Child welfare agencies are always adapting to improve their services and address the ever-changing needs of the children, young people, and families in their care. The success or failure of these changes is heavily influenced by an agency's culture and climate.1 Organizational culture and climate consist of shared values, norms, attitudes, and perceptions that influence the behavior of people within the organization.2 An agency’s priorities, leadership commitments, and staff motivation reflect its culture and climate. Building an agency culture and climate that supports a continuous drive for improvement will reduce barriers for introducing new initiatives and encourage the creation of infrastructure to monitor changes for improvement.

Starting Points for a Strong Culture

1. Assemble a Diverse Team

Sustainable change rarely results from a single person acting alone. Teams should be comprised of individuals with diverse skills, backgrounds, and perspectives.³ Teams are best equipped to understand the needs of young people and families and develop effective solutions when they reflect the cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity of the communities they serve.

Community partners with a vested interest and individuals with lived experience within the child welfare system can provide valuable insight and knowledge to any team. When engaging individuals with lived expertise as team members, team leaders should clarify team roles and expectations, be transparent on how their input will be used, be up-front about what decisions can be made by the group versus what will be "considered" by the final decision-making authority. Just as child welfare staff receive compensation for their time and expertise, young people, families, and community members should also receive compensation for the expertise and input they provide to teams and child welfare agencies.

2. Take the Time Needed to Build Trust

Building a strong agency culture and climate takes time. Building trust among individual child welfare professionals, within teams and externally with community partners and individuals with lived experience, requires ongoing effort. Child welfare agencies should set aside dedicated time and resources to ensure that their workforce is culturally and linguistically competent and equipped with the humility and skills necessary to successfully collaborate with diverse team members and individuals with lived expertise.

Child welfare agencies that are inclusive, responsive to their communities, transparent, and respectful are better equipped to embrace change and improve outcomes for children, young people, and families.¹

3. Develop Transparent Communication Pathways

A well-crafted communication plan and effective communication practices are vital for change, implementation, and continuous quality improvement (CQI).⁴ With the right strategies, communication can help foster a clear understanding between all team members. Thoughtful communication can also enhance engagement and buy-in among agency staff, partners, and the communities that child welfare agencies serve. Tailoring messages and communication strategies to meet different audiences' unique needs and interests is essential. Audiences may include (but aren't limited to) agency leadership, direct care staff, legislators, community groups, and other interested parties.⁵

Communication is a two-way street. Teams should actively solicit feedback from those with vested interest and address any concerns or questions they may have. Reconnecting with all who participated in the development of a new program, policy, or practice and sharing how their input was used or why decisions were made can help build trust in the CQI process. Recognizing staff contributions and celebrating successes, no matter how small, can also motivate team members, build buy-in, and reinforce the value agencies place on system change and improvement.

Capacity Building Center for States. (2019). Becoming a family-focused system: Assessing culture and climate. Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Resources

The Capacity Building Center for States has a number of resources to help child welfare agencies enhance their organizational culture and climate and build their capacity to authentically engage youth, families, and people with lived experience in their CQI efforts.

Center Resources A Guide to Five Dimensions of Organizational Capacity: Organizational Culture and Climate (guide) A Look Inside Sharing Power in Child Welfare (podcast series)  Becoming a Family-Focused System (series)  Building Prevention-Centered Systems: Key Leadership, Workforce, and Community Roles in Shifting and Sustaining Culture (video) Change and Implementation in Practice (series)  Culturally Responsive Engagement and Partnership (recorded webinar)  Division X Technical Assistance: A Tool for Youth Engagement and Empowerment (publication)  Strategies for Authentic Integration of Family and Youth Voice in Child Welfare (brief)

Trainings and Learning Experiences The CQI Training Academy: Using Data to Implement Change is a self-paced e-learning course that helps teams build a common understanding of CQI best practices and how to apply those practices as they work to strengthen families, deliver equitable services, and build more resilient communities.  The Family Empowerment Leadership Academy is a collection of resources to help managers, supervisors, frontline staff, and other child welfare professionals work with families to create sustainable change.

Related Resources Creating a Family-Centered Agency Culture (Child Welfare Information Gateway) Organizational Culture and Climate Resource Library (National Child Welfare Workforce Institute) Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth (Project READY) Barriers to Authentic Youth Engagement (Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Youth in Finding Permanency)

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1 Capacity Building Center for States. (2019). Becoming a family-focused system: Assessing culture and climate. Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

2 Dimension: Organizational Culture and Climate - Center for States - Child Welfare Capacity Building Collaborative

3 Building Teams for Effective and Sustainable Change—November 2018 | Vol. 19, No. 9 (hhs.gov)

4 Capacity Building Center for States. (2018). Change and implementation in practice: Teaming. Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

5 Capacity Building Center for States. (2019). Change and implementation in practice: Implementation planning and capacity building. Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.