1

Protective Factors 

Approaches in Child Welfare

Protective factors are conditions or attributes 

of individuals, families, communities, and the 

larger society that mitigate risk and promote 

the healthy development and well-being of 

children, youth, and families. Put simply, 

they are the strengths that help to buffer 

and support families. Examples of protective 

factors include community support, parenting 

competencies, and economic opportunities. 

Protective factors help ensure that children 

and youth function well at home, in school, 

at work, and in the community. They also 

can serve as safeguards, helping parents who 

otherwise might be at risk find resources, 

support, or coping strategies that allow them 

to parent effectively—even under stress. 

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ISSUE BRIEFS | MARCH 2020

WHAT'S INSIDE

Conclusion

Why is a protective factors approach important?

Examples of protective factors approaches

Putting protective factors into practice

Additional resources

References
Children’s Bureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS | 800.394.3366 | Email: info@childwelfare.gov | https://www.childwelfare.gov 2

This issue brief provides an overview of national protective factors approaches to prevent child 

abuse and neglect. It is designed to help child welfare professionals, administrators, service 

providers, policymakers, and other interested individuals understand the concepts of protective and 

risk factors in families and communities and learn ways in which building protective factors can help 

lower the risk of child abuse and neglect now and in the future.

WHY IS A PROTECTIVE FACTORS APPROACH IMPORTANT? 

In the past, child maltreatment prevention 

and intervention strategies focused on 

eliminating risk factors—conditions, events, or 

circumstances that increase a family’s chances 

for poor outcomes, including child abuse and 

neglect. This emphasis on family risks (e.g., 

maternal depression, family violence, history 

of maltreatment) often left families feeling 

stigmatized or unfairly judged. In addition, 

focusing on risk factors does not always point 

the way toward solutions.

A protective factors approach to the 

prevention of child maltreatment focuses 

on positive ways to engage families by 

emphasizing their strengths and what parents 

and caregivers are doing well, as well as 

identifying areas where families have room to 

grow with support. A protective factors approach can help agencies build capacity and collaborative 

partnerships with other service providers, such as early-childhood and youth-service systems, that 

are likely to enhance cross-systems collaboration to support children and families and promote 

their well-being (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2015). Protective factors approaches also 

help children, youth, and families build resilience and develop skills, characteristics, knowledge, 

and relationships that offset risk exposure and contribute to both short- and long-term positive 

outcomes. 
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EXAMPLES OF PROTECTIVE FACTORS APPROACHES

What follows is an overview of some national protective factors approaches, including the Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Social-Ecological Model, the Center for the Study of 

Social Policy’s (CSSP’s) Strengthening Families and Youth Thrive approaches, the CDC’s Essentials for 

Childhood approach, and the Healthy Outcomes From Positive Experiences (HOPE) framework. Each 

approach is based on evidence or data; designed to affect policy; and involves practitioners, social or 

community connections, youth leaders, and parents. All the examples are driven by unique 

strategies developed to help families build protective factors, reduce risk factors, and prevent child 

abuse and neglect. For example, the Strengthening Families approach emphasizes ways to support 

parents, Youth Thrive concentrates primarily on strengthening adolescents and young adults, 

Essentials for Childhood promotes relationships and environments to help create neighborhoods 

and communities where children can flourish, and the HOPE framework stresses child well-being 

while working to reduce the effects of ACEs.

Child Welfare Information Gateway offers a two-part podcast series on protective factors that 

features guests from CSSP and the Arlington County, VA, Division of Child and Family Services:

 “Prevention: Protective Factors Part 1” 

 “Prevention: Protective Factors Part 2” 

Information Gateway’s podcasts cover a broad array of topics and are available via the Child Welfare 

Information Gateway Podcast Series webpage or wherever you get your podcasts.

Resilience

According to the American Psychological Association (n.d.), resilience is the ability to adapt to or 

cope with adversity (including trauma, tragedy, threats, and significant stress) in a positive way. 

It involves behaviors, thoughts, and actions that can be learned over time and nurtured through 

positive relationships with parents, caregivers, and other adults. Resilience in children, youth, 

and adults who have adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) enables them to thrive despite these 

experiences. 
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THE SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL MODEL

Social-ecological theory examines how people exist within and are shaped by their individual 

characteristics, families and other relationships, communities, and society. Figure 1 demonstrates 

the interrelations among common protective factors and their respective levels of the social ecology. 

