Established in 1991, the USC Center on Child Welfare is a collaborative effort with the University of Southern California School of Social Work to advance child welfare practice through a combination of training, research and graduate education.

Located within a few blocks of the USC campus in downtown Los Angeles, the center features modern on-site classrooms with a professional staff that provides comprehensive training, curriculum development and consultation to child welfare professionals and community advocates aimed at empowering them to improve the lives of those they serve. It works mainly with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), the largest child protective agency in the United States, delivering an extensive training curriculum for both new and seasoned child welfare workers. 

The center also administers two public child welfare training contracts from the California Social Work Education Center (CalSWEC) and the Inter-University Consortium (IUC), which provide stipends for USC Master of Social Work students interested in public child welfare careers in California.