Institute for Child and Family Well-Being

Check out Luke Waldo’s latest Milwaukee Independent Independent article on social connectedness while returning to Spain for a reunion with old friends. “In reflecting on this incredible journey, it becomes clear that social connection can occur in many forms—through the built environment, birth and chosen family, and shared purpose. Whether gathering in plazas that create the space and opportunity for people to connect, bonding over a shared mission to uplift vulnerable communities, or forming lifelong friendships in the intimate quarters of a host family’s home, social connection gives meaning to who we are not only as friends, family, and community, but also as individuals.” https://lnkd.in/gRndKJ5q

Building Brains with Relationships (BBR) is an in-person, interactive, skill-building day. Focus on brain science to elevate your relationships. ·???????Brief didactics ·???????Play the Brain Architecture Game ·???????Practice skills shown to strengthen relationships ? Join us November 14th 9am-4pm In-Person Wisconsin Child Welfare Professional Development-UWM extension site (4425 N. Port Washington Road, Suite 400, Glendale, WI). Create a free account & register at: https://lnkd.in/geyrxUPP Email [email protected] with your preferred date if you can’t see the dates. ?

“This direct cash transfer is grounded in the belief that economic and concrete supports build toward true equity – when each and every family will one day be positioned at the same starting line and where these families in need will finally have the proper supports and resources to enjoy the stability they so desperately desire and deserve.”?– Suzanne Miles-Gustave Check out Luke Waldo's latest Milwaukee Independent article that explores the promise and potential of guaranteed income programs in our city, state, and country. Zilber Family Foundation Lianna Bishop Yalanda Ludtke https://lnkd.in/g4j6awVn

Are you interested in exploring how social connectedness is improving family stability around the nation? Whether you’re a seasoned advocate or want to learn how social connectedness can reduce family separation for reasons of neglect, this is the perfect opportunity to meet like-minded individuals who hope to increase social connectedness in their communities. Together we will share promising movement towards connectedness and forge new bonds. Join the discussion on 8/14 at 10am! Meeting Link: https://lnkd.in/gnKvg9HR

You don't want to miss this! Join the White House Convening on #ChildWelfare Transformation virtually on Tuesday, July 30th. This gathering will highlight Biden-Harris policy priorities that help families stay together safely with supports, and reshape #FosterCare to best serve children. Chapin Hall's Executive Director Bryan Samuels will be giving a talk on supporting families and Senior Policy Fellow Clare Anderson, MSW will moderate a panel on economic and concrete supports. Use this link to join: https://lnkd.in/g9aH5RbX

Building Brains with Relationships (BBwR) is an in-person, interactive, skill-building day to explore the powerful role of experiences on brain development: what promotes it, what derails it, and the larger impacts across a single lifespan. Participants can expect brief didactics, playing the @Brain Architecture Game and practicing interaction skills that are shown to strengthen relationships, create partnerships and increase desired outcomes. Learning Objectives: ·????????Build a shared understanding of the power of relationships and connection on brain architecture by playing the Brain Architecture Game; ·????????Build your protective factors by practicing skills that are shown to strengthen relationships, create partnerships and increase desired outcomes. Although the topics are serious, it’s a high value experience. Past participants had time to practice critical thinking, communication skills and brainstorming. Participants have ranged from parents, to teachers, to domestic violence advocates and home visitors. People within the same organization have used this time to think, talk and design around community issues in ways their everyday-work does not allow. Join Meghan Christian in Glendale, WI on 7/25/2024 or 11/14/2024 (create an account at https://lnkd.in/geyrxUPP, then email [email protected] to reserve your seat).

"Diversifying our present workforce and elevating and recognizing the contribution of families and staff with lived experience in both prevention services and the child welfare system is essential for change moving forward. Our current social services workforce still lacks representation from the populations it serves. Nearly two of every three social workers is White while Black and Native American children and families are disproportionally represented in our child welfare system and impacted by poverty. The use of peer support or paraprofessionals in the workforce could ease struggles around workforce recruitment and make services more accessible. It also offers potential solutions to a workforce lacking in diversity, language skills, and cultural understanding of the children and families it serves. Concurrently, by valuing and developing a career pathway for those with lived experience, use of a peer support model also functions as an economic stability intervention." Check out the latest Milwaukee Independent article from Luke Waldo that explores the impacts of stress and burnout on our child welfare and maltreatment prevention workforce, and how we might elevate our paraprofessional workforce with lived experience into those systems to better support overloaded families. #compassionfatigue #vicarioustrauma #burnout #paraprofessional #livedexperience #peersupport #childwelfare #homevisiting #diversityequityinclusion https://lnkd.in/gJrcpDHn

We can't create the change families need by ourselves. ICFW co-Director Gabriel McGaughey joined Children's Home Society of America, representing Children's Wisconsin, for a White House briefing. CHSA's members focused on economic mobility, community connections, and prevention science. Network highlights included innovations, like Economic Mobility Pathways - EMPath's Mobility Mentoring, which Children's has been implementing in home visiting programs across Wisconsin.

"And yet, of those 40,000 reports that are documented into our state’s child welfare database that will follow that family around for years to come, only 3,360 were substantiated for neglect. In other words, around 1 in every 10 families reported for suspected child neglect is confirmed to have actually committed it. We do not, as a society, stand by medical procedures or vehicle safety standards that are only successful once every ten tries. So we should ask ourselves if we should stand by a child protection standard that reports so many families that appear to need support, and yet fall through our cracks without receiving the support that they may actually need." Check out our latest Milwaukee Independent article written by Luke Waldo with family stories written by Gabriel McGaughey and Jo Cabrera. #mandatedreporting #mandatedsupporting #neglect #prevention #poverty #community #collaboration https://lnkd.in/dWJ--JYf

Join us for an Overloaded: Understanding Neglect podcast event, "Reimagining Mandated Reporting", on May 14th at 11am. In Wisconsin, 72,942 reports were made to Child Protective Services last year alone. To make sense of that, 200 children are being reported every day because someone believes they are being abused or neglected. Every single day. To put that in further perspective, that comes out to about 1 out of every 17 children in our state being subject to a child protective services report. Now, of those nearly 73,000 reports, 51,000 of them (or 7 out of every 10) is screened out, meaning that they don’t rise to the level of maltreatment that would require an assessment to be completed by CPS. And finally, just over 3,000 children were separated last year from their parents from those nearly 73,000 initial reports. At the same time this is happening, we have nearly 40,000 non-profits statewide that support our children, families and communities, yet families too often need support or services that are unknown to them or hard to access. So how might we work smarter, not harder, to elevate solutions to ensure all families can access the help they need when they need it? How might we lead with compassion and curiosity to build bridges between service providers, community organizations, and the families we serve, so we can create a more equitable, collaborative, and impactful support network rather than a reporting network? Join us as Luke Waldo hosts a panel discussion with Julie Ahnen of Dane County CPS, Sarah Henery of Milwaukee County, Penelope Nevicosi of Waukesha County, and Marc Seidl of Brown County to explore these questions as they have been on a journey of confronting the challenges of mandated reporting and opportunities to improve systems and service collaboration. After the panel, we will have an interactive conversation with participants to share lessons learned and explore future opportunities to improve outcomes for overloaded families. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gX9BT7F7?