Community In-Site

In this episode, Valerie connects with Ashley Bates, a fellow parent leader in Kentucky and a Lead Family Coordinator. Ashley shares her powerful journey from navigating the challenges of substance use and family separation to becoming an advocate for change in Kentucky's child welfare system. She reflects on the importance of parent leadership, the value of lived expertise, and how her experiences shaped her commitment to reducing stigma and improving family outcomes.

Ashley offers an inside look at Kentucky’s approach to engaging impacted parents in systems reform efforts. She discusses the evolution of her own advocacy work, from her role as a peer recovery mentor to her current position on Kentucky SEAT (System Experience at the Table), which is a statewide impacted parent advisory council. Throughout the episode, Ashley emphasizes how involving families in systems change conversations and providing parents with leadership development opportunities can reshape the future of child welfare policies. Her story is a powerful example of how investing in parents with lived experience can drive meaningful, long-lasting change.

NEW!! Community In-Site now has a Blog!! You can go to the website to listen to episodes, read the blog, access information and resources, and subscribe to the email newsletter. Podcasts Archive - Thriving Families

Here are some additional resources Ashely would like to share with you. 

• KYSEAT – Kentucky Youth Advocates: Kentucky's statewide birth parent advisory council 
• TFSCKY – Kentucky Youth Advocates: Kentucky's Thriving Families, Safer Children site work 
• Building the Voices of Lived Experience: Lessons Learned from Navigating the System – Kentucky Youth Advocates
• KYThrivingfamilies.org – Navigating the Child Welfare System in Kentucky

We appreciate you spreading awareness by sharing this episode with your friends, family, and colleagues who care about family well-being.

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. [email protected] 

In this episode, Valerie talks with Marie Zemler Wu and D.L. Moffitt of Foster America about an innovative shift happening in child welfare financing. Marie, Co-founder and Executive Director, and D.L., Fiscal Innovation Specialist, explain how Foster America is reimagining the way we support families by creating a just and equitable alternative to the current child welfare system. They envision families receiving the support they need before encountering child protective services and the threat of family separation.

Foster America has a fiscal strategy centered on family preservation. In partnership with national leaders and philanthropies, they launched the Fiscal Leadership Circle to rethink how existing child welfare funding is utilized. Marie and D.L. share insights into the crucial role fiscal leaders play in driving systemic change and how mentorship and community-building around state and federal funding streams can offer new opportunities to rethink resource allocation.

This conversation goes beyond financing. It’s about aligning our budgets with our values, ensuring that funding reflects what families truly need. Marie and D.L. also highlight a real-life example of a family benefiting from these approaches, showing how fiscal innovation can help keep families together.

Community In-Site has a dedicated website where you can listen to episodes, access information and resources, and subscribe to the email newsletter. Podcasts Archive - Thriving Families

Here are some additional resources Marie and D.L. would like to share with you. 

• Learn more about Foster America - Home - Foster America
• Fiscal Leadership Circle video - Funding the Future: A Fiscal Approach to Child Welfare Transformation
• Fiscal Leadership Circle blog - Fiscal experts tackle child welfare funding challenges - Foster America
• Inaugural Fiscal Leadership Circle cohort - 2024 Fiscal Leadership Circle
• White House leaders join Foster America at event advancing strategies to support families - Foster America

We appreciate you spreading awareness by sharing this episode with your friends, family, and colleagues who care about family well-being.

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. [email protected] 

Valerie talks to Adam Ballout, a public defender and co-founder of the F.I.R.S.T. (Family Intervention Response to Stop Trauma) Legal Clinic in Washington state. The clinic takes an innovative approach by partnering with healthcare providers and community organizations to offer free legal advocacy to mothers facing substance use challenges. The goal is to keep mothers and their babies together while providing the support they need, including treatment and other resources.

Adam explains how early intervention at birth can help avoid the lasting trauma often caused by foster care and the court system. He highlights the importance of seeing the family as a whole and how prioritizing family preservation, rather than separation, results in better outcomes for both parents and children.

By taking a holistic approach and offering support before a crisis occurs, the F.I.R.S.T Clinic is able to keep the infant and mother together in 83% of their cases. The Clinic is a great example of how a compassionate, prevention-focused child welfare system can help keep families intact and improve long-term outcomes. Listeners will gain valuable insights into how the clinic achieves these outcomes and discover lessons that can be applied in their own communities. They’ll also learn about specific strategies, like involving peer allies (parents with lived experience) to empower families, build trust, and help them navigate the system.

Community In-Site has a dedicated website where you can listen to episodes, access information and resources, and subscribe to the email newsletter. Podcasts Archive - Thriving Families

Here are some additional resources Adam would like to share with you. 

• The First Clinic – Family Intervention Response To Stop Trauma
• Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others
• 2023 APEX Awards, FIRST Legal Clinic
• Being Gina - Short Film
• Family First: A group of Washington lawyers works to keep infants with their mothers

We appreciate you spreading awareness by sharing this episode with your friends, family, and colleagues who care about family well-being.

