Community-based child abuse and neglect prevention efforts often offer resources and supports to strengthen and stabilize families. In some states, these efforts are not managed through the child welfare system. 'Prevention: Delivering Services Through Education' presents how the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services manages its network of Family Support Centers through its Office of Child Development and Early Learning.

The decision to embrace a system-wide workforce development approach may come from agency leaders, but sometimes the best ideas to deliver and sustain change can come from staff directly serving on the frontlines of child welfare. 'Workforce Part 4 — Creating Change at the Local Level' shares how frontline child welfare professionals were empowered their staff to design solutions that improved office culture, partnerships, and outcomes for the children and families they serve.

By effectively partnering with organizations that support families, child welfare agencies can empower a system of services that improve prevention outcomes. But effective community collaboration requires that the type and level of services are available to meet the specific needs of the families within the community.

'Reorganizing Community Collaboratives' details how Washington D.C.’s CSFA reorganized the contracts and the services for the Healthy Families Thriving Communities Collaborative Network, which serves the city’s diverse wards.

'Connections Matter' podcast showcases how a specific training developed by Prevent Child Abuse Iowa serves as a community-based effort to promote and build understanding, trauma-informed communities by tailoring evidence-based training to the following community sectors: early education, education, health care, faith based, and workforce. This podcast focuses on the development of the Connections Matter training, how developers learned the value of having the curricula delivered by community members, and the statewide needs assessment that helped shape the training.

'Workforce Part 3 – Child Welfare Scholars' showcases a National Child Welfare Workforce Institute university-agency partnership between the University of North Dakota Department of Social Work and the North Dakota Department of Children and Family Services. The Child Welfare Scholars program funds B.S.W. and M.S.W. trainees who are current members of the child welfare workforce. This funding aims to help social work students grow their leadership and practice skills, help meet the increased child welfare demands of the state, and provide direct feedback for the university to shape its curriculum.

'Workforce Part 2 — A State’s Approach to Change' shares an example of how one state changed its approach to staff development, as well as provides insight on the “must-haves” and lessons learned in moving away from isolated interventions and toward a targeted and cohesive strategy.

'Workforce Part 1 — The Workforce Development Framework' gives listeners an opportunity to hear about how addressing your workforce can impact these and other challenges facing child welfare agencies. The podcast also focuses on the essential elements and implementation of the Workforce Development Framework, which was developed by the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI)Visit disclaimer page. The framework offers an integrated approach to continuously assess, plan, and implement strategies to address workforce gaps and evaluate results.

With shifts in practice, an influx of technology and new communication methods, and high staff turnover, the child welfare field has experienced tremendous change during the last 30 years. But during that time, what are the biggest lessons learned by agencies and professionals?

'Child Welfare Then and Now,' shares the perspective from a child welfare veteran with nearly three-decades serving children and families.

'Parent Advocates in New York City', provides an overview of EFCI, which follows the principles of FGDM, and offers insight into how parent advocates steer families through their case plan, provide emotional support to the families, and use their past experience within the child welfare system to enable better outcomes for their client's families.

'Implementing the Family Group Conference', gives listeners an overview of how Arizona Kinship Support Services implements the Family Group Conference (FGC) model, developed by the Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect. Arizona Kinship Support Services, part of Arizona's Children Association, was awarded a Children's Bureau grant in 2015 to explore FGDM. Listeners are also provided details about the rigorous evaluation criteria and what early program indicators are telling the evaluators about the types of families more likely to engage in Family Group Conferencing.