Kinship Care and the Child Welfare System
Find information to help kin caregivers work effectively with the child welfare system. The publication also includes links to more detailed information on places to find support and additional resources to help caregivers learn about child welfare.
What Is Child Welfare? A Guide for Behavioral and Mental Health Professionals
This brief guide provides an overview of child welfare, describes how behavioral health/mental health professionals and child welfare workers can support one another's efforts, and lists resources for more information.
Expecting and Parenting in Care: Tips for Youth
Provides information for expecting and parenting youth about government assistance, parenting supports, medical services, and other resources. It also has information about options and rights related to pregnancy and parenting.
Prioritizing Youth Voice: The Importance of Authentic Youth Engagement in Case Planning
Learn about the importance of youth engagement and explore key concepts and strategies for caseworkers to apply to their practice while promoting increased safety, well-being, healthy development, and improved outcomes for young people.
National Foster Care Month
May is National Foster Care Month Engaging Youth. Building Supports. Strengthening Opportunities.Just Added
Finding and Working with Adoption-Competent Therapists
Learn more about finding an adoption-competent therapist and the types of therapy that can help adopted children and their families. Adoption-competent therapists who have an understanding of challenges that may arise can better support adoptive fam ...Read More
Belonging Matters - Helping Youth Explore Permanency
Find information for child welfare and adoption professionals to help youth in foster care explore permanency options and the value of secure, permanent connections based on interviews with young people who were adopted or aged out of foster care.
Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth: A Guide for Foster Parents
Learn about LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and other diverse identities and expressions, including Two-Spirit) youth in foster care, unique risks they face, and the role that foster parents can play in reducing those risks.
View All Information Gateway Publications and Resources
We provide a range of free print products and other resources, including podcasts and newsletters. Publications may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Information Gateway.
Stay Connected
Get the latest news, research, and best practices in child welfare. Explore the free subscriptions from Information Gateway and the Children’s Bureau to stay current and connected to trusted resources.
Explore Topics and Series
Lived Experience
People with lived experience have firsthand involvement with the child welfare system. These individuals have valuable insights that can drive overall system improvement.
Relational Permanency
Child welfare professionals should understand the importance of relational permanency, which occurs when youth develop long-term connections with siblings, relatives, and other caring adults who make them feel loved and connected.
Social Determinants of Health
Social determinants of health are the nonmedical, socioeconomic factors that impact child and family well-being. Longstanding systemic inequities influence these factors and can play a role in child welfare system involvement.