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During 2020, the racial disparities and inequities rampant across the Unites States were magnified. The year also amplified the call to review many of the nation's social systems, including those involved with health care, criminal justice, economics, and education. The child welfare system as it stands is also in need of serious introspection. "What Did Child Welfare Learn From 2020 – upENDing Systemic Racism" continues the conversation around the roots of systemic racism within child welfare, how agencies can objectively review their policies and approaches, and the rise of a movement to abolish the current system in favor of one that provides greater support to families. This episode is part of a series that examines what the child welfare field learned during 2020. It features members of the Center for the Study of Social Policy who are working with the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work to lead the upEND movement. upEND seeks to end the practice of State-sanctioned separation of children from their families as a response to social problems like food insecurity, poverty, lack of affordable and safe housing, and lack of meaningful prevention services. upEND also seeks to reimagine how we support and serve families and eliminate the root causes that create conditions for harm to occur.

This episode is part of a series that examines what the child welfare field learned during 2020 and identifies potential changes or shifts in how the field operates. Listeners will hear from Andrew Winters, a member of the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), about interventions to build resiliency among caseworkers and supervisors, including interventions aimed at strengthening supervisors' ability to support their staff and themselves to better manage the negative impacts of the stress brought about by the uncertainty and fear of working during a pandemic.

Approximately 1 in 4 children in the United States has a foreign-born parent. When child welfare cases involve international borders, caseworkers may find additional challenges in ensuring children have safe and permanent homes and family connections. These challenges include finding resources to identify family connections, understanding how children encounter State and local child welfare systems, and recognizing the Federal and international laws and policies governing adoption and foster care. This episode features a conversation with Elaine Weisman from International Social Service-USA. The discussion provides insight on the diverse types of cross-border cases and the supports and information that may help State and local caseworkers connect cross-border families.

Child welfare agencies continue to seek effective, affordable, and time-saving professional development for caseworkers. This episode features the Institute for the Advancement of Family Support Professionals, a collaboration between State agencies, universities, and home visiting organizations that offers 66 e-learning modules supporting the National Family Support Competency Framework. The framework is a shared model of competencies and skills common across home visiting and child welfare professionals. This episode features a conversation with Laurel Aparicio, director, Early Impact Virginia, and Janet Horras, State home visitation director, Iowa Department of Public Health.

In support of National Adoption Month 2020 and its "Engage Youth, Listen and Learn" theme, this episode shares two examples of jurisdictions increasing youth involvement with their own permanency plans. Listen to these examples of Ohio and Washington's Adoption Call to Action efforts to increase youth engagement and have more success with their ACTA plans and beyond.

In the crush of child welfare, State and local agencies may struggle with providing appropriate and holistic services to older youth in care who are parents or expecting the arrival of a newborn. The challenges can range from accounting for the number of parenting and expecting teens to applying—and funding—services that support their needs as youth and as parents. This episode features a conversation to help States and agencies leverage the provisions of Family First Prevention Services Act to support parenting and expectant teens in foster care.

This episode provides the historical background, strategies, and decision-making the Utah Department of Human Services applied in developing their Title IV-E prevention plan. The information shared may be helpful for jurisdictions developing prevention plans to implement FFPSA, which expands prevention services to help stabilize and strengthen families.

Washington D.C. was the first jurisdiction to submit a Family First Prevention plan to the Children's Bureau. This episode provides the historical background, strategies, and guidance CFSA applied in developing their prevention plan. The information shared may be helpful for jurisdictions developing prevention plans to implement the Federal Family First Prevention Services Act

This episode shares the second half of the webinar where CB shared tips to aid prevention plan developers as they shape their plans to align with Family First. Child welfare leaders from Washington, DC and Utah also answer questions submitted during the webinar by participants. The Children's Bureau provides tips that address prevention planning topics including service selection, ensuring child safety, continuous monitoring and evaluation, the systematic review process, and the Title IV-E Clearinghouse.

The Children’s Bureau hosted a webinar to share the lessons and experiences of two jurisdictions whose Title IV-E Prevention Plans received approval from CB. In “Family First – Title IV-E Prevention Plan Implementation Updates – Part 1,” leaders from two jurisdictions—Washington, DC, and Utah—speak about their different approaches to implementing Family First.

To help agencies implement Family First, The Children’s Defense Fund released Implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act, a guide developed by a coalition of organizations to offer clear information about the provisions of the law and the congressional intent behind it. This episode shares insight on how states and jurisdictions should use the guide, common misperceptions about implementing Family First, how guidance was developed and agreed upon, and how the guide will remain relevant over time.

How can child welfare agencies, Federal partners, judicial and legal entities, and community organizations shift both the perception and application of foster care to one that supports families? Dr. Jerry Milner, Associate Commissioner of the Children's Bureau, explains his support for systemic change across child welfare systems: where foster care is viewed as a last resort for families facing challenges in maintaining safe and stable homes for children and youth.

What can States do to create a shared vision around prevention among all their regions and agencies, and how are all those diverse needs and efforts compared and measured across the State? Listen to representatives from California describe creating a single approach to evaluating the diverse prevention efforts across its 58 counties,

This episode explores a series of evaluation and assessment tools to review and monitor one prevention-focused program across an entire State. Listen to representatives from Kentucky's Community Collaborations for Children. Grantees detail how they ensure prevention is considered when funding grants, developing policy and delivering services tailored to meet region-specific needs.

This episode is part of a series focusing on Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP)grantees. These grantees are in a unique position of leadership as they assume responsibility for directing, leading, and evaluating the network of public-private partnerships and the continuum of preventive services for children and families in their states. Listen as grantees detail how states work to ensure prevention is considered when funding grants, developing policy and delivering services tailored to meet the region-specific needs.

This episode is part of a series focusing on Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) grantees. Listen as grantees share from a local community and a statewide perspective how EBPs were selected and tailored to meet the needs of the grantees’ specific constituency groups.

This episode discusses a virtual reality-based home visiting training currently being used by the university's B.S.W. students — Virtual Home Simulation (VHS) — which was developed by the University of Utah College of Social Work in partnership with the university's games and applications lab. While other online trainings exist, the developers of the VHS training point to the following features that set it apart from other simulation-based trainings.

This episode is intended for those working with or for organizations looking to make a difference. It shares the insights and experiences of Families Forward Virginia, a nonprofit, prevention-focused organization. Since 2017, Families Forward Virginia and its network of local affiliates have provided statewide leadership and support for a multitude of Virginia programs through evidence-based and multigenerational strategies. Hear about how the organization develops open-minded and service-based relationships as well as provides tools, resources, and trainings.

'Birth-Foster Parent Mentoring Teams,' features a conversation with both birth and foster parent mentors and leaders, along with the 2018 California Social Worker of the Year. Together, the group describes the work toward changing the culture around foster care to support reunification by creating relationships and partnerships between birth and foster parents.

'Five Steps to a Stronger Child Welfare Workforce' explores the key components and requirements of a five-step process developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The process rose out of a 3-year effort to improve child protective services staff that was tested and evaluated through partnerships with Ohio’s Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services and Colorado’s Jefferson County Division of Children, Youth, and Families.