September is an exciting month for the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR). It not only marks the end of Onsite Reviews for this calendar year but also the end of Round 2. By September 30, all 52 jurisdictions will have completed Onsite Reviews. At present, 30 jurisdictions have an appr...

Since 1995, Florida's Dependency Court Improvement Program (CIP) has been working with courts and child welfare partners to improve the child welfare process. So, when the State completed its second Federal Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) in 2008, it was only natural that CIP staff would ...

In response to the CFSRs and as part of a greater effort to increase family engagement, a number of States have developed a range of innovative practices to engage fathers and paternal relatives in the lives of their children involved with the child welfare system. Kansas, Texas, and Kentucky are...

In 2005, the Children's Division (CD) in the Missouri Department of Social Services set out to achieve accreditation through the Council on Accreditation (COA). Along the way, the Division built a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) system that today involves every member of the child welfare wo...

Child and Family Team (CFT) meetings have transformed child welfare practice in Utah, moving the State's Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) toward more family-centered practice and changing the culture of child welfare service delivery. In response to a lawsuit brought against the State...

The Children's Bureau has a new full-color brochure to inform professionals and the public about its history, mission, and activities. Download the brochure to find out more about the Bureau's involvement in research, funding, monitoring, and special initiatives that promote safety, permanency, a...

In 2005, the Children's Bureau's National Resource Center for Adoption (NRCA) established the Minority Adoption Leadership Development Institute (MALDI) to enhance the leadership skills of minority adoption leaders from around the country. The training emphasizes the importance of collecting cult...

New and updated reports on the Children's Bureau (CB) website provide the latest information on State demonstration projects funded through Federal waivers of certain provisions of titles IV-E and IV-B. Beginning in mid 1990s, the waivers allowed States to use their IV-E and IV-B funding for inno...

As part of its ongoing research on strengthening families and healthy marriage, the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) recently released reports on the implementation and early impact of the Building Strong Families (BSF) p...

Special Advisor for International Children's Issues Named by the State DepartmentAmbassador Susan S. Jacobs has been appointed to fill the newly created position of Special Advisor to the Office of Children's Issues. A long-time advocate for children, Secretary of State H...

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 has r...

The Children's Bureau website carries information on child welfare programs, funding, monitoring, training and technical assistance, laws, statistics, research, Federal reporting, and much more. The "New on Site" section includes grant announcements, policy announcements, agency informa...

Associated Press - Sep 03, 2010 -- The Connecticut Department of Children and Families says an internal investigation has found it did not mishandle a case in Torrington where five children were found living in filthy conditions, but will have to improve its service response hotline.

Foster's Daily Democrat - Sep 03, 2010 -- The program is a partnership between Avis Goodwin Community Health Center and Southeastern New Hampshire Services, both based in Dover.

Stuttgart Daily Leader - Sep 03, 2010 -- Through a partnership with Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services' Division of Children and Family Services, the C.A.L.L.�s mission is to educate, equip and encourage the Christian community to provide a future and a hope for the children in foster care. The C.A.L.L. provides prospective foster and adoptive parents the opportunity to complete state-approved training within a church setting and within a more convenient timeframe.

The Post and Courier - Sep 03, 2010 -- Life Scout John Albert Meyer III of Troop 9212 out of Sangaree in Summerville started out collecting backpacks for foster children in April. This time, he has initiated a project to renovate the Dorchester County Department of Social Services' visitation room.

Columbia Daily Tribune - Sep 03, 2010 -- Whether to call the state's child abuse hot line is rarely an easy decision; the call and subsequent investigation can have a far-reaching impact on children and their families.

New York Times - Sep 03, 2010 -- The former leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium urged a victim of serial sexual abuse by a bishop to keep silent for a year, until the bishop - the victim's own uncle � could retire, according to tapes made by the victim last April and published over the weekend in two Belgian newspapers.

The Joplin Globe - Sep 03, 2010 -- Arguments in an adoption case involving a Carthage couple and a child born to a Guatemalan mother in the country illegally may be heard by the Missouri Supreme Court.

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar, 2 September 2010 – A film set in Madagascar's arid south is helping young people develop life skills by sparking a debate on what it means to succeed in life.