Building Capacity in Child Welfare: Findings From a Five-Year Evaluation of the Capacity Building Collaborative

This report presents findings from a cross-center evaluation of services delivered by the Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative.

The Collaborative was established by the Children’s Bureau in 2014 to help state and tribal child welfare agencies and Court Improvement Programs meet federal mandates; enhance child welfare practices; and improve child and family outcomes related to safety, permanency, and well-being. The Collaborative is a partnership of three Capacity Building Centers: the Center for Courts, Center for States, and Center for Tribes.

The report covers findings from fiscal years 2015 through 2019. Included are the types of capacity building services offered, the common service delivery approach the Centers used, and efforts to collaborate within and across Centers. The report details the universal, constituency, and tailored services the Centers provided and the evaluation and outcomes of these services. It also examines factors that influenced jurisdictions’ decision to use Center services, their satisfaction with the services, the nature and quality of relationships between service providers and recipients, and the outcomes of services. Finally, the report explores implications for future work by the Collaborative and for evaluation processes.

Although the multimethod evaluation examined capacity building services designed for child welfare systems, including the courts, some of the lessons learned may be useful for program administrators, evaluators, and service providers in other fields.