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A strong foundation for child maltreatment prevention requires authentic partnerships with families, cross-system collaboration and evidence-based practice. To that end, child welfare professionals frequently must explain maltreatment to related professionals, provide information to families and communities, and identify risk and protective factors. The Children's Bureau's information service, Child Welfare Information Gateway, offers a number of publications to support these goals. Topics include preventing child abuse, protecting children from the risk of abuse, and promoting healthy families.

Listed below are the latest bulletins for child welfare professionals, factsheets for families, and issue briefs that cover research and evidence-based or evidence-informed practices for preventing maltreatment. For a full list of titles, visit Information Gateway's publication catalog and browse by topic.

Parental Substance Use: A Primer for Child Welfare Professionals

Series Title	Factsheets
Author(s)	Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability	View Download (PDF - 446KB) Order (Free)
Year Published	2021

Reviews what substance use disorders (SUDs) are, how parental substance use affects families, and how child welfare professionals can support these families. It also considers how collaboration between child welfare professionals and SUD treatment providers, as well as others, is an essential component to assisting families. This factsheet is intended to serve as a brief primer on the intersection of parental SUDs and child welfare rather than a comprehensive guide. Additional information and resources are provided throughout to help readers explore the topic in more detail.

Domestic Violence: A Primer for Child Welfare Professionals

Series Title	Factsheets
Author(s)	Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability	View Download (PDF - 378KB) Order (Free)
Year Published	2020

Provides a high-level overview of the overlap between domestic violence and child welfare, the impact of domestic violence on child witnesses, and the trend toward a more collaborative, communitywide response to the issue. It also points to promising practices, as well as comprehensive resources on the topic.

The Importance of a Trauma-Informed Child Welfare System

Series Title	Issue Briefs
Author(s)	Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability	View Download (PDF - 412KB) Order (Free)
Year Published	2020

Provides child welfare professionals an overview of the importance of a trauma-informed child welfare system, its components, and steps needed to transition to trauma-informed child welfare. This issue brief also includes examples of State and local programs incorporating trauma-informed care.

What Is Child Welfare? A Guide for Domestic Violence Services Advocates

Series Title	Factsheets
Author(s)	Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability	View Download (PDF - 290KB) Order (Free)
Year Published	2020

Provides an overview of basic child welfare services, describes how domestic violence services (DVS) and child welfare professionals can support one another’s efforts in working with families, and lists resources for more information.

Protective Factors Approaches in Child Welfare

Series Title	Issue Briefs
Author(s)	Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability	View Download (PDF - 554KB) Order (Free)
Year Published	2020

Provides an overview of national protective factors approaches to prevent child abuse and neglect. It is designed to help child welfare professionals, administrators, service providers, policymakers, and other interested individuals understand the concepts of protective and risk factors in families and communities and learn ways in which building protective factors can help lower the risk of child abuse and neglect now and in the future.

What Is Child Welfare? A Guide for Behavioral and Mental Health Professionals

Series Title	Factsheets
Author(s)	Child Welfare Information Gateway
Availability	View Download (PDF - 287KB) Order (Free)
Year Published	2019

Provides a brief overview of child welfare, describes how behavioral and mental health professionals and child welfare workers can support each other, and offers additional information resources. Working together, behavioral and mental health practitioners and child welfare workers can make sure that children, youth, and families receive appropriate services that promote healthy functioning and well-being.

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The Children's Bureau, within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, funds the National Child Abuse Prevention Month initiative each April on the Child Welfare Information Gateway.