This brief describes the experiences of nine families with low incomes and their children during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, from March through September 2020. The research was conducted by interviews with 9 adults from three major U.S. cities in September 2020. Its key findings were that families experienced a sense of uncertainty and constant, unpredictable change in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, as the pandemic evolved, the multiple life fluctuations it caused significantly affected their economic circumstances and emotional well-being.

There is a growing recognition of the importance of healthy social-emotional development and the behavioral and mental health of young children, as well as the critical nature of early relationships with parents and other caregivers. Addressing the social and emotional development of infants and toddlers with and at-risk for developmental delays and disabilities is a requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This briefing paper examines an array of infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) policies and practices that state early intervention (IDEA, Part C) programs may consider implementing to effectively support the social-emotional development and mental health needs of eligible children as the policies and programs reflect the importance of nurturing early relationships for a child's social emotional wellbeing. An appendix includes state spotlights in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

Research shows that young people with histories of child welfare involvement work less often and earn lower wages during the transition to adulthood than their peers without this experience. However, little is known about whether programs that aim to improve employment outcomes for youth with prior child welfare system involvement are actually improving employment outcomes. This brief reviews findings of formative evaluations for two employment programs—MY TIME in Chicago, Illinois, and iFoster Jobs in Los Angeles, California. These evaluations highlight the importance of building a better understanding of the variations in programs serving young people with histories of child welfare system involvement and how they bolster different developmental assets for young people.

This blogpost brings together a collection of evidence about the connections between economic and concrete supports and involvement with child welfare. The research findings show that child and family well-being can be promoted through state and federal policies that strengthen families, promote family economic security, and reduce child protective services involvement in the lives of families. A short video provides a high-level overview of Chapin Hall’s approach to this work.

This brief provides guidance on the process of recruiting, hiring, training, and supervising parent partners who have closed child welfare cases and serve as mentors to parents currently involved in the child welfare system. While parent partner programs may vary regarding the support they offer, their relationship with the child welfare agency and court system, and how they are structured, a common element includes parent partners providing guidance and education about the child welfare system. Being able to identify, prepare, and support people who serve as parent partners is critical to the success of any parent partner program.

This Child Welfare Information Gateway podcast discusses the National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC) for Foster and Adoptive Parents, an organization developed to provide free curriculum and resources for potential foster or adoptive parents to give them the information and tools they need to parent a child that has experienced trauma, separation, or loss. Podcast topics include common technical and implementation challenges and knowledge gaps that current training presents to child welfare agencies and trainers; how NTDC for Foster and Adoptive Parents offers trainers and facilitators flexibility to meet both their jurisdictions and parents’ needs; key messages woven throughout the curriculum’s themes to help parents understand trauma, culture, and how to best respond to conflict; and takeaways participants have shared with their facilitators.

Both the early childhood and child welfare systems are investing in promising new ways to support families with young children, particularly as they strive to recover from COVID-19 challenges and to become more equitable. These investments are creating new opportunities for child welfare and early childhood systems to align services and collaborate across both systems to better support children. This brief provides a rationale for better coordination between the two systems, followed by recommendations for alignment and examples of strong alignment in the field. Recommendations are structured around three main areas of opportunity for coordination: preventing child abuse and neglect, supporting children and families with open child welfare cases, and creating stronger functionality and supports in both systems.

AdoptUSKids will host a webinar on June 2, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. ET where presenters will discuss the impact of parenting dynamics and expectations on the relationships in families formed through adoption, foster care, or kinship care. The webinar will explore how to engage parents in examining their past and how their actions contribute to family dysfunction and increase the risk for placement disruption. The presenters — child welfare professionals with lived experience — will also offer tips about providing services to the whole family to improve relationship dynamics and prevent unnecessary placement disruption.

The Survey of Youth Transitioning from Foster Care (SYTFC) collected information from youth currently and formerly in foster care in two states who were at risk for human trafficking experiences based on their demographic characteristics, maltreatment allegations, and removal and placement history. The SYTFC was conducted to address knowledge gaps and to provide the child welfare system with information needed to identify and support youth in care who are at risk of human trafficking. This brief focuses on the qualitative recommendations from youth who participated in the SYTFC when asked about the most important ways the child welfare system could support youth leaving care.

This tool is designed to help jurisdictions select evidence-based programs or practices (EBPs) for their Family First prevention plan. Family First prevention plans are developed at the state and local level to guide the design and financing of home visiting and other programs and services which promote the health and well-being of young children and their families. This resource provides overviews of each EBP along with a survey tool. The survey tool can be used to match program fit and usability based on target population, program goals, evidence rating, program intensity and duration, program cost, staffing and training requirements, and other factors. Also included are worksheets for each EBP to help determine program cost based on the projected number of families and children to be served and the number of provider agencies, teams, and individual staff involved.