December/January 2015Vol. 15, No. 11Print issueSpotlight on the Year in Review

Many young children involved with child welfare do not always receive the early care, intervention, and education services necessary to support their healthy development and well-being. The Colorado Department of Human Services (DHS) believes strengthening family-focused models of intervention across all child-serving systems will benefit families and children and increase the likelihood that maltreated children receive quality care and intervention. Using a 17-month infrastructure building grant from the Children's Bureau, DHS's Division of Child Welfare is working to increase partnerships between child welfare and early childhood education and to better identify children served by both agencies.

The project, Colorado Partnership in Early Childhood Education Services (PIECES), is a collaboration between State-level agencies and local agencies within three counties: El Paso, Fremont, and Jefferson. In addition to increasing collaboration among agencies, PIECES set out to increase child welfare and early child care professionals' knowledge of and skills in implementing protective factor strategies, as well as increase the number of children in care who also receive developmental screening and appropriate referrals. The project also aims to change local and State policies and procedures to better serve the needs of young children who are in foster care. 

To achieve these goals at the county level, the three county sites implemented the Strengthening Families protective factors framework. Representatives from each partner agency attended Strengthening Families training, either in person or online, and have trained, or are in the process of training, staff from their respective agencies. In addition, the partner agencies are incorporating the protective factors into their daily operations.

At the State level, an Office of Early Childhood (OEC) was created within DHS that brought together seven programs that previously existed in four divisions. The PIECES grant moved with the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program to the OEC as part of the development of the office. The consolidation of these programs within the OEC allows the State to better administer early childhood programs, strengthen collaboration and coordination between the State and local-level programs, and ensure programs across the State provide the same level of quality care.
In addition to implementing the Strengthening Families framework in each community, the following tasks were implemented and will continue after the grant ends:

El Paso County

• Integrated the Strengthening Families framework into parenting education classes
• Established a new referral and screening process for sharing screening results among the partner agencies
• Provided training to child welfare staff on the benefits of early childhood education and on how to read developmental screenings
• Educated the community about the child welfare system
• Educated parents on how to select quality child care

Fremont County

• Developed a video brochure that provides information on the early childhood services available and that will play continually in early childhood family center waiting rooms
• Created and implemented a cross-agency referral and screening process for families and children involved in both child welfare and early childhood services
• Purchased tablets for child welfare staff to use in the field with families
• Developed a tracking system within each agency to capture the accurate number of children served
• Provided training to early childhood and child welfare workers on the Brazelton Touchpoints program¹

Jefferson County

• Provided training to child welfare staff on:
  
  • Quality early learning/child care provider selection
  • Child abuse and prevention treatment act requirements
  • Early childhood education benefits
  • Child development
  • Ages and Stages Questionnaire
• Educated the public on the benefits of early childhood education
• Conducted an Early Childhood Conference for community stakeholders
• Provided coaching and support to child care providers to improve the quality of their programs
• Provided Strengthening Families training to child care providers
• Developed screening tools to be used by child welfare and early childhood providers

The 17-month infrastructure building grant was meant to build procedures and processes; therefore, not all of the expected outcomes were achieved by the end of the grant period (February 28, 2013). However, the project received a no-cost extension through November 30, 2013. According to project staff at both the State and county levels, the new collaborations have built the infrastructure, created processes, and formed relationships that will sustain the work.

For more information about this project, contact Jill Jordan at jill.jordan2@state.co.us. The full site visit report is available on the Child Welfare Information Gateway website at https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/management/funding/funding-sources/federal-funding/cb-funding/cbreports/earlyeducation/.

The Colorado PIECES project is funded by the Children's Bureau (Award 90CO1060). This article is part of a series highlighting successful Children's Bureau grant-funded projects around the country, emerging from Children's Bureau site visits.

¹ The Brazelton Touchpoints program is an evidence-based theory of child development that provides ongoing opportunities for parents and providers to help each other understand children's behaviors, strengths, and growing capacities.

