April 2024Vol. 25, No. 3An Introduction to the Child Welfare Community Collaborations Grantees and Strategies

The Child Welfare Community Collaborations (CWCC), an initiative funded by the Children's Bureau, is designed to engage communities in developing and evaluating multisystem collaboratives that address local challenges and provide a comprehensive range of child abuse and neglect prevention services. A recent brief provides insight into the CWCC grantees and their strategies, outlining the CWCC's objectives, timeline, and the technical assistance provided to grantees in support of these efforts. The brief, An Introduction to the Child Welfare Community Collaborations Grantees and Strategies, is one of a series of products created as part of the cross-site process evaluation.

Grantees consist of both urban and rural communities and are a mix of public agencies, nonprofits, and academic institutions. All grantees incorporated systems alignment activities to promote community collaboration and strengthen their communities' prevention services network. All grantees also incorporated at least one systems-level strategy, one community-level strategy, and one individual-level strategy. These strategies were designed to promote positive change in the community, increase protective factors, and promote well-being. Examples of the strategies include the following:

• Family coaching or navigation
• Resource centers
• Staff and provider training (e.g., capacity-building training or workshops)
• Meaningful engagement of families (e.g., advisory councils)

Some of the most commonly used strategies were family coaching, systems alignment, promoting equity with CWCC supplemental funding, and community outreach.

Those interested in a high-level description of each of the 13 CWCC projects can read Child Welfare Community Collaborations Projects at a Glance. For a closer look at the design and methods used for the cross-site process evaluation, access the brief Child Welfare Community Collaborations Cross-Site Process Evaluation Design and Methods. These resources offer additional insights into the evaluation framework and the unique aspects of each project within the initiative.