Blueprint Executive Summary Layout 1 - CWLA · Blueprint Executive Summary_Layout 1 4/9/13 5:26 PM Page 1. 2 Child Welfare League of America National Blueprint for ... respect, innovation,

NATIONAL BLUEPRINT

FOR EXCELLENCE IN CHILD WELFARE

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

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:Raising the Bar for Children,

Families, and Communities

NATIONAL BLUEPRINT

FOR EXCELLENCE IN CHILD WELFARE

Blueprint Executive Summary_Layout 1 4/9/13 5:26 PM Page 1

2 Child Welfare League of America ■ National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare

The Child Welfare League of America’s(CWLA) National Blueprint is

intended to be a catalyst for change: tobroaden the thinking of communities, indi-viduals, and groups, including public andprivate organizations within and outside ofthe child welfare system, and help them understand how their roles and responsibil-ities fit in the overall strategy to improve out-comes for children and youth. The CWLANational Blueprint also serves as the basis forupdating and creating CWLA program-specific Standards of Excellence, which playa unique and pivotal role in moving childwelfare practice forward.

As a coalition of private and public enti-ties and individuals dedicated to ensuringthe safety, permanency, and well-being ofchildren, youth, and their families, CWLAadvocates for policies, best practices, andcollaborative strategies that advance posi-tive outcomes for children and youth. Inrecent years, actualizing our mission hasbecome increasingly complex. The realityis that many children in this country expe-rience challenges because of issues withimmigration, education, housing, andhealth care or because they live in commu-nities where there is violence and poverty.

Unless the community has what it needsand takes ownership for ensuring the well-being of all of its children and families, neither children and families who are vul-nerable nor children and families in generalwill flourish. The National Blueprint returns CWLA to its historic roots of advocating for a multisystem, community-based approach to protecting children andsupporting families. This approach isgrounded in practice improvement workthat is specific to the child welfare systemand inclusive of its advocacy efforts on behalf of all children and families.

Through the National Blueprint, CWLAarticulates the foundation and frameworkfor achieving the vision that all children willgrow up safely, in loving families and sup-portive communities, with everything theyneed to flourish—and with connections totheir culture, ethnicity, race, and language.As each community, organization, family,and individual is unique, the obstacles toimplementation will only be identified asthese entities work together to achieve thegoals of the National Blueprint. This willrequire them to set priorities and makecompromises along the way. The changemight not be easy, and will take time.

NATIONAL BLUEPRINTFOR EXCELLENCE IN CHILD WELFARE

Executive Summary


Executive Summary 3

The National Blueprint was developed byan advisory committee of more than 30 pro-fessionals representing child welfare agenciesand organizations at federal, state, county,and community levels, and with experienceas policymakers, researchers, academicians,clinicians, workers, supervisors, parents(birth, foster and adoptive), advocates, fos-ter care alumni, and members of the legalsystem. The Committee met twice for two-day, face-to-face meetings, during whichmembers developed the parameters for theVision, Principles, and Standards. Sub-groups continued the Committee’s workthrough a series of teleconferences.

To help all children and youth flourish,society must provide services, supports, andresources so that families can ensure thesafety, permanency, and well-being of theirchildren with equal emphasis on all three.One cannot take precedence over another.Communities must be able to invest in thesupports and services required to ensurethat all children, youth, and families willhave optimal opportunities to succeed. Tofacilitate community leadership and deci-sionmaking, current child welfare, educa-tion, social services, and health care systemswill be required to transform their thinkingand retool their mechanisms for allocatingfunds. Reform is required at the federal,tribal, state, and local levels, as is greaterparticipation and investment from thefoundation and corporate sectors.

The National Blueprint may be usedby policymakers, community and organi-zational leaders, teachers, child advo-cates, licensing specialists, accreditingbodies, researchers, academics, and gov-ernment entities. To establish common

ground for meaningful discussions,often-used terms are defined within theNational Blueprint.

The National Blueprint includes a Vision and Values statement and eight corePrinciples with accompanying Standards.The following section provides an overviewof the content of this document.

VISION, VALUES, AND PRINCIPLES

VISION

All children will grow up safely, in lovingfamilies and supportive communities, witheverything they need to flourish—and withconnections to their culture, ethnicity, race,and language.