In fiscal year 2011, the Children's Bureau awarded 10 grants to promote collaboration between child welfare and education systems in order to increase educational stability for children ages 10 to 17 involved with child welfare. The Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF) received one of these grants to implement the Waterbury Educational Stability Initiative, which provided training on trauma-informed child welfare practice and child traumatic stress to education and child welfare stakeholders, including child welfare professionals, school counselors, parent liaisons, and foster parents. The project also tried to bridge the gap between the schools and law enforcement by training the school resource officers, who are municipal police officers assigned to the schools. The following were the goals of the training:

• Educate child welfare professionals, parent liaisons, and foster parents about the effect of trauma on children's development and behavior
• Educate child welfare professionals, parent liaisons, and foster parents about when and how to intervene directly in a trauma-sensitive manner and through strategic referrals
• Ensure that all children in the child welfare system have access to timely, high quality, and effective trauma-focused interventions and a case-planning process that support resilience in long-term healing and recovery
• Help stakeholders understand trauma and how it may present itself in the children at school

The DCF Training Academy provided the training using the Child Welfare Trauma Training Toolkit, which was developed by the National Child Trauma Stress Network. The training materials provided information about case management and intervention perspectives related to trauma-informed best practices. The training covered topics such as how children respond to trauma, safety and resiliency factors, and how to assist trauma-affected children.

For more information on this project, contact Ann-Marie DeGraffenreidt, Director of Program Development, State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families, at Ann-Marie.DeGraffenreidt@ct.gov. The full site visit report will soon be available on the website for Child Welfare Information Gateway at https://www.childwelfare.gov/management/funding/funding_sources/edcollaborations.cfm.

The Waterbury Educational Stability Initiative is funded by the Children's Bureau (90CO1071). This article is part of a series highlighting successful Children's Bureau grant-funded projects around the country, emerging from Children's Bureau site visits.

Using a 17-month Children's Bureau (CB) grant, the Allegheny County (Pennsylvania) Department of Human Services (DHS), the Pittsburgh Public School (PPS) District, and the Allegheny County Family Court continued their work to improve educational stability and permanency outcomes for children being served by all three systems. The project, built on an existing data-sharing partnership between DHS and PPS, began in 2009 and has helped improve collaboration between the school, social services, and the courts.

The two core initiatives of the project were EdMap, which established or improved the technological infrastructure of the project, and the Shared Accountability for Education program that fostered joint accountability among court, DHS, and school staff for the educational and overall well-being of the children served by all three entities. The grant funded technological enhancements to DHS's case management system, building a decision support tool to identify best-fit placements for children in out-of-home care and improved access to education records for social service workers and the court system. In addition, the grant helped fund educational trainings and professional development for all three systems regarding educational issues and barriers for children involved in the child welfare system. 

In 2009, DHS and the PPS District signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that allowed for data sharing to conduct research and analysis related to students' educational status and possible strategies for improving educational outcomes. In addition, if consent is obtained, the up-to-date education information can be shared with direct service workers at DHS to more closely follow the academic performance of children on their caseloads and to address issues more expeditiously. DHS is responsible for integrating and housing the data in the DHS data warehouse and conducting the analyses. The PPS District is responsible for providing educational and directory information to DHS for all enrolled students. Shared data include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Personal identifiers of students
• School directory information
• Demographics
• Federal free and reduced lunch eligibility
• Student performance
• Attendance
• Disciplinary actions
• Special education and gifted education

In October 2012, a new MOU expanded the project's scope to allow DHS to share with PPS personal identifiers of children who are adjudicated dependent by the court, as well as the contact information for their child welfare caseworkers. In addition, DHS can now share information for all children who are identified as homeless in order to help them receive school supports, as required by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. While the legal framework to share this information exists, at the writing of this article, DHS and the district are still working through the implementation.

