Appendix G

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National Resource Centers, Clearinghouses, and Technical Assistance Support Systems March 2001
The Children’s Bureau, in the Administration on Children, Youth and Families, provides an array of training and technical assistance (T/TA) support resources through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Currently, the Bureau operates ten National Resource Centers (NRCs), two Clearinghouses, and four technical support projects.

National Resource Centers
The overarching goal of the eight NRCs described below is to help States, Tribes, and public child welfare agencies implement Federal legislation intended to ensure the safety, well-being, and permanent placement of children who enter the child welfare system. These Centers conduct needs assessments, provide on-site technical assistance, identify and disseminate best practices, and coordinate and collaborate with other national resource centers and agencies.

Program: National Resource Center for Foster Care and Permanency Planning
Organization: Hunter College School of Social Work
Address: 129 E. 79th St. New York, NY 10021
Phone: (212) 452-7053
Fax: (212) 452-7051
E-Mail: nrcfcpp@shiva.hunter.cuny.edu
URL: www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcppab.htm
Contact: Sarah B. Greenblatt, Director
The Center supports the efforts of child welfare agencies to provide high-quality services to children in foster care and their families and to help them achieve permanency. In particular, this Center helps agencies respond to widespread changes in child welfare brought about by implementation of the Federal Adoption and Safe Families Act, Multi-Ethnic Placement Act, and Indian Child Welfare Act. These changes encompass such issues as family group conferencing, kinship care, child welfare mediation, and recruitment and retention of foster and adoptive families.

Program: National Resource Center for Information Technology in Child Welfare
Organization: Child Welfare League of America
Address: 440 First St., NW Washington, DC 20001-2085
Phone: (202) 638-2952
Fax: (202) 638-4004
URL: www.cwla.org
Contact: Tom Hay, Project Manager
The Center helps State, local, and Tribal child welfare agencies, and family and juvenile courts use automated information systems to improve outcomes in the child welfare system. The Center provides technical assistance in the collection of data (as required by Federal law) for the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), and disseminates information on best practices related to Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information Systems (SACWIS). The Center also helps its clients use data to improve services to children, youth, and families; evaluate results; and make informed decisions about policies, programs, and practices.

Program: National Resource Center for Organizational Improvement
Organization: Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine
Address: 1 Post Office Square P.O. Box 15010 Portland, ME 04112
Phone: (207) 780-5810
Fax: (207) 780-5817
E-Mail: patn@usm.maine.edu
URL: www.muskie.usm.maine.edu/helpkids
Contact: Kris Sahonchik, Executive Director
The Center helps agencies build and improve the organizational infrastructures they need to implement Federal legislation. Agencies need to know, for example, how to set results-oriented goals, identify and remove barriers to improvement, and measure their progress toward goals. The Center also helps agencies cope with the administrative, management, and human resource issues that have surfaced in the wake of widespread changes in the field.

Program: National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoption
Organization: Spaulding for Children
Address: Crossroad Office Center 16250 Northland Dr. Suite 120 Southfield, MI 48075
Phone: (248) 443-7080
Fax: (248) 443-7099
E-Mail: sfc@Spaulding.org
URL: http://www.spaulding.org/resourcecenter/index.htm
Contact: Drenda Lakin, Director
The Center works with States, Tribes, and agencies to increase the number of children with special needs who are adopted and to improve the effectiveness and quality of adoption and post-adoption services provided to them and their families. The Center has developed and distributes a number of training curricula as well as publications, videos, and a newsletter.

Program: National Resource Center for Youth Development
Organization: University of Oklahoma
Address: College of Continuing Education 4502 E. 41st St., Bldg 4 West Tulsa, OK 74135-2553
Phone: (918) 660-3700
Fax: (918) 660-3737
E-Mail: hlock@ou.edu
URL: http://www.nrcys.ou.edu/nrcyd/
Contact: Jim Walker, Director
Peter Correia, Assistant Director
The Center focuses on increasing the capacity and resources of State, Tribal, and other publicly supported child welfare agencies to effectively meet the needs of youth who will be emancipated from the child welfare system. This will be accomplished by helping adolescents achieve the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 goals of safety, permanency, and well-being through the effective implementation of the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 and other related programs.

