Resources
This is a hub for some of the Center’s projects and materials that we’ve created for our partners. These links touch on many areas of interest, so take some time to explore what we’ve built. You can use these resources for your own benefit, share them with someone you know, or contact us for more information.
Strengthening Families

Families are at the core of our mission. The resources we’ve developed support child welfare professionals as well as families themselves.

  • Kinship Care: Loved Ones Stepping in When Children Need Them Most

    When parents can’t meet a child’s needs, relatives or family friends often step in to care for the child. The materials below are part of a campaign, produced by the Center for Child and Family Studies, to help the South Carolina Department of Social Services raise awareness about resources and options available to these kinship caregivers. The Center won an Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA) 2020 Communicator Award of Distinction for the campaign

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    Informational brochure
    Awareness poster & 1 of 6 social media image posts
    1 of 4 videos for website (3:30 min)
    1 of 27 video clips for social media (23 sec)
  • Child Welfare Vignettes

    The story of Brandi Martin and her two boys, 8 and 13, unfolds throughout Child Welfare Basic Training. New caseworkers use the 15 video clips to identify risks to safety, family strengths, sources of support, and conditions that must improve for the safety of the children. Brandi Martin's genogram.

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    Scene 1 Report (1 min)
    Scene 2 Collateral Contact with Teacher (2 min)
    Scene 3 Initial Contact with Child (2 min)
    Scene 4 Initial Contact with Parent (2 min)
    Scene 5 First Interview with Parent (4 min)
    Scene 6 Caseworker Interview: Genogram (1 min)
    Scene 7 Caseworker Interview: Grandmother (1 min)
    Scene 8 Initial Investigative Staffing (3 min)
    Scene 9 Followup Staffing with Supervision (1 min)
    Scene 10 Case Planning with Family (3 min)
    Scene 11 Caseworker Interview: Birthfathers (1 min)
    Scene 12 Visit with the Grandmother (2 min)
    Scene 13 Caseworker Home Visit (2 min)
    Scene 14 Caseworker Interview: Case Update (1 min)
    Scene 15 Case Evaluation and Closure (2 min)
  • Power Up! Career Academy for Students with Disabilities

    Developed in collaboration with the South Carolina Vocational Rehabilitation Department, the Academy is designed to help youth prepare to enter higher education, training, or the workforce. Our work on the project includes an interactive, experiential curriculum and media.

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    Power Up! Career Academy: promo video
    Power Up! Career Academy: activity cards
    Power Up! Career Academy: training guide & handout booklet
  • Child Welfare Documentation

    Winner of a Silver Davey Award, this online training highlights documentation as a critical component of child welfare. The story of one family threads through the modules to create an interactive experience for case managers. This customized engagement reinforces the learning objectives in a way that lecture can’t.

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    SC DSS Child Welfare Documentation Training
    SC DSS Child Welfare Documentation Training Module 1
    SC DSS Child Welfare Documentation Training Module 2
    SC DSS Child Welfare Documentation Training Module 4
    SC DSS Child Welfare Documentation Training Module 6
    SC DSS Child Welfare Documentation Training Module 7
  • Trauma

    Trauma affects the way our brains work and is often called the “great imitator” because its symptoms can mimic those of mental illness. It can lead to inappropriate mental health diagnoses, especially for children who have experienced abuse and neglect. Use the chart below to see the overlap between trauma and mental illness symptoms. And watch the video, which won a Davey Award for Graphics, to see how trauma affects the brain.

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    Overlap of mental illness and trauma symptoms
    Trauma and the Brain
  • Adolescent Adoption

    Everyone needs family. These brochures help teens and families realize that it’s never too late for adoption.

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    They’re Never Too Old adoption pamphlet
    You’re Never Too Old adoption pamphlet
    NYTD Stay Connected Website
  • Managing Psychotropic Medications

    Children are increasingly prescribed psychotropic medications. The resources below can families, caregivers, and child welfare professionals navigate the complex world of mental health and medications.

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    Understanding and Accessing Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT
    Questions to Ask a Psychiatrist
    Questions to Ask a Caregiver
    Questions to Ask a Child on Medication
Criminal
Justice


Communities are only as strong as their most vulnerable members. The flexible delivery format of these resources helps criminal justice organizations enhance staff skills to respond effectively to difficult situations.

  • Mental Health in the Correctional System: Making Choices for Safety & Well-being

    This training is designed to offer essential, actionable information about mental health and mental illness to correctional officers. The goal is to better equip corrections staff to respond effectively to mental illness in the correctional population. The modular training is designed for flexible delivery and includes award-winning media.

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    Mental Health in The Correctional System
    Mental Health in The Correctional System
  • Voices Ignored: Sexual Assault of People With Developmental Disabilities

    The original project goal of Voices Ignored was to improve criminal investigations of sexual assault of people with developmental disabilities. After analyzing project needs, we created multiple delivery formats, including a short format to be used in roll-call training, a longer workshop for criminal justice academies, and an awareness package for crime-prevention officers.

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    Voices Ignored
    Highlights video
Adult
Advocacy

The field of adult advocacy is growing and we’re supporting those who work with vulnerable adults.

  • The Back Door

    In The Back Door, a social service caseworker uses rapport-building interview techniques as she begins an assessment of an elderly woman, Mrs. Shealy.

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    The Back Door: Introduction
    The Back Door: Ms. Shealy Initial Interview
    The Back Door: Ms. Shealy Interview
  • Worker Safety

    Social service workers can find themselves in dangerous situations. This series of five interactive online modules provides workers with strategies to maintain their health and safety when faced with illegal activity, violence in the field, pest infestations, and contagious illnesses.

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    Worker Safety Module
    Worker Safety Module