All data received from PPS can be used in aggregate, de-identified analysis. DHS uses the data to prepare reports that identify characteristics and indicators related to academic successes and challenges for students involved with human services. DHS and the school districts then develop effective strategies for addressing the needs of students and their families. The individual student records can be accessed under two scenarios only: (1) if the child is adjudicated dependent, which is known through information from the Common Pleas Court Management System, and (2) if the caseworker uploads a signed parental consent into KIDS.¹

The project has yielded the following results:

• Automation of the State education screen. The Pennsylvania State Education Screen was built into the KIDS case management system and must be completed for all school-age children involved with child welfare. DHS reduced the workload of caseworkers by populating some of the fields from the integrated data acquired through the data-sharing agreement.
• Cross-agency consent to share educational records. DHS identified a need to create a consent form to be used across all DHS program areas and that would allow for more collaboration among agencies serving school-age children.
• Electronic access to education records. DHS built the technical infrastructure to display child-level education data received from PPS in the KIDS case management system.  
• Best Interest Placement Tool (BIPT). DHS implemented a decision support tool to ensure that when a child needs to be placed in out-of-home care, DHS identifies placements that are in the best interest of that child and family. A home that is in their best interest will be the most family like setting, located in the child's community and school catchment area (if preferred), and willing to care for the child's identified behavioral challenges, mental health, and/or medical needs, etc. 
• Training for child welfare staff. The Education Law Center has partnered with DHS to provide training for child welfare staff on education issues, including training on the State Education Screen.

To review additional information about the project and to review reports developed by the project, please visit the Allegheny, PA, Department of Human Services at http://www.alleghenycounty.us/dhs/research-education.aspx. The full site visit for this report will soon be posted on the website for Child Welfare Information Gateway at https://www.childwelfare.gov/management/funding/funding_sources/edcollaborations.cfm.

This project is funded by the Children's Bureau (90CO1076). This article is part of a series highlighting successful Children's Bureau grant-funded projects around the country, emerging from Children's Bureau site visits.

¹ KIDS is the Pennsylvania Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System.

In 2011, the Children's Bureau awarded the Connecticut (CT) Department of Children and Families (DCF) a grant to implement the Early Childhood Child Welfare Collaboration Project (ECCWCP). The project was a collaborative effort between the CT DCF, Head Start (HS), and partner programs/organizations. The purpose of the project was to provide staff training to enhance services and case management for families and to build collaborations to help ensure that children in foster care, ages birth to 5, were referred for quality early childhood services. DCF wanted to ensure that children were meeting developmental milestones and that other education-related performance markers were consistently met. DCF recognized that it did not have the resources on its own to meet all these needs, so it collaborated with other agencies to help families and to promote systemic change.

The collaboration included approximately 130 DCF and HS supervisors, managers, caseworkers (from local, regional, and central offices) who participated in quarterly meetings to develop and implement plans for the project. The project tasks included enhancing the collaboration, a train-the-trainer and training initiative for the Strengthening Families Program (SFP), infant mental health training, and reflective supervision.
The project focused its attention on the following:

• Establishing deeper collaborations between child welfare stakeholders
• Conducting train-the-trainer sessions for the Strengthening Families Program followed by community training events
• Training DHS and HS staff about infant mental health
• Providing reflective supervision

The project was designed to increase system connections, create mutually beneficial working relationships and partnerships, improve services to families, build community resources, align policies and procedures, and create cross-training opportunities.
For more information on this project, please contact Nancy DiMauro, Program Manager, State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families, Central Office at nancy.dimauro@ct.gov. The full site visit report will soon be available on the website for Child Welfare Information Gateway at https://www.childwelfare.gov/management/funding/funding_sources/earlyeducation.cfm.

The Connecticut Early Childhood Child Welfare Collaboration Project is funded by the Children's Bureau (90CO1061). This article is part of a series highlighting successful Children's Bureau grant-funded projects around the country, emerging from Children's Bureau site visits.

In 2008, Ohio's Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services (CCDCFS) received discretionary grant funds from the Children's Bureau's Diligent Recruitment of Families for Children in the Foster Care System grant cluster. The funds were used to implement Partners for Forever Families, a partnership between CCDCFS and other agencies and organizations throughout the county that have committed resources to help identify and facilitate connections between prospective resource families and children in foster care.

