California Core Practice Model

The California Core Practice Model (CPM) merges and unifies promising practices from a variety of child welfare initiatives that have been implemented throughout California over the last decade and a half.  One goal of the CPM is to define California’s child welfare services as a profession grounded in theory, with a set of core values, common elements and identified behaviors.  Another goal is to engage child welfare leaders, practitioners and system partners, as well as communities and tribes in the implementation of a collaborative, comprehensive and consistent approach to child welfare practice.  

California’s child welfare community has a long and respected history of pioneering and implementing successful approaches to serving children and families.  Due to the state-supervised and county-implemented structure of California’s system, the state has had numerous opportunities at both the state and local levels to develop innovative practices and initiatives aimed at improving outcomes.  An unintended consequence of California’s child welfare history of such practices is what has been referred to as ‘multiple initiative fatigue’ among practitioners: the variety of emerging and established initiatives and practices hampering California’s child welfare community from having a consistent statewide approach to child welfare practice.  The CPM is the response to this multiple initiative fatigue: it is the unifying framework that integrates the most promising elements of such initiatives providing a uniform model.

Additional Resource: CalSWEC CPM

For more information or questions, contact:
Jennifer Buchholz (jbuchholz@csufresno.edu).