You can also download the full report. I. SAFE AND STRONG FAMILIES
Introduction
Policy Area 1: Family Supports
1.1 Investment in evidence-based prevention programs
1.2 Home visiting programs
1.3 Parenting education and training
1.4 Respite and short-term crisis care
1.5 Navigators to connect families with services
1.6 Family economic supports
Policy Area 2: Preserving and Reunifying Families
2.1 Inventory of services and resources to keep families together
2.2 Intensive family preservation and reunification services
2.3 “Flex funds” to support families in crisis
2.4 Shared family care
2.5 Substance abuse treatment that allows children to stay with their parents
2.6 Home and community-based services for children and parents with mental illness
2.7 Supportive housing programs
2.8 Removal of the perpetrator in cases involving domestic violence
Policy Area 3: Lifelong Family Connections
3.1 Location and engagement of kin
3.2 Family visitation for children in foster care
Policy Area 4: Support for Kinship Caregiving
4.1 Permanent legal guardianship
4.2 “Preventive” permanent guardianship
4.3 Eliminating financial disincentives for kinship care
4.4 Medical consent and school enrollment
Policy Area 5: Adoption
5.1 Adequate adoptions subsidies and benefits
5.2 Streamlined court processes
5.3 Post-adoption services
Policy Area 6: Family Foster Care Resources and Support
6.1 Family foster care within the child’s own geographic and cultural community
6.2 Investment in supports for foster families
6.3 Adequate financial support for family foster care
6.4 Prohibition of congregate care for young children
6.5 Alternatives to reduce the need for congregate care
Policy Area 7: Well-being of Children Who Experience Out-of-Home Placement
7.1 Access to quality early care and education
7.2 Educational advocates or liaisons
7.3 Medical coverage
7.4 Evidence-based mental health and trauma treatment
7.5 Medical and educational records (passports)
Policy Area 8: Youth in Transition to Adulthood
8.1 Foster care extended past age 18
8.2 Method of continuing participation in foster care after age 18
8.3 Medicaid eligibility
8.4 Educational assistance
8.5 Housing assistance
8.6 Employment Readiness/Assistance
8.7 Permanent connections to committed adults
II. SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITIES
Policy Area 9: Community Decision-Making Partners and Service Delivery
9.1 Capacity for developing comprehensive, community-based services
9.2 Monitoring based on outcomes and service quality
9.3 Community-based doorways to services
III. EFFECTIVE SYSTEMS
Decision-Making Systems
Policy Area 10: Effective Assessment and Case Planning
10.1 Individualized and comprehensive assessments and planning
10.2 Family Team Meetings
10.3 Poverty exemption
10.4 Multiple response system
Accountability
Policy Area 11: Monitoring and Oversight Systems
11.1 Child welfare performance goals
11.2 Data monitoring, analysis, and reporting
11.3 Performance-based contracting
11.4 Quality Service Reviews
11.5 Independent ombudsman office or other independent advocate
Policy Area 12: Racial Equity Promotion
12.1 Data monitoring and annual reporting of racial disproportionality
12.2 Benchmarks for reducing racial disproportionality
Court Systems
Policy Area 13: Problem-Solving Courts and Court Improvement Strategies
13.1 Judicial involvement in court improvement efforts
13.2 Court improvement models
13.3 Strategies to improve dependency court performance
13.4 Collocation of services and/or assessments with courts
13.5 Required notice of, and participation in, court hearings
13.6 Training for attorneys, court staff, and judicial officers
Policy Area 14: Timely and Qualified Legal Representation
14.1 Appointment and involvement of legal representation for parents and children
14.2 Effectiveness of legal representation for parents and children
14.3 Standards for legal representation for children, parents, and agencies
Agency Effectiveness
Policy Area 15: Interagency Collaboration
15.1 Funding flexibility
15.2 Common result measures
15.3 Protocols and mechanisms to share case information
15.4 Integrated or coordinated case management and service delivery
Policy Area 16: Skilled and Stable Workforce
16.1 Monitoring and use of data to strengthen the workforce
16.2 Caseload limits for frontline workers
16.3 Appropriate supervisor to staff ratios
16.4 Supervisor competencies and support
16.5 Workplace technological tools and administrative supports
16.6 Minimum education standards
16.7 Opportunities and incentives for education, training, and professional development
16.8 Education, training and professional development strategies that address critical
practice issues
16.9 Adequate compensation and opportunities for advancement
16.10 Worker safety and protection