Periodically, the National Family Preservation Network (NFPN) compiles a list of free resources on cutting-edge topics. Even in an age when every topic can be googled, it’s still handy to have a quick reference guide!
It is challenging to decide which resources will be of the most interest and benefit to our constituency. Because many of our readers serve families in the child welfare system, that was selected as the basic category. Within the overarching category of child welfare, recurring themes are trauma, well-being, underlying issues affecting child abuse/neglect (substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence), and intervention (engagement, parenting skills). Those themes make up the bulk of the resources listed along with some very current related topics on trafficking of vulnerable children, federal funding policy, and quality assurance.
All of the resources can be found on the internet and links are provided. Keep in mind that links frequently work for only a limited time, so be sure to save documents to your computer that you want to keep for long-term reference.
It is NFPN’s hope that you will find these resources useful. We also hope that you regularly share resources with your colleagues at work, through social media, and at every opportunity. We all benefit from sharing!
Here is the list divided into categories. Note that the Child Welfare Information Gateway is often included in links as it’s a prime source of connecting professionals to comprehensive resources to help protect children and strengthen families: https://www.childwelfare.gov/
Trauma
Developing a trauma-informed child welfare system: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/trauma_informed.pdf
Parenting a child who has experienced trauma: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/child-trauma.pdf
Trauma-informed practice (13 hours of free online training-Child Welfare Trauma Training Toolkit): http://www.nctsnet.org/products/child-welfare-trauma-training-toolkit-2008
Substance Abuse, Mental Health, Domestic Violence
Parental substance abuse and the child welfare system: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/parentalsubabuse.pdf
Effective policies for parental substance abuse: http://childwelfaresparc.org/brief-state-level-policy-advocacy-for-children-affected-by-parental-substance-use/
Supporting infants, toddlers, and families impacted by mental health problems substance abuse, and trauma: http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content/SMA12-4726/SMA12-4726.pdf
Domestic violence and the child welfare system: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/domestic-violence.pdf
Child Well-Being and Youngest Children
Are the children well? Promoting mental wellness: http://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2014/07/are-the-children-well-.html
Best Practice and research on the youngest children (Zero to Three): http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/
Family Engagement and Parenting
Family engagement overview: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/f_fam_engagement.pdf
Parent education to strengthen families and reduce risk of maltreatment: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/parented.pdf
Coparenting: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy1000
Cultural Competence
Culturally responsive child welfare practice: http://cascw.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/CW360-Winter2015.pdf
Trafficking
Child welfare and human trafficking: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/trafficking.pdf
Federal funding
Newly proposed federal funding policy for prevention: http://citylimits.org/2015/08/19/turnaround-looms-in-federal-funding-to-prevent-child-abuse-neglect/
Quality Service Reviews
Steps to determining the quality of case practice (note especially the appendices): http://www.cssp.org/publications/child-welfare/document/quality-service-reviews-mechanism-for-case-level-advocacy-system-reform-web.pdf
Priscilla Martens, Executive Director
National Family Preservation Network
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