This webinar engaged participants in reviewing and weighing in on a new strategic plan that is being developed for the Strengthening Families initiative. See how the plan is taking shape so far, and share your thoughts on what should be included and where you think we (CSSP and national, state, and local partners) should focus
In this webinar, community providers discuss the challenges they face in providing responsive services, including building evidence and operating in the context of restrictive “evidence-based” standards, as well as recommendations for actions state and federal policymakers can take to ensure all families have the support they need through expanding access and availability of programs that
While many individuals and organizations, including funders, see the value of family engagement, they often struggle with the logistics of how to engage families. This webinar, by CSSP and Family Voices, provides an example of family engagement in systems level work. Read the full Moving Beyond the Family Engagement Check Box: An Innovative Partnership to
This webinar highlighted how new kinds of partnerships with public interest law allies—including some underway through the DULCE Learning Network—can expand access to justice for families and strengthen the early childhood sector. We’ll be joined by MLPB, which has pioneered an integrative approach to linking early childhood stakeholders with legal problem-solving assets.
This webinar featured answers to questions about Strengthening Families implementation and included speakers from CSSP and the National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds about new resources and opportunities.
This webinar included segments from one of the training sequences from the National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds’ new four-part training, “Let’s Talk About . . . Preventing Child Neglect.” Participants were also introduced to the remaining three training sequences in the series and other valuable resources related to preventing child neglect.
This webinar explores the new Early Childhood System Performance Assessment Toolkit from the Center for the Study of Social Policy, which contains guidance and tools to measure various aspects of how well your local early childhood system is working to improve the reach of child and family services, coordination among those services, commitment of the
This webinar focused on the Preschool Development Grant funding opportunity released in fall 2018, and how states were writing family engagement and protective factors into their proposals.
This webinar featured a presentation from Mosaic Network about how tools and resources related to Strengthening Families can help programs engage in continuous quality improvement (CQI) for their family engagement efforts.
This webinar offers perspectives from several cities that engaged in the decade-long Making Connections initiative, the lessons learned about building community capacity, and understanding how to ensure lasting change in communities.
This webinar discusses implications of Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standards under the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act (H.R.4980) for expectant and parenting youth and their children in foster care.
This webinar focuses on exciting efforts around the country to implement Strengthening Families at the community level, including new framing from the CSSP and slides you can use in your own presentations.
This webinar focuses on professional development strategies. Jessica Sugrue leads a group of other experienced trainers in a “fishbowl” conversation about strategies in implementing Strengthening Families across different fields.
In this webinar, Samantha Ames gives an overview of so-called “conversion therapy” and provide tools for attendees to become advocates to end these dangerous and discredited practices.
This webinar discusses efforts in three states to help parents build protective factors through their involvement in the corrections systems—including how correctional systems are taking a protective factors approach with parents.
This webinar shares a new scan of innovative programs serving young parents and their children in rural areas and suburban pockets of poverty and discusses the ongoing work of Early Childhood-LINC.
This webinar focuses on how child welfare jurisdictions are using a protective and promotive factors approach with foster and resource parents.
This webinar discusses how the Strengthening Families approach is being used to support parent and family engagement through Quality Rating and Improvement Systems for early care and education.
This webinar discusses how we can expand the conversation around building healthy communities to prevent child neglect.
This webinar discusses how CASA volunteers in Idaho take a protective factors approach to their work with families, the training they’re receiving, and the small but significant changes they are making.
This webinar discusses cafés designed to build protective factors, with a spotlight on the Caring Conversations Café model. It will also include updates from other models out in the field.
This webinar focuses on how the Strengthening Families approach aligns with healthy relationship and marriage education. Also, Ted Futris and David Schramm discuss the National Extension Relationship and Marriage Education Model.
This webinar discusses CSSP’s framework of community approaches to toxic stress—how efforts to build protective factors, reduce sources of toxic stress, and implement trauma-informed care fit together at the community level.
This webinar discusses Strengthening Families through family, friend, and neighbor care providers—what should be considered when working with them and innovative strategies for collaboration.
This webinar discusses the integration of protective factors into North Carolina’s trauma informed care initiative, as well as Be Strong Families’ training on “Living the Protective Factors.”
This webinar discusses parents and protective factors and the resources available for parents.
This webinar discusses how the Early Childhood and Health Learning Collaborative is using a protective factors approach, as well as activities and lessons from early learning collaboratives.
This webinar discusses how supportive housing programs help families build protective factors, including how four sites piloted a protective factors approach in supportive housing for families on the brink of child welfare involvement.
In this webinar, Tabitha Kelly discusses how Arlington County infuses a protective and promotive factors approach throughout their Division of Child and Family Services—including child welfare and behavioral health services.
