Recommendation & Calls to Action
FAMILY FIRST PREVENTION ACT
Build upon the promise of Family First through additional service categories and significant investment in primary prevention services that enable families to avoid child welfare involvement.
CHILD WELFARE PROFESSIONALS
Funding to hire, train, and adequately compensate child welfare professionals to ensure they are able to effectively serve children and families’ needs.
Support for families struggling with substance use disorder is crucial
LIVED EXPERIENCE
Lift up the importance of children and families with lived experience having meaningful opportunities to participate in decision making about policies and programs
BE PART OF THE SOLUTION
Support our efforts in developing creative approaches to skill building and training.
Provide internship opportunities aimed at preparing foster youth for the 21st century workplace.
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
Require Health and Human Services (HHS) to take a leadership role in assisting state child protective services agencies to improve reporting and investigating.
CONGREGATE CARE
Eliminate the use of non-therapeutic congregate care as a foster care placement setting. Children fare best in families, and every child and young person deserves to be with family.
TECHNOLOGY
Embrace a culture of innovation that utilizes technology that can spur positive results for families and enhance agencies’ performance.
BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
Draw on and utilize research on child development and neuroscience to better understand, prevent, and treat trauma. Recognize that parents’ own trauma histories impact their parenting styles and capacities and use trauma-informed strategies to meet the needs of children and families