Families experiencing poverty who do not have access to economic assistance are more likely to be involved with the child welfare system than their counterparts experiencing poverty who do have access to economic assistance. Families of color are disproportionately affected and harmed by this link between the lack of economic assistance and child welfare system involvement. Considering the first statutory goal of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is to support needy families so that children remain safely at home or with relatives, TANF cash assistance can be leveraged to ensure families struggling to meet their basic needs have access to a robust set of concrete and economic supports. Research demonstrates that providing cash to families can reduce the risk of economic hardship and rates of child maltreatment and family involvement in child welfare, while also promoting stability. This recording is of a 2024 Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency plenary session, where panelists discussed research, practice, and policy considerations around how TANF can be used as a primary prevention resource to provide tailored and tangible economic supports to families at risk of engaging with the child welfare system. The Director of the Office of Family Assistance, Ann Flagg, moderated this plenary session.

The National Indian Child Welfare Association will be hosting a new virtual training on September 24, 2024 to prepare tribal child welfare workers who want to gain insight and increase their skills on the basics. This training will consist of three 90-minute sessions.

There is a registration fee to attend this training.

In October 2023, child welfare leaders, researchers, caseworkers, advocates, and foster care alumni convened for a two-day Think Tank event. The event elevated the voices of lived experts to identify promising practices and barriers. This Chapin Hall report documents the proceedings, highlighting the themes that emerged as participants described the importance of permanent connections and what systems can do to foster healing relationships for emerging adults in care. The report also summarizes the key values that guided the planning process, and how those values were demonstrated in inclusive, youth-centered, trauma-informed practices throughout the Think Tank.

Throughout the past 15 years, differing viewpoints have emerged about what role, if any, kinship diversion should play in the child welfare system. This Annie E. Casey Foundation report highlights a comprehensive survey administered in 2022 of kinship care policies that identifies increasing efforts by states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico to promote kinship care and support kinship caregivers of children and youth who are known to the child welfare system.

The Child and Family Teaming (CFT) model forms the basis of practice for child welfare services under the Integrated Core Practice Model and California's Continuum of Care Reform. This guide was developed by the California Department of Social Services in collaboration with California Tribal Families Coalition and begins with an overview of Indian Child Welfare Act’s requirements for the CFT. It then moves on to best practices in partnering with Tribes, including learning about the Tribe and understanding differing perspectives. The guide continues with highlighting best practices for including children and engaging all team members in the CFT, provides guidance in making CFT meetings accessible and culturally responsive, and gives tips to practitioners in their ongoing communication with the team between meetings.

Children and youth involved with the child welfare system are at heightened risk of experiencing human trafficking. Therefore, child welfare agencies must be at the forefront of responding to and preventing human trafficking. This Child Welfare Information Gateway bulletin explores how agencies can support children and youth who have been exploited as well as those who may have risk factors for future exploitation. It provides background information about trafficking, including its scope, relevant legislation and initiatives, and strategies agencies can implement to address the trafficking of children and youth in the United States.

This RTI International compilation of screening tools was gathered as part of the Domestic Human Trafficking and the Child Welfare Population project through a contract from the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation. This compilation includes screening tools that were provided by participants in the Identifying and Addressing Human Trafficking in Child Welfare study for inclusion in this compilation.

The understanding of how child welfare agencies identify youth who have experienced human trafficking (or are at increased risk for experiencing human trafficking) is somewhat limited. In an effort to address this knowledge gap, the Identifying and Addressing Human Trafficking in Child Welfare Agencies (IAHT) study conducted interviews with state child welfare leaders from 25 states about how their agencies work to identify and serve children and youth who have experienced or are at increased risk of trafficking. This Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation brief describes human trafficking screening tools currently being used by state child welfare agencies that participated in the IAHT study, as well as key themes that arose from interviews with these state child welfare leaders regarding considerations for screening tool selection and protocols.

In recognition of World Day for the Prevention of and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence, the Administration for Children and Families announced the launch of two new microlearnings developed for frontline professionals who work with children to strengthen screening for human trafficking and safety planning. As children who have already experienced abuse are at disproportionate risk for human trafficking through coercive online and offline schemes, professionals in child welfare and other youth-serving programs are in positions to identify the risks for exploitation early, promote healing, and strengthen resiliency. These are the new offerings:

• Human Trafficking Screening for Child Welfare Professionals
• Safety Planning and Multidisciplinary Response for Child Welfare Professionals

The 30-minute modules are designed to be quick, digestible, and interactive trainings for busy professionals. Their content is intended to support personnel in their everyday work of preventing and responding to human trafficking among children and youth — in foster care and in the broader community.

Nonprofit organizations that offer youth development and young adult talent development services have increasingly centered the voices of the young people who are participating in their programs. They have accomplished this by infusing youth-centered practices into their programming and, more formally, creating leadership opportunities such as youth councils and alumni associations. This Jobs for the Future brief draws from interviews with program leaders and the young people they have hired to highlight how and why organizations have brought young people into paid staff positions, what the experience has been like for them, and the meaning they are making of their experience. This brief highlights four organizations in the Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential (LEAP) initiative. LEAP is a national initiative of the Annie E. Casey Foundation that aims to help youth and young adults ages 14–25 who have been involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems, parenting youth or youth who have experienced homelessness succeed in school and at work by building and expanding education and employment pathways.