The overlapping rings of the graphic illustrate how protective factors at one level influence factors 

at other levels.

More information on the social-ecological model is available on the CDC webpage, The SocialEcological Model: A Framework for Prevention. 

Figure 1

COMMUNITY OR SOCIETAL PROTECTIVE 

FACTORS

 Community norms of shared responsibility for 

supporting parents and families 

 Implementation of evidence-based practices 

 Access to basic needs and specialized services

RELATIONAL PROTECTIVE FACTORS

 Relationships with peers and reduced feelings of 

isolation

 Positive relationships within the extended family

 Ability to communicate emotions effectively

 Engagement in social institutions (e.g., schools, 

faith communities) 

 Secure parent-child relationships

INDIVIDUAL PROTECTIVE FACTORS

 Stress management

 Access to concrete support

 Hopefulness

 Problem-solving skills

 Resilience

 Parenting skills
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Prioritizing Protective Factors to Promote Child, Youth, and Family Well-Being

The Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), within the Administration for Children 

and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, commissioned a literature review and 

expert consultation project in 2012 to assist in building a protective factors approach to improve 

outcomes for its target populations. The project stressed the need to build protective factors in 

all domains of the social ecology—individual, family, and community/society—for these children, 

youth, and families to thrive. This effort was also meant to improve policies and programs that assist 

youth in or transitioning out of foster care; children and youth exposed to domestic violence; victims 

of child abuse and neglect; youth who are pregnant and parenting or runaway and homeless; and 

others supported by ACYF. One key finding was that the needs of extremely vulnerable children 

are similar to those of other children who are at risk, suggesting that the general literature on 

children and youth who are at risk might be helpful for identifying potential protective factors and 

interventions for extremely vulnerable children, youth, and families. 

As a result of ACYF’s 2012 literature review, Information Gateway developed several products 

focused on protective factors, including guides for practitioners focused on promoting protective 

factors for different populations, including at-risk families and youth, children and youth in foster 

care, children and youth exposed to domestic violence, pregnant and parenting teens, and victims 

of child abuse and neglect. The five factsheets highlighting the different populations can be found 

in Information Gateway’s publications catalog.

Refer to Information Memorandum 18-05: Reshaping Child Welfare in the United States to Focus 

on Strengthening Families Through Primary Prevention of Child Maltreatment and Unnecessary 

Parent-Child Separation for more information about ACYF’s commitment to building family and 

community strengths using a protective factors approach.
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STRENGTHENING FAMILIES

Strengthening Families, developed by CSSP, is an evidence-informed approach that builds on 

existing research to enhance program and worker practices. Since it is used by multiple programs 

and systems to help families build protective factors within various contexts, Strengthening 

Families also aims to develop methods and tools to support diverse applications and adaptive 

implementations of their framework (CSSP, n.d.-a, n.d.-b). The Strengthening Families approach 

focuses on building the following five protective factors in parents and caregivers that are associated 

with lower rates of child abuse and neglect and with optimal child development (CSSP, 2015a): 

1. Parental resilience: Manages stress and functions well when faced with challenges, adversity, 

and trauma 

2. Social connections: Builds positive relationships that provide emotional, informational, 

instrumental, and spiritual support

3. Knowledge of parenting and child development: Understands child development and parenting 

strategies that support physical, cognitive, language, social, and emotional development

4. Concrete support in times of need: Has access to support and/or services (e.g., healthy food; a 

safe environment; specialized medical, mental health, social, educational, and legal services, as 

needed) that address a family's needs and help minimize stress caused by challenges

5. Social-emotional competence of children: Encourages family and child interactions that help 

children develop the ability to communicate clearly, recognize and regulate their emotions, and 

establish and maintain relationships

Thirty-five States have active, statewide Strengthening Families efforts (C. O'Connor, personal 

communication, August 16, 2019). Most States use this approach for child abuse and neglect 

prevention programming, but the approach is also used in other sectors, including child welfare 

services, family support, early care and education programs, prevention activities at State children’s 

trust funds, and home visiting. More information on Strengthening Families is available on the CSSP 

webpage Strengthening Families: Increasing Positive Outcomes for Children and Families. 
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Parent Cafés 

Parent leaders from Strengthening Families Illinois developed the Parent Café model in 2007 as 

a parent-to-parent way to bring the Strengthening Families protective factors to families. Parent 

Cafés are physically and emotionally safe spaces where parents and caregivers can talk about the 

successes and challenges of raising a family. Through personal self-reflection and peer-to-peer 

learning, participants explore their strengths, learn about protective factors, and create strategies 

to help strengthen their families. Parent Cafés are highly sustainable with training reinforcement, 

institutional support, and a commitment to an approach that engages and affirms parents as 

leaders.

