Engaging Child Welfare Systems in Research on Young Children Hybrid Workshop

The national opioid public health crisis continues to impact families across the United States, and for some families, this can result in involvement with child welfare systems. These transitions in care often create significant gaps in our ability to understand the long term impacts of opioid use on future generations. This 1.5 day workshop was designed to promote collaboration between child and family development researchers and the child welfare service delivery system to help close this gap. Speakers from the child welfare policy, practice, and research communities (and other relevant scholars) delivered several presentations to an audience of child and family researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health, as well as other federal, state, and community organizations.

The presentations provide:

1. An overview of the child welfare system
2. An exploration of the overlap between the child welfare, substance use, and criminal justice systems
3. A summary of the scientific evidence on the sequelae of maltreatment and foster care on the brain and behavioral development of affected children, on the functioning and processes of families involved with the child welfare system, and on the impact of child welfare services on involved children and families
4. An examination of racial/ethnic, socioeconomic status, and other disparities in the child welfare system
5. A discussion on integrating child welfare and child and family developmental research

The workshop ended with a delineation of strategies to promote collaboration between federal, state, and non-profit entities regarding working with child welfare systems to advance child and family development research. The workshop was implemented in hybrid format, such that participants can be in-person and virtual.