A new online training from the National SOGIE Center provides information on supporting young people who identify as LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or other gender or sexual identity) during family finding and engagement processes. The free, 45-minute training provides information … Read More
Foster Care
The Importance of Father Engagement in Family-Centered Reunification
In January 2024, the National Quality Improvement Center on Family-Centered Reunification (QIC-R) presented a webinar, “Building a Culture of Father Engagement to Enrich Family-Centered Reunification,” which focused on the importance of including fathers in the child welfare system. The webinar reviews the … Read More
A Proclamation on National Foster Care Month, 2024
The nearly 370,000 children in foster care deserve to grow up in safe and loving homes that help them reach their full potential. During National Foster Care Month, we share our gratitude for the foster parents who show foster youth … Read More
Co-designing a Kin-first Culture Approach in Child Welfare – Public Service Design Conference 2023
Bloom Works and the Washington state Department of Children, Youth and Families share how they used service design and co-design to help children in the foster care system stay connected to their extended families, and overcome systemic barriers to kin … Read More
Trauma-Informed Housing
An Approach to Empower Residents in Affordable Housing Design, Services, and Management Public and assisted housing provides affordable, stable housing to people with low incomes—including seniors, people with disabilities, and families with children. However, policies and practices around affordable housing … Read More
Transracial Adoption Conversations (T.R.A.C.) Coaching: Engaging Transracial Adoptive Caregivers in Conversations on Race and Meeting Children’s Racial Identity Needs Over the Lifespan
Transracial adoptions continue to grow in the United States, and transracial adoptions have outpaced the growth of same race adoptions. Between 2005-2007 and 2017-2019, the number of transracial adoptions increased by 58% while the number of same race adoptions increased … Read More
Moving Beyond Legal Permanency
Child welfare professionals have traditionally focused on identifying and establishing legal permanency on federally established timelines for young people determined to be unable to return to the care of their parents. However, focusing mostly on legal permanency may result in … Read More
Preferred Practices to Retain Black Female Case Workers Employed in Child Welfare
The problem addressed by this study was that the turnover rate among social workers has been highest for Black female child-welfare caseworkers. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of Black female child-welfare caseworkers and … Read More
Meeting Family Needs: A Multi-System Policy Framework for Child and Family Well-Being
INTRODUCTION Across the social service sector and in communities nationwide, a consensus is emerging: there is a need to create a family and child well-being system that buoys families facing adversity and helps them thrive. This system must be designed … Read More
The AFCARS Report
FY 2022 AFCARS Foster Care Data Release AFCARS Background (AFCARS 1993) The AFCARS final rule was published December 22, 1993; the federal regulations at 45 CFR 1355.40 implemented Section 479 of title IV-E of the Social Security Act. AFCARS was … Read More