Thursday, April 28
Action Lab Sessions D
1:15 pm – 2:15 pm

D1 – An Analytic Framework to Address Economic-Related Risk Factors in Child Welfare (Spotlight Track)

This presentation describes an analytic framework that state and local child welfare agencies and system partners can use to measure economic risk factors in child welfare. Efforts that aim to address economic risk, (e.g., income and housing supports) require adequate analytic approaches to define economic risk among children and families, collaborate with stakeholders to prevent maltreatment, and assess the effectiveness of prevention practices that mitigate economic risk. This analytic framework was developed using a multi-disciplinary roundtable of experts from academia with federal, state, and local agencies. This presentation will describe the framework, data and analytic methods agencies can use to implement the framework, and lessons from applications of these methods.

Presenters: Robin Ghertner and Emily Madden, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, US Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC; Dana Weiner, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 

D2 – National Family Preservation Network’s (NFPN) Family Assessment Tools   

This hands-on workshop will highlight NFPN’s family functioning assessment tools. The speakers will provide a brief history of NFPN before instructing participants on the application of the tools. Participants will then be given case studies and tool samples and practice using them. Discussion will then be lead on the results of participants’ practice assessment. Finally, participants will use the results to develop a portion of a case plan and learn how to use the tools to measure program outcomes.

Presenters: Michelle Reines, National Family Preservation Network, Asheville, NC; Anne Cornell, First Home Care, Washington, DC 

D3 – Mobilizing Data and Communities to Support Families (Kinship and Adoptive)   

OhioKAN partners with systems to identify and develop collaborative strategies to address knowledge and capacity gaps in communities across Ohio. This action lab outlines a comprehensive process to convene and mobilize cross-county regional advisory councils comprised of professional partners as well as families (kinship and adoptive) members with lived expertise. Presenters will walk step-by-step through a process of identifying family needs, assessing community resources, gathering community input, and co-designing cross-system action plans to reduce barriers and increase access to services that support families (kinship and adoptive).

Presenters: Veronica Burroughs, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Columbus, OH; Stephanie Clone, Kaye Implementation and Evaluation, Tacoma, WA; Amber Phelps, Kinnect, Cleveland, OH

D4 – Stratifying Treatment: Creating Change Through the Lens of Culture and Trauma     

The evidence-based Family Centered Treatment model, from its very first session with a family, initiates a comprehensive series of assessment activities aimed to gather information related to protective and risk factors, historical and generational trauma, cultural influences, and natural community-based supports. Both formal and activity-based assessments are utilized to increase the engagement of the family in the process. A team approach ensures all involved parties are aware of the findings and routine reassessment occurs at targeted intervals during treatment. This experiential action lab will explore the steps of the process and provide participants with concrete tools for use in their field.

Presenter: Stephanie Glickman, Family Centered Treatment Foundation, Charlotte, NC 

D5 – Partnering with Parents: Building a Birth Parent Advisory Board   

This session will focus on the value and purpose of having a Birth Parent Advisory Board as an integral part of policy and practice reform in child welfare agencies. Participants will learn about the stages of Birth Parent group development, how to navigate potential barriers, and what it takes to implement a successful Birth Parent Advisory Board.

Presenters: Rachael Hudgins and Monica Roose, Indiana Department of Child Services, Indianapolis, IN 

D6 – Building a 21st Century Research Agenda to Increase the Use of Research in Child Welfare Decision-Making

Since 2020, Lived Experience Experts, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Casey Family Programs (CFP) and the William T. Grant Foundation have been working in partnership with individuals representing a broad array of experts, stakeholders, and people with lived experience to identify research gaps in community-based family support, child protective services, out-of-home care, and post permanency services. CWLA, the American Public Human Services Association, and the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, along with Black Administrators in Child Welfare, the National Indian Child Welfare Association, Child Trends Hispanic Institute and Social Currents were partners in this effort. The Transformative Research Agenda is grounded in principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and was co-designed with those with lived experience. The intent of the agenda is to use research to transform the way in which we support families and communities.

CWLA will continue to advance this work by hosting the agenda on our website, sharing important research efforts and opportunities that support the agenda in our various publications and at our National Conferences. The purpose of this session is to familiarize people with the agenda and to discuss how it can be used to support the transformation of child welfare. The session will be facilitated by representatives from CWLA and Casey Family who were involved in the creation of the agenda.

Presenters: Christine James-Brown and Julie Collins, CWLA, Washington, D.C.; representative from Casey Family Programs, TBC

D7 – Child Protection System Reform in Sri Lanka: Global Theory and Practice with Relevance for FFPSA  

After 6 years of advocacy and support to child protection authorities in Sri Lanka, key government and civil society partners are ready to roll out UN-defined alternative care in Sri Lanka. In this interactive workshop, we’ll go through a strategy for working with government, the complexities of care reform, and the global measures that point to country success in a transition to family-based care. Through working groups, we will wrestle with each aspect of systemic change and look at how to examine the policy to practice gaps–all with an “it can be done” spirit.

Presenter: Ian Forber-Pratt, Children’s Emergency Relief International (CERI), St. Louis, MO 

D8 – CASA: A Model for Community Investment and Collaboration 

CASA, or Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, is a unique model that brings trained, supported, and supervised community volunteers into our court and child welfare systems to collaborate with the many people involved in a child’s case and advocate for children and their families. CASA has long worked hand-in-hand with families and has had its own 4As approach–advocacy that informs awareness, creates action, and promotes accountability. We’ll discuss the impact and fundamentals of CASA’s work and the answers they offer to our child welfare community as we work to meet the demands of FFPSA implementation and respond to the call for bold change in our system.

Presenter: Richard Heyl de Ortiz, CASA of New York State; Alexandra Fields-Evans, CASA of DC

Thursday, April 28
Action Lab Sessions E
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

E1 – Evidence Based Program (EBP) Exploration and Cost Tool: A Family First Planning and Implementation Tool for Effective Selection of EBPs (Spotlight Track)

This session will guide attendees through the use of Chapin Hall’s EBP Exploration and Cost Tool in the planning and implementation of the Family First service array. We will discuss how various jurisdictions have used the tool to enhance the service selection process, lessons learned, and key financial implications when assessing implementation costs of EBPs. Participants will walk away with a better understanding of the tool and how it can be used in the context of Family First implementation.

Presenters: Kristen Gore & Jason Brennen & Katrina Dorse, Chapin Hall, Chicago, IL

E2 – Raising the Future: Shared Leadership® with Diverse Groups of Parents & Youth Nationwide   

This presentation by the National Parent Leadership Team® and Parents Anonymous® Inc. will focus on 10 Essential Steps to Meaningful Shared Leadership with Parents & Youth to achieve positive outcomes.  The best practices and research results of the California Parent & Youth Helpline and online weekly Parents Anonymous Groups for Parents, Children and Youth will be discussed. Actionable local, state, and national policy efforts and funding strategies to support a National Parent Leadership Network in shared leadership® with local communities will be addressed, ensuring anti-racist, anti-classist, and anti-sexist results that support the empowerment journey of ALL parents, children, and youth.

Presenters: Lisa Pion-Berlin, Parents Anonymous Inc, Claremont, CA; Antonia Rios, National Parent Leadership Team®, Claremont, CA 

E3 – Caseworker Intensity Measures: What Our Caseworkers Told Us and How We Can Leverage New Understanding of Caseworkers’ Experiences Investigating Allegations of Maltreatment to Prevent Caseworkers from Leaving the Field         

In 2021, the Indiana Department of Child Services spoke with caseworkers about the difficulties of conducting investigations of maltreatment. We found that not all allegations are created equal and that caseworkers want more than anything to do their jobs well. How can this knowledge inform reductions in the intensity caseworkers face in the field? This is a challenging task, but vital to creating a stable workforce. Caseworker turnover is a hallmark obstacle in child welfare–but the options available to tackle this challenge are improving.

Presenter: Aubrey Kearney, Indiana Department of Child Services, Indianapolis, IN

E4 – Keeping Kids Safely at Home: Blending Science and Technology for Better Outcomes   

Most children involved in the child welfare system have a parent with a behavioral health disorder. This skills-building workshop offers a brief history and overview of effective behavioral-based interventions, highlights the science behind these interventions, and identifies barriers that have limited the expansion of these models. Using science, technology, and federal funding as a framework, participants will discover opportunities and strategies to improve awareness, accountability, and outcomes for families affected by behavioral health disorders. The session will conclude with the sharing of technical assistance and training resources available through the Division of State Systems (DSS) in the Administration on Children, Youth and Families (ACYF).

Presenters: Philip Breitenbucher, California Baptist University, Riverside, CA; Kerry Browning, Department of Health and Human Services, Lackawanna County, PA

E5 – Prevention, Permanency, Proven Results: The National Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams (START) Model    

START is a specialized child welfare service delivery model that has been shown to improve outcomes for children and families affected by parental substance use and child maltreatment. The model uses a variety of strategies to promote collaboration and systems-level change within and between child welfare agencies, substance use and mental health treatment providers, the judicial system, and other family-serving entities. This action lab will provide an overview of the National START Model, including discussion on implementation pathways, available funding sources, program evaluation design, and a detailed review of current scientific evidence including comparative outcomes for Black children served by START.

Presenters: Tina Willauer, Children & Family Futures, Lake Forest, CA; Brook Kearley, University of Maryland School of Social Work Institute for Innovation and Implementation, Baltimore, MD 

E6 – Overcoming the Workforce Crisis in Public Child Welfare

While critical conversations about the future of child welfare are occurring across the nation, many public and private agencies continue to struggle with workforce issues such as shortages of qualified candidates and high turnover. There is no more significant impact on the ongoing instability of child welfare agencies than the current workforce crisis. Participants in this action lab will join other child welfare leaders in a facilitated, solution-focused conversation regarding the current state of these workforce issues and how our investment in human capital is critical to the quality of services delivered to children and families. We will explore national data on turnover in child welfare and comparable industries, discuss recruitment and retention issues, address the impact on staff and the families they serve, and highlight promising practices.

Presenters: Jeff Lukich, DLH Corporation, Atlanta, GA; Paul DiLorenzo, CWLA Senior Fellow, Bala Cynwyd, PA

Thursday, April 28
Action Lab Sessions F
3:45 pm – 4:45 pm

F1 – Service Array Transformation: Leveraging a Service Referral Application to Build Cross-System Collaboration and Improve Outcomes for Communities in Washington, DC, that are Vulnerable (Spotlight Track)

The CWLA National Blueprint identifies the importance of having an array of services that help vulnerable families accomplish developmental tasks. However, child welfare systems often face barriers to achieving this goal due to the challenge of assessing community service needs, the inability to identify gaps in service arrays based on assessed needs, and the absence of a CQI processes to improve access to services over time. This action lab will focus on the implementation of a service referral technology within Washington, DC, that addresses these barriers, and its implications for child welfare nationally.

Presenters: Michael J Stiehl, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Sharafdeen Ibraheem, DC Child & Family Services Agency, Washington D.C., DC; Samantha Adelberg, Unite Us, New York, NY

F2 – Nature and Healing: A Partnership to Spread the Word   

Casey Family Programs and the Children & Nature Network have joined together to form a unique partnership. When we connect what we know about the negative impacts of trauma with the equally restorative effects of spending even short periods of time in nature, we can recognize enormous opportunities. Join us for a conversation as we explore and spread the word on this free resource—the healing power of nature—and the benefits for families impacted by the child welfare system.

Presenters: Patsy Sellars, Casey Family Programs, Seattle, WA; Monica Lopez-Magee, Children & Nature Network, Austin, TX; Francis Mendoza, Children & Nature Network, Austin, TX

F3 – The Transformative Power of Youth Engagement     

This session will provide insights on the importance of engaging youths with lived experience to transform the way child welfare services are delivered. Tools will also be provided on how to engage youth locally, inform policies, and create greater outcomes for youth who have transitioned from the child welfare system. Information on how to develop a local youth council will also be provided. A segment of this session will focus on quality parenting and in particular a Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI). QPI is a process to improve permanency and well-being for children by shifting systems away from bureaucracy and toward an approach based on relationships.

Presenters: Demarco Mott & Marcel C. Rivas & Dominique Rosario, Citrus Family Care Network Youth Advisory Council, Miami, FL 

F4 – Functional Family Therapy in Foster Care: A Family-Based Model for Improving Stability and Permanency in Foster Care    

There is a need for systematic, specific, evidence-based treatment programs that focus on supporting foster parents, identifying and serving the current needs of children and youth while at the same time working toward permanency as a primary outcome. Few emerging, evidence-based practices focus specifically on the family relational system as the primary point of intervention. Functional Family Therapy in Foster Care (FFT in FC) is a family focused and trauma informed treatment designed for the Foster Care System. FFT in FC is a comprehensive, systematic approach to help families overcome individual and relational trauma in order to promote stable placement and long-term permanency. This presentation will provide an overview of FFT in FC and discuss the results of recent evaluations indicating how FFT in FC promotes stability and successful permanency.

Presenters: Thomas Sexton and Marta Anderson, FFT Partners, Bloomington, IN

F5 – Keeping Families Together Using Safe@Home     

How can public and private child welfare agencies work together to strengthen families and protect children? The Safe@Home in-home parent skill-based model has achieved positive outcomes for children and families in Nevada by preventing out-of-home placements for children determined to be “unsafe”, dramatically increasing the percent of reunified families, and substantially decreasing time in out-of-home care. This action lab will describe how public and private agencies can work together using the Safe@Home model, and present promising results of a rigorous research study designed to test its effectiveness on placement and permanency outcomes.

Presenters: Todd Holder, Action for Child Protection, Charlotte, NC; Sarah Kaye, Kaye Implementation & Evaluation, LLC, Tacoma, WA; Judy Tudor, Clark County Department of Family Services, Las Vegas, NV

F6 – Supporting Families Access and Navigation of Multiple Service Systems: The Flourishing Family Approach

Children and families involved with and receiving services from multiple human service delivery systems experience a myriad of challenges. To mitigate these issues, advance families’ well-being, avoid missed opportunities for addressing unmet needs, and prevent harm arising from trauma and separation, social work professionals are urged to adopt a Flourishing Family Approach to their child and family practice with families receiving services and supports in multiple service systems. The Flourishing Family Approach is an innovative, integrated family driven and centered practice approach with a single point of entry that identifies and supports individual family members, honors family strengths, and creates flexible and seamless service pathways that advance resiliency. This session will highlight the key components of this approach and provide attendees with action steps they can take to implement this approach in their practice and organization.

Presenters: Alan Vietze, CWLA Senior Fellow and Chair, Mental Health Advisory Board (MHAB), CA; and MHAB members: Pat Hunt, FREDLA, ME; Susan Montague, St. Francis Ministries, KS; Julie Collins, CWLA/MHAB Staff Support, DC

F7 – Advancing Equity in Child Welfare

Members of CWLA’s Member Equity Committee will provide examples and facilitate a discussion on how to begin, sustain, and navigate barriers surrounding equity efforts at child welfare agencies. They will also seek input from action lab participants about their successful efforts in this area and what types of tools and materials they feel would support the field in advancing equity and justice. Participants in this action lab will also have a chance to continue the conversation in the months to come if they so choose.

Presenters: Alger Studstill, Jr., Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, Lincoln, NE; Anayra Túa-López, Proyecto Nacer Inc, Bayamón, Puerto Rico; Traci Jones, Virginia Department of Social Services, Richmond, VA; Kelli McKnight, Options, OR; Antonia Rios, Parents Anonymous® Inc, CA

F8 – Restoring Hope

For 75 years, the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, FL (JWB) has existed to meet the most pressing and immediate needs of Pinellas County children. JWB ensures kids are ready to learn, ready to succeed, and ready to thrive in homes, schools, and neighborhoods that are healthy and safe. This action lab will feature the work and impact of JWB and its partners during fiscal year 2021–a year where the organization adjusted to a new normal on the heels of a global pandemic, and began to shift from crisis to calm. Together, JWB and its partners filled in the missing pieces to strengthen children and families, and RESTORE HOPE!

Presenter: Yaridis Garcia, the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County, FL

Friday, April 29
Action Lab Sessions G
8:30 am – 9:30 am

G1 – Flexible Funds in Kentucky to Increase Well-being: Operationalizing the Evidence on Economic and Concrete Supports (Spotlight Track)

Promoting well-being and preventing foster care requires numerous services and supports. States are deploying evidence-based services and “moving upstream” to strengthen families. This infrequently includes services that address economic hardship, which can be a driver of child welfare system involvement. Recent policy action in Kentucky makes available $1000 per family in flexible funding. This action lab will describe the state’s family preservation services, including flexible funding. An overview of evidence will be presented showing relationships between economic and concrete supports and child welfare system involvement. Participants will explore the integration of economic and concrete supports into the service array.

Presenters: Clare Anderson, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, Washington, DC; Christa Bell, Department of Community Based Services at the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Lexington, KY 

G2 – The Need to Ensure an Integrated, Comprehensive Approach by Child Welfare Practitioners When Investigating, Assessing, and Treating a Child or Youth Alleged to have been Sexually Abused within an Intrafamilial Context    

Unfortunately, in many instances, different aspects of child sexual abuse investigation, assessment, and treatment are carried out by separate entities with limited communication. This gap can lead to counterproductive decisions and unnecessary long-term trauma for the child or youth who has been sexually abused. The research material that will be presented provides a model for knowledge and subsequent implementation that seeks to enhance engagement, positive outcomes, and the use of a trauma informed focus in the best interests of children who have been sexually abused, non-offending parents or caregivers, and those accused or suspected of sexual abuse. The material covered will be delivered in the context of anti-oppressive approaches and has been recently compiled into a comprehensive manual for Canadian investigative and treatment practitioners.

Presenters: Andrew Koster, Family Services, Brantford, ON; Gerald Walsh, Brant Family and Children’s Services, Brantford, ON 

G3 – Developing a Culture of Wellness at DC’s Child and Family Services Agency  (CFSA) 

Through a partnership between its agency’s leadership and human resources, CFSA has created a culture of wellness that promotes healthy lifestyle choices and employee engagement and focuses on addressing secondary traumatic stress (STS) at all agency levels. While the secondary traumatic stress workgroup provides clinical means to enhance resiliency for agency social workers and staff, the agency’s Wellness Works program takes it a step further by targeting three areas: healthy choices, recognition and support, and employee engagement. This session will provide participants with recommendations towards implementing STS and wellness strategies based on DC CFSA’s strategy and lessons learned.

Presenters: Brandynicole Brooks and Tokeitha Wilson, DC Child and Family Services Agency, Washington, DC 

G4 – Transforming Child Welfare through Public and Private Partnerships     

The Fairfax (VA) County Department of Family Services (DFS) is engaged in an innovative, two-year, public-private partnership project to transform its child welfare system by strengthening families, protecting children, and supporting a professional, competent, and stable child welfare workforce. This session will provide an overview of the implementation of the evidence-based Safe & Connected™ model, engagement of innovative partnerships to support child and family well-being, steps to strengthen practice and community partnerships, development process of a comprehensive child welfare training program, and use of Title IV-E training funds.

Presenters: Michael Becketts, Fairfax Department of Family Services, Fairfax, VA; Adan Hernandez, Accenture, Austin, TX 

G5 – Family First: Recruiting & Utilizing Relevant Assets for Lasting change

This action lab is a facilitated panel discussion that will highlight how Family First strategies have been used to leverage the unique and inherent assets of rural communities for positive impact. Panelists will discuss some of the distinctive challenges faced with implementation and sustainability of Family First in rural communities, why specific programs and interventions were selected, and how these strategies are resulting in successes for children and families. Hear reports from the field about interventions that are promoting equity and inclusion. Programs will be highlighted from Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Maine, and Nebraska.

Presenters: Carl Ayers, Casey Family Programs, Wytheville, VA; Bobbi Johnson, DHHS Maine, Augusta, ME; Pamela Cornwell, Saint Francis Ministries, Wichita, KS

G6 – Psychiatric Medication and Foster Care: Red Flags

Multiple studies have concluded that children in foster care are prescribed psychiatric medication at a rate significantly higher than other populations of children. Many of these medications are prescribed off-label, with little proven benefit but significant risk. Compounding the problem, biological parents or legal guardians are frequently pressured to sign consents forms without having ever spoken to the psychiatric provider. Child advocates, attorneys representing parents and children, family court judges, state child welfare leaders, agency child welfare staff and caseworkers can play a vital role in reducing the overuse of medication. This presentation will cover the “red flags” that can help them recognize situations where the child’s treatment with psychiatric medications may be problematic and / or parents’ objections may be reasonable. Possible solutions will be discussed.

Presenter: Martin Irwin, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY

G7 – From the Exam Room to the Community: Where Social Determinants of Health and Child Development Connect

As part of an ambitious, multi-year strategy to advance racial justice and equity in medicine, the AMA has committed to working in partnership with key stakeholders to address determinants of health and set more children up for long and healthy lives. In this action lab, AMA Board Chair Bobby Mukkamala, MD, a head and neck surgeon from Flint, Michigan, will offer his personal perspective on the devastating impact of social determinants of health and how addressing problems upstream can lead to better outcomes for children and families. He will be joined by Cheryl Fisher from Centene to discuss the impact of social determinants of health from a child welfare perspective. Centene and CWLA are partnering to produce a special issue of the Child Welfare Journal focused on this critical issue, and are developing micro learnings and other activities to advance the dialogue in child welfare. A focus of this conversational session will be shared learning across systems.

Presenters: Bobby Mukkamala, AMA, Flint, MI; Cheryl Fisher, Centene, Houston, TX

Friday, April 29
Action Lab Sessions H
9:45 am – 10:45 am

H1 – Building the Next Generation of Child Welfare Leaders: Leading, Learning and Linkages

Many emerging professionals are eager to begin their careers in child welfare, but encounter challenges when they are ready to climb the career ladder. It is vital that we support this emerging generation of new leaders as they navigate the serious challenges and complexities of transforming and leading the public and private sectors. This session will focus on learning from accomplished emerging child welfare professionals; understanding the importance of creating and seeking opportunities for leadership; and building linkages and networks in the professional community. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about practical strategies and tools they can use for their own development, or how to build infrastructures for emerging professionals in their workplaces.

Presenters: Grey Hilliard-Koshinsky, New England Association of Child Welfare Commissioners and Directors, Boston, MA; Ellen Keithley, Options Counseling & Family Services, Salem, OR; Keith Luebcke, Indiana Department of Child Services, Lafayette, Indiana; Jacqueline Martin, NYC Children, New York City, New York 

H2 – 30 Days to Family®: A Revolution in Urgency    

30 Days to Family® is an urgent, intense, 30-day evidence-based intervention that works tirelessly to get children who have just entered foster care placed with family. Armed with the knowledge that family members are the experts, specialists waste no time in engaging with all family members, identifying family caregivers, backup placement options, and mapping out a robust natural support system. The program focuses on keeping children with their families, and maintaining their history, culture, and traditions—it’s what every family deserves. Join us to learn how the program blends family finding + family engagement + kinship navigation and how it’s scaling nationally!

Presenter: Melanie Moredock, The Institute for Child Welfare Innovation, Saint Louis, MO

H3 – Safety Science in the Face of Adversity: Indiana’s Paradigm Shift   

The implementation of strength-based, safe system reviews has provided our agency with an opportunity to shift the approach to understanding our system at each unique layer of the organization. Utilizing safety science to impress value on all individuals participating allows us the space to critically think with peers while exploring ways to improve our practice through data-driven decision-making. This shift in our process has opened up the opportunity to embed psychological safety, influence change initiatives, and construct alternative forms of education for the purpose of continuous improvement.

Presenters: Ashley Krumbach, Department of Child Services, Noblesville, IN; Rachel Parrett, Ashley Kaelin, Lauren Zyla-Whetstone, Department of Child Services, Indianapolis, IN 

H4 – Removing Bias in the Child Welfare System: A Promising Strategy Toward Reducing Overrepresentation of Children in Foster Care (from minority groups) through the Blind Removal Process   

Racial bias has no place in our child welfare system, and yet, despite the best efforts, intentions, and desires of child welfare professionals to help all children and families, implicit bias can easily and unconsciously seep into decisions of removal and reunification within the child welfare system. The purpose of the Blind Removal Process is to promote racial equity within the child welfare system in order to achieve better outcomes for children and families. The implementation of a Blind Removal Process statewide is another step toward ensuring social justice and human rights for the children and families of New York.

Presenters: Lisa Ghartey Ogundimu and Teresa Boykins and John Thompson, New York State Office of Children and Family Services, Rensselaer, NY 

H5 – Innovation and Equity in Child Welfare Practice: A Follow-Up to Bethany’s Innovative Practice Report

At the beginning of 2020, Bethany boldly proclaimed new organizational values. The events of 2020—including a global pandemic, a nationwide conversation about systemic racism, and a contentious election—allowed us to immediately put our core values into practice. Bethany made significant programmatic and operational changes, which are described in our report “What the Pandemic Taught Us” (funded by The Annie E. Casey Foundation). This session will include an overview of innovations Bethany made to help meet the needs of children and families receiving foster care services during the pandemic, the importance of data disaggregation by race in championing justice, and advocacy and practice changes that Bethany has incorporated since our report was released.

Presenters: Cheri Williams, Bethany Christian Services, Grand Rapids, MI; Julia Fukuda, Bethany Christian Services, Atlanta, GA 

H6 – InstruMENtal: Recognizing the Importance of the Male Role in Child Welfare

For years CWLA has been asking males within child welfare why many men in the field often feel overlooked and under-utilized. With feedback from resource and kinship dads, direct staff, managers, supervisors, and community members, we have developed an initiative designed to make intentional efforts to ensure all members of our professional team are valued and included. 5 areas of focus have been identified that individuals, agencies, and community providers can utilize to maximize the assets men in child welfare bring to the table. Ensuring males feel included and heard can impact resource parent recruitment, staff retention, and overall organizational culture. Please join us in lively session, where we will rely on networking and shared experiences to further this nationwide effort.

Presenter: Marcus Stallworth, CWLA, Washington DC

H7 – Public & Private Partnerships: How LA County is Collaborating to Transform Child Welfare

Government and philanthropy often share common goals and a capacity to enable wide-scale systems change. When they work together, they make ideal partners—philanthropy contributing nimbleness and a spirit of experimentation, while government commands the resources to sustain what works. In Los Angeles County, such collaboration was catalyzed by the murder of an 8-year-old boy in 2013. Since then, an increasingly durable and agile spirit of collaboration in L.A. fuels an ability to test new ideas, assess their effectiveness, and bring them to scale in ways that significantly impact child welfare reform. Join us as we discuss models for enhanced collaboration and how to drive change in child welfare systems across the country.

Presenter: Wendy Garen, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, Los Angeles, CA; Tamara Hunter, LA County Commission for Children and Families, Los Angeles, CA; Elise Weinberg, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Los Angeles, CA

H8 – Stratifying Treatment: Creating Change Through the Lens of Culture and Trauma (session repeat)     

The evidence-based Family Centered Treatment model, from its very first session with a family, initiates a comprehensive series of assessment activities aimed to gather information related to protective and risk factors, historical and generational trauma, cultural influences, and natural community-based supports. Both formal and activity-based assessments are utilized to increase the engagement of the family in the process. A team approach ensures all involved parties are aware of the findings and routine reassessment occurs at targeted intervals during treatment. This experiential action lab will explore the steps of the process and provide participants with concrete tools for use in their field.

Presenter: Stephanie Glickman, Family Centered Treatment Foundation, Charlotte, NC 

Friday, April 29
Action Lab Sessions I
11:00 am – 12:00 pm

I1 – Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14   

In this session, attendees will be introduced to the evidence-based Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14. The presenter will discuss the topics of the seven weeks of parent, youth, and family sessions and share the research that led the World Health Organization to name SFP 10-14 the number one prevention program in the world. Participants will preview some of the interactive activities, learn about the global aspect of SFP 10-14 as it has been implemented in over 25 countries, and, finally, understand how to become certified facilitators and implement the program locally.

Presenter: Cathy Hockaday, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 

I2 – Building Protective Factors So Adult and Child Survivors of Domestic Violence Can Thrive     

Families mandated into the child protection system often experience significant adversity, oppression, and trauma in addition to family violence. Healing from trauma and promoting resilience are pathways to child and family well-being that should be integrated into child welfare practice. The Quality Improvement Center on Domestic Violence in Child Welfare is testing the feasibility of a Protective Factors Framework for Survivors of Domestic Violence in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. This action lab will describe the research- and practice-informed Protective Factors Framework for survivors of domestic violence and offer guidance for integrating the framework when working with survivors of family violence.

Presenters: Tien Ung, Futures Without Violence, Boston, MA; Charlyn Harper Browne, Center for the Study of Social Policy, Washington, DC 

I3 – Faith-Based Partnerships to Promote Child and Family Well-Being     

This action lab will provide an opportunity for participants to learn about LA County Faith in Motion, the faith-based engagement framework that the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Families developed and has been implementing. This framework was developed to expand faith partnerships and better engage faith communities in supporting the needs of families, youth, and children who are in, or may be at risk of entering, the child welfare system. Participants will have an opportunity to share best practices and hear about lessons learned to help them apply concepts and approaches.

Presenters: Grace Weltman, Communities in Motion, Los Angeles, CA; Dominique Robinson, LA County Department of Children and Family Services, Los Angeles, CA; Pastor Dan Broyles, Valencia Hills Community Church, Los Angeles, CA; Erica Holmes, Faithful Central Bible Church, Los Angeles, CA

I4 – Kinship Care and Kinship Navigators: Transformation of Support to Families During COVID and Lasting Changes in a Post-Pandemic World       

Approximately 95% of New York State’s kinship caregivers provide care outside the formal foster care system and, as a result, lack access to many formal foster care benefits and services. In 2018, Kinship Navigator implemented the New York State Kinship Navigator System of Care Project, and has since adapted the program for a virtual environment. This action lab will focus on lessons learned from the federal project evaluation, how to run a hybrid program that focuses on virtual case management services, and how to provide peer-led support in person and virtually. This mixed model allows for a greater breadth of services in today’s limited fiscal climate, and options for service delivery in a post-COVID world.

Presenter: Rae Glaser, NYS Kinship Navigator, Rochester, NY 

I5 – Child Welfare and Medicaid: Making Medicaid Happen

Participants will receive a basic overview of the federal Medicaid program and an understanding of its importance in the wellbeing of children and youth in and from foster care. The content of Medicaid State Plans will be covered, with an emphasis on the mandatory service of Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) and its function in the provision of specific services. The impact of trauma on the developing brain will be discussed to provide a context for understanding the increased need that youth who have experienced state care have for access to medical services, and the vital role practitioners play in understanding and advocating for their Medicaid. Together, the many stakeholders in child welfare-in addition to families and the states-can work to Make Medicaid Happen for youth in foster, adoptive, and guardianship care.

Presenters: Sharon McCartney, AAICAMA, Washington, DC; Adrian Owens, AAICAMA, GA

I6 – The Intersection of Race and Trauma

Although race is merely a social construct, it has fractured American society for centuries. Race has been the impetus for war, both historically on the battlefield and, in more recent times, on the streets of America and around the globe. Do we really understand the power race holds while being only an illusion?  And what trauma is caused by race and its influence on laws, policies, and individual behaviors? This workshop begins the critical conversation about the intersection between race and trauma, and its impact on us collectively and as individuals.

Presenter: Deborah Gadsden, VOCE, Harrisburg, PA

I7 – How Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) is Being Used to Transform a Child Welfare System (session repeat)    

A comprehensive CQI system is required to systematically and strategically harness data to build effective processes that enable continuous learning for the improvement of practices, services, and performance. Traditionally, CQI consists of data collection via the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) case review process. However, it is often driven by compliance rather recognized as an opportunity for continuous learning. To shift this perspective, leadership must prioritize CQI as a lever for change and growth. Oregon’s Child Welfare is embracing this approach through their Vision for Transformation with CQI as a Guiding Principle in the roadmap to achieve a child and family well-being system.

Presenters: Leanne Heaton, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Alysia Cox, Oregon Department of Human Services, Child Welfare Division, Salem, OR