CWLA Standards of Excellence blueprint.pdf

NATIONAL BLUEPRINT

FOR EXCELLENCE IN CHILD WELFARE

STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE:

Raising the Bar for Children, Families, and Communities

C H I L D W E L F A R E L E A G U E O F A M E R I C A

CWLA Press is an imprint of the Child Welfare League of America. The Child Welfare League of America is the nation’s oldest and largest membership-based child welfare organization. We are committed to engaging people everywhere in promoting the well-being of children, youth, and their families, and protecting every child from harm.

All proceeds from the sale of this book support CWLA’s programs in behalf of children and families.

©2013 by the Child Welfare League of America. All rights reserved. Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information on this or other CWLA publications, contact the CWLA Publications Department at the address below.

CHILD WELFARE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, INC.

HEADQUARTERS

1726 M Street NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20036 www.cwla.org

CURRENT PRINTING (last digit)

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover and text design by Marlene Saulsbury Edited by Rachel Adams

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 978-1-58760-152-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication iii

CONTENTS

FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

INTRODUCTION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

DEFINITIONS

VISION, VALUES, AND PRINCIPLES

VISION

VALUES

CORE PRINCIPLES

Rights of Children Shared Responsibility and Leadership Engagement/Participation Supports and Services Quality Improvement Workforce Race, Ethnicity, and Culture Funding and Resources

I. RIGHTS OF CHILDREN

PRINCIPLE

STANDARDS

Survival and Development Protection Participation

Resources

CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfareiv

II. SHARED RESPONSIBILITY AND LEADERSHIP

PRINCIPLE

STANDARDS

Communities Leadership Collaboration Governance and Capacity

Resources

III. ENGAGEMENT/PARTICIPATION

PRINCIPLE

STANDARDS

Positive Engagement Strategies Trauma-Informed Engagement Youth and Family Involvement Experience as a Service Recipient Developing Trust, Building Relationships Youth Engagement Parental and Extended Family Engagement Fathers Mothers Culturally Appropriate Engagement and Response Commitment of Workforce and Leadership

Resources

IV. SUPPORTS AND SERVICES

PRINCIPLE

STANDARDS

Community Voice in Policy and Program Development. . . 60 Safe and Healthy Communities

Contents v

Meeting Basic Needs Social Connections Food and Nutrition Access to Health Care Normalizing Need for Support Caregiving Children and Youth Trauma-Informed Approaches Collaboration Assessment and Service Planning Gender-Appropriate Services Legal System Social Media and Technology

Resources

V. QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

PRINCIPLE

STANDARDS

Components of Quality Improvement Programs Positive Culture and Climate Transparency Soliciting and Considering Feedback Meaningful Data Evidence-Based Programs and Practices Practice-Based Evidence Measuring Outcomes Benchmarks Making Improvements Research

Resources

CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfarevi

VI. WORKFORCE

PRINCIPLE

STANDARDS

Leadership Workforce Development Experience as a Service Recipient Professional Development Performance Evaluation Positive Culture and Climate Workload Supervision Continuous Learning Secondary Traumatic Stress and Burnout

Resources

VII. RACE, ETHNICITY, AND CULTURE

PRINCIPLE

STANDARDS

Nondiscrimination Indigenous Nations Indian Child Welfare Culturally Informed and Diverse Identity Individual and Systemic Bias Disparity and Disproportionality Youth and Families Identifying as LGBTQ Immigrant Children and Families Developmentally Informed

Resources

Contents vii

VIII. FUNDING AND RESOURCES

PRINCIPLE

STANDARDS

Funding Priorities Funding Implementation of the National Blueprint Funding Equity Public-Private Collaboration Diverse Funding Streams Accountability and Transparency Social Enterprise

Resources

REFERENCES

INDEX

FOREWORD

As a coalition of private and public entities and individuals dedicated to ensuring the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth, and their families, the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) advocates for policies, best practices, and collaborative strategies that advance positive outcomes for children and youth.

Established as an outcome of the first White House Conference on the Care of Dependent Children in 1909, CWLA initially worked with the Children’s Bureau and other stakeholders to end child labor, increase the number of children receiving critical immunizations, establish child care and homemaker services, and secure other improvements in the lives of children and families in the general population. Over the course of its history, CWLA increasingly turned its efforts to ensuring better outcomes for the children and families that are most vulnerable by working to address reported cases of abuse and neglect, quality and availability of services for children removed from their homes, family supports, and access to services for children in their communities.

