Prepared Awareness: Past the Pinwheels
April has been designated as National Child Abuse Prevention Month to create awareness about the importance of strengthening families and preventing child abuse and neglect.
Beyond March: Nurturing Year-Round Appreciation for Social Workers
While we celebrate National Social Worker Appreciation Month every March, it sets the stage for April – a month that marks the onset of National Child Abuse Awareness Month, where the volume of new reports concerning child abuse is projected to increase by double digits. Public Service Announcements and news stories will flood the public [...]
How Will Your Child Welfare System Stack Up Against the Laws of Gravity
Our child welfare systems can feel like we are in a game of Jenga. We are attempting to grow and expand our systems by moving pieces one by one - while stretching our limited capacity. But with each move, the entire system risks collapse, particularly with worker shortages.
Fostering Hope: Rethink Foster Care to Increase Capacity
While it is wonderful to recognize the heroes during National Foster Care Month, we must also be aware of the realities of the foster care system and be willing to make a change. A change that will allow the heroes we celebrate to shine, unencumbered by complicated, outdated processes. If we take a glance through the lens of capacity, we will find a starting point so that we can do more good for children and families.
When Virtual Became the Reality: Three pandemic lessons to shape the future of child welfare
For more than a year we shifted work to a virtual platform out of necessity, and as we safely return to in-person activities it would be easy to sprint as fast as possible back to “the way we did things before COVID-19”. But, what if instead of sprinting we took the time to pause and reflect? Perhaps some of our new virtual practices make child welfare better.
Never Getting Behind Again: How One Child Welfare Agency Used the Pandemic to Transform Their Work to Help Children and Families
How the Indiana Department of Child Services used the pandemic to transform their work to help children and families.
From Safety Decision to Reunification: Crossing the reunification finish line to regain capacity and help more children and families
Permanency for kids, is one of the most risky and critical decisions made in all of government and getting to the finish line is a laborious process with thousands of factors that will influence the time it takes to get there. But when we are there, our research shows we don't run through the finish line, in fact, our system has a propensity to start walking or even crawling at this phase when in fact, we should be sprinting once a permanency decision has been made.
All We Need is Love…and Time
Dedicated to "transformation" and the work we do to improve service for families, children, and clients. By Bill Bott and Lori Wolff
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth …
Child welfare has a pipe problem. Our pipes can't handle this much pressure... But there's another way, a way to relive the pressure and unleash the amazing internal motivation of our people ... and it starts with fixing the plumbing.
Eliminate Blind Spots to Improve Safety: More Eyes More Often
When the press writes about failures in the child welfare system, the tragedies are unique, but the pattern is often all too familiar. A family has been involved with the agency multiple times, signs of risk were missed, and the result is significant harm or even death. It’s hard to read about a set of [...]