Community Partnership (CPPC)

Community Partnership Approach

Community Partnerships for Protecting Children (CPPC) is a community-based approach to child protection. Partnerships work to prevent child abuse, neglect, re-abuse, safely decrease the number of out-of-home placements, and promote timely reunification when children are placed in foster care. The long term focus of the Community Partnerships is to protect children by changing the culture to improve child welfare processes, practices, and policies. The Community Partnership approach involves four key strategies which are implemented together to achieve desired results.

Click for Lakes Area CPPC Transportation Project Policies and Procedures

Strategies

• Shared Decision-Making: Provide leadership for collaborative efforts that promote community responsibility for the safety and well-being of children.
• Community and Neighborhood Networking: Promote cooperation and form alliances to provide more accessible and relevant informal and professional supports, services and resources for families whose children are at risk of abuse and neglect.
• Individuals Course of Action (Family and Youth Transitioning Decision-Making):
• Genuinely engage families and youth to identify strengths, resources, and supports to reduce barriers and help families succeed.
• Policy and Practice Change: Improve policies and practices to reduce barriers and increase accessibility and relevance of services that lead to positive family outcomes.

Guiding Principles 

• Parents and youth need to be full partners in shaping supports and services for themselves and their communities.
• Children should be with their own families, whenever possible.
• Families are stronger when all members, including caregivers, are safe from abuse.
• There is no substitute for strong families to ensure that children and youth grow up to be capable adults.
• Families need supportive communities to help them be strong and offer a sense of belonging.
• Children can best be kept safe when families, friends, residents, and organizations work together as partners.
• Services and supports need to be closely linked to the communities in which families live.
• Government alone, through the Department of Human Services (DHS) agency, cannot keep children safe from abuse and neglect.
• Efforts to reduce abuse and neglect must be closely linked to broader community initiatives and priorities.

Community Partnership for Protecting Children

HISTORY 

Iowa’s Community Partnership approach grew from initial work in Cedar Rapids in 1995 and now encompasses the entire state. Several new policy and practice changes in Iowa have been promoted, piloted and implemented through Community Partnership efforts. Family Team Decision-Making, Parent Partners and Youth Transition Decision-Making are examples of these efforts. Trainings, professional development opportunities, and train the trainer programs have been developed and implemented to support improved practices and ensure quality and consistency across the state. State and regional networking opportunities, workshops and forums create an on-going learning community of stakeholders.

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