In recent years, actualizing our mission has become ever more com-plex. It is clear that the needs of the most vulnerable cannot be addressed outside of the context of that which impacts all children and families in society. The reality is that many children in this country experience challenges because of issues with immigration, education, housing, and health care, or because they live in communities where there is violence and poverty. As an organization that has, as its core mission, working with the children and families that are most chal-lenged, we see the most devastating outcomes of the failure of this country to do all it can for its children. Unless the community has what it needs and takes ownership for ensuring the well-being of all of its children and families, neither children and families who are ix

CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfarex vulnerable nor children and families in general will flourish. The National Blueprint returns CWLA to our historic roots of advocating for a multi-system, community-based approach to protecting children and supporting families. This approach is grounded in the practice improvement work that is specific to the child welfare system and inclusive of its advocacy efforts on behalf of all children, youth, and families.

A critical focus of our work will be to advance a child welfare system that is linked to and operates in partnership with families and communities. It is clear that traditional public and private child welfare organizations cannot be solely responsible for the well-being of children and families. While the child welfare system has a distinct set of responsibilities to care for children identified as at risk of abuse and neglect, it must do its work by sharing its knowledge and resources and leveraging the knowledge and resources gained from families, communities, and other systems—such as health, education, or juve-nile justice—that can contribute to better outcomes for children and families. Too often, the needs of children, youth, and families are addressed by multiple systems that are not working together but rather in functional silos. A major focus of the CWLA National Blueprint is to help entities to improve cooperation, collaboration, and communi-cation to diminish or eradicate these functional silos.

Through the National Blueprint, CWLA articulates the foundation and framework for achieving the vision that all children will grow up safely, in loving families and supportive communities, with everything they need to flourish—and with connections to their culture, ethnicity, race, and language. However, just as an architect’s blueprint provides a plan but leaves many decisions to be made during construction, the CWLA National Blueprint does not pretend to either identify or address all of the necessary transition questions and answers. Many questions must be addressed to determine how to construct supports and services aligned with the CWLA National Blueprint. As each community, organ-ization, family, and individual is unique, the obstacles to implementation will only be identified as people work together to achieve the National

Blueprint. This will require them to set priorities and make compro-mises along the way. These changes may not be easy, and will take time, but they should not hinder everyone from working collectively toward a society in which all children and youth can flourish.

Development of CWLA Standards of Excellence

Since the inception of its program of standards development, CWLA has formulated a series of standards based on current knowledge and children’s developmental needs, and has tested ways of meeting these needs most effectively. The preparation of standards involves an exam-ination of current practices and the assumptions on which they are based; a survey of the professional literature and standards; and a study of the most recent experiences of social work and related fields—child development, child care, education, mental health, psychology, medi-cine, psychiatry, and sociology—and other appropriate and pertinent fields such as management, business, technology, communication, and marketing, as they bear on child welfare practice and management.

The final formulation of standards follows an extended discussion of principles and issues by experts in each service area; the drafting of a pre-liminary statement; and a critical review by CWLA member agencies, representatives of related professions, and other national organizations.

CWLA’s preparation of standards involves the wide participation of local, state, and national agency representatives. Many CWLA member agencies, including state human service departments and pri-vate agencies, have contributed the professional time and travel costs of their staff members who developed these standards, reviewed draft statements, and made suggestions for revision. Representatives from national organizations, governmental agencies, sectarian agencies, universities, and professional associations in related fields have taken part in the various committees.

To maintain their visionary quality, CWLA standards are subject to continual review and revision because knowledge about children, xiForeword

CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfarexii families, communities, human behavior, and the treatment of human needs continues to grow. Developments in management and the social sciences; the continuing evaluation of the effectiveness of current social service practices, policies, and programs; and shifting patterns of social values and social organizations all lead to the continued modification of the vision for quality in child welfare practice and management.

CWLA Standards from an International Perspective

CWLA standards are frequently requested by officials, child welfare professionals, and advocates from other countries who are interested in learning what is considered best practice in North America in a range of practice areas. Countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas have drawn from the CWLA standards to develop and improve services. The CWLA Standards of Excellence for Adoption Services also served as a reference for the development of the Hague Convention Regulations on Intercountry Adoption.

CWLA promotes best child welfare practices and supports the enhancement of children’s rights throughout the world. Consistent with this effort, we find these standards to be compatible with and supportive of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a blueprint for ensuring children’s well-being and protections as a matter of right everywhere.

Bringing CWLA Standards to the Field

The CWLA National Blueprint articulates the ultimate goal for all children, youth, and families, and acknowledges that it will take the combined knowledge, skills, and resources of all systems, services, com-munities, and individuals to ensure that all children will grow up safely, in loving families and supportive communities, with everything they need to flourish—and with connections to their culture, ethnicity, race, and language. We encourage agencies, practitioners, advocates, and

Foreword xiii concerned citizens to use the standards as a vehicle for pursuing these fundamental goals.

