Policy & Advocacy > New England Association of Child Welfare Commissioners and Directors
New England Association of Child Welfare Commissioners and Directors
Director: Julie
Sweeney Springwater, MSW
Assistant Editor and Association Assistant: Donna Coppenrath
About the Director
Julie Springwater, MSW has served as the Director of the New England Association of Child Welfare Commissioners and Directors since 1994. As Director she creates and manages an agenda that reflects the vision and policies of the Association's members, the leaders and staff of the public child welfare agencies in the New England States. Ms. Springwater serves as a resource to Association member agencies on child welfare policy and practice issues and edits the Association newspaper, COMMON GROUND©. Ms. Springwater is on the faculty of Boston University's School of Social Work where she directs The Human Service Management Certificate Program and teaches courses in management and strategic management. She is active in community and non profit organizations nationally and regionally and is currently a Vice Chair of the Board of the Child Welfare League of America, a trustee of the Andover School of Montessori, and a Board member of the New England Foster Care Association.
Association Overview
Since 1984, Judge Baker Children's Center has served as home base for the
New England Association of Child Welfare Commissioners and Directors, a
consortium of child welfare agency leaders and staff members from Connecticut,
Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Members of the Association include the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, the Maine Office of Child and Family Services, the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, the New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families, the Rhode Island Department for Children, Youth and Families, and the Vermont Department for Children and Families. Agency leaders
created the Association in an effort to develop and implement policies that
promote competent child welfare practices. The Association's work is grounded
in the position that developing effective services for children and families
requires sharing information, discussing mutual issues and concerns, and
learning from each other's experience with past and current policy and practice
implementation. Members meet regionally to discuss a
multitude of issues such as workforce recruitment and retention, staff development,
systems change, safety and risk assessment, program planning and development,
team building, service delivery methods, legal and judicial matters and
evaluation. Having access to knowledge about what has been proven to work
is not enough. Putting knowledge into action requires organizations to have
the capacity to do so, which in itself requires understanding and applying
the skills of management, methods for the transfer of learning, enhancing
organizational capacity through leadership development, strategic planning
and change management. The Association serves as a vehicle for promoting such learning among its members.
The Association publishes a newspaper twice each year. Click here to read COMMON GROUND©.
Association Innovations
To accomplish it’s intended goal of improving services for children and families who are involved with the child welfare system The Association is involved in a variety of initiatives. Three years ago, the Association launched an initiative to develop a strategic communication plan for child protection agencies across the Northeast. The initiative was created in conjunction with the National Network for Child Safety, a grant program that helps state agencies improve their abilities to protect abused and neglected children. Together, the Association and the Network are developing programs that foster public understanding and support for the work done by child protection agencies. Leadership and public speaking training sessions have been offered to child protection agency staff and associates in several member states since 2004.
The Association’s New England Child Welfare Training Director’s
Group has partnered with the University of Southern Maine since 2004 to
promote the use of evidence based workforce recruitment and retention methods.
As part of this initiative USM’S Muskie School of Public Policy has
sponsored two meetings a year for the group which focus on content applicable
to this topic. USM and the Association held a Workforce Recruitment and
Retention Institute in 2006 for teams from member states to share practice
innovations. A second Institute is currently being planned with Fordham
University, another partner in the federally funded project.
On any given day there are approximately 28,000 children in New England receiving services in the foster care systems of public child protection agencies.
Links to Association Member Agencies
Connecticut Department of Children and Families
www.state.ct.us/dcf
Maine Office of Child and Family Services
www.maine.gov/dhhs/bcfs/index.htm
Massachusetts Department of Social Services
www.state.ma.us/dss
New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families
http://www.dhhs.state.nh.us/DHHS/DCYF/default.htm
Rhode Island Department for Children, Youth and Families
www.dcyf.state.ri.us
Vermont Department for Children and Families
http://www.dcf/state.vt.us/
Links to Affiliated Membership Associations
The American Public Service Human Service Organization
http://www.aphsa.org
The Child Welfare League of America
http://cwla.org
The American Humane Association
http://www.americanhumane.org
The National Foster Parent Association
http://www.nfpainc.org
Connecticut Association of Foster and Adoptive Parents
http://www.cafap.com
The Rhode Island Foster Parent Association
http://rifpa.org
New Hampshire Foster and Adoptive Parent Association
http://www.nhfapa.org
Vermont Foster and Adoptive Families Association
dsheltra@adelphia.org
The Massachusetts Alliance For Families
http://www.mspcc.org/site/PageServer?pagename=MAFF