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 founded in 1912, organized under the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families. Today, the bureau's operations involve improving child a ...
,
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 bill ...
,
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 US federal government created to protect the health of the US people 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 abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...
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 and ...
, abuse and neglect prevention,
child protection
Child protection (also called child welfare) is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, abandonment, and neglect. It involves identifying signs of potential harm. This includes responding to allegations or suspicions ...
,
family preservation 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 or treatment centre), or private home of a state- certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family mem ...
, 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 language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ...
and coincident family issues (e.g.,
domestic violence
Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...
and
substance abuse
Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...
). 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''
See also
*
United States Children's Bureau
The United States Children's Bureau is a federal agency founded in 1912, organized under the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families. Today, the bureau's operations involve improving child a ...
*
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 bill ...
*
Child abuse
Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...
*
Foster care in the United States
*
Adoption in the United States
In the United States, adoption is the process of creating a legal parent–child relationship between a child and a parent who was not automatically recognized as the child's parent at birth.
Most adoptions in the US are adoptions by a step-pare ...
References
External links
*
Child Welfare Information Gateway official website
*
The Children’s Bureau official website
*
The Children’s Bureau Training & Technical Assistance Network 2013 Directory, Children's Bureau.
*
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (Public Law 93-247), GovTrack.us.
*
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, GovTrack.us.
{{United States Department of Health and Human Services
Information Gateway