STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE FOR CHILD WELFARE SERVICES

The CWLA Standards of Excellence for Child Welfare Services provide goals for the continuing improvement of services for children and families. They represent those practices considered to be most desirable in providing services. Standards are useful in planning, organizing, and administering service; in establishing state and local licensing requirements; and in determining the requirements for accreditation. Standards provide content for teaching and training child welfare and other related fields, in in-service training and staff development programs, and in the orientation of boards and volunteers. They can help to explain and justify expenditures and budget requests to fundraising bodies, and appropriation requests to legislatures. There are 13 volumes of the CWLA Standards of Excellence (All Standards can be ordered online from the Bookstore):

  • Adoption Services
  • Child Care, Development, and Education Services
  • Family Foster Care Services
  • Health Care Services for Children in Out-of-Home Care
  • In-Home Aide Services for Children and Their Families
  • Kinship Care Services
  • Management and Governance of Child Welfare Organizations
  • Residential Group Care Services
  • Services for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, Pregnant Adolescents, and Young Parents
  • Services for Abused or Neglected Children and Their Families
  • Services to Strengthen and Preserve Families with Children
  • Transition, Independent Living, and Self-Sufficiency Services
  • Organization and Administration for All Child Welfare Services
    For use with the following volumes only: Family Foster Care Services, Health Care Services for Children in Out-Of-Home Care, In-Home Aide Services for Children and Their Families.

(All Standards can be ordered online from the Bookstore)

For more information, click on a Standards volume title above for the specific service area in which you are interested.

CWLA Standards of Excellence – Best Practice Guidelines

Best Practice Guidelines are a topical reference or particular aspects of practice that:

  • are guided by the National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare;
  • are described in greater detail;
  • are often cross-cutting;
  • represent the “best thinking” of professionals across program areas;
  • intended for cross-system audience with specific interest in the topic; and,
  • focus on a more narrow audience than for Standards of Excellence.

Current Best Practice Guidelines

Best Practice Guidelines for Behavior Management

Best Practice Guidelines for Behavior Support and Intervention Training

Best Practice Guidelines for Child Maltreatment in Foster Care

Best Practice Guidelines: Serving LGBT Youth in Out-of-Home Care

Additional Guidelines

Cultural Competence: A Guide for Human Service Agencies

Guidelines for Cultural Competence in Rural Child Welfare

Additional Resources

Workshops on CWLA’s National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare

See the CWLA National Blueprint in Action

Contact

Julie Collins
jcollins@cwla.org