Technical Assistance

The National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW) has operated since 2002. Joint funding comes from the Children’s Bureau (CB), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). NCSACW is a national resource center providing information and expertise, as well as training and technical assistance (TA) to child welfare, dependency court, and substance use treatment professionals.

NCSACW offers on-site and virtual TA, develops and disseminates TA tools, creates educational materials and training curricula, maintains an extensive web presence, and provides a range of TA activities for agencies representing health and social service providers—including substance use and mental health disorder treatment providers, child welfare agencies, family courts, public health, healthcare, maternal and child health, and early childhood services.

NCSACW strives to support systems change, improve practice, and reduce stigma related to families affected by substance use disorders (SUDs) through enhanced agency collaboration—based on a shared understanding of the needs and challenges of families and the systems that serve them. The goal is to improve safety, permanency, well-being, and recovery outcomes for children, parents, and families. NCSACW also researches, compiles, and shares examples of successful programs with other jurisdictions to expand best practices in communities nationwide. Consultation and TA are designed to provide information, resources, best practices, guidance, and effective strategies.

What is Technical Assistance?

The NCSACW uses a variety of methods to ensure availability and easy access to resource information, training materials, cross-systems tools and protocols, and in- person and virtual technical support. All NCSACW resources are free and focus on strategies for working with families affected by substance use and involved in the child welfare and family courts systems.