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. [email protected] 

In this episode, we hear from Flo White, a youth organizer and leader with Sasha Bruce Youthwork. Flo shares her powerful journey from experiencing homelessness to becoming a leader within the organization and a key advocate for youth in Washington, DC. Her story is one of resilience, growth, and empowerment, as she navigated the challenges of youth homelessness, received stabilization, and transitioned into leadership roles at Sasha Bruce, including serving on the Youth Advisory Board and contributing to The Curb podcast.

Flo reflects on the opportunity organizations like Sasha Bruce have to go beyond youth engagement and service provision, supporting the development and growth of young people in meaningful ways. Her experience highlights the profound impact such organizations can have in creating job opportunities, fostering personal growth, and developing leadership skills. She emphasizes the importance of investing in youth in a holistic, non-judgmental way and discusses how Sasha Bruce’s commitment to centering youth voices has shaped her own path and ability to contribute to broader systemic change. Flo also shares valuable lessons from her journey, offering insights on how we can create environments where young people aren’t just heard, but are also empowered as future leaders.

Community In-Site has a dedicated website where you can listen to episodes, access information and resources, and subscribe to the email newsletter. Podcasts Archive - Thriving Families

Here are some additional resources Flo would like to share with you. 

• Sasha Bruce Youthwork Website- https://www.sashabruce.org/
• Tune into the CURB podcast - Live From The CURB | Podcast
• Homeless Youth Want To Work But Say Programs To Help Often Fall Short
• Maryland receives $2M to support youth homelessness programs – NBC4 Washington

We appreciate you spreading awareness by sharing this episode with your friends, family, and colleagues who care about family well-being.

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. [email protected] 

In this episode, we hear from Rebecca Jones-Gaston, Commissioner of the Administration of Children, Youth, and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Children’s Bureau, which is part of ACYF, is one of the six national partners of the Thriving Families, Safer Children initiative. As a key leader in Thriving Families, Safer Children, Rebecca brings invaluable insight into how the initiative is reshaping the way we approach family well-being.

With both a federal perspective and personal lived experience in child welfare, Rebecca explores the limitations of a system that too often relies solely on foster care, without addressing the underlying burdens and inequities families face. She highlights how the Thriving Families initiative offers a new approach, focusing on prevention and support that goes beyond the harsh intervention of family separation.

Throughout the episode, Rebecca emphasizes the need for listening, setting boundaries, and embedding race equity in systemic change. She challenges us to move past small fixes and tackle the deep, structural issues preventing families from thriving. Her message is simple: we can’t keep doing things the same way and expecting better results. 

Community In-Site has a dedicated website where you can listen to episodes, access information and resources, and subscribe to the email newsletter. Podcasts Archive - Thriving Families

Here are some additional resources we would like to share with you. 

• FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Actions to Keep Children and Families Safely Together and Supported | The White House
• Message From Commissioner Rebecca Jones Gaston
• Biden's Last Year, with Rebecca Jones Gaston

We appreciate you spreading awareness by sharing this episode with your friends, family, and colleagues who care about family well-being.

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. [email protected] 

In this special episode, hosts Tecoria and Elliott revisit episodes that left a lasting impact on them and reflect on the most insightful insights from the conversation. They return to moments with Clare Anderson, Shawn Mitchell and Currey Cook, Judge Jay Dugger, and Jennifer Holman and Jeanine Morales. Listen in to how they dive deeper into the takeaways that shaped their perspectives. From exploring economic supports and youth voice to examining judicial leadership and the power of lived experience, this episode sheds light on some of the key themes that defined the season. It's more than just a recap—it's a call to action, urging you to join the movement in prioritizing family well-being. Whether you’re hearing these conversations for the first time or revisiting them, this episode is a must-listen for anyone who is ready to learn how they can advance the family well-being movement. 

Community In-Site has a dedicated website where you can listen to episodes, access information and resources, and subscribe to the email newsletter. Podcasts Archive - Thriving Families

We appreciate you spreading awareness by sharing this episode with your friends, family, and colleagues who care about family well-being.

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. [email protected] 

This week’s episode sheds light on the persistent challenges and significant opportunities in engaging people with lived experience in child welfare system transformation. While there is a lot of interest and focus on lived expertise, the truth is that working with the community is critical, but agencies often lack the skills and experience to do this well. It’s easy for leaders to fall back on old ways of thinking, outdated power dynamics, and entrenched incentives. Elliott and Tecoria talk to Jennifer Holman, Oregon Department of Human Services’ Family Preservation Manager, and Jeanine Morales, a Senior Advisor and lived expert at Foster America. They share their journey and the challenges along the way of altering traditional government approaches to focus on community-driven solutions.

While they outline how ODHS is working towards being better at integrating voices of lived experience to create meaningful change, they are honest that they don’t have the answers. What they want to leave listeners with is what you do when you don’t have the answers. For example, be patient, be honest, and prioritize relationships. 

Community In-Site has a dedicated website where you can listen to episodes, access information and resources, and subscribe to the email newsletter. Podcasts Archive - Thriving Families

Here are some additional resources that Jennifer and Jeanine would like to share with you.

