes 2016 Report Released  

Learn how states performed on seven outcome categories in this report to Congress, and visit the data site to see the facts and figures. Read the summary of findings and analyses to understand contextual factors and recommendations for addressing areas of improvement.

Podcast: "Birth-Foster Parent Mentoring Teams"

Bringing parents and foster parents together as partners can lead to faster reunifications and better support for children and families. Listen to parent and foster parent mentors discuss how to normalize the process of partnership to eliminate barriers and stigmas as well as how social workers can incorporate these relationships into their daily work. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and Google Play!

New & Updated Publications

Belonging Matters—Helping Youth Explore Permanency
Help youth understand permanency with these tips based on the perspectives of youth formerly in foster care. Read about the beliefs, concerns, and emotions that motivate them to seek permanency.

Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect
Review state-specific definitions on the behaviors and omissions that constitute child abuse and neglect.

Updated Resource Pages

How to Report Suspected Child Maltreatment
Share this list of resources with your community on what to do if you suspect child abuse or neglect.  

Engaging Families in System Reform
Listening to the perspectives of families and involving them in evaluation and program planning is the first step in identifying how child welfare services are affecting them. Read examples of what some states are doing to engage families in improving service delivery.

Did You Know?

Families who adopt children from other racial, ethnic, or cultural backgrounds may face unique challenges. As children and youth form their racial and cultural identity, it is important for parents to gain awareness and learn how to help. The following resources support families and professionals involved in transracial/transcultural adoptions and share perspectives from people who were transracially adopted:

• Preparing Families for Transracial/Transcultural Adoption
• Supporting Transracial and Transcultural Adoptive Families
• Perspectives of Transracial Adopted People

In this Month's CBX: Trauma-Informed Care and Adverse Childhood Experiences

The October 2019 issue of Children's Bureau Express highlights how trauma-informed approaches can help to mitigate the effects of the adverse experiences children involved with child welfare often face. Subscribe to CBX at https://www.childwelfare.gov/subscribe.

Upcoming Conferences

Child Welfare Information Gateway will be at these upcoming conference(s). Please stop by and see the team. Be sure to visit Information Gateway's conference calendar to view and/or submit upcoming events!

October 17–18, 2019: International Social Service's 7th Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD

October 20–23, 2019: National Staff Development and Training Association's 2019 Education Conference, Long Beach, CA

October 21–22, 2019: 38th Annual Michigan Statewide Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect: Prevention, Assessment, and Treatment, Plymouth, MI

October 24–27, 2019: Council on Social Work Education's 65th Annual Program Meeting, Denver, CO

October 28–30, 2019: The Georgia Conference on Children and Families, Augusta, GA

November 2–5, 2019: National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth's 31st Annual Conference, Washington, DC

November 12–14, 2019: 17th Annual Together We Can Conference, Lafayette, LA

November 12–14, 2019: 2019 National Runaway and Homeless Youth Grantees Training, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Updates From the Capacity Building Center for States

Our Becoming a Family-Focused System series is designed to help child welfare professionals apply strategies to assess, shift, and monitor their agency’s culture and climate with the goal of partnering more closely with families and providing services that better strengthen family connections. 

Explore the new resources in the series:

• "Improving Culture Begins With Leaders"  (tip sheet)
• "Becoming a Family-Focused System: One Agency’s Story" (animated video series)
• "How We Partner With the Community to Improve Service Options" (podcast testimonials and infographic)
• "Developing a Collaborative Service Array to Support a Family-Centered Approach" (archived webinar)
• "Partnering With Families and Youth to Shift System Culture" (archived webinar)

For more information and news from the Center for States, visit our website.

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