Three-Branch Roles

Download more information about the three branches and their roles. You can view responsibilities, best practices, and they’re presented in a checklist format. This needs to be cleaned up in terms of content :


The Role of the Executive Branch
The Role of the Legislative Branch
The Role of the Judicial Branch

Three-Branch Readiness Assessment

This worksheet is intended to help representatives from any of the three branches of government — executive, legislative or judicial — or from outside the branches assess the state’s readiness for a three-branch approach to addressing the systemic problems that face vulnerable children and families. The worksheet can be used prior to forming a core team or after the core team has been formed.

The information gathered in this worksheet can serve several purposes:

  • Engaging other colleagues both within the representative’s branch of government or across branches to gain buy-in for taking a three-branch approach to reforming child welfare.
  • Conducting a state landscape analysis for use during the strategic planning process.
  • Determining specific challenges that must be addressed as well as strengths to build on.
  • Further developing the state’s strategic work plan.
Three-Branch Readiness Assessment

Strategies for Success Checklist


Strategies for Success Checklist

SWOT Analysis Tool

An analysis of strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT) will help you identify internal and external factors that can facilitate the development of your state’s goals and strategies. Complete the SWOT analysis for your branch or agency. Then, use your results to help develop your Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely (SMART) goals.


SWOT Analysis Tool

Smart Goals Worksheet

Use the results from your strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats (SWOT) analysis to develop goals. Use this worksheet to verify that your goal is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely (SMART).


Smart Goals Worksheet

Developing Strategic Plans

Once a representative from within or outside state government has obtained commitments from all three branches of government to proceed with the three-branch approach, this guide can help state core, implementation and extended teams create or expand a statewide strategic plan by designing a series of brainstorming discussions that result in the identification of measurable goals relevant to each branch, performance indicators tied to each goal for use in tracking progress and a set of concrete action steps. Specifically, this guide outlines four discussion sessions, which should be spaced out to give team members time to process and reflect on material discussed during the sessions.

Discussion Session Overview

  • Session 1: Define and Refine the Vision.
  • Session 2: Conduct Strengths-Weakness-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) Analysis.
  • Session 3: Refine Goals and Action Steps.
  • Session 4: Finalize the Strategic Plan.

A Child’s Journey through the Child Welfare System


Sample Work Plan


Sample Work Plan

Legislator Guide


Example Team Composition


Memorandum of Understanding


Memorandum of Understanding

Sample Work Plan (Virginia)


Sample Work Plan

Sample Kickoff Meeting Agenda