for Organizational Improvement
A service of the Children's Bureau, US Department of Health and Human Services
- Stakeholder Involvement and Interagency Collaboration • Fact Sheet • Resources and Publications
The NRCOI promotes stakeholder involvement and interagency collaboration in public and Tribal child welfare agencies as a core strategy for improving outcomes for children and families. We help agencies develop comprehensive, long-term approaches to making collaboration an ongoing practice and a “way of life.” Below are some of our primary areas of training and technical assistance (T/TA) on collaboration. In addition, as we coordinate T/TA across the Children’s Bureau T/TA network, we can link agencies to T/TA services from other National Resource Centers.
Stakeholder Involvement in Child
Welfare
Community Partnerships
Collaborations with Specific Partners
Service Array
Systems of Care - Systems of care curriculum for child welfare: Primer Hands On-Child Welfare
Training Curricula
Child and Family Services Review
(CFSR) Process
Stakeholder Involvement in Child Welfare: We provide training and technical assistance to enhance the involvement of stakeholders in child welfare so agencies can make the fundamental shift to seeing themselves as catalysts for, and partners in, collaborative work to improve outcomes. (See Stakeholder Involvement in Child Welfare in the fall issue of Child Welfare Matters.)
We also help agencies and Tribes develop strategies
to involve stakeholders in organizational systems including strategic
planning, quality improvement, training and service planning.
Community Partnerships: We can help agencies develop and sustain productive community partnerships with a broad range of key stakeholders, making these partnerships a regular part of the agency’s practice. We have defined a continuum of community partnerships (see Developing Community Partnerships in Child Welfare) and help agencies develop local community partnerships (see Community Partnerships for Child Protection).
Collaborations with Specific Partners: We provide information, training and technical assistance on collaborating with the following specific systems and key partners.
- Tribes: With the National Indian Child Welfare Association, we help child welfare agencies develop strong State/Tribal partnerships to improve outcomes and ensure compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act. (See Approaches to Collaboration: State-Tribal Partnerships.)
- Courts/legal: With the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Legal and Judicial Issues we develop tools for courts and agencies to improve judicial administration and legal representation, particularly in the areas of planning and quality assurance.
- County agencies
- Children, youth and families served
- Service providers
- Child welfare agency staff
- Other public agencies and providers
- Community representatives
- Advocacy organizations
- Elected officials
- Media
Service Array: The NRCOI offers a structured process and a complete set of tools for assessing the service array, compiling and reporting the results, and developing resource development plans. See Service Array Tools.
Systems of Care: We help States and Tribes use systems of care models to build a continuum of integrated child, youth and family services. Systems of care provide an organizing framework for system reform and offer a non-categorical approach to improving outcomes. We are pleased to make available a new comprehensive systems of care curriculum for child welfare: Primer Hands On-Child Welfare!
Training Curricula: We provide training curricula and hands on training and technical assistance in using these resources, stressing a “train the trainer” approach to build agency capacity. Training curricula include Community Partnerships and Linkages: Reaching Out to Work Together and Bringing Together the Child Welfare Team.
- CFSR Curriculum: Engaging Community Stakeholders and Building Community Partnerships is one of the key modules of a new training curriculum that will help agencies prepare for and implement the second round of CFSRs, It will include sections on engaging consumers, courts and the legal system, and on State-Tribal partnerships.
