The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) will host its 39th annual conference titled “Protecting Our Children: Connectedness, Resilience, and Persistence” as a virtual event from April 11 to April 14, 2021. Conference participants will include child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice service providers; legal professionals; child advocates; and tribal, state, and federal leaders. Conference goals include highlighting successful strategies for developing effective services, innovative child welfare and children’s mental health service delivery practices, approaches for financing and sustaining children’s services, and strategies to engage youth and families in developing services and policies for systemic change. The conference will provide opportunities for peer networking to support work toward permanency for all American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) families, as well as time to share research on AI/AN children’s well-being and effective child welfare and children’s mental health services, practices, and policies. There is a conference registration fee.

This research-to-practice brief supports better understanding the intersection between child maltreatment and intimate partner violence so that comprehensive community-based prevention and intervention programs can be provided effectively. The brief notes the impact of domestic violence on children in the long-term and discusses how adult survivors of domestic violence and their children need support that promotes their well-being. The brief also outlines strategies for capacity building and collaboration implemented between child protection agencies and domestic violence programs in Massachusetts, Florida, Iowa, and Connecticut.

(See also Resources on "intimate partner violence" in the Resource Library)

Placement with kin is not always possible for endangered children who need to be removed from their homes, so child protection agencies utilize resource families. This research-to-practice brief highlights different approaches used to recruit and retain resource families. The brief covers three jurisdictions that have a high rate of family-based placements and a low rate of congregate care setting placements for children in need of protection: the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, and the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families.

The Administration for Children and Families supports Tribal Home Visiting Program grantees with capacity building to create and implement data systems. This brief presents an overview of data system challenges faced by tribal programs; a summary of data system technical assistance and resources offered to Tribal Home Visiting Program grantees; case studies that demonstrate how technical assistance improved tribal data system capacity; and recommendations for delivering data system technical assistance that is uniquely suited for tribal programs.

Parents can be reluctant to engage with child protection agencies since they realize these agencies are part of a system that can remove their children from their homes; however, it is crucial for agencies to develop meaningful engagement with these families, as engaging caregivers successfully in child welfare services has been associated with fewer placements in out-of-home care and less risk of repeat abuse. This research-to-practice brief cites motivational interviewing (MI) as a promising approach used by child protection practitioners to facilitate meaningful family engagement. Essential elements of MI are identified, including an authentic partnership between case manager and client based on nonjudgmental acceptance of the client, compassion for the client, and recognition of the client’s desire for change. The brief lists communication strategies such as asking open-ended questions that practitioners use in MI, and it concludes with a discussion of how the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency has used the MI approach.

The Office of Family Assistance hosted a PeerTA webinar on Addressing Intergenerational Trauma among TANF Families on January 26, 2021. Understanding trauma and its transmission among families are critical considerations in human service delivery. Human services programs, including TANF, have a role to play in helping to mitigate and address the negative effects of intergenerational trauma through programming.

During this facilitated webinar, presenters defined intergenerational trauma and explored the ways in which trauma is transferred from parents to their children. Participants learned how TANF programs can minimize the impacts of intergenerational trauma, as well as heard about current research initiatives and from programs that are working to address intergenerational trauma in their communities. Presenters also examined the ways in which COVID-19 exacerbates trauma and strategies for TANF programs to identify and lessen these effects.

Presenters included Dr. Jessica Dym Bartlett and Dr. Dana Thomson, Child Trends; Dr. Mariana Chilton, Drexel University and Center for Hunger-Free Communities; Dr. Marla Conwell and Amber Hoyt, South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency (SPIPA); Alie Huxta, Associate Director of Partnerships and Strategic Planning; and Kevin Thomas, Jr., Associate Director of Operations and Asset Building, Building Wealth & Health Network. Dr. Nicole Bossard from ICF and TGC Consulting, Inc. facilitated the webinar.

Developed by the Center for the Study of Social Policy, the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework impacts how child- and family-serving programs operate and support healthy development and well-being. This brief highlights survey findings from organizational partners and members of the Strengthening Families National Network that may use the framework in their own community-based approaches. The survey results capture their viewpoints on community conditions that support child and family outcomes, including equal access to essential/basic needs, social support and connection, racial and social justice, and a change in the “social contract” toward involving community in bettering child and family well-being.

The National Association of Social Workers will host a webinar on January 28, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. ET which will review the child protection approach to child welfare. The webinar will review the effectiveness of the approach and how it offers a rights-based process of protecting children and providing services to child welfare clients and their families. The webinar also explores the implications of the approach on social work practice. A registration fee is required for this webinar.

Drawn from site visits to two Appalachian communities, this report reviews how the opioid crisis affects children in families where there is substance misuse and how parents or caregivers could be better supported by service providers and systems. The report also looks at service providers’ limitations, either as a result of policy failures or regional economic challenges, and how people experiencing substance use disorders face constraints in access to treatment. There is also discussion of how although schools and early childhood care programs are potential resources for these families, they are underfunded and operate beyond capacity.

Helping families meet their basic needs has a direct impact on lowering their stress, especially during a crisis like COVID-19. The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University produced a short paper that focuses on how parents and caregivers can build up and strengthen resilience as they face challenges due to the pandemic. The paper suggests ways program staff can help families and staff reduce sources of stress, including connecting parents and caregivers with programs and services that can help meet their basic needs; encouraging parents, staff, and co-workers to practice self-care; and giving parents a break from child care responsibilities. The paper notes that moving past the pandemic, strengthening core life skills and building and practicing executive function and self-regulation skills will go a long way towards managing daily life so parents are better able to provide care for themselves and family members. Practical tips are provided, such as signing up for text reminders of important appointments, using tools like daily schedules and grocery list apps, and creating checklists for completing important applications.