Building Community Partnerships, Step by Step

Summary

This practice guide presents step-by-step strategies for cementing relationships between public child welfare social workers and the neighborhood residents and organizations that can help when a child must be placed outside of the home. The manual presents Family to Family terminology, rationale, implementation techniques and benefits for using community partnerships to decrease disruption and keep kids in familiar territory. 

Table of Contents

• Table of Contents
• Strategic Overview
• Key Elements
• Explanation of Terms
• Benefit of Community Partnerships
• Family to Family Strategies
• Building Community Partnerships
• Appendices

Key Takeaway

Community partners are vital in helping children and families maintain familiar contact

Community partners possess critical perspectives on the neighborhoods and cultures from which the children come.They bring needed skills and contacts, and can help to increase local awareness of issues, such as child abuse and neglect, that lead to out-of home care. Partnerships within the community can offer support and neighborhood services to birth families, kinship care providers and resource families.