Diligent Recruitment

Diligent recruitment is the systematic process through which child welfare agencies recruit, retain, and support foster and adoptive families that reflect the ethnic diversity of children awaiting placements. Find resources below explaining best practices, implementation strategies, and practical examples related to diligent recruitment in agency settings.

A CHAMPS Guide on Foster Parent Recruitment and Retention: Strategies for Developing a Comprehensive Program (PDF - 253 KB)
Children Need Amazing Parents (2019)
Provides useful information and suggestions for innovative, promising approaches to include in diligent recruitment plans. The guide encourages agencies to go beyond writing a plan, spurring new and improved programming resulting in agency-wide prioritization of foster parenting.

Developing Recruitment Plans: A Toolkit for States and Tribes
National Resource Center for Diligent Recruitment at AdoptUSKids (2016)
View Abstract and Document
Guides child welfare agencies in developing data-driven recruitment plans and offers ideas for creating targeted recruitment plans focused on particular populations or areas.

Diligent Recruitment of Families for Children in the Foster Care System
Author(s)
Child Welfare Information Gateway.
Availability View
Download (PDF - 753KB)
Year Published 2018
This synthesis summarizes the work and findings of a cluster of demonstration projects funded through the Children's Bureau discretionary grant program. The purpose of this grant cluster was to develop replicable models of systemic change and evidence-based models for placing children and youth with families who could provide permanent family connections. These grants funded multifaceted diligent recruitment (DR) programs for a range of resource families for children in public foster care systems. Resource families were defined as kinship, foster, concurrent , and adoptive families. Grantees conducted evaluations of their processes and outcomes and reported on their findings. This synthesis summarizes their lessons learned, successful strategies, and evaluation processes and results.

Diligent Recruitment: Planning Tool for Tribes: A Tribal Supplement to the Diligent Recruitment Navigator (PDF - 101 KB)
National Resource Center for Diligent Recruitment at AdoptUSKids (2016)
Provides information tailored to Tribes about programs to recruit, engage, develop and support kinship, foster, guardianship, and adoptive families.

Episode 14: Diligent Recruitment – Intelligent Recruitment
Child Welfare Information Gateway (2017)
Provides detail into how community-based care agencies, State agencies, and professional marketing teams partner together to gather target audience data and marketing and outreach plans unique to their region’s foster families.

Foster Home Estimator: Helping Child Welfare Agencies Plan for Family Recruitment
Annie E. Casey Foundation (2016)
Helps agencies build a more robust pool of foster parents by more accurately estimating how many additional foster homes are needed, especially for specific populations of children, such as teens or large sibling groups. This tool was tested and enhanced through years of collaboration between public agencies and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

LGBTQ Supplement to Diligent Recruitment Navigator
National Resource Center for Diligent Recruitment at AdoptUSKids
View Abstract and Document
Discusses methods for building the capacity of child welfare agencies in recruiting foster, adoptive, and kinship families for LGBTQ youth.

MEPA/IEAP, Diligent Recruitment
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau (2016)
Connects to frequently asked questions and their answers concerning the Multiethnic Placement Act and the Interethnic Adoption Provisions.

Speaking the Same Language: Understanding Multiple Meanings of Terms Used by Child Welfare Program and IT/Data Staff to Support Diligent Recruitment
National Resource Center for Diligent Recruitment at AdoptUSKids (2015)
View Abstract and Document
Clarifies definitions in order to support the collaboration between child welfare agencies and information technology staff.

What is Diligent Recruitment? (PDF - 92 KB)
AdoptUSKids (2014)
Explains the historical context of diligent recruitment before providing key characteristics of best practices for recruiting families that reflect the ethnic and racial diversity of foster children.

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