VALUES

We value children, youth, families, andcommunities. We believe in integrity, fair-ness, social justice, dignity, and honesty. We value these actions, qualities, and characteristics: respect, innovation, service, inclusiveness, collaboration, trust, flexibility,competence, and humility.

CORE PRINCIPLES

The following core principles guide thethinking, decisionmaking, and behavior ofindividuals, organizations, communities,and government entities committed to thepromotion and enhancement of children’ssafety, permanency, and well-being.


RIGHTS OF CHILDREN

PRINCIPLE

It is the responsibility of all members ofsociety to work toward the shared goal ofadvancing the fundamental rights andneeds of children.

STANDARDS

Survival and Development

■ Children should have access to food,clean and safe water, shelter, and cloth-ing required for survival and healthydevelopment.

■ Children should have nurturing andloving families.

■ Children should have connectionswith their family and communities.

■ Children should have access to infor-mation about their family history andbackground information.

■ Children should be able to preservetheir racial, ethnic, cultural, and reli-gious identity.

■ Children should be able to have theirown gender identity and sexual orientation.

■ Children should have access to formaleducation.

■ Children should have access to qual-ity health care.

■ Children should be able to live in asafe physical environment that is freeof pollutants and toxins.

■ Children should have access to leisure,cultural, and recreational activities; andto healthy social relationships.

Protection

■ Children must be protected fromabuse, neglect, maltreatment, exploita-tion, and abduction.

■ Children should be protected from dis-crimination on the basis of race, color,age, disability, gender, familial status, religion, sexual orientation, genderidentity, genetic information, language,religion, national, ethnic or social origin, political beliefs, or citizenship.

■ Children must be protected under the law.

■ Children must be protected from torture or other cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment.

■ Children should be protected fromcorporal punishment.

■ Children must have decisions made intheir best interests.

■ Children should be protected from interference with their privacy.



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Participation■ Children should be involved in all

aspects of decisionmaking regardingplans for them.

■ Children should be able to expressthemselves freely.

SHARED RESPONSIBILITYAND LEADERSHIP

PRINCIPLE

Families, individuals, organizations, andcommunities share responsibility for assuringthe safety and well-being of children andyouth. To help children and youth flourish,leaders at every level and in all realms ensurethat individuals, families, organizations, andsystems collaborate, communicate, createand nurture meaningful partnerships.

STANDARDS

Communities ■ Community members (such as elders,

leaders, and representatives) shouldhave participatory roles at all levels andin all aspects of work with children,youth, and families.

■ Community members should bepresent on governing boards, execu-tive/management positions, advisoryboards, task forces, committees, andfocus groups, and should have an equalvoice and decisionmaking power.

Leadership■ Leaders are responsible for building

the capacity of their entities and com-munities to respond to the needs ofchildren, youth, and families.

■ Leaders are responsible for creating environments that build and supportthe hardiness and resilience amongemployees, volunteers, and communities.

Collaboration

■ Each community, entity, individual andsystem should recognize that collabo-rative and cooperative relationships areessential to creating and sustaining thesupports and services needed by chil-dren, youth, and families.

■ There should be effective and mean-ingful partnership between the publicand private sectors. To provide seamlessintegration of supports and services,systems should be designed to build onthe individual and collective strengthsof all partners.

Governance and Capacity■ Each entity, regardless of size, should

have a governance structure that empha-sizes sound policy and procedure,transparency and accountability, andinformation sharing.


ENGAGEMENT/PARTICIPATION

PRINCIPLE

Children, youth, and families are engaged andempowered to promote family success andbuild community capacity. Service providersand organizations acknowledge, appreciate,and validate the voices and experiences ofthose whose lives they touch, so that respon-sive, community-based resources and servicesare developed, nurtured, and sustained.

STANDARDS

Positive Engagement Strategies■ Every entity should use strengths-

based and family-focused approachesin their work.

■ Every entity should work to ensurethat families feel physically and psy-chologically safe. This can be done byasking families what is needed for theirpsychological safety.

Trauma-Informed Engagement■ Entities should use trauma-informed

approaches, asking what has happenedto individuals and families instead ofasking what is wrong with them.