CWLA will be developing readiness assessment and implementa-tion tools to help with the implementation of the CWLA National Blueprint. To ensure the clarity needed for child welfare’s role in achieving the vision, CWLA will continue with and update its program-specific Standards of Excellence within the context of the National Blueprint. We will use our programs, practice guidelines, publications, research, conferences, professional development, and consultation to provide further guidance. CWLA advocacy efforts will include nudging other systems, parents, and communities toward helping achieve the vision. Our children, youth, and families deserve no less.

Joseph M. Costa Christine James-Brown CWLA Board Chair CWLA President/CEO

INTRODUCTION

Raising the Bar

The CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare (CWLA National Blueprint or National Blueprint) presents a vision for the future of child welfare that all children will grow up safely in loving families and supportive communities. Although the formal child welfare system has a specific role to play as it relates to children who have been or are at risk of abuse and neglect, responsi-bility for the well-being of children and youth extends well beyond traditional child welfare organizations and services. While achieving the well-being of children and youth begins with their families, everyone—families, communities, providers, and organizations—has a responsibility for ensuring the safety, permanency, and well-being of all children and youth. This is essential for achieving excellence in child welfare. The CWLA National Blueprint applies to all children and youth, whether or not they receive child welfare services, and whether or not they have been identified as at risk for child abuse or neglect.

This document is designed as a foundation upon which families, communities, providers, and other organizations can create the greatest opportunities for all children and youth to succeed and flourish.

The CWLA National Blueprint is intended to be a catalyst for change: to broaden the thinking of communities, individuals, and groups, including public and private organizations within and outside of the child welfare system, and to help them understand how their roles and responsibilities fit in the overall strategy to improve outcomes for children and youth. The National Blueprint also serves as the basis for updating and creating CWLA program-specific Standards of Excellence, which play a unique and pivotal role in moving child welfare practice forward.

CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare2

The document’s emphasis on engaging children, youth, families, and communities; breaking down barriers; and increasing the inter-connectedness of all involved will compel new ways of communicating and working together. Although families hold primary responsibility for protecting and raising children, communities provide the context for daily life, the cultural lens for translating information and expe-rience, and the network of supports and connections that help children and youth overcome difficulties and become contributing members of society.

The CWLA National Blueprint focuses on maximizing the strengths and resilience of children, youth, and their nuclear, bio-logical, extended, foster, and adoptive families within the context of their communities. By having youth and families be true partners in policymaking, planning, and funding decisions, communities and organizations can ensure that all children and youth are provided with the best opportunities for safe, healthy, nurturing environ-ments for learning, growing, and becoming productive, healthy, fulfilled adults.

To help all children and youth flourish, society must provide serv-ices, supports, and resources so that families can ensure the safety, permanency, and well-being of their children with equal emphasis on all three. One cannot take precedence over another. Communities must be able to invest in the supports and services required to ensure that all children, youth, and families will have optimal opportunities to succeed. To facilitate community leadership and decisionmaking, cur-rent child welfare, education, social services, and health care systems will be required to transform their thinking and retool their mecha-nisms for allocating funds. Reform is required at the federal, tribal, state, and local levels, as is greater participation and investment from the foundation and corporate sectors.

Some of the CWLA National Blueprint’s concepts are not new.

While many entities will see their work reflected and validated herein, this document and its applicability to all children and youth adds levels of complexity that will present challenges and dilemmas

Introduction 3 in planning and actual implementation. Nonetheless, CWLA encour-ages everyone to aspire to achieving the standards detailed in the National Blueprint while recognizing that, for many organizations and communities, implementation will be neither straightforward nor swift. CWLA plans to develop and disseminate tools that will help identify strategies for implementation.

Organization and Format

The National Blueprint’s organization is a departure from existing CWLA Standards of Excellence, which are clustered around tradi-tional service areas. The CWLA National Blueprint includes a vision and values (page 21), and eight core principles (pages 22-23) and standards, which are built upon the vision, values, and principles.

Each of the eight principles heads a chapter containing standards relevant to that principle. Each standard is in bold font. Standards are followed by indented paragraphs that explain and clarify the standard.

To emphasize the interdependence among principles and stan-dards, cross-references are included throughout the document. For example, the standards in the Workforce chapter must be under-stood in concert with the standards in the Shared Responsibility and Leadership chapter, and the standards in the Supports and Services chapter must be understood in the context of the Rights of Children chapter.

Important Points

Understanding all of the following key points aids readers in using the CWLA National Blueprint:

■ All principles are equally important. They are not presented in order of priority.

CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare4

■ CWLA recommends that readers review the entire National Blueprint before concentrating on individual principles or stan-dards. Many standards can be understood best when read in the context of other principles and standards. Cross-references are included throughout the document.

■ Responsibility for implementation of the CWLA National Blueprint does not rest solely with traditional child welfare organizations, or with individual workers and supervisors with-in those organizations. Instead, responsibility for helping all children to flourish rests with their parents and families, with their communities, and with all adults in their lives.