Program: National Resource Center on Child Maltreatment
Organization: Child Welfare Institute
Address: 1349 Peachtree St., NE Suite 900 Atlanta, GA 30309-2956
Phone: (404) 876-1934
Fax: (404) 876-7949
E-Mail: NRCCM@gocwi.org
URL: gocwi.org/nrccm
Contact: Tom Morton, Co-Director
The Center helps States, local agencies, and Tribes develop effective and efficient child protective services (CPS) systems. Jointly operated by the Child Welfare Institute and ACTION for Child Protection, the Center responds to needs related to prevention, identification, intervention, and treatment of child abuse and neglect.

Program: National Child Welfare Resource Center on Family-Centered Practice
Organization: Learning Systems Group
Address: 1150 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (800) 628-8442
Fax: (202) 628-3812
E-Mail: cwrc@esilsg.org
URL: www.esilsg.org
Contact: Elena Cohen, Project Director, elenac@esilsg.org
The Center helps child welfare agency managers and staff translate the tenets of the Adoption and Safe Families Act into family-centered practices that ensure the well-being and permanent placement of children while meeting the needs of families. In particular, the Center helps clients learn how to forge linkages among the child welfare system, other support systems for families, and the courts, especially in the areas of substance abuse treatment and domestic violence.

Program: National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues
Organization: ABA Center on Children and the Law
Address: 740 15th St., NW 9th Floor Washington, DC 20005-1009
Phone: (202) 662-1746
Fax: (202) 662-1755
E-Mail: markhardin@staff.abanet.org
URL: www.abanet.org/child
Contact: Mark Hardin, Director
Mimi Laver for TA requests, (202) 662-1736
The Center provides expertise to State and tribal agencies and courts on legal and judicial aspects of child welfare, including court improvement, agency and court collaboration, timely decisions on termination of parental rights, non-adversarial case resolution, reasonable efforts requirements, legal representation of children, parents and child welfare agencies, permanent guardianship, confidentiality, legal ethics for child welfare attorneys, action planning for courts and agency representatives, the interplay of domestic violence and child welfare and other emerging child welfare issues related to requirements of the Adoption and Safe Families Act, the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act of 1994, as amended, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and the Indian Child Welfare Act.

The following two NRCs were established to support statutorily mandated programs and provide services primarily to grantees.

Program: National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Address: School of Social Welfare 1950 Addison St. Suite 104 Berkeley, CA 94704-1182
Phone: (510) 643-8390
Fax: (510) 643-7019
E-Mail: aia@uclink4.berkeley.edu
URL: socrates.berkeley.edu/~aiarc
Contact: Jeanne Pietrzak, Director
The Center provides training, technical assistance, research and information to professionals to enhance the quality of social and health services offered to families and their children who are abandoned or at risk of abandonment due to perinatal substance abuse and/or HIV. The Center generates and disseminates training and information on a wide range of child welfare and HIV and drug issues, particularly as they relate to the safety, well-being, and permanence of children.

Program: National Resource Center for Community-Based Family Resource and Support Programs (FRIENDS)
Organization: Chapel-Hill Training Outreach Project
Address: 800 Eastowne Dr. Suite 105 Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Phone: (800) 888-7970
Fax: (919) 968-8879
URL: http://www.friendsnrc.org
Contact: Jack Denniston, Project Manager,jldenniston@intrex.net
FRIENDS provides training and technical assistance to lead agencies implementing the Community-Based Family Resource and Support (CBFRS) grant program in the following key areas: parent leadership training, family resource and support programs and services, services to diverse populations, establishment of respite care programs, and creation of funding strategies. Requests for FRIENDS services are initiated by CBFRS State lead agencies.

