Children and Family Futures

Most programs know substance use treatment predicts reunification. Few can show whether their families are actually getting there, or where they're falling off.

June is National Reunification Month, a useful moment to ask whether your program's data can answer that question.

Children and Family Futures' Research and Evaluation team developed two tools to close the reunification gap for families affected by substance use disorders:

•The Data Profile pulls key data across service systems to surface what's actually happening: How many families are affected by substance use? How many parents are getting treatment?
•The Drop-Off Analysis pinpoints where parents are losing connection to services, and why, so programs can act on it.

Close the reunification gap. Schedule a consultation with our team: https://airtable.com/appt7JA9HCGhKfjPw/pag7cXcGYbaEFMPQh/form?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=reunification-month-2026&utm_content=ret-dataprofile

Sources: Choi et al., 2012; Grella et al., 2009; Lloyd Sieger et al., 2025

🧠 Feeling overwhelmed by information overload? If you are looking for ready-to-use resources you can immediately apply to your work without spending hours digging through data, this is for you.

Spend just 30 minutes exploring a highly practical resource designed to help systems work together more effectively for families: Lessons from the Regional Partnership Grants Program: What Works for Families.

🔄 The Challenge of Cross-System Collaboration
Families affected by substance use often have to navigate multiple systems simultaneously. Each system comes with its own priorities, timelines, and expectations—making effective collaboration incredibly challenging.

🛠️ What You’ll Learn
This session introduces a National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW) brief that summarizes 20 years of Regional Partnership Grants (RPG) Program experience.

Instead of an intensive, theoretical training, this is a fast-paced, guided overview of a tool you can use and share with your colleagues immediately. Learn how to apply key strategies directly to your work, including:

🎯 Shared Goals: Aligning priorities across different agencies.
🤝 Formal Structures: Building reliable frameworks for partnership.
💼 Integrated Services: Streamlining support for families.
📊 Data-Informed Decision-Making: Using evidence to drive better outcomes.

📅 Join the Session
Don’t miss this opportunity to add a powerful, actionable resource to your toolkit and strengthen your cross-system collaboration. Register now at: https://cffutures-net.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p6E_aMx-QWyIYt1ROPaJbQ?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=engagement&utm_content=ncsacw-rpgwebinar1

Half the children. Same circumstances. Different response.

Children in START entered out-of-home care at half the rate of children in standard child welfare services — 20.3% versus 35.2%. That's not a marginal difference. It's what happens when treatment, peer support, child welfare, and courts work together instead of waiting for each other.

This National Reunification Month, that outcome is worth sitting with, especially if your jurisdiction is reexamining how it responds to parental substance use.

START holds a "Supported" rating from the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse, making it eligible for federal reimbursement under Family First.

Children and Family Futures works alongside agencies to build the coordinated response that makes these outcomes possible. If you're exploring what that looks like in your state, let's talk: https://www.cffutures.org/start-contact-us/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=reunification-month-2026&utm_content=start-placementstat

Most states and tribes serving kinship families aren't operating a Title IV-E Kinship Navigator Program (KNP), not because the need isn't there, but because qualifying requires evidence most programs haven't had the funding or infrastructure to build.

A federal funding opportunity is on the horizon specifically for states and tribes not yet operating a Title IV-E KNP, designed to help programs build the rigorous evidence base required for Clearinghouse review and unlock ongoing federal reimbursement.

The programs that use this window well won't just win a grant. They can effectively secure sustainable federal funding on the other side of it.

Already running a Kinship Navigator Program? CFF's Research and Evaluation team partners with states and tribes on the evaluation piece.

👉Reach out before the NOFO drops: https://airtable.com/appt7JA9HCGhKfjPw/pag7cXcGYbaEFMPQh/form?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=knp-nofo-2026&utm_content=ret-nofo1

What happens to a reunification program that can't show it's working?

June is National Reunification Month, and reunification isn't just a practice goal. It's a funding argument. Children and Family Futures' Research and Evaluation team has worked with 70 sites across 28 states to build the evaluation infrastructure that connects programs to the investment they need.

Ready to build the evidence base your program needs? Schedule a call with our team: https://airtable.com/appt7JA9HCGhKfjPw/pag7cXcGYbaEFMPQh/form?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=reunification-month-2026&utm_content=ret-70sites

Most Family Treatment Courts (FTC) have a judge, a caseworker, and a treatment provider. Fewer have a clear answer to: who does what, when, and what happens when it doesn't get done?

June is National Reunification Month. Whether your community is exploring the need for an FTC or working to strengthen an existing one, the goal is the same: supporting families on the path to reunification.

The FTCs that coordinate well have three things in common:
• A shared referral process that all partners follow
• Defined roles that are documented and don't walk out the door when staff turns over
• Data that tells the team whether the model is working before the next funding review

Children and Family Futures (CFF) supports communities at every stage—from planning and launching new FTCs to strengthening coordination in existing ones. If your team is asking how to build or improve your approach, that’s the gap CFF helps close.

CFF has built this infrastructure with FTC programs across 39 states: https://www.cffutures.org/ftc-landing/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=reunification-month-2026&utm_content=ftc-3things

What does it look like when a state shows up for families?

Last month, members of the START TTA team traveled across North Carolina, from the eastern counties to the mountains, delivering trainings, strengthening teams, and connecting with the incredible people doing this work every day.

While we covered a lot of ground, we had so much fun we forgot to stop for photos in every county!

To every START team member and community partner who welcomed us: you reminded us exactly why this work matters.

Whether you're in North Carolina or somewhere else out there, tell us one thing you've seen, in your work or community, that reminds you why supporting families matters. Share it in the comments.

When parental substance use enters a child welfare case, the clock starts moving fast, often faster than families can access support.

The result is a pattern most systems recognize: earlier removals, fewer reunification resources, and recovery services that arrive too late to matter.

June is National Reunification Month. START is built to interrupt that pattern by responding earlier, working across systems, and centering recovery before a case ever reaches a courtroom.

Jurisdictions implementing START have seen 50% fewer children entering out-of-home placement. Every $1 invested saves $2.22 in avoided foster care costs.

If your jurisdiction is reexamining how it responds to parental substance use, this is worth a look: https://www.cffutures.org/start-landing/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=reunification-month-2026&utm_content=start-removalpattern

The National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW) will be at the APHSA National Human Services Summit this month. Come find us at the booth or catch one of our sessions.

June 13 - June 17 | Arlington, VA
Strengthening Skills for Child Welfare Caseworkers and Supervisors: Working with Families Affected by Parental Substance Use

👉 Can't make it this year? Explore our topics page: https://ncsacw.acf.gov/topics/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=engagement&utm_content=ncsacw-aphsa2026 and if you're looking for something specific, we're always here to help: [email protected]