■ Definitions are included at the beginning of the CWLA National Blueprint to provide clarity about language in the con-text of this document. Every effort has been made to use terms consistently, and to avoid jargon.

■ “Children” and “youth” are both defined, and are not synony-mous and interchangeable. Most of the document refers to “chil-dren and youth.” “Child” is used alone when applicable to peo-ple under age 18. “Youth” is used alone when a statement is not applicable to younger children.

■ CWLA has developed accompanying documents such as an Executive Summary and Frequently Asked Questions, and will develop tools to facilitate implementation of the CWLA National Blueprint.

■ Updates to current CWLA Standards of Excellence and development of future Standards of Excellence and Practice Guidelines relevant to child welfare will be based upon the CWLA National Blueprint.

Introduction 5

How the CWLA National Blueprint Can Be Used

The CWLA National Blueprint may be used by:

■ Policymakers, and community and organizational leaders, in:

• Planning, organizing, and administering services;

• Developing and revising policies and shaping policy discus-sions and initiatives;

• Recruiting and orienting staff and board members;

• Interpreting services to stakeholders, legislators, and organ-izations; and

• Deciding upon and advocating for appropriate staffing and funding levels.

■ Youth, parents, foster and adoptive parents, grandparents, and extended family members wanting more involvement in chil-dren’s lives, advocating, seeking support or services, or offering support to others;

■ Teachers, health and behavioral health care providers, childcare providers, coaches, social service and child welfare providers, youth group leaders, clergy, advocates, and others to validate and expand their efforts to help children and youth succeed and flourish;

■ Advocates in their efforts to uphold children’s rights, strengthen communities, and improve funding for supports and services;

■ Elected and nonelected community leaders as they engage community members, collaborate with organizations and other communities, assess needs, and plan and develop supports and services;

■ Federal, state, county, tribal, and local public officials, legislators, budget officers, foundation and corporate executives, and other entities allocating funds for services;

CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare6

■ Providers and communities as they establish desired outcomes, evaluate the performance of services and supports, and imple-ment quality improvement models;

■ Attorneys, court monitors, judges, and administrators in discovery and litigation;

■ Educators and trainers revising curricula, academic programs, and organization-based training;

■ Organizations making recommendations for systemic improve-ment, program development, and allocation of funds;

■ Licensing specialists and regulatory bodies in establishing state, local, and tribal licensing requirements;

■ Accrediting bodies, such as the Council on Accreditation (COA), the Joint Commission, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), as a foundation and reference for their accredita-tion standards;

■ Researchers, evaluators, academics, and government entities for reference in journal articles, government reports, and research studies; and

■ Federal entities, such as the Department of Health and Human Services, State Department, Department of Education, and General Accounting Office, as a basis for evaluating services, determining desired outcomes, and developing federal regula-tions that direct practice nationally and internationally.

Introduction 7

Development Process

The National Blueprint was developed and vetted through the following inclusive process:

■ CWLA convened an advisory committee of more than thirty

(30) professionals representing child welfare agencies and organizations at federal, state, county, and community levels and with experience as policymakers, researchers, academi-cians, clinicians, workers, supervisors, parents (birth, foster and adoptive), advocates, foster care alumni, and members of the legal system. The Committee met twice for two-day, face-to-face meetings, during which members developed the parameters for the Vision, Principles, and Standards. Sub-groups continued the Committee’s work through a series of teleconferences.

■ To align the National Blueprint with current evidence and best practices, CWLA staff completed a comprehensive review of relevant current research and provided a summary to the Committee to inform its work.

■ Preliminary and second drafts were completed and reviewed by the Advisory Committee.

■ CWLA invited individuals and organizations representing diverse stakeholders at federal, state, county, and local levels, in the public and private sectors, as well as tribal representatives, accrediting and regulatory bodies to review the third draft and provide critique through surveys, web-based conferences, and/or teleconferences.

■ The CWLA Board of Directors approved the National Blueprint on March 8, 2013.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Writing Team:

Andrea Bartolo, Director of Consultation, CWLA Julie Collins, MSW, LCSW, Director of Standards for Practice

Excellence, CWLA Etta Lappen Davis, MA, MEd, Consultant, Etsky Consulting Linda Spears, Vice President, Policy and Public Affairs, CWLA

Advisory Committee:

Juanita Blount-Clark, Consultant, Center for the Study of Social Policy

Katharine H. Briar-Lawson, MSW, PhD, Dean and Professor, School of Social Welfare, University at Albany, State University of New York

Nadia Cayce, PhD Candidate, Parent Partner and Regional Technical Assistance Coordinator, Region I, TA Partnership

