Social Media and Child Welfare

The field of child welfare has made progress in the last decade in learning how to use social media to enhance and support our work. These resources provide guidance to adoption and child welfare professionals on using social media in their work with children, youth, and families. They provide sample policies and programs to get you started and offer examples of what other States and organizations are doing.

Spotlight On

Protecting Your Tweeps: Using Social Media in Child Welfare Organizations [Webinar]
National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology (2012)
Offers best practice basics for planning and implementing social media policies and programs that protect workers, children, and families.

Social Media and Social Networking in Child Welfare [Webinar]
National Resource Center for Child Welfare Data and Technology (2011)
Provides an overview of social media and social networking basics followed by examples and lessons learned by child welfare agencies.

Child Welfare and Technology (PDF - 15820 KB)
LaLiberte & Snyder (Eds.)
CW 360°, 2011
Offers numerous articles on the impact of technology on child welfare practice, including guidance for agencies considering a social media presence and a description of Arizona's use of videos to recruit foster and adoptive families.

Do You Facebook or Twitter?: Survey Findings Report
Holmes, Cody, Madden, Ayers-Lopez, & McRoy
AdoptUSKids (2010)
Assesses the attitudes and awareness of 746 professional child welfare staff about social media and its potential use as a tool for the recruitment and retention of foster and adoptive families.

Effective, Research-Based Use of Social Media: Enhancing the Reach and Outcomes of Child Welfare Programs [Presentation Slides] (PDF - 4055 KB)
AdoptUSKids and Home Front Communications (2010)
Discusses characteristics of online social networks, identifies ways child welfare agencies should and should not use social networks, and shares lessons learned from the experiences of AdoptUSKids.

Riding the Wave of Social Media: Hamilton County Agency Builds Community Relationship With Online Tools
Sioco
Children's Voice, 18(6), 2009
Describes the agency's use of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, BlogTalk, RSS feeds, podcasts, and blogs to interact with constituents.

Social Media, Smart Phones and Safety: How Technology Is Changing Child Welfare Practice
Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare, School of Social Work, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (2011)
Encourages child welfare agencies to embrace technology and social media to benefit children and families. The event included examples from former foster youth and a local child welfare agency describing their experiences with social media and technology.