Child Well-Being

Two Thirds of Foster Youth Remain Stably Housed Through Age 21

A new Child Trends analysis of the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) shows that two thirds of foster youth remain stably housed through age 21. Every three years, a new cohort of NYTD respondents is surveyed at age 17, … Read More

Child Maltreatment

All 50 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia have child abuse and neglect reporting laws that mandate certain professionals and institutions refer suspected maltreatment to a child protective services (CPS) agency. Each state has its … Read More

The Mediating Role of Hope in Linking Perceived Organization Support to Lower Job Burnout Among Child Welfare Professionals

IntroductionJob burnout describes an employee’s experience of being exhausted and/or overwhelmed by the demands of their job (Maslach, Citation2003). Burnout is harmful to both employees and their employers, as burnout has been linked to greater turnover and poorer service delivery across … Read More

Secondary Traumatic Stress and The Child Welfare Workforce: A Case Study on Resilience.

Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) can occur at high rates in professions where employees are indirectly exposed to trauma, have high workloads, and are exposed to other stressors and pressures. Specifically, Child Welfare (CW) staff are at high risk of STS … Read More

Intergenerational Learning: Proven Benefits for Both Elders and Youth

Inevitable demographic shifts are about to create a fast-growing population of skilled older workers: in a decade, adults over age 65 will outnumber children under age 18. At the same time, advances in public health and medicine make it likely that … Read More

Legal Representation in Child Welfare Proceedings

Benefits of high-quality legal representation READ MORE

Spotlight on State CWLS Champions – LOUISIANA!

LOUISIANA’s CIP Sponsorship and Child Representation Partnership In Louisiana, the Court Improvement Program (CIP) and one of the state’s child representation agencies (MHAS/CAP) both support and celebrate the CWLS community. The CIP underwrites the cost of registration for the Red … Read More

Overcoming assumptions: How to Facilitate Successful Multi-generational Collaboration

Solutions Circles, an initiative by Mississippi Free Press and the Mississippi Youth Media Project, unites a vibrant mix of community members to openly share, listen and tackle common pressing challenges. Facilitating these circles has taught us invaluable lessons on communicating across differences — … Read More

Fostering the Future for American Children and Families

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose and Policy.  My Administration is dedicated to empowering mothers and fathers to raise their children … Read More

Louisiana DCFS Strategic Plan

FY 2026-2027 through FY 2030-2031 Executive Division The Secretary serves as the executive head and chief administrative officer of the Department of Children and Family Services and holds the responsibility for the policies of the department, and for the administration, … Read More