• Oregon Department of Human Services : Services for Children, Youth and Families : Child and Youth Services : State of Oregon
• OPT-In for Families
• Home - Foster America

We appreciate you spreading awareness by sharing this episode with your friends, family, and colleagues who care about family well-being.

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. [email protected] 

In this episode, hosts Tecoria and Elliott connect with Zenayda Bonilla, a mother who overcame the challenge of feeling silenced by the child welfare system. Zenayda shares her journey of navigating motherhood in a new country and culture, and how she found support through the Center for Family Life in Brooklyn. The Center for Family Life is one of the recipients of the Youth, Family, and Community Partnership Grants, awarded to nonprofits engaging Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities within the Thriving Families, Safer Children initiative. 

The Center has a unique approach to  investing in people like Zenayda through community-driven models that harness the skills they already have and help their families thrive. Zenayda shares how their model of starting and supporting cooperative businesses helped her gain the skills, confidence, and support to become an employee, owner, and leader with Gold Steps Elder Care Cooperative. Listeners will learn how cooperatives are an innovative approach to meeting families' need for stable income, meaningful employment, and quality time with their children — things that traditional child protective services often fail to provide.

Community In-Site has a dedicated website where you can listen to episodes, access information and resources, and subscribe to the email newsletter. Podcasts Archive - Thriving Families

Here are some additional resources that Zenayda would like to share with you.

• Please visit the Center for Family Life website - Center for Family Life
• Golden Steps
• United Community Consulting LLC

We appreciate you spreading awareness by sharing this episode with your friends, family, and colleagues who care about family well-being.

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. [email protected] 

Keith Bostick is the President of the Black Administrators in Child Welfare and a long-term clinician, administrator, and director in the child welfare space. He currently serves as the Deputy Director of Broward County Human Services in the state of Florida.  Along with the Haywood Burns Institute, Keith provides technical assistance to the Thriving Families, Safer Children initiative to help advance the principle of addressing racial equity and disproportionality.  

In this episode, hosts Tecoria and Elliot join Keith as he delves into the hard truth that not all families are treated fairly in communities. Keith shares his unflinching perspective on the structural racism that underpins many child welfare practices, leading to disproportionate impacts on Black and Brown children. He explains how, until we view these systems through a race equity lens, meaningful change will remain out of reach. Keith assesses where the Thriving Families, Safer Children initiative is in terms of the race equity principle and how sites can make progress. He also shares critical insights about who holds authority and how inclusivity, especially involving those with lived experiences, can lead to change.

Community In-Site has a dedicated website where you can listen to episodes, access information and resources, and subscribe to the email newsletter. Podcasts Archive - Thriving Families

Here are some additional resources that Keith would like to share with you.

Black Administrators in Child Welfare - Black Administrators in Child Welfare

Burns Institute - Burns Institute – Burns Institute

Navigating Racism in the Child Welfare System - Navigating Racism in the Child Welfare System: The Impact on Black Children, Families, and Practitioners

Child Safety Forward: A Reflection Guide to Shape Provider Conversations about Infant Sleep - Final CSF Conversation Guide on Sleep Practices.pdf

Race Equity Strategy Areas 2.0 - RESA 2.0 Booklet final.pdf

We appreciate you spreading awareness by sharing this episode with your friends, family, and colleagues who care about family well-being.

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. [email protected] 

In this episode, we hear from Kailene Nihipali Sanchez, Network Manager at EPIC ʻOhana, Inc in Hawaii. As a teenager, Kailene grew up in a community with high rates of health issues, homelessness, and substance abuse. She describes a pivotal moment when she returned to her culture and identity to overcome early adversity. As the Network Manager, she now advocates alongside other native Hawaiian families for a reimagined child welfare grounded in Native Hawaiian culture, values, and deep positive relationships that heal and strengthen individuals, families, and communities.

The Network teams are restoring traditional practices, implementing cultural training, and creating a future where every native Hawaiian child thrives within a supportive and connected community. Through building networks, promoting cultural identity, and emphasizing communal support, Kailene and her team are redefining child welfare in Hawaii. Their specific goal is that by 2030, native Hawaiian children will no longer be disproportionately represented in the system. Listeners will learn how Hawaii is working on the Thriving Families, Safer Children initiative principle of addressing racial equity and disproportionality. 

Community In-Site has a dedicated website where you can listen to episodes, access information and resources, and subscribe to the email newsletter. Podcasts Archive - Thriving Families

Here are some additional resources that Kailene would like to share with you.

EPIC ‘Ohana, Inc : EPIC ‘Ohana, Inc.

Call to Action for Healing: Call to Action for Healing

Handout Nā Kama a Hāloa: Nā Kama a Hāloa — EPIC ‘Ohana, Inc.

Native Hawaiian Fact Sheet: Native Hawaiian Fact Sheet 4c

We appreciate you spreading awareness by sharing this episode with your friends, family, and colleagues who care about family well-being.

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. [email protected]

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. [email protected]

Please email us if you want to connect with the creative team or find out how to engage with the family well-being movement. [email protected]