for the training of professional and paraprofessional personnel in the fields of health care, medicine, law enforcement, judiciary, social work and child protection, education, child care, and other relevant fields, or individuals such as court appointed special advocates (CASAs) and guardian ad litem, who are engaged in, or intend to work in, the field of prevention, identification, and treatment of child abuse and neglect, including the links between domestic violence and child abuse and neglect;

to improve the recruitment, selection, and training of volunteers serving in public and private children, youth, and family service organizations in order to prevent child abuse and neglect;

for the establishment of resource centers for the purpose of providing information and training to professionals working in the field of child abuse and neglect;

for training to enhance linkages among child protective service agencies and health care agencies, entities providing physical and mental health services, community resources, and developmental disability agencies, to improve screening, forensic diagnosis, and health and developmental evaluations, and for partnerships between child protective service agencies and health care agencies that support the coordinated use of existing Federal, State, local, and private funding to meet the health evaluation needs of children who have been subjects of substantiated cases of child abuse or neglect;

for the training of personnel in best practices to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities, including promoting interagency collaboration;

for the training of personnel in best practices to promote collaboration with the families from the initial time of contact during the investigation through treatment;

for the training of personnel regarding the legal duties of such personnel and their responsibilities to protect the legal rights of children and families;

for the training of personnel in childhood development including the unique needs of children under age 3;

for improving the training of supervisory and nonsupervisory child welfare workers;

for enabling State child welfare agencies to coordinate the provision of services with State and local health care agencies, alcohol and drug abuse prevention and treatment agencies, mental health agencies, other public and private welfare agencies, and agencies that provide early intervention services to promote child safety, permanence, and family stability;

for cross training for child protective service workers in research-based strategies for recognizing situations of substance abuse, domestic violence, and neglect;

for the training of personnel in best practices relating to the provision of differential response.

accepts, screens, and assesses reports received to determine which such reports require an intensive intervention and which require voluntary referral to another agency, program, or project;

provides, either directly or through referral, a variety of community-linked services to assist families in preventing child abuse and neglect; and

provides further investigation and intensive intervention when the child’s safety is in jeopardy.