Although there had been an overall reduction in the number of children in foster care in Cuyahoga County in 2008, the children who remained in foster care had complex needs that made finding appropriate families for them difficult. To help improve permanency outcomes for children and youth in care, Partners for Forever Families (PFF) aims to:

• Increase the percentage of children who exit foster care through adoption in less than 24 months
• Reduce the median length of stay for children in foster care
• Increase the number of permanent families for children who are teens and have been in foster care for 24 months or longer

To achieve these outcomes, the project established protocols that enable sibling groups to stay together and for reconnecting kin with youth who are 17 and older and have not yet found a permanent family. Some of the tools CCDCFS is using to increase recruitment include the following:
An original stage play, Sometimes Hope Is Enough. The play is about the journey of three siblings who grew up in different foster families. Following the play, a panel of experts discuss some of the themes depicted in the play, as well as the realities of the children and youth who are currently in foster care.

Digital Me. Digital Me is a video recording in which the children in care share their likes and interests, what they are proud of, and the unique aspects of their personalities. These videos are shown at recruitment events to prospective foster/adoptive parents.
Community Collaborative Partnerships. Connecting with established community organizations has increased CCDCFS's recruitment pool and has enabled the diligent recruitment activities to be more visible throughout communities where CCDCFS has not traditionally had positive relationships.

Outcomes to date as a result of the Partners for Forever Families include the following:

• Adoption workers are currently serving 26 families and have served a total of 56 families during the first 4 years of the grant.
• There was an increase in community knowledge about the need for adoption, kinship care, foster care, and permanency.
• Neighborhood Collaboratives identified 10 families who have now completed foster/adoptive parent licensures and are willing to adopt.
• Of the applications for fostering or adopting in 2012, 40 percent were child specific (relatives), compared to 21 percent in the previous year.

Partners for Forever Families staff are concentrating on aligning policy and practices so that efforts toward establishing permanency for children and youth in foster care will continue to be a primary goal, even after the grant period. New worker training now focuses on achieving permanency for children of any age. Worker training on family finding has also been made available through the agency's Intranet.

For more information on this project, contact Kate Lodge, M.S.W., Partners for Forever Families, Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services, at lodgek@odjfs.state.oh.us. The full site visit report will soon be available on the website for Child Welfare Information Gateway at https://www.childwelfare.gov/management/funding/funding_sources/families.cfm.

The Partners for Forever Families project is funded by the Children's Bureau (90-CO-1034). This article is part of a series highlighting successful Children's Bureau grant-funded projects around the country, emerging from Children's Bureau site visits.

Federal and State laws and policies that support the many grandparents and other family members who serve as caregivers for children whose parents are unable to care for them are examined in an article in the new journal GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy. The article focuses on the growing recognition by State and Federal policymakers of the significant contribution of extended family in providing care to millions of children who otherwise would be at risk of entering or remaining in foster care.

The author notes that Federal legislation is focused on providing support and services to families who are involved with foster care. Most notable among recent legislation is the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. Some of the provisions of this law that specifically impact relative caregivers include:

• Requiring States to identify and notify relatives when children enter foster care
• Giving States the option to use title IV-E funds to finance guardianship assistance programs that enable children in the care of relatives (who are licensed foster parents) to exit foster care
• Requiring child welfare agencies to make reasonable efforts to place siblings together
• Authorizing family connection grants to establish kinship navigator programs that link relative caregivers to available services and supports
• Giving States the option to waive nonsafety-related foster care licensing standards for relatives

The article also notes that far more children live with grandparents and other family caregivers outside the child welfare system. In fact, for every child living in foster care with a relative, about 26 children reside with relatives and are not in the child welfare system. For the relative caregivers raising these 2.7 million children in this country, the lack of legal custody or guardianship and a lack of financial resources can be a challenge. States have responded to these needs through legislative and policy changes. For example, many States have enacted health-care and educational consent laws that allow caregiver relatives to enroll children in school and provide consent to medical treatment. Other States provide financial support through their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs.
 

