General Foster Care Resources

National Center for Youth Law 50-state permanency policy analysis. This brief explores the diversity of state policies and practices aimed at supporting teens’ need for a permanent connection to a family. Recommendations are aimed at helping child welfare agencies use a variety of strategies to achieve permanency for teens, with an emphasis on the use of kinship families.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s recently released a five-part video training series, featuring internationally respected kinship care expert, Dr. Joseph Crumbley, to strengthen the skills of child welfare professionals in supporting families to improve outcomes for children. The video training series includes a discussion guide to help program directors, supervisors and trainers lead group sessions to deepen the learning experience.

This Annie E. Casey Report identifies three major themes for engaging and empowering foster parents: ensuring quality caregiving for children; forging strong relationships; and, finding and keeping more amazing caregivers (2016).

This Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT policy report underscores a simple fact about childhood: Family matters. Yet, today in America, 57,000 children are still living in group placements. Readers will learn about limiting the role of residential treatment care to its intended purpose and how state and local leaders can work together to enhance family-oriented services and supports (2015). 

Kinship Process Mapping (KPM) is a form of analysis adapted from business to help child welfare agencies increase their efficiency and effectiveness in working with kinship families. This Annie E. Casey Foundation guide provides a step-by-step process to help agencies prepare for KPM, facilitate KPM sessions, analyze results and develop solutions. The Guide also includes kinship process templates that can be tailored to the unique needs and issues confronting public child welfare systems (2013).