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• 
•      …a statewide association of more than
      130 private nonprofit agencies
             dedicated to providing services of the
  highest quality to vulnerable
              children and their families
• 
  

Who We Are
What We Do
About Our Members
Advocacy
Member Benefits
Committees
Membership Conferences
Practitioner Training
Statewide Training
Placement Vacancies

Join the Alliance

Associate Information

Who We Are

The California Alliance of Child and Family Services is a statewide association of more than 130 private nonprofit child and family serving agencies committed to providing the highest quality services in the most caring and effective fashion.

Formed on January 1, 2000, through the merger of the California Association of Services for Children (CSC) and the California Association of Children's Homes (CCH), the Alliance and its parent associations have a combined history of more than 60 years of advocacy on behalf of California's most vulnerable children and families and the organizations that serve them.

What We Do

The California Alliance of Child and Family Services provides legislative and regulatory advocacy on behalf of our member agencies regarding a wide range of key policy issues. The Alliance represents member agencies to the:

• Office of the Governor
• State Legislature
• Health and Human Services Agency
• Department of Finance
• Department of Mental Health
• Department of Social Services
• Community Care Licensing Division
• Department of Education

About Our Members

Member agencies provide a wide array of services and support annually for tens of thousands of children and their families throughout California. Services and programs offered by member agencies include:

• Adoptions.
• Community Treatment Facilities.
• Foster family-based care and treatment.
• Group home care.
• Mental health day treatment services.
• Intensive treatment foster care.
• Residential treatment.
• Special education, non-public school services.
• Wraparound services and support.
• Charter schools.
• Family preservation.
• Foster care emancipation and transitional housing.
• In-home intervention and support.
• Kinship care.
• Outpatient therapy and counseling.
• Psychiatric services and medication support.
• School-based services.
• Shared family care.
• Substance abuse treatment.
• Therapeutic behavioral services.
• Transitional services and housing.
• Vocational and job readiness for youth.
• Wraparound services and support.

The members of the California Alliance are a diverse group of organizations reflecting the racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the people of California. Agencies are located throughout California, from San Diego to the Oregon border. Some agencies are more than 100 years old and began as orphanages founded by religious and other charitable organizations. Other agencies were established more recently and are still directed by their founders. Some agencies are very large and operate multiple programs in multiple sites, ranging from campus-based residential care to in-home family preservation services. Other agencies are more specialized, providing adoption services, for example or operating one or two specialized six-bed group homes in the community.

The members of the California Alliance recognize that member agencies must develop the capacity, within their own organizations or in collaboration with others, to ensure that a full range of services and support needed by vulnerable children and their families is available. Multi-agency collaborations and networks, offering a range of services to ensure the safety, stability, and permanency of children and families, are commonplace among member agencies.

The members of the California Alliance share a commitment to excellence and strive to improve the quality of care and services provided to at-risk children and families. This is demonstrated through member agencies' commitment to accreditation, outcomes measurement, and continuing education programs for practitioners in the field.

If you are interested in quality care, you will be interested in the Alliance.

Advocacy

The California Alliance of Child and Family Services pursues an aggressive agenda of legislative and regulatory advocacy on behalf of its member agencies and the children and families they serve.

Staff represents the Alliance before the Legislature, regulatory and administrative agencies, and the Governor's Office. Experienced and expert, staff members monitor the state budget, lobby both for and against legislation. The California Alliance promotes programs and policies that are beneficial to children and families, guards the resources necessary for member agencies to meet the needs of the children and families they serve, and vigorously opposes legislative and administrative actions that are potentially harmful.

The staff team of the California Alliance maintains effective working relationships with officials in key state departments, including Social Services, Mental Health, Education, and Health Services. Staff meets regularly with departmental representatives to ensure fair interpretation and application of laws and regulations that impact member agencies. Staff members work collaboratively with county-focused organizations such as the County Welfare Directors Association, the California Mental Health Directors Association, and the Chief Probation Officers Association to impact policy at the local level.

The California Alliance also contributes to building a stronger voice for children and families through partnership with other child advocacy organizations at both the state and national levels. The California Alliance is a member of the Child Welfare League of America, the Alliance for Children and Families, the National Organization of State Associations for Children, and the California Mental Health Advocates for Children and Youth.

The Alliance works in partnership with other advocacy organizations including the California Association of Adoption Agencies, the California Children's Lobby, the California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies, the California Partnership for Children, and the California Youth Connection.