Youth and Family Involvement■ Each entity should fully engage youth

and families in all aspects of the work,including program design and devel-opment, policy and procedure devel-opment, hiring, staff orientation andtraining, practice guidelines, evaluation,and quality improvement processes.


Experience as a Service Recipient

■ People with experience as service recipients or family members of servicerecipients should serve as mentors; helpto educate those working with chil-dren, youth, and families; and serve ongoverning and/or advisory boards.

Developing Trust, Building Relationships

■ Everyone should recognize that hav-ing a trusting relationship is prelimi-nary to engagement.

Youth Engagement

■ Youth should be included in the processof designing and creating programs; developing, reviewing, and revisingpolicies and procedures; and advancingquality improvement processes andprogram evaluation. Youth should beinvolved in all aspects of their ownplanning and decisionmaking.

Parental and Extended Family Engagement

■ Parents and extended family membersshould be included in all aspects ofplanning and decisionmaking aboutthem and their children.


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Fathers

■ All efforts should be made to includefathers throughout their children’s in-volvement with supports and services.

Mothers

■ All efforts should be made to includemothers throughout their children’sinvolvement with supports and services.

Culturally Appropriate Engagement and Response

■ Each entity should use culturally appro-priate strategies to engage and respondto children, youth, and families.

Commitment of Workforce and Leadership

■ The leadership and workforce of each entity and community should be committed to the active engagement of children, youth, and families in responding to the needs within communities.

SUPPORTS AND SERVICES

PRINCIPLE

Families, individuals, communities, organ-izations, and systems protect childrenfrom abuse and neglect, and provide an array of supports and services that helpchildren, youth, and their families to accomplish developmental tasks, dev-elop protective factors, and strengthencoping strategies.

STANDARDS

Community Voice in Policy and Program Development

■ Community members should voicetheir opinions concerning develop-ment of policies and programs thatmeet the needs of the community, andthe families and individuals that liveand work in it.

Safe and Healthy Communities

■ Every geographic community shouldstrive to create and sustain a safe physicalenvironment, and a culture that pro-motes making healthy lifestyle choices.

Meeting Basic Needs

■ Entities and communities should collaborate to ensure that families have access to and eligibility for supportsand services that address basic needs, including food, clothing, housing, employment, financial resources, mental health and substance abuseservices, education, health care, andtransportation.


■ When necessary, families should beprovided assistance to develop skillsand/or assistance in meeting their chil-dren’s basic needs, so that children canbe safe in their homes.

Social Connections■ Children, youth, and families should

have ample opportunities for safe, pos-itive social connections within theirown communities.

Food and Nutrition■ Every child, youth, and family should

have sufficient food and nutrition.

Access to Health Care ■ Children, youth, and families should

have access to health care in theircommunities, and their health careneeds should be met.

■ Strategies should be in place to ensurecomprehensive health care assessmentsfor all children. Every child shouldhave access to health services to address physical, dental, behavioral,mental, emotional, and/or develop-mental health needs.

■ Each child and youth should have acomprehensive, accessible, centralhealth record that contains all perti-nent information about the child oryouth and preserves confidentiality.

Normalizing Need for Support ■ Each entity and community should

develop plans for helping to reducestigma and normalize the need forsupports and services for the children,youth, and families it serves.

Caregiving Children and Youth

■ Children and youth who have caregiv-ing responsibilities within their familiesor households should be provided withappropriate assistance and support.

Trauma-Informed Approaches

■ Each entity should take responsibility forensuring that all parties providing sup-ports and services are educated aboutthe effects of trauma and the resultingsymptoms of traumatic stress, as wellas effective strategies for dealing with it.

Collaboration

■ Entities and communities should endeavor to provide a holistic, compre-hensive, and integrated experience forchildren, youth, and families seekingsupport and receiving services.

Assessment and Service Planning

■ Each entity should have clearly artic-ulated policies and procedures for assessment and service planning.

Gender-Appropriate Services

■ Each entity should ensure that its supports and services are gender-appropriate and take gender differ-ences into consideration.

Legal System

■ Courts and other members of the legalsystem should become a part of the col-laborative process to ensure that actionstaken are in the best interests of chil-dren, protect their rights, and take everypossible measure to help them flourish.



