Engaging families in the casework process promotes the safety, permanency, and wellbeing of children and families in the child welfare system and is central to successful practice. Effective family engagement occurs when child welfare practitioners actively collaborate and partner with the family network, including maternal and paternal relatives and fictive kin, throughout their involvement with the child welfare system and recognizing them as the experts on their respective situations and empowering them in the process.

This resource from the Children’s Bureau in collaboration with Child Welfare Information Gateway offers further discussion on family engagement as well as steps to achieve it.