This section provides State and local examples of how agencies and community members work together to monitor and improve child welfare agency performance and outcomes for children and families involved with the system.
Center for Family Life in Sunset Park
SCO Family of Services (2018)
Provides information on community-based services for families living in the Sunset Park community, including family counseling, school-based programs, youth and adult employment services, cooperative business development, an advocacy clinic, tax-filing support, and other community services.
Community-Based Prevention
Bring Up Nebraska
Provides information on community collaborations to reduce entry into the child welfare system and increase community supports for children and families.
Community Change: Lessons From Making Connections (PDF - 1,024 KB)
Casey Family Programs (2013)
Provides an overview of the Making Connections community-based program and lessons learned from communities around the country. The report offers implications for the field.
Community Connections
Center for Family Services (2018)
Provides information on community-based initiatives and programs that support individuals and families, including a peer-led recovery group, a reading initiative, outreach programs, neighborhood revitalization program, and more.
Community Partners for Child Safety
Indiana Department of Child Services (2018)
Offers information on secondary child abuse prevention services through a collaborative prevention network throughout Indiana.
Count Me In for Kids
Lynn Institute
Describes a collaborative initiative to meet the needs of at-risk youth, children in foster care, foster families, and youth aging out of foster care in Oklahoma.
Embrace Oregon
Provides information on a partnership that connects the community with at-risk children in families involved with the Department of Human Services. The partnership offers housing through private developers and property owners, support teams for families as they transition to independence, “Office Buddies” that entertain and care for children when they are taken into foster care and are awaiting placement, and more.
Family Support
One Hope United (2016)
Provides information on community-based family support programs, including an intact counseling services program, intact family services, the Nurturing Parenting Program, the Parent Group Program, and supplemental services for families.
Father Engagement and Father Involvement Toolkit
California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC), University of California Berkeley (2018)
Provides a fatherhood engagement toolkit for communities and local organizations, complete with engagement and communication tools, assessments, trainings, policies and procedures, and evaluation tools.
Live Well Communities
Live Well San Diego
Provides information on a program that engages the community to improve the health, financial strength, safety, and quality of life of children and families.
Roberson County Bridges for Families
National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare
Details a program that provides a continuum of care through a collaborative, interagency approach for substance-involved families referred to social services in Robertson County, North Carolina.