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Social Media and Technology

■ Each entity should have policies andprocedures that govern the use of tech-nology and social media by staff, vol-unteers, and people receiving supportsand services.

■ Parents, youth, employees, and volun-teers within each entity should be educated concerning the risks of tech-nology, internet, and social media useby children and youth, and informedof appropriate safety protocols. Children, youth, and families andeveryone who works with them shouldhave access to written recommenda-tions and guidelines for safe usage.

■ Each entity should have mechanismsfor storing and protecting electronicdata that are reviewedand updated to ensurecontinued efficacy.

QUALITY

IMPROVEMENT

PRINCIPLE

Supports and services aredesigned and implementedbased on evidence andknowledge; data collectionis focused on measuringoutcomes and achievingsuccess; continuous qualityimprovement is emphasized and supported;and innovative practices and programs are encouraged.

STANDARDS

Components of Quality Improvement Programs

Each entity should have a quality impro-vement program that has the followingcomponents:

■ Clearly articulated vision, values, andmission that define the purpose anddirection of the entity and set the parameters for its accomplishments;

■ Plans for achieving the entity’s pur-pose and direction;

■ Structure and mechanisms for gather-ing quantitative and qualitative infor-mation about work processes, quality,and outcomes;

■ Effective and ongoingprocesses for exam-ining information,sharing informationwith people who need it, evaluating information, and mak-ing decisions basedupon it;

■ Processes for makingchange;

■ Processes for evaluat-ing effects of change;and

■ Multiple opportuni-ties and mechanismsfor reporting results,

including regular reporting on keymeasures and special reporting onemerging or urgent issues.


Positive Culture and Climate

■ Within each entity, everyone should beresponsible for creating and sustaininga culture and climate in which account-ability, communication, responsiveness,and commitment to improvement arevalued and rewarded.

Transparency

■ To assure accountability, build trust inthe community, and contribute to col-laborative relationships, each entity’squality improvement process should betransparent to children, youth, andfamilies; to other stakeholders; and tothe general public.

■ Qualitative and quantitative data gath-ered by organizations and public enti-ties should be available for review bystakeholders.

Soliciting and Considering Feedback

■ Each entity should have mechanismsfor soliciting and considering feed-back—from children, youth, families,partners and collaborators, other stake-holders, and community members—that are appropriate to its size and thescope of its mission.

Meaningful Data

■ Each entity should collect meaning-ful data to support its ability to make decisions; improve proactively; andhelp children, youth, and families toachieve identified outcomes.

Evidence-Based Programs and Practices

■ Entities should develop and imple-ment only those programs and prac-tices that are based upon the bestavailable evidence.

Practice-Based Evidence

■ Practitioners and researchers shouldwork together effectively to improveknowledge of what works in helpingchildren, youth, and families to flourish.

Measuring Outcomes

■ Outcome measures should reflect bothaspirations and achievable impact onsupports and services for children,youth, and families.

Benchmarks

■ Each entity should establish bench-marks for all program areas and sys-tems functions.

Making Improvements

■ When evidence indicates that per-formance is not meeting expecta-tions, the entity should take action tomake improvements that are informedby evidence.

Research

■ Organizations should collaborate withuniversities and other entities conduct-ing research. Universities and other researchers should disseminate researchfindings widely to contribute to researchto practice applications.



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WORKFORCE

PRINCIPLE

The workforce consists of competentskilled people with a variety of experiencesand representing varied disciplines. Theyare committed to high-quality service delivery and are provided with the training,tools, resources, and support necessary toperform their roles effectively.

STANDARDS

Leadership

■ Entities at national, state, and local lev-els should have qualified and visionaryleaders, who are equipped to transformthe broader community response tothe changing needs of children, youth,and families within their communities.

■ Organizational leaders should have theskills, knowledge, and ability to facilitategood governance; help the organizationfocus on its mission; strive toward excel-lence; develop plans; and create andadhere to appropriate systems to helpchildren, youth, and families.

