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Children's Bureau
Child and Family Services Reviews
Practice Principles

Updated March 2007

The Child and Family Services Reviews, administered by the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, are designed to promote the following practice principles, which are believed to support improved outcomes for children and families:

• Family-Centered Practice, which is designed to:

• Strengthen, enable, and empower families to protect and nurture their children

• Safely preserve family relationships and connections when appropriate

• Recognize the strong influence that social systems have on individual behavior

• Enhance family autonomy

• Respect the rights, values, and cultures of families

• Focus on an entire family rather than select individuals within a family

• Community-Based Practice, which is designed to:

• Support the needs of children within the context of their families and communities

• Emphasize prevention-oriented services and supports

• Provide local communities a role in identifying, designing, implementing, and overseeing services within the community

• Individualizing Services, which is designed to:

• Tailor interventions to meet the specific needs of children and families served

• Recognize that children and families are affected by both individual and environmental factors

• Recognize that children and families and the environments in which they operate are unique

• Offer children and families opportunities to provide input in the identification of their strengths, needs, and goals and the means to achieve those goals

• Strengthening Parental Capacity, which is designed to:

• Enhance services and support for both parents and recognize the value of involving both parents in the care of their children

• Promote parents' strengths and self-esteem by emphasizing partnership with service providers

• Balance parental need for autonomy in decision-making with the need for ongoing support