Conferences & Training

Differential Response Conference

Register Now for the 2009 Conference on Differential Response in Child Welfare

This year’s conference will be held Nov. 11-13 at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pa.

The registration brochure is only available electronically. Please feel free to forward this information to your co-workers and colleagues.

Please join American Humane and Annie E. Casey Foundation/Casey Family Services for a FREE pre-conference institute, How Differential Response Systems Are Addressing Poverty-Related Neglect, on Wednesday, Nov. 11 from 1 to 6 p.m. (EDT). For more information and to register for the poverty summit, download the pre-conference flyer.

For more information on this exciting opportunity and other conference offerings, download the registration brochure.

Learn more about American Humane’s differential response initiative.

Hope to see you in Pittsburgh!

Background on Differential Response in Child Welfare

Since the mid-1990s, an increasing number of states have been implementing differential response in their child protective services systems. Differential response, also referred to as “dual track,” “multiple track” or “alternative response,” is an approach that allows child protective services to respond differently to accepted reports of child abuse and neglect. While there is great variation among the states’ implementation of differential response, the assessment pathway is generally applied to low- and moderate-risk cases with no immediate safety concerns. The families in these cases receive a family assessment and are offered timely, strengths-based services without a formal determination or substantiation of child abuse or neglect. The investigative response is typically reserved for accepted high-risk reports that may involve egregious harm to children. While the ability to offer choices in how agencies respond to reports of child maltreatment intuitively makes sense, implementing such a child protective services system is a complex and intricate proposition. Learn more about Differential Response and past conferences.

This conference aims to build knowledge and skills, disseminate ongoing practices and provide an exchange of ideas across states, counties and provinces on a range of topics related to implementing and sustaining differential response in child welfare.