Today’s episode included the following speakers (in the order they appear):

Opening quote: Bryan Samuels – Executive Director, Chapin Hall

Host: Luke Waldo

Experts:

• Tim Grove – Senior Consultant, Wellpoint Care Network 
• Jennifer Jones – Chief Strategy Officer, Prevent Child Abuse America
• Dr. Julie Woodbury – Family Preservation and Support Manager, Children’s Wisconsin
• Bregetta Wilson – Lived Experience Coordinator, Wisconsin’s Department of Children and Families
• Hannah Kirk – Healthy Support Supervisor, Children’s Wisconsin
• Dr. Kristi Slack – Professor, University of Wisconsin School of Social Work

0:00 – Bryan Samuels – “We often miss the opportunity to recognize that the relationships that are needed to get into communities and to successfully leverage the assets that exist there requires trust-building and power-sharing.”

00:24 – Luke Waldo – Introduction to the child welfare system’s organizing principles, systems change and its drivers – policies, practices, resource flow; relationships and power dynamics; and mental models.

• How the Child Welfare System Works – Children’s Bureau
• The Water of Systems Change - FSG

5:04 – Tim Grove – We too often celebrate individual efficiencies and productivity in child welfare rather than lowering caseloads and addressing systemic issues. We risk burnout. Explores the impacts of Pair of ACEs and equity on the cycle of healing people and sending them back into combat. 

• Dr. Wendy Ellis – Pair of ACEs

8:26 – Jennifer Jones – Address systemic and community-level inequities to improve family well-being.

• Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire – Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

9:48 – Bryan Samuels – To understand what communities need, there must be authentic engagement and trust building, which often conflict with system timelines.

11:16 – Luke Waldo – If our systems face a trust deficit, then we must address them by better understanding and often challenging mental models. Flip the waterfall, turn the tables as Julie mentioned in the last episode.

12:01 - Dr. Julie Woodbury – What are the top issues in your community? What could we do about it? “We judge others on their behaviors, and ourselves on our intentions.” 

13:23 – Bryan Samuels – Engaged community residents to promote healthy development. Community is a powerful lever in changing the day to day lives of people. Systems Transformation framework. There are already assets in communities to leverage.

• Systems Transformation Framework – Chapin Hall

14:56 - Tim Grove - Address bias to promote equity.

16:54 - Luke Waldo – Building trust requires that we authentically engage communities, share power, and give them leadership and ownership opportunities. 

18:12 - Bregetta Wilson – We make up the system. How do we level the playing field? 

19:25 – Bryan Samuels – California Endowment funded a number of community engagement efforts throughout California and had varying outcomes.

• Building Healthy Communities – California Endowment

20:40 - Hannah Kirk – Building formal and informal supports in child welfare programs. 

• Children’s Wisconsin’s Child Welfare programs

21:36 – Bregetta Wilson – The importance of consistency from child welfare professionals. The power dynamics that exist within our court system. The power of language in building relationships and trust. 

24:24 – Luke Waldo - Changing population level outcomes requires policies, practices and resources to address the underlying root causes that we’ve discussed. 

25:38 - Bryan Samuels - Community Pathways, Family First Prevention Services Act, Home Visiting, and Family Resource Centers to provide support to overloaded families when they need it most.

• Family First Prevention Services Act – Chapin Hall Toolkit
• Home Visiting
• Family Resource Centers

28:14 - Dr. Kristi Slack –Community response for deflected populations so that they receive actual engagement from supportive services such as Family Resource Centers. 

29:12 - Jennifer Jones - Cutting short TANF benefits led to increase in child maltreatment reports.

• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

29:57 - Bregetta Wilson – What if we gave families the opportunity to buy a home and then wrapped supportive services around them to build self-efficacy and address poverty? 

• Evicted by Matthew Desmond

32:20 - Luke Waldo – Systems collaboration must become normalized if we are to prevent family separations for reasons of neglect.

32:52 - Dr. Kristi Slack – Systems integration conversations have been happening for a long time. Risks and benefits of systems integration and collaboration. Siloed systems need better coordination.

35:40 - Bryan Samuels – Policies that impact cross-systems collaboration through an example of Medicaid and Child Welfare. Flexible funding and time are needed to reform our child welfare system into a more integrated child well-being system.

• Medicaid and Child Welfare

40:09 - Luke Waldo – 3 Key Takeaways

43:10 – Closing and Gratitude

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