Be Strong Families provides training and support for organizations hosting Parent Cafés, as well as 

the following variations on the original model:

 Dads Cafés give fathers a safe space to talk with one another about their roles and goals as 

fathers and provides them with the social support they need to help them accomplish those 

goals.

 A More Perfect Union Parent Cafés allow parents to explore the broader context for parenting. 

Using cards and questions, conversations revolve around parenting and social justice issues, such 

as housing rights, as well as talking with children about difficult issues.

 Vitality Cafés provide an opportunity to discuss how parents can take care of themselves across 

six domains: physical, mental and emotional, spiritual, social, financial, and environmental.

For general information about the Parent Café model, visit the Be Strong webpage on Parent Cafés. 

To learn about evaluation efforts and the evidence base for Parent Cafés, visit the webpage Be 

Strong Families Parent Café Evaluation.

For more information on engaging parents directly in building protective factors for themselves, 

read Using Café Conversations to Build Protective Factors and Parent Leadership. 
Children’s Bureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS | 800.394.3366 | Email: info@childwelfare.gov | https://www.childwelfare.gov 8

YOUTH THRIVE

CSSP's Youth Thrive protective and promotive factors1 approach focuses on older children, 

adolescents, and young adults (ages 9 through 26), particularly youth who are involved in the child 

welfare and juvenile justice systems. Youth Thrive is a research-informed framework that identifies 

protective and promotive factors shown to enhance youth well-being and healthy development. 

Child welfare and juvenile justice agencies can use the framework to examine and revise policies, 

practices, and staff training to be more consistent with research findings and responsive to the 

dynamic changes that older children, youth, and young adults experience. 

Working in partnership with six jurisdictions and a variety of national partners, Youth Thrive is 

redefining how policymakers, practitioners, community-based programs, advocates, families, and 

other caring adults can advance healthy development and well-being for youth. The Youth Thrive 

Framework includes five protective and promotive factors in adolescents and young adults (CSSP, 

2015b):

1. Youth resilience: Helps youth manage stress and function well when faced with challenges, 

adversity, or trauma 

2. Social connections: Helps youth build trusting, healthy relationships with peers and adults who 

support and encourage them to be engaged in the community and social institutions (e.g., school, 

recreational facilities)

3. Knowledge of adolescent development: Encourages parents or caregivers, youth-serving 

professionals, and youth themselves to learn more about adolescent development, including 

information on brain development and changes that occur during puberty

4. Concrete support in times of need: Encourages youth to seek help when needed and ensures 

they receive basic necessities and specialized services (e.g., medical, mental health, legal)

5. Cognitive and social-emotional competence: Helps youth develop executive-function skills (e.g., 

considering consequences of actions), character strengths (e.g., persistence, integrity, joy), and 

self-awareness

To view a variety of tools, resources, and information on training related to Youth Thrive, visit the 

CSSP webpage Youth Thrive: Catalyzing Systems to Stand With Youth. The Youth Thrive Survey

(scroll down to Survey Instrument), a valid, web-based self-assessment instrument, measures the 

strength and growth of protective/promotive factors in youth. The survey was designed with input 

from youth and young adults and takes less than 15 minutes to complete.

1 The term "promotive factors" tends to be used more in the youth development field than in the child welfare field. 

Promotive factors make positive outcomes more likely across the board, regardless of risk. Protective factors make positive 

outcomes more likely in the face of risk. The term "protective factors" tends to be used as shorthand or an umbrella term to 

mean both of those concepts. 
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ESSENTIALS FOR CHILDHOOD

The CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control defines three critical qualities of 

relationships and environments that can reduce the occurrence and negative effects of child 

maltreatment and other ACEs (CDC, 2019): 

1. Safety: The extent to which a child is free from fear and secure from physical or psychological 

harm within his or her social and physical environment

2. Stability: The degree of predictability and consistency in a child’s social, emotional, and physical 

environment

3. Nurturing: The extent to which children's physical, emotional, and developmental needs are 

sensitively and consistently met

CDC’s Essentials for Childhood focuses on four goals that are critical for creating the context for 

safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments:

Goal 1: Raise awareness and commitment to promote safe, stable, nurturing relationships and 

environments for all children

Goal 2: Use data to inform actions

Goal 3: Create the context for healthy children and families by changing norms and programs

Goal 4: Create the context for healthy children and families through policies

While each individual goal is important, meeting the four goals together is more likely to build 

a comprehensive foundation of safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments for 

children. CDC has funded seven State health departments to implement the four goals. 