This webinar discusses the First 2,000 Days initiative in Calgary, Alberta, which is using the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework to shape their collective impact work.
In this webinar, Rhiannon Reeves discusses the new Child Care Development Fund regulations and what effect they may have on state Quality Rating and Improvement Systems.
This webinar discusses strategies that Strengthening Families Alaska uses to reach Native Alaskan families, as well as strategies that help bring protective factors messaging and support to rural Alaskan communities.
This webinar discusses the mini-grant process that Strengthening Families West Virginia uses to help communities and programs make small but significant changes to help families build their protective factors.
This webinar shows how Corrections and the Department of Early Learning work together to focus on the protective factors of parents eligible for alternative sentencing.
This webinar presents a new resource from Butterfly – Trainings that Transform. Also, Maureen Durning and Jane Zink discuss their book, “STRONG: Teaching the Strengthening Families Protective Factor Framework to Parents and Professionals.”
This webinar discusses how family resource centers and family support networks help families build protective factors. It includes updates from the CSSP and the Alliance about ongoing work and opportunities.
This webinar presents Colorado’s new state child abuse and neglect prevention plan and how it builds on, and advances, their ongoing implementation of Strengthening Families.
This webinar includes updates from the Alliance and time dedicated to answering questions about Strengthening Families implementation.
This webinar introduces the importance of HOPE, a framework that studies and promotes positive child and family well-being. Dr. Bob Sege connects evidence for HOPE to actions that improve effectiveness.
This webinar focuses on how a protective factors approach can be used to support kinship care providers. It includes input from the CSSP and the Alliance about new resources and opportunities.
This webinar checks in on the CDC’s Essentials for Childhood initiative and discusses how two states are implementing it and how it is connected to their Strengthening Families work.
This webinar discusses how Strengthening Families is being implemented throughout the state of Kentucky. Kentucky has made great strides in advancing the protective factors approach over the past three years.
This webinar presents and demonstrates a new interactive online community where professionals can exchange ideas, resources, innovative approaches, and policies to improve outcomes for young people in or transitioning from foster care.
In this webinar, Dr. Charles Bruner discusses why place and race are important to health equity in early childhood. He also examines the role of family support in transforming child health.
This webinar discusses the new Prevention Planning Toolkit from the Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Assistance and Strategic Dissemination Center. It also discusses prevention planning at state and local levels.
This webinar discusses the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities’ two-year brain science initiative, Change in Mind—including lessons learned and specific examples from the 15-site cohort.
This webinar discusses Journey to Vitality, a new café series coming out from Be Strong Families, and how it connects with Parent Cafés and Strengthening Families.
This webinar discusses a recent paper from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard and the three science-based ideas that drive action across a wide variety of fields.
This webinar focuses on how groups around the country are using the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework to communicate with parents and caregivers.
This webinar provides an introduction to the science of implicit bias. Viewers will learn about the formation of implicit associations as well as the key dynamics of this social psychological phenomenon.
This webinar provides participants with information about work done the first two years of getR.E.A.L Allegheny. It details the progress, challenges, successes, and opportunities the project affords children and families.
This webinar answers questions about Strengthening Families implementation and refers you to relevant materials in a real-time technical assistance clinic.
This webinar answers questions about Strengthening Families implementation and refers you to relevant materials in a real-time technical assistance clinic.
This webinar focuses on the report, “A Prenatal to Three Blueprint for Child Well-being and Child Welfare Prevention: Building a Primary Prevention Continuum to Support the Health and Well-Being of Children Prenatal to Three,” including guiding principles and strategies for building and enhancing a comprehensive continuum that meets the needs of young children and their
This webinar discussed work that explores how community conditions that strengthen families can be improved. Listeners learned about the results of a survey done earlier this year and the themes we found in the survey. Find the report related to this webinar here. You can access the executive summary here.
This webinar takes a deeper dive into the barriers that are likely holding back or limiting large-scale adoption of the common practices among pediatric primary care teams nationwide. We will describe our recommendations for action: (1) building national leadership for systems change, (2) identification and elimination of specific systemic barriers, and (3) supporting pediatric primary
This webinar shares the 14 Common Practices and describes examples of how they are being implemented by the exemplary programs and pediatric settings CSSP visited and highlights stories from the staff and families from those site visits. This webinar shares learnings from Fostering Social and Emotional Health: Common Threads to Transform Everyday Practice and Systems;
Dr. Jill Sells, MD, FAAP spoke to attendees about how to more effectively engage the pediatric community in early childhood partnerships which help families connect to prenatal-to-three supports. She shared ways in which medical providers could be unique assets in the work and helped participants understand realities of the pediatric practice. Dr. Sells explained barriers
What is included in the NEW version of the nationally-adopted Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening and Support? Learn about what it means to be a quality Family Strengthening and Support Program building the Protective Factors, and how the revised Standards support programs to advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Experts discussed how family support professionals and organizations have adapted to serve families during the COVID-19 outbreak, and what we are learning that we will carry forward from this time. Find the resources shared by the panelists here.
