This document was printed from the website of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which you can access at http://www.cebc4cw.org/
This document was printed from the website of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which you can access at http://www.cebc4cw.org/
Here are your search results for programs in the Topic Area - Child Welfare Initiatives:
The programs listed below have a full program description. They have been reviewed by the CEBC and, if appropriate, been rated using the Scientific Rating Scale. You can see the full rating scale on the right.
Occasionally program representatives who are invited to submit information on their program decline or do not respond, click here to see if there are any declining or non-responding programs for Child Welfare Initiatives
You can also read why the Advisory Committee chose Child Welfare Initiatives as a topic area at the bottom of this page.
Programs with a Scientific Rating of 3 - Promising Research Evidence
See why Child Welfare Initiatives was selected by the Advisory Committee.
What is Child Welfare Initiatives as it relates to Child Welfare?
Child Welfare Initiatives refers to a variety of practice models that can be strategically integrated into the day-to-day work of public child welfare agencies. There are many programs that fall into the Child Welfare Initiative category. They all have different structures. One provides a series of research-based assessment tools to be used by child welfare workers at critical junctures to determine the relative level of risk to a child and to ensure consistent, fair, and accurate decision-making agency wide. Another is a family-centered, neighborhood-based system of foster care that encourages public child welfare agencies to use data, partner with impacted communities, recruit and support caregivers, and develop family/professional teams to make critical decisions about each child. Yet another program focuses on enabling emotionally and behaviorally disturbed youth to live successfully in family settings, rather than in group home care, by creating family centered teams that focus on family strengths to overcome challenges.
Although there are differences in these models, each recognizes the critical need to engage families in making decisions about their children. A successful child welfare worker must develop skills to engage families and to work with them as partners, with the goals of safety, permanence, and well-being for each child.
Why Child Welfare Initiatives was chosen by the Advisory Committee?
The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 requires public child welfare to track performance on established outcomes. California has built upon and expanded outcome measurement through state legislation known as AB 636. Emerging child welfare outcome statistics demonstrate the need for informed and effective practice by child welfare staff. The Child Welfare Initiatives provide best practice models that are likely to help public child welfare achieve better outcomes for children and families.
Mary Harris
Director
Child Welfare Services
County of San Diego
San Diego, CA