For more information on parent education and practices that help reinforce protective factors, 

read Information Gateway’s issue brief, Parent Education to Strengthen Families and Prevent 

Child Maltreatment. This issue brief explores parent education in prevention and child welfare 

and highlights promising programs that have shown positive results for strengthening families 

and preventing child abuse and neglect. It showcases innovative State and local programs that 

help parents best support and care for their children. It also lists parent education resources and 

discusses the key characteristics and training strategies of effective programs.
Children’s Bureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS | 800.394.3366 | Email: info@childwelfare.gov | https://www.childwelfare.gov 10

For additional information on Essentials for Childhood, refer to the following:

 Essentials for Childhood: Creating Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships and Environments

[webpage] 

 Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect: A Technical Package for Policy, Norm, and Programmatic 

Activities 

 "Essentials for Childhood: Promoting Safe, Stable, Nurturing Relationships and Environments"

[special issue of International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice] 

THE HOPE FRAMEWORK

The emerging HOPE framework focuses on the power of positive day-to-day experiences to 

promote child well-being and mitigate the effects of ACEs (Sege et al., 2017). The HOPE framework 

includes protective and promotive factors while incorporating other positive factors that decrease 

the effects of childhood adversity and increase the opportunities for children to develop resilience 

and recovery skills. Factors such as equitable environments in which to develop, play, and learn have 

led to positive health outcomes for children as they grow and reach adulthood (Sege & Browne, 

2017). Survey results demonstrate that the presence of positive childhood experiences can mitigate 

the effects of ACEs, decreasing the likelihood of depression or poor mental health in those with four 

or more ACEs by 72 percent (Bethell et al., 2019).

HOPE identifies positive childhood experiences in the following four areas:

1. Nurturing and supportive relationships: Secure attachments to parents or caregivers who are 

affectionate and responsive, as well as positive relationships with peers

2. Safe and stable environments: Places to live, grow, play, and learn that offer stable housing, 

adequate nutrition, quality learning opportunities, and physical activities to benefit children's 

health and development

3. Social engagement and a sense of connectedness: Engagement in social institutions and 

environments (e.g., schools, recreational facilities, faith communities) where children feel loved, 

valued, secure, and confident

4. Social and emotional competencies: Ability to expresses feelings in appropriate ways, understand 

others' emotional states, and manage challenging experiences effectively

For more information about the HOPE framework, including new and promising evidence that shows 

the importance of positive childhood experiences for healthy child development despite adversity, 

listen to the September 2019 Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) peer learning call, 

"HOPE Conquers ACEs," and read Balancing ACEs With Hope: The Role of Positive Experiences in Child 

Development. Evolving information and resources are available from the HOPE website.
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What Are Caregiver Protective Capacities?

Caregiver protective capacities complement protective factors (Child Welfare Information Gateway 

& FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention, 2019). Both are used 

to assess and serve families, but the focus and scope of each are slightly different. Prevention 

practitioners use protective factors to assess and strengthen families (with a focus on prevention), 

while protection professionals use caregiver protective capacities to assess child safety and risk (with 

a focus on protecting children once child abuse or neglect has occurred) (Capacity Building Center 

for States, 2016).

Protective capacities are expressed, understood, or felt by individuals and result in parents and 

caregivers with increased abilities to care for their children and keep them safe in circumstances that 

are potentially dangerous. 

Protective capacities and characteristics include the following (Capacity Building Center for States, 

2016; ACTION for Child Protection, 2010): 

For more information on protective capacities and factors, see the “Protective Capacities and 

Protective Factors: Common Ground for Protecting Children and Strengthening Families” 

infographic and webinar (scroll down to Webinars) from the Children’s Bureau’s Child Welfare 

Capacity Building Center for States. Free registration is required to access these resources.