The audience learned about the Building Family Economic Mobility Toolkit from the National Center for Parent, Family, and Community Engagement.
This video discusses resources from ZERO TO THREE focused on building protective factors with military families. Co-presenters include CSSP and the National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds.
This video explains revisions to the Head Start Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Framework and adaptations for Early Childhood Systems, intended for state, tribal, and territory leaders, administrators, providers, parents, and other decisionmakers in early childhood systems and programs.
Cailin O’Connor of CSSP and Martha Reeder of the National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds responded to questions from participants about implementation of Strengthening Families. We covered a wide range of topics, including implementing Strengthening Families in a medical setting, how protective factors are related to ACEs, and how we can reach families
In this webinar, learn best practices and tools for centering equity and constituent voice in data collection, analysis, reporting, and use. Topics explored included: the best ways to capture race and ethnicity within data systems; how frontline workers can better ask nonjudgmental questions about young people and families’ identities throughout the life of a case;
This webinar, from the Automatic Benefit for Children (ABC) Coalition, shared innovative outreach strategies to raise awareness about the child tax credit and how families can sign up.
This webinar focused on a new digital tool available for communities to assess and improve upon their efforts to work across systems to become an Early Learning Community – and learn about how the building blocks of Early Learning Communities point us toward opportunities to help families build protective factors throughout our communities.
This webinar shared the latest information on DULCE, what we are learning about implementation, and plans for expansion.
Ensuring child and family well-being requires a radically different, anti-racist response of supports that center the voices of diverse children and families of color, are dignified and strengths-based, and that are offered in spaces they trust. As this brief highlights, community-based organizations across the country are striving to answer that call despite numerous barriers. This
In 2022, Youth Thrive created new, dynamic tools and resources that youth-serving agencies and organizations can use to understand adolescent development and promote youth well-being. In this webinar, we showcased the latest tools and resources, including the Social Connections Module, co-developed by Dr. Julie Radlauer-Doerfler, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Collectively.
CSSP’s Youth Power, Parent Power initiative partnered with New Jersey’s Montclair State University and the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) on a youth-driven research project to explore the risk and protective factors associated with first and repeat births among females emancipating from foster care. Young parents with lived experience identified the research questions, analyzed the
This webinar addressed how Black feminist theory and understandings, including reproductive justice, guides us toward the abolition of the family policing system and the creation of (envision) a society where children, families, and communities are no longer over surveilled by state systems and have the power and resources for what they need to live freely
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 includes a historic one-year expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), providing much-needed concrete support to families with children. This webinar discussed the benefit as well as steps to take to ensure that this expanded benefit reaches the children who need it most, including children in Black, Latinx,
To support the health and well-being of children and families of color, we must implement comprehensive strategies that address systemic and institutional racism. This report offers a blueprint for creating equity-centered, anti-racist policies that support the health and well-being of children and families of color. Watch a webinar on the Blueprint here. Download Toolkit to
Attendees learned about a project bringing early childhood partners together with housing and community development providers to better serve families with young children. This webinar also provided information about what these partners have to offer each other and how they can work together to improve outcomes for young children
This webinar brings a discussion by the PSU research team and participating parents of some of the key themes that emerged as well as their recommendations for how the child and family health system can be more supportive to their family relationships. Then three national discussants each discuss the importance of the findings and implications
This session is one of six in the CASCW Fall Webinar Series “Supporting Permanency and Transitions to Adulthood for Youth in Care.” Presented by Vida K. Khavar, MA, LMFT, getREAL Project Director and Bill Bettencourt, Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of Social Policy.
This webinar highlighted a process for partnering with young mothers with lived experience in foster care in conducting research to inform policy and practice for expectant and parenting youth in foster care. Presenters discussed new research findings and research-based strategies for supporting young mothers in care and preventing unplanned subsequent pregnancies.
This webinar provided a Strengthening Families introduction for people who are new to the protective factors framework and the Strengthening Families approach. It also served as a free, pre-conference training for people attending the Together for Families conference October 14-16, 2020, but is open and available to anyone who would like an introduction or refresher
This webinar presented the framework of opportunities to leverage Title V and Medicaid partnerships and offer reflections from thought leaders about the importance of action. Access the slides here.
