Ten Tips to Ensure Families Know About Support Services

Record Description

Ongoing supports for children and their foster, adoptive, and kinship families can provide increased stability and well-being. Unfortunately, many families may not know about available support services or may be reluctant to access them. This AdoptUSKids resource offers ten strategies that agencies can adopt to inform families about support services. It is particularly important to make sure families are both aware of services and understand that needing support is common, so they are willing and able to reach out early when challenges are typically easier to resolve.

Record Type
Combined Date
2024-10-21T00:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2024-10-21
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

C.A.S.E. Training Institute

Record Description

The Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) offers a training institute consisting of an array of evidence-based, trauma-informed, and accredited programs. The training programs include both free and fee-based trainings, web-based and instructor-led programs, virtual and in-person options, and a range of topics to meet the training needs of professionals supporting children and their adoptive, foster, and kinship families.

Record Type
Combined Date
2025-11-01T00:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2025-11-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

National Adoption Month Resources

Record Description

This Child Welfare Information Gateway webpage offers resources that highlight strategies that professionals can use to build relational permanency through lasting, lifelong connections and to support youth before, during, and after adoption. These resources highlight the importance of relational permanency, offer guidance on supporting kin caregivers to strengthen stability and permanency outcomes, and provide tools for building and maintaining comprehensive, culturally responsive, and accessible post-permanency services.

Record Type
Combined Date
2025-11-01T00:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2025-11-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Fostering the Future for American Children and Families

Record Description

This Executive Order by the Trump-Vance administration announces that they will dedicate Federal support, technology, and strategic partnerships to provide young Americans in or transitioning out of the foster care system with the tools they need to become successful adults.

Record Type
Combined Date
2025-11-13T00:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2025-11-13
Section/Feed Type
Legislation and Policy (OFA Initiatives)

National Adoption Month, 2025

Record Description

Every child deserves a safe and nurturing home where they can learn, grow, and reach their full potential. Adoption makes that possible by opening the door to stability and belonging for children who need a family. This proclamation by the Trump-Vance administration declares November 2025 as National Adoption Month throughout the United States and encourages all Americans to support children in need of a safe and loving home, uplift the families who welcome them, and help strengthen the bonds of family and community.

Record Type
Combined Date
2025-11-17T00:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2025-11-17
Section/Feed Type
Legislation and Policy (OFA Initiatives)

Breaking Silos: Collaborative Efforts to Support Infants and Parents in the Child Welfare System

Record Description

In the child welfare system, where families often face compounding challenges, coordinated efforts can prevent deeper system involvement and promote family stability. Every role contributes a distinct and essential piece to achieving these outcomes. This ZERO TO THREE webpage offers several strategies to illustrate how collaboration across programs and sectors can improve family outcomes, including: 

  1. Centering families through Family Team Meetings;
  2. Community coordination to bridge support;
  3. Judicial leadership sets a collaborative tone;
  4. Legal advocacy to elevate support;
  5. Child welfare leadership drives systems change;
  6. Building a network with Active Community Teams;
  7. Driving sustained impact with Site Implementation Teams; and
  8. Scaling success through policy and funding.
Record Type
Combined Date
2025-05-05T00:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2025-05-05
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

ACF Vision, Mission, Values, Priorities, & Guiding Principles

Record Description

This webpage highlights the announcement of the new vision, mission, values, priorities, and guiding principles for the Administration of Children and Families. The webpage outlines the values and offers resources that highlight exemplary practices for each.

Record Type
Combined Date
2025-09-25T00:00:00
Source
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2025-09-25
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Kinship Matters to Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)

Record Description

Kinship families interact with many systems, including child welfare, education/schools, housing, Medicaid/Medicare, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Dealing with multiple systems is time-consuming and emotionally draining. TANF child-only grants are often the only source of ongoing financial support for these families. This Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Network resource outlines how TANF programs can help these families by facilitating or participating in cross-system collaboration and coordination while helping individual families navigate the challenging landscape.

Record Type
Combined Date
2025-04-01T00:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2025-04-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Kinship Matters to Family Resource Centers

Record Description

Kinship families interact with many systems, including child welfare, education/schools, housing, Medicaid/Medicare, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Dealing with multiple systems is time-consuming and emotionally draining. Family Resource Centers (FRCs) can help by supporting individual families as they navigate this challenging landscape. This Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Network resource outlines how FRCs can serve as welcoming hubs of supports, services, and opportunities for families as they are well-positioned to assist kinship families and grandfamilies.

Record Type
Combined Date
2024-02-01T00:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2025-04-01
Section/Feed Type
Latest Information from Network (Home)

Keeping Families Together: How TANF Programs Can Provide Concrete Supports to Keep More Children at Home

Record Description

Families that receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance are often in a state of crisis. They face immediate material needs, and these unmet basic needs put families at an increased risk for investigations in the child welfare system. Addressing unmet material needs among TANF participants, through providing concrete supports, can help prevent child maltreatment and ultimately keep children in their homes.

This tipsheet is intended for state, county, and Tribal TANF leaders who make program-level decisions about the types of resources and services that their programs offer to TANF participants.

Record Type
Combined Date
2025-07-30T00:00:00
Source
OFA Initiatives
Region
City/County
Publication Date
2025-07-30
Section/Feed Type
PeerTA Resources (OFA Initiatives)
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