CAREGIVER PROTECTIVE CAPACITIES

Behavioral: Actions and performance that result in protection against danger (e.g., 

a parent controls his or her impulses in parenting situations and sets aside his or her 

own needs to care for his or her child[ren])

Cognitive: Knowledge, understanding, and perceptions that result in protection 

against danger (e.g., a parent recognizes his or her child’s needs and when the child’s 

safety is threatened)

Emotional: Feelings, attitudes, and identification with a child that result in protection 

against danger (e.g., a parent shows love toward his or her child[ren] and has secure 

attachments with the child[ren])
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PUTTING PROTECTIVE FACTORS INTO PRACTICE

Many jurisdictions across the United States are already applying protective factors approaches. 

The following examples illustrate a variety of ways to incorporate the national protective factors 

approaches to support children, youth, families, and communities:

 The Utah Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) incorporates the Strengthening Families 

and Youth Thrive approaches into HomeWorks, an evidence-based in-home services program. 

The program is intended to support parents as they deal with the issues that brought their 

families to the attention of the child welfare system while helping children remain safely at home. 

HomeWorks provides caseworkers with skills and tools, such as the Utah Family and Children 

Engagement Tool (UFACET) and the Transition to Adult Living UFACET. Both tools are modified 

Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment intake forms that include a 

protective factors component focused, in part, on the family's perception of its strengths. Because 

the forms are part of CANS, DCFS can track the effects of the tools on casework practice. Utah 

DCFS also provides its staff with training and coaching opportunities. Supplemental training 

resources include the following:

– HomeWorks: A Family Guide to DCFS In-Home Service 

 The Arlington County, VA, DCFS collaborated with CSSP to implement a protective factors-based 

approach at all agency levels. Supervisors; mid-level managers; caseworkers; frontline workers; 

and staff from a variety of disciplines, including child welfare, behavioral and mental health, child 

care, and parent-infant education, received training on protective factors and how to incorporate 

them into their day-to-day work with children and families. DCFS launched a toolkit to help 

supervisors talk about and reinforce the importance of protective factors in individual supervision 

sessions and team meetings. Supervisors received tip sheets to help them coach workers in 

supporting and planning with families to address their strengths and diverse needs. 

To learn more about how the Arlington County DCFS trained staff, how professionals can help 

parents build skills that improve protective factors, and lessons agency leadership learned about 

communicating with staff to embrace the shift toward protective factors, listen to Information 

Gateway's podcast, "Protective Factors Part 2" (see page 3 in this publication). 

 New Jersey’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) has a longstanding commitment to 

implementing strategies that identify and build on protective factors for children, youth, and 

families using both the Strengthening Families and Youth Thrive approaches. For example, New 

Jersey adapted the 3-day Youth Thrive training curriculum to its specific policies, procedures, and 

local youths’ circumstances. They developed in-State capacity to reduce child abuse and neglect 

and, in 2016, began to provide the training several times a year, reaching both child welfare staff 

and service providers. For younger children and their families, DCF has used the Strengthening 

Families protective factors framework to support child and family safety and well-being. In 2015, 

DCF worked with the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance (formerly the National Alliance of Children’s 
Children’s Bureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS | 800.394.3366 | Email: info@childwelfare.gov | https://www.childwelfare.gov 13

DCF worked with the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance (formerly the National Alliance of Children’s 

Trust and Prevention Funds) to launch the organization’s training curriculum, Bringing the 

Protective Factors Framework to Life in Your Work. They expanded it in 2018 to include plans 

of safe care, focusing on engaging families with substance-exposed infants. In addition, DCF’s 

implementation of the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood 

is based on the Youth Thrive protective and promotive factors approach to promoting the healthy 

development and well-being of youth. DCF formed the Task Force on Helping Youth Thrive in 

Placement and published a report with recommendations to help children in foster care remain 

connected to their friends and communities. Resources on DCF’s application of protective factors 

approaches include the following:

– Strengthening Families 

– Helping Youth Thrive in Placement 

– New Jersey DCF Plans of Safe Care training video 

For more than 30 years, the Children’s Bureau’s CBCAP program has been developing programs 

and activities to prevent child abuse and neglect. Managed by a State lead agency in all 50 

States; Washington, DC; and Puerto Rico, CBCAP supports the collaboration and coordination 

of resources and activities to better strengthen and support families to reduce the likelihood of 

child maltreatment. This work has included and continues to include implementing and evaluating 

programs with a protective factors approach. 