"Policy Update: Federal and State Legislation to Support Grandfamilies," by Ana Beltran, GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy, 1(1), 2014, is available at http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=grandfamilies.

The RAND Corporation recently published a report summarizing the Programs That Work section (as of June 2014) of the Promising Practices Network (PPN) on Children, Families, and Communities website. The website pages list programs that met preestablished criteria for exhibiting "proven" or "promising" ratings with regard to evidence of effectiveness. Programs meeting the standards were summarized on the site.

The RAND report reproduces these summaries in order to create a permanent archive for policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders. The report also sorts programs by various indicator categories, such as delivery setting, age of the child during the intervention, and outcomes improved. Programs That Work, From the Promising Practices Network on Children, Families and Communities is available at http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/tools/TL100/TL145/RAND_TL145.pdf (3 MB).

Child Trends published a report documenting State child welfare expenditures in State fiscal year (SFY) 2012. Findings were derived from a survey that tracks and monitors State child welfare agency financing data. The report shows that agencies rely on several funding sources to finance a wide range of child welfare services and activities conducted on behalf of vulnerable children and families. Survey results indicate that trends change from year to year. The following notable patterns emerged in the most recent study:

• There was an overall decline in child welfare expenditures by States, indicating the first drop in spending since the survey began in SFY 1996.
• Federal funding for child welfare activities significantly decreased between SFYs 2010 and 2012, bringing these expenditures to their lowest levels since the SFY 1998 survey.
• The title IV-E program continues to represent the largest Federal funding source nationally.
• There is a continued decrease in the percentage of children eligible for Federal title IV-E foster care reimbursement.

The report also highlights the considerable differences across States in how they use Federal, State, and local funds. Results from across time are presented in figures and analyses throughout the report, and detailed data are included in the appendices.

Federal, State, and Local Spending to Address Child Abuse and Neglect in SFY 2012 is available on the Child Trends website at http://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/2014-47ChildWelfareSpending2012.pdf (2 MB).

Parental substance use can have many long-lasting repercussions on a family. Families involved with child welfare that are dealing with substance use issues need an array of supports and services to overcome challenges. Child and Family Futures hosted a webinar to help professionals better assess the readiness for reunification of families in which children are in foster care while a parent receives substance use treatment.

The webinar addresses the impact that a parent's drug use can have on his or her family and on the parent-child relationship. In order to provide the most comprehensive services and ensure a proper assessment of a family's readiness for reunification, the webinar suggests that professionals from the child welfare, treatment, and court systems communicate and coordinate on case and treatment plans. The webinar also covered the importance of this collaborative team of service providers and strategies to help professionals manage a family's case, such as the following:

• Ensuring quality family visits
• Using evidence-based services and practices
• Implementing communication protocols across systems

To listen to the recording and access the presentation for "So How Do You Know They Are Really Ready? Key Considerations for Assessing Families in Recovery for Reunification," visit the Child and Family Futures website at http://www.cffutures.org/presentations/webinars/so-how-do-you-know-they-are-really-ready-key-considerations-assessing-familie. 

A guidebook written by Social Policy Research Associates for the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration's Young Parents Demonstration Project (YPD) aims to help professionals develop and implement mentoring programs or incorporate mentoring into youth services programs. The mentoring components focus specifically on pregnant and parenting teens in order to help them access necessary services, such as employment and educational services. Child welfare agencies and professionals working with pregnant and parenting youth in care can find resources and strategies to help this population become self-sufficient.

The book leads professionals through five crucial steps of implementing a successful mentoring program: laying the groundwork for the program, designing an effective program, designing the components of recruitment and mentoring, running the program, and ensuring continuous improvement and impact. A list of resources related to each of the five steps is included. The book also profiles four YPD grantees and shares some of their experiences in developing and running mentoring programs. 

Access Mentoring Youth and Young Parents: A Guidebook for Programs Helping Youth and Young Parents Navigate a Pathway to Self-Sufficiency at http://wdr.doleta.gov/research/FullText_Documents/Mentoring_Youth_and_Young_Parents_Guidebook.pdf (916 KB).

