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February 2013Vol. 14, No. 1Achieving Systems Change in Child Welfare

The Western and Pacific Child Welfare Implementation Center (WPIC), one of the Children's Bureau's five regional implementation centers, launched a redesigned website to highlight its work in achieving sustainable systems change. The new site is focused on WPIC's five elements of systems change: vision and values, leadership and commitment, environment, stakeholder involvement, and capacity and infrastructure. Overviews of each of the implementation projects underway in Alaska, Navajo Nation, and Los Angeles are available, in addition to resources used in providing training and technical assistance.

One of the new resources on the redesigned site is a framework for achieving systems change. The framework is rooted in the five elements listed above and begins with an overview of why sustainable systems change is important for child welfare and improving outcomes for children, youth, and families. An eight-step process for implementation is also presented.

The research brief stresses that implementing systems change is not a linear process; however, each of the five key elements is necessary for achieving sustainable change. Examples and lessons learned from WPIC's projects are presented throughout the practice brief.

A Framework for Implementing Systems Change in Child Welfare: A Practice Brief is available on the WPIC website:

http://www.wpicenter.org/inc/resources/projects/Framework_For_Implementing_Systems_Change.pdf (323 KB)