The Child Welfare Information Gateway is the congressionally mandated and funded information service of the

United States Children's Bureau The United States Children's Bureau is a federal agency organized under the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families. Today, the bureau's operations involve improving child abuse prevention, ...

Administration for Children and Families The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Children and Families. It has a $49 billi ...

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

. It was established in 2006 to replace the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information and the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse. The Child Welfare Information Gateway covers child-welfare topics, including family-centered practice,

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

and

neglect In the context of caregiving, neglect is a form of abuse where the perpetrator, who is responsible for caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves, fails to do so. It can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness a ...

, abuse and neglect prevention,

child protection Child protection is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the protection of children in and out of the home. One of the ways to e ...

family preservation Family preservation was the movement to help keep children at home with their families rather than in foster homes or institutions. This movement was a reaction to the earlier policy of family breakup, which pulled children out of unfit homes. E ...

and support,

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family ...

, achieving and maintaining permanency,

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, fro ...

, management of child welfare agencies and related topics such as child and family assessment, laws and policies,

statistics Statistics (from German: '' Statistik'', "description of a state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a scientific, indust ...

and coincident family issues (e.g.,

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partn ...

and

substance abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

). Its website links to sources of print and electronic publications, websites, databases and online learning tools on these topics.National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning. (2006, Summer). Child Welfare Information Gateway. ''Permanency Planning Today''. Retrieved from

History

Prior to the creation of Child Welfare Information Gateway, the Children's Bureau operated two separate, federally mandated clearinghouses, each representing different aspects of the child welfare system. The National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information was established in 1974 by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (Public Law 93-247) to collect, organize, and disseminate information about all aspects of child maltreatment. The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse was established by the United States Congress in the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 to provide free information on all aspects of adoption. In the early days of these federal clearinghouses, services consisted primarily of gathering print resources in a central library located in Northern Virginia. Responses to child welfare-related inquiries were provided via telephone, and publications were mailed via the postal service upon request. Early compendiums of national adoption resources and state child welfare laws were collected in binders. More recently, the clearinghouses and now Information Gateway have increasingly used electronic databases and the Internet to provide services, including access to electronic copies of publications; searchable databases of state statutes, foster care organizations, and adoption resources; and interactive online learning tools.

Significant publications

A list of publications offered by Child Welfare Information Gateway can be found in its Publications Catalog in English or Spanish. Some of the titles available include: * ''How the Child Welfare System Works'' * ''Major Federal Legislation Concerned With Child Protection, Child Welfare, and Adoption'' * ''How Many Children Were Adopted in 2007 and 2008?'' * ''Preventing Child Maltreatment and Promoting Well-Being: A Network for Action 2013 Resource Guide''

References

External links

* Child Welfare Information Gateway Official Website (https://www.childwelfare.gov) * The Children’s Bureau Official Website (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb) * The Children’s Bureau Training & Technical Assistance Network 2013 Directory (https://web.archive.org/web/20130511142846/https://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/resource/tta-network-directory-2013) * Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (Public Law 93-247) (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/93/s1191) * Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/99/hr5300#summary/libraryofcongress) {{United States Department of Health and Human Services Child welfare in the United States

History

Significant publications

See also

References

External links