NC CHILD WELFARE FAMILY ADVISORY COUNCIL

Elevating Family Voice to Transform Child Welfare in North Carolina

Born out of strategic planning during North Carolina’s Program Improvement Plan, families partnered with the Division of Social Services (DSS) to co-create a visionary, multi-layered strategy to embed lived experience into child welfare systems. This new vision—The North Carolina Child Welfare Family Leadership Model—offered a bold shift to redefine family engagement as active, ongoing partnership, recognizing the authentic voices of parents, caregivers, and young people as catalysts for change.

Since 2018, the NC Child Welfare Family Advisory Council (CWFAC) has been engaging to shift policies, inform decisions, and co-design solutions that prioritize family well-being. The council is composed of caregivers and young adults with lived experience in the child welfare system. Local DSS agencies provide support and prepare family leaders to bring insight, creativity, and resilience to the table. Together, they’re transforming how North Carolina serves its children and families.

Want to learn more about the Family Leadership Model or the Child Welfare Family Advisory Council? Contact us at familyleadership@positivechildhoodalliancenc.org.

Purpose

The purpose of the NC CWFAC is to promote and support the involvement of families in all aspects of child welfare, including practice, policy, and system levels. The NC CWFAC will strengthen the capacity of DSS for family engagement in the following ways: 

• Provide meaningful child welfare family voice in state-level policy and program discussions, decisions, and state/federal plans.
• Advise child welfare family engagement efforts at practice, policy, and systemic levels.
• Demonstrate a model for family engagement for county DSS programs, practice decisions, and guidance.
• Provide a platform for county/regional DSS family engagement efforts and concerns to be shared with state partners.
• Communicate with and educate child welfare stakeholders about state and county/regional family engagement initiatives.

Request Engagement with the Council

This form is intended for DSS agencies, community partner organizations, and PCANC staff requesting engagement with the Child Welfare Family Advisory Council. Requests are reviewed based on alignment with council priorities, capacity, and scheduling considerations.