Crystal Collins-Camargo, MSW, PhD, Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville

Eliza Cooper, Parent Partner

Terry Cross, Executive Director, National Indian Child Welfare Association

Lonna Davis, Director of Children’s Programs, Futures Without Violence

Nicole Dobbins, Executive Director, Voice for Adoption

Darrell Evora, President and CEO, EMQ Families First

Mary Deffley Kurfess, LCSW-C, LICSW, MSSW, Associate, Office of Social Work Accreditation (OSWA), Council on Social Work Education

Jeremy C. Kohomban, PhD, President Harlem Dowling and President and CEO, The Children’s Village

Ernesto Loperena, Executive Director, New York Council on Adoptable Children

Judge Maxwell Griffin, National Council of Juvenile & Family Court Judges

Heidi D. McIntosh, Senior Policy Advisor, Administration for Children, Youth, and Families/ACF/HHS

Linda Mitchell, Child Welfare Specialist, Children’s Bureau/ACF/HHS

Jane Morgan, Director, Capacity Building Division, Children’s Bureau/ACF/HHS

Jan Nisenbaum, Deputy Commissioner for Clinical and Program Services, Massachusetts Department of Children & Families

Nathan Nishimoto, Deputy Director, Orangewood Children & Family Services Agency

Adam Robe, CEO, Foster Care Alumni of America

Julie Rosicky, Executive Director, International Social Service, United States of America Branch, Inc.

Erika Tullberg MPA, MPH, Assistant Professor, New York University Child Study Center

Jorge Velazquez, Jr., MPA, Cultural Responsiveness Consultant, (formerly with the Child Welfare Academy, University of Maryland, School of Social Work)

Lisa von Pier, Assistant Commissioner, Division of Family and Community Partnerships and Division on Women, New Jersey Department of Children and Families

Robert Wentworth, Assistant Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Children & Families

Jeff Whelan, Commissioner, Social Service Division, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe

10 CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare

Charles Wilson, MSSW, Senior Director, Center for Developmental and Behavioral Services and Chadwick Center for Children and Families, Rady Children’s Hospital

Joan Zlotnik, PhD, ACSW, Director of Social Work Policy Institute, National Association of Social Workers

CWLA Board Representatives:

Julie Sweeney Springwater, MSW, Vice-Chair

Lucille Echohawk, Member

Draft Reviewers:

Olivia Golden, Institute Fellow, Urban Institute

Kevin M. McGuire, Commissioner, Department of Social Services, Westchester County, New York

Ruth McRoy, PhD, Research Professor, Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professor, The University of Texas, School of Social Work

Peter Pecora, PhD, Senior Director of Research Sciences, Casey Family Programs

CWLA Staff:

Rachel Adams, Editor

Lynda Arnold, Senior Fellow/Consultant

Christine James-Brown, President and CEO

Suzanne Lay, Government Affairs Associate

Donna D. Petras, PhD, MSW, Director, Models of Practice and Training

Marlene Saulsbury, Art Director

11Acknowledgements

CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare12

Special Acknowledgements

Special thanks goes to Etta Lappen Davis for her significant role in the writing of this document. She helped bring the ideas and suggestions to life. Her commitment, tenacity, and expertise helped to ensure that we met our deadlines and accomplished our goals.

We would also like to express our appreciation to all of the indi-viduals and organizations that took the time to review the stan-dards and provide us with feedback, including members of the CWLA National Commission on Practice Excellence, the CWLA National Commission on Public Policy, CWLA members, and other expert advisors.

DEFINITIONS

Abuse: The non-accidental commission of any act against an indi-vidual that causes or creates a substantial risk of harm or injury, or an act that constitutes a sexual offense under the laws of the jurisdiction in which it occurs.

Accountability: The extent to which an entity is answerable for its processes and outcomes to a variety of relevant internal and external stakeholders.

Advocacy: An act performed with or on behalf of others through direct intervention, empowerment, or representation. Case advocacy refers to actions taken in relation to a particular individual. Cause, social, or systems advocacy refers to actions taken in relation to a com-mon issue affecting a group.

Behavioral Health Care: The application of medical, psychiatric, psychological, social work, and education principles and practices in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health and substance abuse disorders.

Benchmark: The quantifiable measurement of best practices in a sector or field to which entities can compare their own work and per-formance. For example, a benchmark for a community support organization might be the availability of brochures in each language spoken in the community.

Best Interests: Determinations made for the child’s ultimate safety and well-being as the paramount concern, with consideration of a number of factors related to the circumstances of the child, includ-ing, but not limited to, the circumstances and capacity of the child’s potential caregiver(s), the context of the prevailing community standard, and the child’s opinions and preferences. Best interests considerations may be immediate, foreseeable, and/or lifelong.