As part of the CBCAP grants, California's Community Engagement Advisory Committees (CEACs) 

and Youth Action Councils (YACs) use the Strengthening Families protective factors approach 

to build strong communities as well as social supports, social and emotional competencies, and 

resilience in children and youth. Supported by family resource centers operating throughout 

Orange County, CEACs include neighborhood residents (e.g., parents, grandparents, community 

members) and stakeholders from businesses, nonprofits, and faith communities. In partnership 

with family resource centers, CEACs and YACs are designed to play an active role in developing 

social connections and influencing positive community change. Community youth involved in the 

CEACs build social competence as they take on roles of decision-makers and problem-solvers. This 

experience, in turn, helps build resilience. The resilience of parents, grandparents, and community 

members is also strengthened as they work together to support their local family resource centers. 

As all participants become engaged, social supports are strengthened as well.

Resources on Orange County family resource centers include the following:

– Orange County Families and Communities Together: 2017–2018 Annual Report: Building a 

Brighter Future for Orange County's Children

– Orange County Families and Communities Together family resource center services

For more information about CBCAP, including child maltreatment prevention activities authorized 

under this program, visit the FRIENDS webpage What Is CBCAP?.
Children’s Bureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS | 800.394.3366 | Email: info@childwelfare.gov | https://www.childwelfare.gov 14

CONCLUSION

A protective factors approach to prevent child abuse and neglect provides support to children and 

families at risk of maltreatment. Evidence- and data-based approaches can help build capacity 

and enhance partnerships across disciplines to strengthen families and promote their well-being. 

Protective factors such as concrete supports and social connections help parents build safe, 

stable, and nurturing relationships and environments for their children. Families, communities, 

practitioners, and advocates may help foster social and emotional competencies at the individual, 

family, and community levels. Such strategies may lead children who experience adversity to 

develop resilience and skills. ACEs may be mitigated by positive childhood experiences, and 

more children may have equitable environments in which to play, learn, and grow into mentally, 

emotionally, and physically healthy adults. 

Building Capacity to Evaluate Community Collaborations to Strengthen and Preserve Families

In 2018 and 2019, the Children’s Bureau funded grants to States, communities, and Tribes to 

develop, implement, and evaluate proactive strategies that build on the strengths of families, 

including families at high risk of child maltreatment. The Building Capacity to Evaluate Child Welfare 

Community Collaborations to Strengthen and Preserve Families grants support community-level 

mobilization around the development of multisystem collaboratives. They provide a continuum of 

activities and services designed to support families and strengthen protective factors. Each grantee 

is developing and evaluating practices and methods to reduce new referrals to public child welfare 

agencies; reduce unnecessary removals of children from their homes; reduce entry into foster care; 

and improve cross-systems, primary prevention of child abuse and neglect. 

As one project example, the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation developed the Community 

Collaborative Toolkit to help communities assess readiness for change, build capacity, develop 

sustainability plans, and identify policy goals to improve the impact and long-term outcomes for 

children, youth, and families. 

It also has a protective factors webpage that describes its approach to supporting children and 

families.

For more information about this project, visit the Children’s Bureau webpage Building Capacity to 

Evaluate Child Welfare Community Collaborations to Strengthen and Preserve Families 2018 - 2023 - 

Overview. 
Children’s Bureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS | 800.394.3366 | Email: info@childwelfare.gov | https://www.childwelfare.gov 15

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The following resources provide additional information about protective factors approaches in child 

welfare:

CHILDREN'S BUREAU RESOURCES

Child Welfare Information Gateway Resources

The Prevention Resource Guide focuses on protective factors that build on family strengths for 

healthy child and youth development. 

The Protective Factors Framework [webpage] provides resources relating to the use of the 

protective factors framework in child welfare systems, including a series of factsheets for 

practitioners on promoting protective factors for different populations served by ACYF. 

Protective Factors in Practice Vignettes [webpage] illustrate how protective factors support and 

strengthen families. These vignettes may be used during training for new family support workers, as 

a learning tool when working with parents, or to stimulate discussion at a parent or community café. 

