Strengthening the Front Lines: A Child Welfare Programme for Families and Multidisciplinary Professionals

Abstract

Youth in the child welfare system depend on a competent and comprehensive team to provide quality care. Oftentimes, team members have knowledge gaps related to attachment, mental health and system navigation. This paper describes an educational initiative that creates pertinent training and materials for foster and adoptive families as well as front-line child welfare professionals. A curriculum and a website housing a curated library of resources were developed. Participants completed pre-test and post-test Likert-style evaluations. Results indicate self-rated comfort measures significantly increased, and self-rated knowledge measures showed a positive trend from pre-test to post-test. These results indicate that further resources should be directed towards increasing educational activities and materials for foster and adoptive families and front-line child welfare professionals involved with the child welfare system.