Best Practices: Recommended services, supports, interventions, policies, or procedures based on current validated evidence, expert agreement, the opinions and values of the child, youth, or family, and the desired outcomes.

Child: A person under the age of 18.

Child Abuse: A non-accidental action that causes injury or harm to a child, regardless of whether it is considered “reportable” in the jurisdiction in which the event occurs.

Child Neglect: Child neglect occurs when a child is placed at risk of inadequate care by failure of an adult, who is responsible for the child’s health or welfare, to intervene to eliminate that risk when the adult is able to do so and has or should have knowledge of the risk, regardless of whether it is reportable in the jurisdiction in which it occurs. This includes failure to provide needed food, clothing, shelter, medical care, supervision, or education that threatens the safety, health, or well-being of a child.

Child Welfare Agency: A government or tribal entity charged with protecting children from abuse and neglect.

Child Welfare System: A public child welfare entity and its work-force and network of providers and workforces responsible for pro-tecting children, including: the entity that receives and investigates reports of suspected child maltreatment; providers of services to chil-dren and families to ameliorate past maltreatment and prevent future maltreatment; the organizations and providers that work to prevent child abuse and neglect; individuals who are mandated reporters;

and the communities and community members that care for and about children, their safety, and their well-being. While the primary

CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare14

Definitions 15 responsibility for child welfare rests with the states, the federal gov-ernment plays a major role in supporting state child welfare systems in the delivery of supports and services.

Community: A social group of people that have certain commonalities.

A community may be a group whose members reside in a specific locality, and share government, for example; a neighborhood, town, or city. A community may be a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics, heritage, or interests that per-ceives itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists. For example: the business community, the community of retirees, the foster parent community, or the LGBTQ community.

Disparity: Unequal or unjust access to supports and services, or discrepancies in decisionmaking that may impact the experiences of individuals from racial and ethnic groups.

Disproportionality: Differences between the percentage of children, youth, and families of a certain racial or ethnic group in a geographic area and the percentage of that same group represented in systems such as child welfare, juvenile justice, special education, or mental health. Children, youth, and families from certain racial and ethnic groups may be overrepresented or underrepresented.

Emerging Practices: Specific approaches to problems or ways of working with particular people that are considered positive and effec-tive by service recipients and/or providers, but that are too new or used too infrequently to have received general attention and have garnered scientific evidence.

Emotional Abuse: A pattern of behavior that impairs a child’s emo-tional development or sense of self-worth. This may include constant criticism, threats, or rejection, as well as withholding love, support, or guidance. Emotional abuse is almost always present when other forms of abuse/neglect are identified.

Entity: Any person, unit, or group that has an independent, separate, or self-contained existence or identity. An entity can be an agency, government, organization, distinct community, or any other defined group.

Evidence-Based: Programs or practices that use the best available research and program and clinical expertise within the context of the child, family, and community characteristics, culture, and preferences.

They are validated by scientific evidence that includes findings estab-lished through research, controlled studies, replication, or other valid methods of establishing evidence.

Evidence-Informed: Programs and practices that effectively inte-grate the best research evidence with clinical expertise, cultural com-petence, and the values of the persons receiving the services.

Experience as a Service Recipient: An individual’s personal experi-ences that lead to an understanding fundamentally different from perceptions and understandings of people who have not had the same or similar experience.

Family-Focused: A perspective that focuses on the needs and welfare of individual family members within the context of their families.

Family is defined broadly to include birth, blended, kinship, and foster and adoptive families.

Institutional Racism/Institutional Bias (also known as Systemic Racism or Bias): The presence of a societal norm in which poli-cies, resources, and practices are designed to benefit some groups significantly more than others while simultaneously denying the existence of racism or bias as a variable. The institution or sys-tem fails to provide equal service or access and/or imposes additional requirements or penalties, based solely on color, culture, ethnicity, citizenship, country of origin, gender, religious background, or socioe-conomic background.

16 CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare

Institutional racism and bias can be seen or detected in processes, atti-tudes, and behaviors that disadvantage any group through intentional or unintentional prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and stereotyping.

LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, or Queer): Includes those who identify as intersex, 2-spirit, or pansexu-al as well as those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or queer.

Maltreatment: An act or failure to act by an adult that results in physical abuse, neglect, medical neglect, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of harm to a child, regardless of whether the jurisdiction in which it occurs mandates reporting.

Mandated Reporter: An individual or entity required by law to report suspected abuse or neglect, as defined by the jurisdiction, to the appro-priate authorities.

Organization: An entity with a recognized legal or business status.

Organizations may be public or private, for-profit or nonprofit entities. Organizations may be advocacy groups, public agencies, providers that offer direct supports and services, funders, or business entities that support child well-being causes.

Physical Abuse: Type of maltreatment that refers to physical acts that caused or could have caused physical injury to the child.

