Children and families served by one human services system—such as child welfare, substance use treatment, education, family court, or juvenile justice—are often served by another, and coordinating services is important to improving outcomes. This section includes guidelines, protocols, and other resources for improving collaboration among substance use treatment providers, child welfare agencies, the courts, and other child- and family-serving systems.
Child Welfare Training Toolkit
National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare
Provides resources to train child welfare workers on how to support families affected by substance use disorders and who are involved with the child welfare system.
A Collaborative Approach to the Treatment of Pregnant Women With Opioid Use Disorders
National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (2016)
Discusses the effects associated with opioid use by pregnant women, as well as the risks and benefits of medication-assisted treatment, in order to guide states, tribes, and local communities toward best practice approaches.
Collaborative Capacity
National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare
Provides tools that can support professionals working across systems with children and youth affected by parental substance use.
Destination - Successful DEC Alliance
National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children
Provides training on how to create effective partnerships between child welfare professionals, court professionals, medical personnel, and treatment providers serving drug-endangered children.
Helping Children Affected by Adult Opioid Abuse (PDF - 545 KB)
Quality Improvement Center for Research-Based Infant-Toddler Court Teams (2018)
Focuses on improving community engagement; a systems-change approach; and how related child-serving organizations can work together, share information, and expedite services for young children in the system as a result of parental opioid use.
Infants With Prenatal Substance Exposure and Their Families: Five Points of Family Intervention (PDF - 8,740 KB)
National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (2020)
Provides examples of policy and practice strategies at each of the intervention points that child welfare, substance use treatment, health-care, and other community agencies can employ to effectively serve this population.
Regional Partnership Grants to Increase the Well-Being of, and to Improve the Permanency Outcomes for, Children Affected by Substance Abuse: Highlights of Grantee Implementation: 2012-2017: Executive Summary (PDF - 488 KB)
National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (2017)
Discusses the successes, challenges, and identified solutions from grantees providing services to increase the permanency of children with parents who use substances.
Substance Use, the Opioid Epidemic and the Child Welfare System: Key Findings From a Mixed Methods Study
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (2018)
Analyzes the connection between parental substance use and increased caseloads for child welfare workers.