A Model Approach for Change in Child Welfare
Cumberland County Department of Social Services established AMAC-CW which is “Collective Impact In Action”- the belief that it takes more than one organization incorporating the same idea and working together to create long lasting and effective social change.
AMAC-CW is a Hybrid Collective Impact vision because it involves collaboration within the agency, with community partners and utilization of internal and external resources to improve outcomes for youth aging out of foster care.
What is the focus of AMAC-CW?
- Model to guide social work practice
- Reform the social service system to improve the safety, permanency, well being of children, and families in Cumberland County
- Person centered planning for older youth, by identifying their individual needs
- Positive outcomes for older youth
- Decrease the number of youth in foster care
- Youth Empowerment
The Purpose of AMAC -CW
- Improve the short and long-term outcomes for youth aging out of our foster care system
- Decrease the number of children aging out of foster care
- Reduce the reliance on congregate care
- Increase family foster care for teens through specialized recruitment and kinship care
- Connect aging youth to a forever family
- Support youth aging out of foster care through non-traditional permanency strategies such as emancipation
- Establish formal structure, roles and responsibilities, and meetings of AMAC-CW
- Ongoing research, data analysis, and process evaluations
- Formation of Transition Unit specialized social workers focused on the individualized needs of older youth