What is Collaborative Family Engagement (CFE)?
Collaborative Family Engagement (CFE) is an innovative Family Finding partnership between CASA and Child Protective Services (CPS) that is built around the fact that children have many blood relatives and other important connections that can be identified and located, and engaged with – providing children and families with a dedicated support system that is meant to last even after CASA and CPS involvement ends.
WHY IS CFE IMPORTANT?
Family, no matter your definition, is important, and a life without some sense of family is a pretty lonely life. Too often, children in foster care are taken from the only family they know. In addition to the trauma they’ve already experienced due to abuse or neglect, they are often moved from placement to placement which creates instability. This lack of consistency – and lack of family connections and support – means that too often they are left to make their way through the system and deal with the challenges that ensue on their own. Not only that, but their families from which they were initially removed sometimes lack the support systems they need to work toward successful and sustainable reunification.
“If I had to choose one word to describe Collaborative Family Engagement, it would be…”
CONTINUING EDUCATION RESOURCES:
Collaborative Family Engagement: Creating & Strengthening Lasting Connection
Summary: This manual will help you get started with CFE, or build off of the work you are already doing to find and engage families for children in foster care. You will read about the background of CFE, including its base in Kevin Campbell’s Family Finding model. You will also learn about CFE in practice: the importance of a team-based approach, engagement and connection tools, family
meetings, mobilizing the child’s lifetime network and more.
Collaborative Family Engagement E-Learning Course (Presented by Texas CASA)
Summary: This e-learning course is the pre-requisite for the follow up in-person training. Throughout this e-learning, you will receive an overview of the CFE process, concepts and tools; and foundational information. The course is intended for users from CASA, CPS and other stakeholders participating in CFE.
