Mapping Concrete Supports and Re-entry in Foster Care: Active vs. Passive Casework Responses to Families Material Hardship

Families involved in the child welfare system frequently experience material hardship, including unmet needs related to housing, utilities, food, transportation, and basic household expenses. Public and practice discourse increasingly emphasizes “concrete supports” and resource-mobilization strategies as mechanisms to stabilize families, support reunification, and reduce the risk of foster care re-entry. However, it remains unclear how caseworkers screen for material hardship, mobilize concrete resources in practice, and what evidence links these practices to re-entry outcomes. To map the existing empirical and practice-oriented literature on this topic, a scoping review is appropriate, consistent with the objectives outlined by Arksey & O’Malley and expanded by Levac et al. The review will identify how concrete supports are conceptualized, operationalized, and implemented in child welfare settings, as well as summarize the extent of evidence connecting resource-mobilization practices to permanency outcomes.