November 2009Vol. 10, No. 9Updates From the T&TA Network

The Children's Bureau's Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) Network continues to produce resources that can help States and Tribes in their work with children and families. Some recent resources are listed below:

• Child Welfare Information Gateway recently launched an Information Systems and Data section on its website. Topics include planning and implementing an information system; collecting data; improving data quality; using data to inform program improvement; using data to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families; and information sharing.
  http://www.childwelfare.gov/management/info_systems
  Information Gateway also updated its Adoption web section on Search and Reunion:
  http://www.childwelfare.gov/adoption/search
• FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) released Evidence-Based and Evidence-Informed Programs: Prevention Program Descriptions Classified by CBCAP Evidence-Based and Evidence-Informed Categories, a directory that supplies information to State lead agencies to help them identify programs to fund and to classify programs' reporting requirements.
  http://www.friendsnrc.org/joomdocs/eb_prog_direct.pdf (659 KB)
  FRIENDS also produced Best Practices for Maximizing and Sustaining Collaborative Efforts, a program for assessing the status of State lead agencies' collaborations, their efforts to sustain those collaborations, and their abilities to build on what they have been able to achieve.
  http://www.friendsnrc.org/joomdocs/max_collab.pdf (156 KB)
• The National Quality Improvement Center on Differential Response in Child Protective Services (QIC-DR) has issued a "Request for Applications for Doctoral Dissertation Support." Four doctoral students whose proposals are approved will each receive $25,000 a year for up to 2 years to support their research as it applies to differential response. For applications received by Jan. 15, 2010, awards will be announced on March 15, 2010.
  www.differentialresponseqic.org/assets/docs/rfa-doctoral-dissertations.pdf (120 KB)
• The National Quality Improvement Center on Non-Resident Fathers and the Child Welfare System (QIC-NRF) released its summer 2009 newsletter, focusing on the theme of "Making the Child Support-Child Welfare Connection Work for Kids."
  www.fatherhoodqic.org/Summer09final.pdf (522 KB)
  The QIC-NRF also published Advocating for Nonresident Fathers in Child Welfare Court Cases, by Andrew L. Cohen et al., to help attorneys and other advocates in their work with noncustodial fathers.
  www.fatherhoodqic.org/advocating%20for%20non-resident%20fathers%20book.pdf (1.69 KB)
• The National Resource Center for Child Protective Services collaborated with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and the Family Violence Prevention Fund to publish Child and Family Service Review Outcomes: Strategies to Improve Domestic Violence Responses in CFSR Program Improvement Plans, by Shellie Taggart, to help stakeholders develop effective PIPs to achieve safety, permanency, and well-being in domestic violence cases.
  www.nrccps.org/documents/2009/pdf/Strategies_To_Improve_Domestic_Violence_Responses__in_CFSR_PIP.pdf (340 KB)
• The National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections has developed a resource list of "Tools for Working With Kinship Caregivers." The list includes training and curriculum materials, manuals, assessment tools, handbooks, a directory, website addresses, and more.
  www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/downloads/Tools%20for%20Working%20with%20Kinship%20Caregivers.pdf (150 KB)