A Home for Every Child Initiative
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration for Children and Families (ACF), is advancing a focused national strategy to improve outcomes for children and families by strengthening the child welfare system. At the center of this effort is a clear objective: ensuring that homes are ready and available for children, rather than children waiting for placement.
Through the “A Home for Every Child” initiative, ACF seeks to reduce entries into foster care through effective prevention services, expand the pool of foster homes through targeted recruitment and greater prioritization of kinship care, and improve retention of current caregivers.
Community Action and Child Welfare Coordination: Building Stronger Partnerships for Families
Community Action Agencies play an important role in supporting children and families through locally driven services and community partnerships. With expertise in areas such as housing assistance, employment support, parenting education, transportation, and benefits access, CAAs are well positioned to help address many of the challenges that can place families at risk of entering the child welfare system.
Working alongside child welfare agencies, CAAs help strengthen prevention efforts by connecting families to services early and improving coordination across systems. These partnerships can also support foster and kinship caregivers through resource navigation, referrals, and ongoing community-based supports.
Community Action Agency and Child Welfare Collaboration Assessment Survey
To better understand how CAAs are collaborating with child welfare agencies, the National Community Action Partnership (NCAP) has developed a survey. Your response will help identify strengths across the network, highlight promising practices, and inform potential partnership strategies. The survey should take approximately 8–10 minutes to complete, and your perspective is greatly appreciated!
Partnering with Community Action Agencies: A Practical Guide for Child Welfare Offices
This guide was developed to support collaboration between Community Action Agencies and child welfare offices and help local partners identify opportunities for coordination, improved communication and referral pathways, and alignment of services that support children and families more effectively. It explains the practical supports Community Action Agencies offer to assist child welfare offices in preventing unnecessary foster care placements and promoting stable homes for foster and kinship families. Key services highlighted include housing stabilization and homelessness prevention, economic stability and employment support, education services, emergency financial assistance, early childhood and family development programs, kinship and caregiver stabilization, intensive coaching, case management, and wraparound support.