Tip sheets are designed for service providers to share with parents and other caregivers. They 

provide a starting point for a discussion between parent and provider that is grounded in the 

protective factors. 

National Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Assistance and Strategic Dissemination Center 

(CANTASD) Resources

Preventing Child Neglect is a training series developed by CANTASD and the Children’s Trust Fund 

Alliance. Training 3 specifically explores how protective factors can shield individuals and families 

from the risk factors for neglect. 

"The X-Y Factor: Engaging Dads Using the Protective Factors" is a Digital Dialogue hosted by 

CANTASD with the National Fatherhood Initiative. The resources are designed to help practitioners 

engage fathers and encourage them to build the five protective factors of Strengthening Families. 

Capacity Building Center for States Resource

Prevention of Child Maltreatment and Unnecessary Foster Care Placement [webpage] provides 

resources—including publications, videos, and webinars—for agencies to develop preventionfocused, community-based services that strengthen the protective capacities of families. 

FRIENDS National Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention Resource

Protective factors surveys are designed for use with parents and caregivers involved in child 

maltreatment prevention and family support services. 
Children’s Bureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS | 800.394.3366 | Email: info@childwelfare.gov | https://www.childwelfare.gov 16

OTHER RELEVANT RESOURCES

Parents' Assessment of Protective Factors is a strengths-based tool to assess the presence, strength, 

and growth of parents’ self-reported beliefs, feelings, and behaviors that are regarded as indicators 

of the Strengthening Families protective factors. 

Youth Thrive Survey is a strengths-based tool to assess the presence and growth of protective and 

promotive factors in youth and young adults. 

Parent Need 2 Know Resources [webpage] are created to help parents and/or those who work with 

them in building protective factors using the Strengthening Families approach. 

Protective Factors [webpage] includes information on Bringing the Protective Factors Framework to 

Life in Your Work: A Resource for Action, a protective factors in-person or online training. 

What Parents Say... issue briefs include the perspectives of parents with life experience in using 

services to strengthen their families and help them build protective factors, with a focus on timely 

and important topics.

Preventing Child Neglect [webpage] builds on extensive work to promote the protective factors 

framework, key informant interviews, research findings from the literature, and other strategies for 

identifying what works to prevent child neglect. 

The Pathway to Improved Outcomes for Children and Families: Defining the Five Protective Factors

provides definitions of the five protective factors in Strengthening Families. 

The Community Toolkit to Prevent Child Neglect includes research, infographics, and factsheets for 

communities to prevent child neglect.

Community Cafés offer tools and local examples to prepare and train caregivers from the 

community to host conversations in partnership with organizations. 

REFERENCES

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and adult mental and relational health in a statewide sample: Associations across adverse 

childhood experiences levels. JAMA Pediatrics, 173(11), e193007. https://doi.org/10.1001/

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Capacity Building Center for States. (2016). Protective capacities and protective factors: Common 

ground for protecting children and strengthening families. https://go.usa.gov/xR7nY
Children’s Bureau/ACYF/ACF/HHS | 800.394.3366 | Email: info@childwelfare.gov | https://www.childwelfare.gov 17

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stable, nurturing relationships and environments for all children. https://www.cdc.gov/

violenceprevention/pdf/essentials-for-childhood-framework508.pdf

Center for the Study of Social Policy. (2015a). Core meanings of the Strengthening Families protective 

factors. https://cssp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Core-Meanings-of-the-SF-ProtectiveFactors-2015.pdf

Center for the Study of Social Policy. (2015b). Youth Thrive: Protective and promotive factors. https://

cssp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/youth-thrive-protective-promotive-factors.pdf

Center for the Study of Social Policy. (n.d.-a). The research behind Strengthening Families (five 

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cssp.org/our-work/projects/the-strengthening-families-national-network/

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2015). Child welfare—Early education partnerships to expand 

protective factors for children with child welfare involvement. https://www.childwelfare.gov/

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Sege, R., Bethell, C., Linkenbach, J., Jones, J., Klika, B., & Pecora, P. J. (2017). Balancing adverse 

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SUGGESTED CITATION:

Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2020). Protective factors approaches in child welfare. 

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and 

Families, Children's Bureau.

This material may be freely reproduced and distributed. However, when doing so, please credit Child Welfare Information 

Gateway. This publication is available online at https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/issue-briefs/protective-factors/.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children and Families

Administration on Children, Youth and Families

Children’s Bureau