Noting decades of research linking teen pregnancy and teen dating violence, a new toolkit aims to help organizations expand their adolescent pregnancy prevention programs to include relationship violence prevention. The toolkit consists of four sections: Organizational Readiness and Planning, Selection and Adaptation of Materials, Preparation for Implementation, and Monitoring and Evaluation. Appendices include information on adolescent relationship abuse (ARA), its prevalence among diverse populations, the correlation between ARA and pregnancy, and more.

The Toolkit to Incorporate Adolescent Relationship Abuse Prevention Into Existing Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Programming was produced by the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program's Training and Technical Assistance and Meeting Logistical Support project for the Family and Youth Services Bureau. It is available on the Family and Youth Services Bureau, National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth, website at http://ncfy.acf.hhs.gov/features/toolkit-incorporate-adolescent-relationship-abuse-prevention-existing-adolescent-pregnancy.

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) released a portable guide for first responders on how to investigate child abuse. Recognizing When a Child's Injury or Illness Is Caused by Abuse is designed for professionals to aid in differentiating whether injuries inflicted on a child are intended or unintended.

Child abuse cases require cautious investigation by multiple professionals to determine the cause of the injuries. In order to conclude if the injuries were intended or not, a thorough yet complex assessment is required. To assist professionals in completing a comprehensive assessment, the guide provides information on the various types of injuries, signs and symptoms, and potential causes. Additionally, because many medical conditions can resemble an inflicted injury, the guide provides insight on how to differentiate between injuries and an illness.

Law enforcement and related professionals may use the guide to help indicate child abuse, explore the causes, understand the difference between injury and illness, and access educational and valuable resources. Recognizing When a Child's Injury or Illness Is Caused by Abuse is available on the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention website at http://ojjdp.gov/pubs/243908.pdf (1,320 KB).

Complex trauma occurs when a child is exposed to and impacted by one or multiple traumatic events. Caregivers of children who have experienced complex trauma may struggle to facilitate the healing process. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network published a factsheet for parents and caregivers that defines complex trauma and its signs and symptoms, explains its effects, and provides recommendations for how parents can help their children build resilience and recover. 

The factsheet offers information about traumatic reminders—everyday incidents (sounds, smells, feelings) that cause a child to relive a traumatic event from his or her past. These triggers can cause overreactive behavior, intense anxiety, distraction and lack of focus, and other negative outcomes. Complex trauma can create irrational thinking and inaccurate perceptions related to the child's relationship with a caregiver. Because caregivers can also experience feelings of frustration and helplessness, the factsheet outlines coping strategies and provides information on self-care.

Complex Trauma: Facts for Caregivers is available at http://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/assets/pdfs/complex_trauma_caregivers_final.pdf (169 KB).

To learn more about the National Child Trauma Stress Network, visit its website at http://www.nctsn.org/.

The National Center for Fathering offers a self-assessment tool to aid fathers in evaluating their fathering methods. The Championship Fathering Profile (CFP) provides fathers with feedback and guidance on how to build on their strengths and improve weaknesses. By creating a profile and answering a series of questions in 13 domains, fathers can build on their childhood experiences to gain insight into how they developed their parenting style, grow a better understanding of how past experiences impact their current parenting decisions, and get new perspectives on improving relationships with children and spouses.  

Child welfare professionals and programs that specifically focus on engaging fathers may find this and other fathering resources helpful in their work. The website also offers a train-the-trainer and small-group curricula, in addition to free e-books and other resources for fathers.

The Championship Fathering Profile is available on the National Center for Fathering website at http://spokestrainingexperience.fathers.com/.

Save the Children and the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University developed a survey tool, the Community Preparedness Index (CPI), which is designed to guide community leaders and officials in assessing their local jurisdiction's readiness to assist children in a disaster. The CPI is built upon proven strategies and best practices grounded in research and covers the following settings where children may be located when a disaster occurs:

• Child care/day care centers
• Home-based family child care
• Public schools
• Private schools
• Foster care
• Emergency shelters
• Community organizations
• Hospitals

For each category, the toolkit addresses various elements of community preparedness, including policies and regulations, as well as unofficial preparedness actions. It takes between 30 and 40 minutes to complete each sector of the index.

