Child Welfare Information Gateway provides information and resources on a wide range of child welfare topics, covering the continuum from preventing child abuse and neglect through adoption. To support professionals working with children and families involved with child welfare, we offer current information, research, statistics, best practices, and other materials on the topics listed below.
Family-Centered Practice
Provides strategies for family-centered casework practice across child welfare service systems that focus on strengths, engage families and involve them in decision-making, and engage communities to support families.
Child Abuse & Neglect
Offers resources on child abuse and neglect, including definitions, identification of signs and symptoms, statistics and data, risk and protective factors, perpetrators, the impact of abuse on individuals and society, and fatalities. Includes information on supporting families, public awareness, community activities, positive parenting, prevention programs, and more.
Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect
Includes resources on child abuse prevention, protecting children from risk of abuse, and strengthening families. Includes information on supporting families, protective factors, public awareness, community activities, positive parenting, prevention programs, and more.
Responding to Child Abuse & Neglect
Provides information on reporting child abuse and neglect; screening and intake, investigation, and assessment of reports; casework practice case management; differential response; trauma-informed practice; and responding to child fatalities.
Supporting & Preserving Families
Describes family support and preservation services and offers resources for managers on family engagement, cultural competence, evaluation, evidence-based practice, funding, and training.
Out-of-Home Care
Offers information about family foster care, kinship care, treatment foster care, residential and group care, and Independent Living services. This section also addresses working with children, youth, and families involved with out-of-home care.
Achieving & Maintaining Permanency
Includes information on legal and court issues, preparing and supporting children and youth, interjurisdictional placements, postpermanency services, and special issues in achieving permanency for older youth, children of color, and children with disabilities.
Adoption
Addresses all aspects of domestic and intercountry adoption, with a focus on adoption from the U.S. foster care system. This section also offers information on assessing, developing, and evaluating adoption programs and services; recruiting adoptive families; preparing children and youth; supporting birth parents; postadoption services; the adoption process; and search and reunion.
Management & Supervision
Includes resources to help managers, supervisors, and administrators provide effective leadership and build a skilled workforce. This section addresses child welfare agency administration and management, ethical practice, program evaluation, disaster preparedness, funding, information systems and data, practice improvement, supervision, system reform, training, and strategies to strengthen the child welfare workforce.
Systemwide
Presents information on topics that are relevant across the child welfare continuum, including assessment, the role of courts, cultural competence, domestic violence, laws and policies, mental/behavioral health, statistics, substance abuse, and a range of other services that support children, youth, and families.