National Clearinghouses
The Children’s Bureau operates two related clearinghouses to meet the cross-disciplinary needs of professionals working in child abuse and neglect, child welfare, and adoption. The clearinghouses serve as central gateways to government and other resources related to these fields. Both clearinghouses maintain extensive documents collections and provide information and referrals, technical assistance, and other products and services.

Program: National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information
Organization: Caliber Associates, Inc.
Address: 330 C St., SW Washington, DC 20447
Phone: (800) 394-3366
Fax: (703) 385-3206
E-Mail: nccanch@caliber.com
URL: nccanch.acf.hhs.gov
Contact: Candy Hughes, Project Director
The National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information was first established in 1974 by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to collect, organize, and disseminate information on all aspects of child maltreatment to build the capacity of professionals in the field. The Clearinghouse collects and shares relevant materials on child maltreatment and child welfare, including prevention and family support programs. The Clearinghouse provides tailored services and information to meet the specific needs of users. It offers numerous materials and resources in print and online.

Program: National Adoption Information Clearinghouse
Organization: Caliber an ICF International Company
Address: 1250 Maryland Avenue, SW, Eighth Floor, Washington, DC 20024
Phone: (800) 394-3366
Fax: (703) 385-3206
E-Mail: naic@caliber.com
URL: www.childwelfare.gov
Contact: Mary Sullivan, Project Director
The National Adoption Information Clearinghouse is the nation ’s number one source of information about adoption. The Clearinghouse publishes and distributes fact sheets, directories, literature searches, resource lists, bibliographies, and other products tailored to customers’ specific needs. A staff of experts in adoption, child welfare, law, information management, and library science ensure the quality and scope of the Clearinghouse collection.

Technical Assistance Support Systems
The Children’s Bureau has funded four technical assistance support projects to further enhance specific research and program areas.

Program: National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect
Organization: Cornell University
Address: Family Life Development Center Ithaca, NY 14853-4401
Phone: (607) 255-7799
Fax: (607) 255-8562
E-Mail: DataCAN@cornell.edu
URL: www.ndacan.cornell.edu
Contact: Elliott Smith, Project Manager, (607) 255-8104
The National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect facilitates secondary analysis of research data relevant to the study of child abuse and neglect. The Archive maintains numerous databases including the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) and Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).

Program: Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children (ICPC)
Organization: Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children, American Public Human Services Association
Address: 810 First St., NE Suite 500 Washington, DC 20002
Phone: (202) 682-0100
Fax: (202) 289-6555
URL: www.aphsa.org
Contact: Frank Barthell, J.D., Secretariat, AAICPC, fbarthel@aphsa.org
The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) is a uniform State law that establishes a contract among party States to ensure that children placed across State lines receive adequate protection and services. The primary function of the ICPC is to protect the interests of children and of States by requiring that certain procedures are followed in making and maintaining the interstate placement of children going into adoption, residential care or foster family homes, or being placed with relatives.

Program: Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance (ICAMA)
Organization: Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance, American Public Human Services Association
Address: 810 First St., NE Suite 500 Washington, DC 20002-4267
Phone: (202) 682-0100
Fax: (202) 289-6555
URL: aaicama.aphsa.org
Contact: Liz Oppenheim, Program Director, loppenheim@aphsa.org
The Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance facilitates the administration of, and advocates State participation in, the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance (ICAMA). ICAMA is the legal mechanism by which member States regulate and coordinate the interstate delivery of services to children with special needs, adopted pursuant to adoption assistance agreements. The Association provides technical and legal assistance, education and training, and materials on practice and policy issues.

Program: Technical Assistance and Training Coordinating Contract
Organization: EduTech Ltd.
Address: 8455 Colesville Rd. Suite 930 Silver Spring, MD 20910-3319
Phone: (301) 585-1030
Fax: (301) 585-7741
URL: www.edutechltd.com
Contact: Prachee Devedas, Vice President for Program Development, pdevedas@edutechltd.com
Takako Lewis, Senior Conference Manager, tlewis@edutechltd.com
This technical assistance and training contract was established to work with the National Resource Centers and to coordinate T/TA for Federal Central and Regional Office staff.