This webinar discussed the elements of the FCCHS that when adopted and coordinated, can drive transformation at the system, community, and policy levels and bring forward commentaries from thought leaders and advocates. Speakers include David Willis, MD and Dr. Shadi Houshyar of CSSP, Matt Biel, MD of Washington, DC’s Early Childhood Innovation Network, and Molly
The fundamental elements for advancing family-centered community health systems for young families exist today and now is the time to bring them together in an approach that is conceptually coherent. This paper outlines these elements which, when adopted and coordinated, can drive transformation at the system and community level. Listen to a webinar on FCCHS.
This webinar, part of the quarterly Youth Thrive Alive! forums, worked to highlight the structural, systemic and institutional inequities that are persistent barriers to youth thriving and achieving their goals. Presenters discussed how various Ism’s such as racism, ageism, and sexism impact youth well-being.
Attendees learned about the anti-racist intersectional frame developed by the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), and to explore its application to CSSP’s Strengthening Families work and other projects related to young children and their families. The webinar also discuss opportunities to apply the frame within your own Strengthening Families work in your
This webinar offered an opportunity to reflect on the importance of foundational relationships and how this work can strengthen the protective factors framework and be integrated with your implementation of Strengthening Families.
This webinar presented key findings from the FrameWorks Institute’s research and recommendations about communicating the importance of early relational health to non-experts along with commentary from national leaders about the importance of these perspectives.
This webinar showcased early adapters of the Youth Thrive Survey and the lessons and findings they learned from their implementation process.
In this webinar, attendees learned about the building blocks of an Early Learning Community and learn how to use exciting new, free tools that can help you assess your current efforts and build an action plan.
This webinar is about innovative ways Strengthening Families training is being provided around the country, including discussion on online training modules for child welfare system of care workers in West Virginia and online learning activities from the Prevention Board in Wisconsin.
This webinar discussed 90by30, a community-campus partnership based in Lane County, Oregon whose stated mission is to decrease child abuse 90% by the year 2030. This initiative is housed at the University of Oregon’s Center for the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect (CPAN), a community engagement, public health model using the Strengthening Families Protective Factors
During this webinar, representatives from two EC-LINC communities shared how they created funding for local early childhood initiatives and discussed the successful ballot initiative that established the CSCPBC organization and the role it plays as a local funder of early childhood services in Palm Beach County. The speakers also shared tips on how to be successful
This webinar focused on supporting family-level protective factors in a family resource center setting. Dr. Malcolm Gaines from San Francisco’s Safe & Sound shared strategies and ways they are innovating.
This webinar from Manatt Health and CSSP shared our recent publication, A Blueprint for Leveraging Medicaid and CHIP to Foster Children’s Healthy Emotional and Social Development and Transform Pediatric Primary Care.
Cristina Novoa, senior policy analyst at the Center for American Progress (CAP), outlined a comprehensive policy framework to eliminate racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality. Participants learned about opportunities for federal action as well as innovative local approaches. Ms. Novoa also shared factors contributing to racial disparities, including not only racism, but also underinvestment
This webinar focused on how a protective factors approach can be applied in child welfare practice.
The Youth Thrive™ Survey is an innovative instrument designed to be used by organizations serving youth and young adults ages 12-26 to measure and improve their well-being. This webinar provides an overview of how to access and administer the Youth Thrive™ Survey.
This webinar explores the long-standing challenges involved with connecting families with supportive housing, as well as how these dynamics impact the likelihood of child welfare involvement for families of color.
This webinar shares the journey of how Indian Oaks Academy, through an inclusive institutional change process, established a facility culture that is supportive and accepting when working with LGBTQ+ youth.
In this webinar, Meredith Danks shares findings from a study completed in New York City involving 283 LGBTQ youth engaged in survival sex. She also discusses the complexity of Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
This webinar provides participants with information about beFIERCE, a new publication that invites you to actively engage in supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) foster youth.
This webinar presents findings from the Young Parenthood Project, designed to test the efficacy of a co-parenting counseling program for parenting and expecting adolescents. It discusses the implementation, challenges, and implications involved.
In this webinar, Dr. Bianca D.M. Wilson discusses the state of sexual orientation and gender identity demographic research among adolescents. It explores what research has discerned about sexual and gender minority foster youth.
This webinar presents an approach to ensuring that every EPY is connected to a mentor—including collaborative partnerships creating a shared system for recruitment, capacity building, tracking impact, and continuous quality improvement.
In this webinar, Marylouise Kuti presents a school-based model focusing on needs of adolescent parents and their children. The model incorporates case management, home visitation, and access to child development centers.