Member Benefits

When an agency joins the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, it joins a family of outstanding organizations that can be counted on for support, advice, and technical assistance. Member agencies receive all the following services and benefits:

• Representation on statewide policy issues before the Administration, California Legislature, and state administrative and regulatory agencies.
• Assistance in interfacing with state agencies to get questions answered and problems resolved.
• Two annual membership conferences for executives that offer Group Home Administrator and professional CEUs with no registration fee.
• Reduced rates at practitioner training seminars and conferences.
• Agency inclusion in the Member Directory of Services, posted on-line and distributed to placing agencies statewide.
• Weekly Monday Morning Updates keeping member agencies abreast of current trends and policy developments.
• Comprehensive and detailed Alerts and Updates on budgetary, legislative and regulatory issues impacting member agencies.
• Access to Members Only areas on the Alliance website for critical information and public policy position decision-making.
• Legislative Bill Tracking Reports following bills having potential impact on member agencies.
• Direct access to Alliance staff with expertise in areas impacting member agencies.
• Opportunities to set policy direction guiding legislative and regulatory advocacy by actively participating on Alliance committees and work groups in program areas of interest.

Committees

The work of the California Alliance is done by its Board of Directors and in its committees. A member agency's voice is as strong as the involvement of its Executive and senior staff on the working committees of the association.

The Alliance has two primary types of committees: business and program committees. Executives of member agencies are strongly encouraged to participate and to assign senior level management staff to participate in the work of both business and program committees. The Chair of each committee also has a seat on the Board of Directors.

Members of the Membership and Nominating Committees are elected by the general membership of the Alliance. While the Membership Committee focuses on the areas of recruitment, accreditation, and membership, the Nominating Committee annually recruits a slate of candidates from the membership to stand for election as President and Nominating and Membership Committee members.

The Research and Evaluation and Continuing Education Committees are working committees dedicated to raising the level of practice of member agencies. The Research and Evaluation Committee is charged with encouraging and supporting member agencies' efforts to evaluate both the process and outcome of their services and to use the data they collect to improve the quality of the programs they offer. The Continuing Education Committee plans and directs the Alliance's year-round program of education and training for practitioners. Membership on both committees is open to all interested member executives and senior management staff.

Each program area represented by the Alliance has a committee that determines and monitors the legislative and regulatory agenda in that program area for the year. Member agencies with active programs in each program area are entitled to one voting member on the corresponding program committee. The seven Program Committees include:

1. Adoption
2. Education
3. Family Based Services
4. Foster Family Agency
5. Mental Health
6. Juvenile Justice
7. Residential Care

Membership Conferences

Each year the California Alliance holds two membership conferences for executives and senior managers incorporating seminars and workshops on a wide variety of timely and important topics. Often the list of speakers includes members of the state Legislature, high-ranking individuals from within the state administration, from county welfare, mental health agencies, and juvenile probation agencies, or from partner associations with which the Alliance collaborates.

All seminars and workshops at membership conferences are approved by the California Department of Social Services for Group Home Administrator continuing education credits and by the Board of Behavioral Sciences Examiners for LCSW and MFT continuing education credits.

The general membership business meetings are held at these conferences and are punctuated with lively discussions regarding the latest "hot issues".

Providing excellent opportunities for the exchange of ideas and for networking with colleagues in a relaxed, informal environment, conferences are held in enjoyable locations throughout the state.

Practitioner Training

The California Alliance is committed to building a highly skilled and appropriately compensated workforce of professionals. The Alliance provides an extensive array of training and continuing education opportunities specifically geared to improving the skills of direct care staff, clinicians, and administrators working in child and family services.

Statewide Training

Each year the California Alliance co-sponsors with the Northern California Placement Committee a two-day Partnership Conference for child and youth care workers, foster parents, child welfare workers, supervisors and clinicians.

In addition to an array of excellent workshops, the Partnership Conference offers participants a chance to showcase their agencies in an exhibit booth format, network with their counterparts from other agencies, and exchange ideas with participants from both private and public agencies.

The Alliance co-sponsors with the Community Care Licensing Division two training conferences for foster family agencies, one each in Northern and Southern California. The Alliance is also a sponsor of the California Coalition of Mental Health Advocates for Children and Youth's annual conference at Asilomar Conference Center for practitioners, advocates, family members, policy makers and administrators.

Placement Vacancy System

An online interactive database providing an up-to-date listings of available vacancies in Alliance member group homes and foster family agencies, absolutely free for County placement workers and probation officers to use.

Try it out here.