Alia

Relationships are the currency of change: introducing you to the changemakers at Alia. LaMikka James, Associate Director of Community Engagement, is a cornerstone of our work engaging communities in Ethical, Equitable (2E) Co-design. Within our work in Rock County, WI, LaMikka plays a necessary role in community cultivation. She leads the BeeHive ??, a group of lived experts working alongside Rock County Human Services to improve outcomes for families in the community. LaMikka’s a connector through and through, providing validation, advocacy, and warmth every chance she gets. Outside of Alia, LaMikka loves being active in her community, traveling down south (especially to visit and love on her newest grandbaby!), and binge-watching NCIS.

Ethical, Equitable (2E) Co-design not only allows new solutions that keep families safely together to emerge– it offers parents and communities impacted by the system a chance to heal. We have witnessed impacted parents, in jurisdictions we've supported, bravely and vulnerably show up to share their expertise and wisdom. While it’s challenging to work alongside the system that caused them harm, many parents find healing through the experience. In a recent co-design session with a county system, a parent participant reflected on their experience co-designing with CPS staff, sharing, “I’m going to focus on what’s ahead and not my past. I may cry, but I can see now that I’m part of the future.” Co-designing new solutions for families facing similar struggles is deeply healing, provides purpose, and restores hope for a future where families remain safely together.

Those closest to the problems are also closest to solutions. Human experience and the influence of their feedback is necessary and critical across so many industries yet has been disregarded in child welfare. Alia’s experience has been that better solutions arise when we listen to the perspective and wisdom of impacted families instead of assuming what it is they need or want. To create a future where children and their parents remain safely together, we must include parents to design solutions that will actually work for them. Real change happens when families are encouraged to identify their ideal outcomes and empowered to achieve them.

At Alia, we use a co-design approach in many areas of our work: engaging leaders and staff to build cultures of belonging and facilitating the design of new solutions with system staff, leaders, and lived experts from the community. As an investment to this work and the systems and communities we support, nearly half of Team Alia is officially certified in Design Thinking! This cohort of staff engaged in IDEO U’s Foundations in Design Thinking Certificate, learning the core skills and mindset of design thinking. Co-designing with those most impacted is the way forward. We are grateful to have the next level skills and expertise to work with additional systems to create the conditions where children, parents, and communities can thrive!

Kate Luster, the Director of Rock County, WI Human Services, was a recent guest on the podcast services Overloaded: Understanding Neglect, sharing about the work happening as part of Rock Families First--an innovative initiative that uses a data-drive approach in child protective services, safely reduces the number of children removed from their families, and engages with families with increased satisfaction. Listen to the podcast to learn more about the goals of Rock Families First, the readiness work Rock County engaged in before co-designing new solutions with families, and the ways in which impacted parents are at the center of it all.

Co-design in child welfare is made possible through readiness and community organizing – and they must happen long before bringing two groups together. Our Ethical, Equitable (2E) Co-design process prepares both the system and the community for the actual work of building new solutions, helping to reduce harm and increase the likelihood of success. On the system side, this looks like building mindsets and behaviors needed to authentically engage, build trust with, and humble themselves to impacted families. On the community side, it’s a coordination of efforts carried out by local residents to promote the interests of their community, building trust and igniting hope that their contributions will create real change if they are willing to engage. When the conditions for readiness and community organizing are met, brilliant solutions emerge, reconciliation occurs, and trust builds. What’s one strategy you’d prioritize when preparing for co-design with the community you serve? Let us know in the comments!

We were recently reminded of Molly Tierney’s sentiment from her TEDx talk: home is a state of mind, a sense of belonging, and a knowing that you are loved. Intensive Permanence Services (IPS) leads youth home – to those they know and love. The process allows them to grieve and heal from trauma (including the trauma of separation) and when they are ready, restore a deep connection with family. We owe it to the current youth in care to get them home.

Waiting to age out of the system without a legal connection or sense of belonging is something no child should have to experience. HeartShare St. Vincent's Services decided they were no longer willing to allow this for the youth in their care. Through Intensive Permanence Services (IPS), they saw 67% of their youth who were at imminent risk of aging out meet their permanency goals, including youth up to age 26 or who were previously incarcerated. Dawn Saffayeh, President and EO of HSVS, shared: “Learning IPS has completely reshaped my view of child welfare work...for youth who are older and have experienced layers of trauma and pain it takes time for them to heal and learn to trust other humans again. Now at HSVS we know how to give our youth the connection and space they need to grieve their losses, heal and trust so that new and reignited old relationships have a shot at being successful long term. And that’s what our kids need - long lasting, loving relationships. Thank you to the Alia team for teaching us this model, it’s changed how we will forever do our work at HSVS.” Learn more in their story below.

Relationships are the currency of change: introducing you to the changemakers at Alia. Prem Suppogu, Finance Officer, has a long history at Alia. In fact, he has been here since our founding, supporting our work with strategic financial leadership and a balanced risk approach ??. Prem provides expert financial, legal, and administrative guidance to our organization. His supportive and kind demeanor make him an incredible leader! Prem loves working at Alia because “we have a close shared vision and are all dedicated to the same mission. We all work very hard to accomplish that vision and mission together.” Outside of Alia, Prem is a people-person and enjoys spending time with his family and friends, as well staying active by walking at least 5 miles a day – fortunately the Texas weather where he lives helps accommodate that goal!

Did you know that more than 50% of your system’s highest risk youth could achieve legal permanency through Intensive Permanence Services (IPS)? One reason we’re passionate about supporting child welfare agencies through IPS is simple—it works! Across 50+ jurisdictions, 67-84% of youth in IPS have achieved legal permanency, proving that healing and lifelong connections are possible for all children. Child welfare staff tell us time and again: This is the work they signed up for. IPS restores hope—not just for youth and families, but for the professionals who once doubted permanency was within reach.