Practice-Based Evidence: Real-life practices that provide the basis for inductively developing evidence—including anecdotal evidence, culturally-based interventions, and those grounded in tradition—that has not been validated by research. Practice-based evidence also includes adaptations of evidence-based practices that have been modified for a culture, age group, or other application for which they have not been researched.

17Definitions

Prevention: Efforts aimed at averting child abuse and neglect, or reducing unhealthy conditions and activities such as obesity, smoking, or substance abuse.

Promising Practices: Practices that have expert consensus or other support but that have not been as rigorously evaluated as those that are considered evidence-based or evidence-informed.

Protective Factors: Strengths and resources that appear to mediate or serve as a buffer against adverse experiences and risk factors that can decrease well-being. Protective factors include but are not limited to nurturing, attachment, positive relationships, family resilience, social connections, and concrete supports for caregivers.

Provider: Any individual or entity that provides direct supports or services to children, youth, and/or families.

Psychological Safety: The individual’s perception concerning the consequences of taking interpersonal risks. It consists of beliefs about how others will respond when one reveals personal information, seeks information, reports a mistake, or proposes an idea or plan.

Interpersonal trust is a prerequisite to psychological safety.

Public Entity: A government or tribal organization or body.

Resilience: The ability to adapt well to adverse experiences and to recover from trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress.

Resilience in children and youth enables them to thrive, mature, and increase competence in the midst of adverse circumstances.

Report: An allegation of maltreatment, abuse, or neglect made verbally and/or in writing to the appropriate investigative authority (typically this is the child protective services agency but in some jurisdictions it may also include law enforcement); or, a document that summarizes data and information.

18 CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare

Sexual Abuse: A type of maltreatment that refers to the involvement of the victim in sexual activity to provide sexual gratification or financial benefit to the perpetrator, including contacts for sexual pur-poses, molestation, statutory rape, prostitution, pornography, exposure, incest, or other sexually exploitative activities.

Stakeholder: An individual or group that has an interest in an entity’s mission, performance, and outcomes. Stakeholders may include, but are not limited to: current and former service recipients, employees, volunteers, community representatives, governing bodies, advisory groups, funders, and regulators.

Strengths-Based: A perspective that emphasizes an individual or family’s capabilities, success, support system, motivation to meet chal-lenges, and previous experience in overcoming adversity.

System: A public entity and a defined network of providers that together address a specific need or service population. In most jurisdic-tions, there are multiple systems; for example, child welfare, juvenile justice, behavioral health, intellectual disabilities, education, public health, and employment. In other jurisdictions, there is a single social service or human service system that addresses multiple responsibili-ties. (See also Child Welfare System on page 14.)

Trauma: An experience or set of experiences that is emotionally painful, distressful, or shocking, which often results in lasting mental and physical effects; a serious or critical bodily injury, wound, or shock. A traumatic event is something life-threatening, very frighten-ing, or life-altering that happens to or is witnessed by the individual.

Examples include but are not limited to: fire, natural disaster, interper-sonal violence, war, loss of a loved one, serious accident, and abuse.

Trauma-Informed: Having an understanding of how traumatic experi-ence and traumatic stress affect human life, and an understanding of the vulnerabilities or triggers of trauma survivors that may be exacerbated.

19Definitions

Vendors: Individuals and organizations that are contracted by a system, public entity, community, or other funding source to provide supports and services.

Verbal Abuse: Verbal abuse is the use of words to cause harm. Verbal abuse may consist of shouting, insulting, intimidating, threatening, shaming, humiliating, demeaning, or other derogatory language.

Volunteers: Unpaid members of the workforce, including students and interns.

Well-Being: A state achieved as a result of having physical, educa-tional, emotional, and psychological needs met. Indicators of well-being include reporting by an individual of his/her status and observations and opinions of others. Well-being is often viewed in terms of the absence of negative indicators.

Workforce: All persons in paid positions of any kind—whether they receive salaries, wages, or stipends—who are engaged in any aspect of service or support to children, youth, or families. The workforce also includes unpaid volunteers and interns working in organizations.

This broad definition includes people who may not think of themselves as child welfare workers.

Youth: An adolescent or young person through age 25. Youth under 18 are also children; youth over 18 are also adults.

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VISION

All children will grow up safely, in loving families and supportive communities, with everything they need to flourish—and with connections to their culture, ethnicity, race, and language.

VALUES

We value children, youth, families, and communities. We believe in integrity, fairness, social justice, dignity, and honesty. We value these actions, qualities, and characteristics: respect, innovation, service, inclu-siveness, collaboration, trust, flexibility, competence, and humility.

The vision, values, and principles are the foundation for the CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare and are reflected throughout the document. The core principles are derived from the vision and values.