Workforce Development

Orientation and training programs, andcontinuing education, whether at the aca-demic or provider level, should be evidence-informed, competency-based, and shouldinclude, at minimum, the following topics:

■ Children’s rights

■ Family and youth engagement strategies

■ Familial rights and responsibilities

■ The effects of trauma on children,youth, and families

■ Child, youth, and adult development

■ Communication and collaboration

■ Community partnerships

■ Appropriate boundaries, and preven-tion of sexual exploitation

■ Cultural competence and cultural humility

■ Policies and procedures

■ Relevant law and regulation

■ Topics relevant to the specific position

■ Relevant evidence-informed programsand practices

■ Self-care and stress management

■ Effects of secondary traumatic stress

Experience as a Service Recipient■ Each entity should be committed to

including people with experience as aservice recipient among its employees,volunteers, board members, and advi-sory groups.


Professional Development

■ Parents, youth, families, and commu-nities should be part of the devel-opment of educational and trainingprograms, and should be involved inthe delivery of workforce orientationand training.

■ Each employee and volunteer shouldhave the education and experience appropriate for their position.

Performance Evaluation■ The performance of each employee

and volunteer should be evaluated atleast annually.

Positive Culture and Climate■ Each employer should cultivate a cul-

ture and climate within which account-ability, trust, and communication arethe norm among all staff, volunteers,and service recipients.

Workload

■ There should be assurance that eachperson’s workload is reasonable and allows the employee to perform the required duties. At a minimum, thereshould be adherence to workload criteria recommended by licens-ing authorities, the requirements of the specific evidence-based program,and/or accrediting bodies, when-ever applicable.

■ Each employer should develop andmaintain a workforce of sufficientsize to make possible the achieve-ment of identified outcomes for thepersons served.

■ Each employer should have a systemappropriate to its size and function for evaluating the effectiveness of itsworkforce and the efficacy of each per-son’s workload.

Supervision

■ Each employee and volunteer shouldhave and report to a supervisor whohas the skills, knowledge, and abilityto provide guidance appropriate forthe individual’s needs, position, and responsibilities.

Continuous Learning

■ Each employer should have a plan forfurthering the professional growth anddevelopment of employees and volun-teers, with an eye toward continuouslearning and career advancement.

■ Each person should have opportunities to engage in formal and informal learning—on the job; through continu-ing education, coaching or mentoring;and through collaboration with peers.

Secondary Traumatic Stress and Burnout

■ Each employer should have mecha-nisms for encouraging and supportingstaff self-care, engaging in appropriateprevention and wellness activities, andlearning stress-management strategies.

■ Each employer should recognize thepotential for its employees to be exposedto many different forms of trauma andto secondary traumatic stress. The em-ployer should have plans for responding appropriately to crises and minimizingthe effects of secondary traumatic stress.




RACE, ETHNICITY,AND CULTURE

PRINCIPLE

Individuals, families, communities, organi-zations, and systems work together to understand, and promote equality; culturalhumility, and strong racial, cultural, andethnic identity, while showing considera-tion for individual difference, and respect-ing the sovereign rights of tribes.

STANDARDS

Nondiscrimination

■ Each entity should have a nondis-crimination policy that conforms to applicable law and to the Rights of Children section of the CWLANational Blueprint.

Indigenous Nations

■ In all relations with indigenous nations, each entity should adhere tothe principles of self-determination,holistic approaches, elimination ofstructural risk, respect for culture andlanguage, and nondiscrimination.

Indian Child Welfare

■ Each entity should minimize culturaldisruption and alienation for AmericanIndian/Alaska Native children, youth,and families; use active efforts to pre-vent unnecessary removal from theirfamilies; and understand the IndianChild Welfare Act; and how it appliesto their work with children, youth, and families.

Culturally Informed and Diverse ■ All entities and their staff and volun-

teers should be culturally informedabout the diverse individuals andgroups in their respective communitiesand among their workforce.

Identity■ All entities, communities, and fami-

lies should ensure that resources are available to help children, and youth understand their heritage, preservetheir connections to culture and reli-gion, learn and preserve their tradi-tions, and have positive role models.

Individual and Systemic Bias■ Organizations and individuals should

make commitments to becomingaware of and overcoming individualand systemic bias.

Disparity and Disproportionality ■ Each entity should examine disparities

in its service delivery, as well as theways in which it contributes to racial,ethnic, and other disproportionalitiesthat negatively impact children, youth,and families.


Youth and Families Identifyingas LGBTQ

■ Every entity should develop expertisein understanding the unique perspec-tives and needs of children, youth, andadults who identify as LGTBQ.

