Toolkit for Building System Capacity to Engage Fathers and Paternal Relatives in Child Welfare

Research reveals the protective and valuable influence of fathers and paternal relatives on the lives of children. For families engaged in the child welfare system, however, multisystemic factors can limit staff’s ability to engage fathers and paternal relatives authentically and meaningfully. This can limit their success in supporting optimal outcomes for children and families.

This toolkit is designed to help leaders and staff at child welfare agencies and their partners affect change at all levels of the system, ultimately weaving the engagement of fathers and paternal relatives into the fabric of child welfare activities. Its tools and resources are designed to help multilevel improvement teams (teams in charge of quality improvement around father engagement) at child welfare agencies build their capacity to use continuous learning approaches so they can assess and improve their work with fathers and paternal relatives on an ongoing basis.

The tools are available in combination as a full publication and as individual tools. A webinar provides an overview of how to use the toolkit.