CORE PRINCIPLES

The following core principles guide the thinking, decisionmaking, and behavior of individuals, organizations, communities, and government entities committed to the promotion and enhancement of children’s safety, permanency, and well-being.

VISION, VALUES, AND PRINCIPLES

Rights of Children

It is the responsibility of all members of society to work toward the shared goal of advancing the fundamental rights and needs of children.

Shared Responsibility and Leadership

Families, individuals, organizations, and communities share responsi-bility for assuring the safety and well-being of children and youth.

To help children and youth flourish, leaders at every level and in all realms ensure that individuals, families, communities, organizations, and systems collaborate, communicate, create and nurture meaning-ful partnerships.

Engagement/Participation

Children, youth, and families are engaged and empowered to pro-mote family success and build community capacity. Service providers and organizations acknowledge, appreciate, and validate the voices and experiences of those whose lives they touch so that responsive community-based resources and services are developed, nurtured, and sustained.

Supports and Services

Families, individuals, communities, organizations, and systems protect children from abuse and neglect, and provide an array of supports and services that help children, youth, and their families to accomplish developmental tasks, develop protective factors, and strengthen coping strategies.

22 CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare

Quality Improvement

Services and supports are designed and implemented based on evidence and knowledge, data collection is meaningful and focused on measuring outcomes and achieving success, continuous quality improvement is emphasized and supported, and innovative practices and programs are encouraged.

Workforce

The workforce consists of competent, skilled people with a variety of experiences and representing various disciplines. They are committed to high-quality service delivery and are provided with the training, tools, resources, and support necessary to perform their roles effectively.

Race, Ethnicity, and Culture

Individuals, families, communities, organizations, and systems work together to understand and promote equality, cultural humility, and strong racial, cultural, and ethnic identity, while showing con-sideration for individual differences and respecting the sovereign rights of tribes.

Funding and Resources

Funding decisions in the private sector and at federal, state, local, and tribal levels are informed by the certainty that the well-being of children, families, and communities are interconnected, and that sufficient and equitable funding is essential to the well-being of all of them.

23Vision, Values, and Principles

I. Rights of ChildrenI. Rights of Children

CWLA National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare26

PRINCIPLE

It is the responsibility of all members of society to work toward the shared goal of advancing the fundamental rights and needs of children.

Too many children in this country face obstacles to realizing their full potential and need access to services, supports, and protections. Therefore, all members of society have a responsibility to advocate for and work toward the affirmation and protection of children’s rights and to ensure that their best interests are considered in all decisions affecting them.

To meet the needs of all children, and especially those who are vulnerable, CWLA recommends children’s rights and policies that are broader than existing legal requirements. As will all standards, advocates are encouraged to work toward the implementation of these rights and policies. Each individual and entity will need to determine the interface with and applicability of relevant laws, and the extent to which it can and should move beyond current law regarding the rights of children.

The rights of children cannot be advanced in isolation. Rather, children’s rights must reflect and respect the critical roles and respon-sibilities of the parents and family members who care for them. In most instances, parents are uniquely qualified to advance the rights of children and to act in their best interest. As such, parents are afforded the right to raise their child according to their beliefs; however, they may not violate the fundamental rights of that child. As such, the rights of children and parents are interconnected. It is the responsibil-ity of every parent, family, and caregiver to recognize and protect children’s rights, and it is the responsibility of individuals and entities to work together to give families/parents optimum tools, supports, and opportunities so that they can fully assume responsibility for advancing the rights of their children.

Children’s rights belong equally to each and every child, regardless of race, color, age, disability, gender, familial status, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, language, religion, I. Rights of Children 27 nationality, ethnic or social origin, political beliefs, citizenship, or any other status or condition in life.

The rights of children are applied differently depending on their ages and developmental abilities. Likewise, the ability of children to understand and respect the rights of parents is commensurate with their age and abilities. Adults should tailor the issues they discuss and the way in which they answer questions to the age and maturity of the individual child.

STANDARDS

SURVIVAL AND DEVELOPMENT

I.1. Children should have access to food, clean and safe water, shelter, and clothing required for survival and healthy development.

Adults must meet children’s basic needs because children do not typically have the resources or ability to provide for their own basic needs.

Poor nutrition puts children at risk for lifelong health issues;

creating lasting disadvantages and challenges. Hunger is an obstacle to learning. Without proper nutrition, children are distracted and physically unable to succeed in the classrooms.

Water is essential to life, and all children must have access to clean, fresh water for drinking and bathing. (See also Safe and Healthy Communities on page 61.)

Each child must have a place to live and sufficient clothing for warmth, cleanliness, and safety. Homelessness is a source of toxic stress.

I.2. Children should have nurturing and loving families.

All children should have home lives that provide…