Meeting Description: The National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare facilitated the Practice and Policy Academy on August 25-27,2020. The participating sites were comprised of cross-agency and cross-system partners from Alaska, Arizona, Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Riverside, CA. Each site convened to enhance their state or county’s capacity to meet the needs of infants affected by substance abuse or withdrawal symptoms resulting from prenatal drug exposure, or a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and their families.

The Practice and Policy Academy supported the sites in creating a state- or county-specific action plan to address practice and policy changes strengthen collaboration across systems to develop a comprehensive approach to Plans of Safe Care for these infants and their affected family or caregiver.

During the meeting, teams explored how to further their understanding of current practices, gaps, and barriers; identified potential changes in practices, policies, and state legislation; and, developed or strengthened their collaborative structure and processes.

If you have any further questions about the Practice and Policy Academy, please email us at practiceandpolicyacademy@cffutures.org or call us at (714) 505-3525.

This breakout session was an opportunity for participants to ask the experts any follow up questions they had from the pre-Academy virtual plenaries and from Connecticut’s presentation.

During this breakout, current Practice and Policy Academy sites discussed how they’re using their National Quality Improvement Center for Collaborative Community Court Teams (QIC-CCCT) to address the needs of infants and families affected by substance use disorders and prenatal substance exposure