Families involved with the child welfare system often also are engaged with other public agencies. Collaboration between and among agencies improves service delivery and the experiences of children and families who deal with multiple organizations. This section contains resources and information about collaboration among public child welfare and other human service agencies, including State and local examples.
Bringing Systems Together: A Report From NAPCWA's Symposium (PDF - 62 KB)
National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators, American Public Human Services Association, (2002)
Summarizes symposium presentations and group discussions about cross-system development, cultural competency, differential response, assessment, and community partnerships for child welfare, domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental health services.
The Collaborative Practice Model for Family Recovery, Safety and Stability (PDF - 1,976 KB)
Children and Family Futures (2011)
Identifies 10 system linkage elements that providers can use to collaborate with one another and gives examples from States and communities that have demonstrated progress in each element. A list of resources and tools that are available to systems, agencies, and providers is included.
A Decade of Hope: How Communities Across America Are Keeping Children Safe and Families Strong
Casey Family Programs (2015)
Highlights initiatives funded and supported by Casey Family Programs to keep children safe, make families strong, promote the safe reunification of children in foster care, and build supportive communities.
A Governor's Guide to Children's Cabinets (PDF - 294 KB)
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (2004)
Road map for governors interested in designing Children's Cabinets to promote coordination across State agencies.
Helping Children in the Child Welfare System Heal From Trauma: A Systems Integration Approach (PDF - 256 KB)
National Child Traumatic Stress Network (2005)
Findings of a study investigating how social services agencies gather, assess, and share child-trauma related information. Includes basic training modules for workers.
Helping Communities Strengthen Services for Children and Families
The Annie E. Casey Foundation (2015)
Illustrates concrete ways communities can review their child welfare services and assess what they are doing to keep kids safe and families strong.
Integrating Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, and Other Agencies in a Continuum of Services
Howell, Kelly, Palmer, & Mangum
Child Welfare, 83(2), 2004
View Abstract
Framework for integrating mental health, child welfare, education, substance abuse, and juvenile justice services.
Making Interagency Initiatives Work for Children and Families in the Child Welfare System
Health Care Reform Tracking Project (2003)
In Promising Approaches for Behavioral Health Services to Children and Adolescents and Their Families in Managed Care Systems
Discusses how the child welfare system can collaborate with mental health and substance abuse systems to better serve children with serious and complex behavioral health disorders and their families, including details on three initiatives addressing this issue.
Sharing the Baton, Not Passing It: Collaboration Between Public and Private Child Welfare Agencies to Reunify Families
Spath, Werrbach, & Pine
Journal of Community Practice, 16(4), 2008
View Abstract
Presents results from a study of a partnership of two State child welfare agencies and a private child welfare agency aimed at reunifying families whose children have been removed and placed in foster care. Findings indicate the strengths of this partnership and factors that facilitated and hindered it.