Resource Library

Provides suggestions for ensuring practices are LGBTQ+ friendly. Is designed for social workers but applies to other services as well.

Emphasizes the mental health and emotional well-being of grandfamilies, bringing attention to mental health challenges prevalent in children, caregivers and birth parents pre- and post-permanency. This report provides innovative solutions and resources to strengthen support for these families while offering policy and program recommendations for child welfare professionals.

Helps agencies offer a 12- to 16-hour curriculum designed to help caregivers understand trauma and its effects, see behaviors as symptoms of trauma, and learn how best to respond to children who have experienced trauma. Offers practical ideas to enable parents and caregivers to become trauma-informed and trauma-responsive—and thus to help children and youth heal and thrive.

Provides an overview of how Catawba County planned to implement Reach for Success, which is a structured early-outreach program designed to identify adoptive families who might be at higher risk for post-permanency discontinuity and may benefit from Success Coach post-adoption services.

Provides information about various funding streams that jurisdictions are using to fund support services for adoptive, foster, and kinship families. (see pages 285–289)

Provides introductory information on brain development and how it may be affected by abuse and neglect, including the resulting emotional, mental, and behavioral impacts. Describes the implications and considerations for child welfare practice, such as prevention; early intervention; and working with caregivers, including parents, kin caregivers, foster parents, and others.

Describes causes of burnout and offer tips for leaders to help reduce the risks for their staff.

Provides numerous resources related to Child Trends’ 12th edition of its national survey of child welfare agency expenditures. Includes a detailed report, as well as an executive summary and state-level data, plus deeper dives into each funding stream.

Provides a detailed report on the results of Child Trends’ 12th edition of its national survey of child welfare agency expenditures. Presents accurate, up-to-date information on states’ financing, and on the financing-related challenges and opportunities that agencies face in serving children and families.

Provides cautions related to simply assessing children for adverse experiences. Presents recommended strategies for addressing childhood adversity, including that screenings be just one component of a comprehensive, trauma-informed, strengths-based approach to addressing childhood adversity.