The authors recommend that communities develop a workgroup of knowledgeable experts from each sector, which may include both local and State-level representatives, with expertise on emergency preparedness requirements in their field. Assessment scores can help communities identify areas where more work or attention may be needed to strengthen their preparedness. The toolkit also offers a snapshot of how well the jurisdiction is doing in developing policies and protocols to protect children.

Community Preparedness Index (CPI): Being Ready to Protect Children is available at
http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74a%7D/CPI_FACT_SHEET.PDF (234 KB).

The accompanying Community Preparedness Index Guide highlights recommended characteristics of the work group, strategies for engaging in a community assessment process, and how to benefit from lessons learned. The guide's appendices include an explanation of the scoring and technical questions and answers.

You may access the Community Preparedness Index Guide on Save the Children’s website at
http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74a%7D/CPI_GUIDE_FINAL.PDF (1,000 KB).

Upcoming national conferences on child welfare and adoption through March 2015 include:

January 2015

• 2015 Children's Law Institute
  Southwest Region National Child Protection Training Center at New Mexico State University, the New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department Protective Services and Juvenile Justice Divisions, the New Mexico CASA Network, the University of New Mexico School of Law's Corinne Wolfe Children's Law Center, the Casey Family Foundation, and the Rozier E. Sanchez Judicial Education Center
  January 7–9, Albuquerque, NM
  http://www.childrenslawinstitute.org
• Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference
  The Social and Behavioral Importance of Increased Longevity
  January 14–18, New Orleans, LA
  http://www.sswr.org/conferences.php
• ISPCAN Global Institute 2015
  Positive Parenting to Improve Outcomes for Children
  The International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN)
  January 25, San Diego, CA
  http://www.ispcan.org/events/event_details.asp?id=480287
• 29th Annual International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment
  Chadwick Center for Children & Families
  January 26–29, San Diego, CA
  http://www.sandiegoconference.org/

February 2015

• 29th Annual Conference on the Prevention of Child Abuse
  Prevent Child Abuse Texas
  February 23–24, Las Colinas, TX
  http://www.preventchildabusetexas.org/nextconference.html

March 2015

• Learning and Leadership Summit
  Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina, North Carolina Division of Health and Human Services, North Carolina Department of Public Health
  March 3–4, Chapel Hill, NC
  http://www.preventchildabusenc.org/summit
• Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine 2015 Annual Meeting
  Embracing Transitions: Promoting Health Through Adolescence and Young Adulthood
  Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
  March 18–21, Los Angeles, CA
  http://www.adolescenthealth.org/Meetings/2015-Annual-Meeting.aspx
• 2015 Strengthening Families Summit
  Science of Relationships: The Prevention Connection
  New Hampshire Children's Trust
  March 30, Concord, NH
  http://www.nhchildrenstrust.org/summit15
   

Further details about national and regional child welfare and adoption conferences can be found through the Conference Calendar Search feature on the Child Welfare Information Gateway website at http://www.childwelfare.gov/calendar/index.cfm.

The National Association of Social Workers California Chapter offers an online introductory course on immigration titled Immigration Law and Enforcement: An Overview for Social Workers. This course is designed to aid social work students, faculty, and social work professionals in understanding current U.S. immigration laws; how the enforcement of these laws impacts communities, families, and children; and how immigration issues interact with social work practice. This course features web-based resources including PDF documents, videos, and additional resources. This online course offers approved Continuing Education (CE) credit and is provided at no cost to interested individuals.

For more information, or to access the course outline, and to register for Immigration Law and Enforcement: An Overview for Social Workers, visit the National Association of Social Workers California Chapter website at http://naswcalifornianews.org/tag/immigration-law-and-enforcement-an-overview-for-social-workers/.