Published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, this research article features a study examining how mothers' Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) were associated with their children's developmental risk. The mothers' depressive symptoms and health were considered. The study concluded that mothers' ACEs are significantly related to their children's developmental risk, suggesting that addressing intergenerational trauma by focusing on childhood adversity in children's caregivers may be an important factor in promoting child development.

This Casey Family Programs blogpost illustrates the lessons learned in the integration of a trauma-informed approach into the policies, programs, and practices at the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. The blogpost discusses the origins of CONCEPT – the Connecticut Collaborative on Effective Practices for Trauma – which received a $3.2 million federal grant to implement this comprehensive approach to address child welfare and safety, permanency, and well-being. The blogpost also covers the generation of statewide stakeholder support, the trauma screening and referral process, evidence-based approaches implementation, institutionalizing trauma-informed approaches at the staff level, and the impact of this approach among child welfare professionals and the families they serve.

The National Indian Child Welfare Association has produced a toolkit designed for family advocates, child welfare workers, and agencies engaging American Indian and Alaska Native children and families in Systems of Care (SOC). Developed and designed by Indian people, the toolkit is a comprehensive collection of best practices, tribal protective factors, strategies for overcoming trauma and mistrust, outreach techniques, and culturally-based practical examples of how to support and enhance family engagement at all levels of the SOC structure. The toolkit also includes information on trainings and a listing of useful online resources.

In this Aspen Ideas to Go podcast, a panel of child and adolescent experts define anxiety and stress and offer coping strategies to parents to help support them in their interactions with their children at various stages of their development. In the wake of COVID-19, children and teenagers have experienced disruptions in their normal activities and routines, including attending school and play time with friends and family. Many adolescents and teens are experiencing emotional distress, worry, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Taking a whole family approach, the panel addresses these behaviors and stressors and provides guidance to parents on being honest and clear with their communications, speaking in age appropriate language, filtering out misinformation, and monitoring the news. In addition, the experts also offer parents guidance on managing their own self-care and mental health during this time of uncertainty.

This brief assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on kinship care; it also defines kinship care and the role that kinship caregivers play in their respective families. Ways to support kinship caregivers are illustrated, including increased funding support and temporary changes in licensing requirements.

In honor of May’s National Foster Care Month, the Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau writes in this blogpost that incorporating family voice into the permanency-planning process and encouraging collaboration between parents and resource parents can help the community, the courts, and related professionals inform a highly supportive child welfare agency culture. The blogpost provides a link to the updated National Foster Care Month website, which includes new resources and outreach tools showing how partnerships between parents and children, agencies, community organizations, and the courts can help support reunification and strengthen family and community connections.

This letter from the Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau provides program instruction and announces changes to allow videoconferencing for monthly caseworker visits as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter also identifies changes in the Child and Family Services Review Program Improvement Plans, Title IV-E Eligibility Reviews, flexibility for conducting child abuse and neglect investigations by state and local child protective services agencies, and other legislative and regulatory flexibilities.

The Aspen Institute’s Ascend initiative has launched a webinar series to cover 2Gen approaches that support the health, economic opportunity, and education of low-income families as they recover and move forward from the COVID-19 pandemic. Upcoming webinar topics are Child Support: Implications and Useful Lessons around Child Support, Parent Voice During COVID-19: Maintaining Feedback Loops, Stopping Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorders Where They Start: Prevention and Treatment in Adolescence, and State Leadership During COVID-19 and Beyond. Recordings of previously held webinars on Telehealth and 2Gen, State Opportunities and Challenges in Advancing Child Care Innovation, and New Frames for a New Time are available.

The National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics is hosting a series of virtual workshops that address research on topics of interest to human service professionals throughout the summer. Future workshops will cover Machine Learning in Human Services Contexts, Cross-System Collaboration to Serve Justice-Involved Clients, and the Family First Prevention Services Act. Recordings of previously held workshops on TANF Responses to COVID-19 and Domestic Violence during COVID-19 are available.

This recorded webinar from the Annie E. Casey Foundation illustrates ways that state child welfare and substance use disorder officials can utilize the Family First Prevention Services Act to help families affected by substance misuse. Topics covered in the webinar included: discussion of the Family First Act’s substance use disorders provisions, opportunities to implement the law to benefit affected families, and the importance of collaboration between child welfare and substance abuse agencies. Speakers included representatives of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children and Family Futures, ChildFocus, and the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors.