Advancing Racial Justice, Equity, and Inclusion
for Children & Families
Our world has changed significantly over the last several months. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the strengths and weaknesses of the systems, policies, and philosophies that shape how child welfare services are organized and delivered for populations that are vulnerable.
We all have witnessed the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on people of color and those living in poverty, as well as the recent global attention to racial inequities that persist, both within child welfare and within society at large. Now more than ever, we have significant work to do to ensure that all children and families have access to quality services and supports in their communities, bolstered by child welfare policies and practices that are intentionally focused on advancing racial justice, equity, and inclusion.
Join us online October 6 – 8, 2020 for the CWLA Virtual Summit, Advancing Racial Justice, Equity, and Inclusion for Children and Families. We look forward to exploring the evolution of child welfare services and the progress we’ve made; highlighting learning and innovations developed during these challenging times; discussing solutions and goals to achieve racial justice, equity, and inclusion; highlighting collaborative approaches for cross-system, cross-sector, and community engagement; and identifying system, policy, and funding changes needed for improved progress on family strengthening and child well-being.
Plan to be a part of this important effort. Be sure to:
Review our exciting lineup of speakers and panelists.
Check out the pre-summit webinar series. Two sessions will be featured this week:
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT
Preventing Child Abuse and Neglect:Lesson’s Learned from Washington State’s Kinship Navigator Program
Washington’s Kinship Navigator program connects relatives raising children with federal, state, and community resources. The program has grown over the past 14 years and currently serves 30 of 39 counties and 7 tribes. Its goal is to help kinship care families move towards greater stability and self-sufficiency in order to keep their children out of the formal foster care system. Kinship Navigator services promote knowledge and awareness of available resources for health, financial, legal, and other support services. The program also helps reduce barriers faced by kinship care families through problem solving and collaboration with public and private service providers. In 2018, the State of Washington began piloting an enhanced services model which included inquiries to assess the unique needs of the various subpopulations that make up Washington’s target population and the resulting implementation of culturally-adapted needs assessment tools in three counties. This presentation will identify modifications that were made to the enhanced model due to COVID and how the program has continued to maintain model fidelity despite the pandemic. It also will identify kinship navigator needs using a race equity lens. Presenters will provide preliminary results of the effects of the enhanced services model implemented in two early adopter counties compared to services as usual in comparable counties in the state. Implications for policy and practice and the importance of partnership will also be discussed.
Presenters: Dr. Angelique Day, Associate Professor, University of Washington School of Social Work; Rosalyn Alber, Kinship Navigator Fidelity Analyst Project Manager and Geene Felix Delaplane, Kinship Care and Lifespan Respite Program Manager, Home and Community Services, Aging and Long-Term Support Administration, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services; and Holly Luna, Kinship and Caregiver Retention and Support Program Manager, Division of Child Welfare Programs, Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families
Reserve your seat at webinar registration.
Thursday, October 1, 2020
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT
One Roof: Housing and Child Welfare Partnerships Supporting Families in Crisis
To help families thrive we must address the intersectional barriers of extreme poverty, disparities in health and disabilities, and systemic racism. The COVID-19 crisis alongside a rising up against the long history of racism in America has created a much-needed opportunity to fundamentally shift the way we support families and work to keep them together while helping them to meet their needs and thrive. One Roof is the collaborative national effort advancing housing solutions designed to keep or reunify families safely together and stabilized in their own homes with access to services. This approach employs a prevention model, when possible, and empowers families by combining the stability of a home with intense case management and cross sector services recognizing that families come in all different shapes and sizes, define themselves, and are better together in nurturing environments where needs are effectively identified based on where they are in life. This session will highlight components of this approach, with specific local examples and strategies related to the ongoing pandemic and long-standing racial disparities, which supports reimagining of a more equitable child welfare and community response. Presenters will share specific examples, including spotlighting Hennepin County, Minnesota and the creation of a Housing Stability Estimator that helps child welfare connect families to the housing and support services they may need. Being able to identify families that are struggling to access or maintain housing is critical to family stability and even more now, to their health.
Presenters: Andrew Johnson, Senior Program Manager, Strategy and Impact, Leah Lindstrom Rhea, Senior Program Manager, Upper Midwest, and Kara Mergl, Director of State Policy, CSH (Corporation for Supportive Housing); and Jodi Wentland, Assistant Administrator of Human Services, Office of the County Administrator, Hennepin County (MN)
Reserve your seat at webinar registration.
Special thanks to our Platinum Sponsor!
