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.
The Child and Family Practice Model Program Manual
California Partners for Permanency (2016)
Includes three manuals detailing the implementation of the Child and Family Practice Model (CFPM), created by the California Partners for Permanency through a Permanency Innovations Initiative (PII) grant. Together, the three PII program manuals help to build a base of replicable interventions that can serve the complex needs of diverse communities of children and families.
| Series Title | Bulletins for Professionals |
| Author(s) | Child Welfare Information Gateway |
| Availability | View Download (PDF - 426KB) Order (Free) |
| Year Published | 2016 |
Family Group Decision-Making: Becoming a Family-Centered Agency [Podcast]
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau (2018)
Features lessons learned from implementing a family group decision-making program, including what it means to be a fully family-centered-agency, the necessary skills and capabilities of staff, and favorable conditions for success.
Guest Editorial: Advancing a Family-Centered Practice Agenda in Child Welfare
Leitz & Geiger (2017)
Journal of Family Social Work, 20(4)
Discusses ways in which developing an ecosystem that adopts a family-centered approach throughout all levels is essential for family-centered practice to thrive.
Key Lessons for Implementing a Family-Centered Approach (PDF - 3,518 KB)
Children and Family Futures (2017)
Highlights the Prevention and Family Recovery initiative, which strives to build the capacity of family drug courts and their partner agencies to provide a more comprehensive, family-centered approach grounded in cross-systems collaboration and evidence-based practices that strengthen the parent-child relationship and improve family well-being.
A Multi-Level Analysis of Individual and Agency Effects on Implementation of Family-Centered Practice in Child Welfare
Ahn, Keyser, & Hayward-Everson (2016)
Children and Youth Services Review, 69
Presents the findings of a study on the factors of a child welfare agency’s implementation of the family-centered practice model, including individual caseworkers’ factors and outward organizational climates.