Child Welfare and Early Childhood: Cross-Systems Collaboration to Improve Outcomes for Young Children and Their Families Series: Prevention
These resources are from the third webinar of the Child Welfare and Early Childhood: Cross-Systems Collaboration to Improve Outcomes for Young Children and Their Families series.
Ultimately, the goal of prevention strategies is to keep children safe and well cared-for in their families and communities, thereby decreasing the need for child welfare services. What, though, is the role of child welfare agencies in prevention? What can child welfare agencies to do address child well-being for our youngest children? In this webinar, presenters discussed how Plans of Safe Care protect infants affected by prenatal substance exposure. Examples of state and county community and family empowerment approaches to prevention were shared.
Presenters:
- Alissa Copeland, Washington DCYF, Intake and Early Learning Program Manager
- Sarah Holdener, Washington DCYF, Plan of Safe Care Program
- Robert H. (Robin) Jenkins, Ph.D., Associate Director and Senior Implementation Specialist with the Impact Center at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
- Nikki Kovan, Minnesota Department of Education, Early Learning Director
- Megan Waltz, Minnesota DHS, Supervisor, Promotion and Prevention Unit | Child Safety and Permanency
Host:
Dr. Cynthia Tate, State Services Liaison, NCIT Hub Lead, BUILD Initiative
Access the webinar recording here.
Access the slide deck here.
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Moving Away from Family Separation: Cross-Systems Strategies to Support Young Children at Risk of Child Welfare Involvement
Report March 12, 2026
Between October 2024 and April 2025, the BUILD Initiative hosted a six-part webinar series, offered through BUILD’s Prenatal-to-Three Capacity Building Hub. This report provides key learnings and highlights from the webinar series.
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According to the March of Dimes 2024 report, "Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the United States," 1,104 counties, or about 35% of the nation’s 3,142 counties, are designated as Maternity Care Deserts.
Evidence for Expanded Access to Head Start and Early Head Start
Blog February 27, 2026
Head Start and Early Head Start have been proven effective for supporting young children’s development, and their parents, for many years. But did you know that Head Start and Early Head Start can reduce child maltreatment and child welfare system involvement?