Immigrant Children and Families

■ Entities and communities shoulddevelop and implement programs thatare responsive to the unique needs offamilies who have immigrated to theUnited States.

Developmentally Informed

■ Each entity should be well-informedabout learning and developmental dif-ferences, cognitive limitations, physicaland other disabilities, as well as normalgrowth and development.

FUNDING AND RESOURCES

PRINCIPLE

Funding decisions in the private sector andat federal, state, local, and tribal levels areinformed by the certainty that the well-being of children, families, and communi-ties are interconnected and that sufficientand equitable funding is essential to thewell-being of all of them.

STANDARDS

Funding Priorities

■ Funding decisions should be basedupon the cost of effective services, thebenefits such services are expected to bring, and the likely consequences

(including costs) of deferring or fail-ing to make investments in children,youth, and families. Where necessary,priority should be given to those thatare most vulnerable.

■ Every individual, organization, andcommunity has the responsibility toexplain the impact of funding deci-sions and advocate for priority fundingfor supports and services for children,youth, and families.

■ Funders should collaborate with eachother, with communities, and withproviders to identify needs and sharedpriorities, promote sensible applica-tion and eligibility criteria, identifyobstacles, and allocate funds and otherresources wisely.

Funding Implementation of the National Blueprint

■ Funders should promote and fundconcepts and strategies that are con-sistent with the CWLA NationalBlueprint’s vision, values, principlesand standards.



■ Funders should support evidence-based and evidence-informed pro-grams and practices.

■ Funding sources should provide finan-cial assistance to build evidence ofthe efficacy of promising practices.

■ Public entities and other fundersshould provide financial incentives to support organizations’ efforts toemploy and engage people with livedexperience as a service recipient.

Funding Equity■ Funding for supports and services

should be equitable.

Public-Private Collaboration■ Entities with contractual and funding

relationships should work together tobe jointly accountable; to ensure thatfunding for supports and services forchildren, youth, and families is ade-quate, equitable, and that there isthe wisest possible use of public andprivate funds.

Diverse Funding Streams ■ Organizations should seek diverse

funding streams to produce incomefrom contracts, grants, investments,corporate and foundational giving, andindividual donations.

Accountability and Transparency■ Funders, contractors, donors, and the

general public should have access toaccurate accounting of funds for sup-ports and services for children, youth,and families.

Social Enterprise

■ Business, philanthropic, venture capi-tal, and public and private nonprofitentities should work together to har-ness the power of social enterprise.

NEXT STEPS/FUTURE

The National Blueprint was approved by the CWLA Board

of Directors prior to its release to the public.

CWLA will be developing readi-ness assessment and implementationtools to help with the implementationof the CWLA National Blueprint. Toensure the clarity needed for childwelfare’s role in achieving the vision,CWLA will continue with and updateits program-specific Standards of Excellence within the context of theNational Blueprint. We will use ourprograms, practice guidelines, publi-cations, research, conferences, profes-sional development, and consultationto provide further guidance. CWLAadvocacy efforts will include nudgingother systems, parents, and commu-nities toward helping achieve the vision. Our children, youth, and fam-ilies deserve no less.

For a copy of the complete CWLANational Blueprint for Excellence inChild Welfare, please visit our websiteat www.cwla.org.



1726 M Street NW, Suite 500 ■ Washington, DC 20036 ■ 202-688-4200 ■ Fax 202-833-1689 ■ www.cwla.org

MISSION STATEMENT

Mission

CWLA leads and engages its network of public and private agencies and partners to advance policies, best practices and collaborative strategies that result in betteroutcomes for vulnerable children, youth, and families.

Vision

Our vision is that every child will grow up in a safe, loving, and stable family.

Focus

Our focus is children and youth who may have experi-enced abuse, neglect, family disruption, or a range ofother factors that jeopardize their safety, permanence,or well-being. CWLA also focuses on the families,caregivers, and communities that care for and supportthese children.


Documents

Blueprint Executive Summary Layout 1 - CWLA · Blueprint Executive Summary_Layout 1 4/9/13 5:26 PM Page 1. 2 Child Welfare League of America National Blueprint for ... respect, innovation,