In this webinar, Deputy Commissioner Michael Williams and his colleagues discusse their work to develop and operationalize data-driven strategies to address racial disparities in the state’s child welfare system.
This webinar discusses a framework of community approaches to toxic stress and how cities and counties can use the framework to improve the well-being of their youngest residents.
This webinar introduces the use of predictive analytics, how states are designing and implementing the technology, considerations to identify and reduce racial bias, and information from other public systems.
In this webinar, Carole Hussey and Heather Baker discuss the benefits/challenges of predictive analytics, the tools/methods used for predictive analytics, real world examples, and methods for mitigating bias.
The webinar summarizes a fresh approach to family engagement along a continuum, highlighting cutting-edge strategies for early childhood agency and program leaders to promote equity-driven, family-led systems change.
In this webinar, Dr. Jesse Russell discusses the structural factors that bring families to the attention of child welfare agencies and how to consider these factors when implementing predictive modeling tools.
This webinar includes a primer on Federal civil rights laws that protect children and families from discrimination in the child welfare system and examines discriminatory barriers found throughout HHS and DOJ.
In this webinar, presenters share findings from their report, “Safe Havens: Closing the Gap Between Recommended Practice and Reality for Transgender and Gender-Expansive Youth in Out-of-Home Care.”
In this webinar, a panel discussion highlights strategies for bringing a strengths-based approach to the administration of screening tools deployed in healthcare settings—tools addressing unsustainable cost and inequity.
This brief overviews Strengthening Families and Essentials for Childhood. It explores the common ground and differences to be considered when using the two together. (36 pp)
By July 15th, nearly 39 million families, covering 88% of children, will have automatically received their first month’s Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments, helping them with the cost of raising children. However, for the CTC to fulfill its potential to cut child poverty nearly in half, it must reach the nearly nine million children whose
We are in the process of developing a new strategic plan for the Strengthening Families initiative. (Read more about the history of the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework and its implementation around the country in a blog post from January, or check out all the materials in the Strengthening Families section of our website.) This
Our latest product, Moving Beyond the Family Engagement Check Box: An Innovative Partnership to Promote Authentic Family Engagement in Systems Change, by CSSP and Family Voices provides valuable insight about best practices for engaging families as well as how to create and implement a process for engaging families in the national Pediatrics Supporting Parents (PSP) initiative to promote the social and emotional development (SED) of young children.
Today, the Center for the Study of Social Policy, with our partners at Manatt Health, are excited to release a new resource, Fostering Social and Emotional Health through Pediatric Primary Care: A Blueprint for Leveraging Medicaid and CHIP to Finance Change, which is designed as a practical guide for advancing action in the pediatric primary
Throughout CSSP’s Strengthening Families initiative, ZERO TO THREE has been a critical partner in supporting providers to take a strengths-based, protective factors approach to families with infants and toddlers. Today we welcome a guest blog post from Julia Yeary, LCSW, ACSW, IMH-E®, Director of Military Projects at ZERO TO THREE, whose work focuses on supporting
CSSP’s Youth Power, Parent Power initative partnered with New Jersey’s Montclair State University and the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) on a youth-driven research project to explore the risk and protective factors associated with first and repeat births among females emancipating from foster care. Young parents with lived experience identified the research questions, analyzed the
The getREAL initiative works to transform child welfare policy and practice in order to promote the healthy development of LGTBQ+ and gender expansive children and youth. We have been at this work and influencing the child welfare system for nearly a decade, and while we can say that—along with others—we have made inroads to the
A growing body of research provides evidence that the places where children live, learn, and play have a significant impact on their health and development. Early childhood advocates increasingly recognize the importance of these community determinants of health and are paying more attention to the housing, neighborhood, and community conditions in which families are raising
Over the past decade, increasing numbers of early childhood leaders across the country have been working to build systems with two distinct features. First, they take as their mission the well-being of all of the young children in the community, not just those enrolled in a specific program or service. Second, they bring together what
In the United States (US), young children ages birth to four are the most racially and ethnically diverse age group. This diversity should mean that policy and practice are particularly focused on serving the needs of this ever-growing, diverse population. Unfortunately, policy has not been responsive to the needs of children and families of color
In 2012, CSSP launched getREAL (Recognize, Engage, Affirm, and Love), an innovative initiative designed to help transform and influence child welfare policy and practice to promote the healthy development of sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression (otherwise known as SOGIE) for all children and youth. When it comes to youth well-being and healthy sexual and identity
The past decade has brought an explosion of scientific knowledge about child development and the effects of early adversity. How can we apply this science on a daily basis?