Vol. 12, No. 3
June 2007

A Snapshot of UNC-Chapel Hill's Rural Success Project

In 2003 the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services awarded six 5-year grants (US ACYF 2003C.2) to universities to develop training to enhance the effectiveness of child welfare workers and supervisors serving rural communities.

The Family and Children’s Resource Program, part of the Jordan Institute for Families at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work, received one of these grants and launched the Rural Success Project. The project team hopes the lessons it learns can be translated into policies at the county, state, and federal level to improve the overall safety and well-being of rural children and families.

14 Intervention Counties
West: Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain and the Qualla Boundary
East: Bertie, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Northampton, Pasquotank, Warren

Training Interventions
Available only to participating counties
• Assessments of training needs
• A special rural curriculum: Cornerstone IV: Working with Outcomes by Building on Partnerships
• Eleven online courses for child welfare professionals and their community partners

Community Interventions
• Engagement dialogues to galvanize communities around child safety, permanence, and well-being
• Policy summits to be held for the state (spring 2007) and the Southeast U.S. (spring 2008)

Other Contributions
• Media guide for rural child welfare agencies
• Literature Review on rural child welfare work

To Learn More
Go to <www.ruralsuccess.org>.