Today’s episode included the following speakers (in the order they appear):Opening quote: Julie Woodbury – Family Preservation and Support Manager, Children’s WisconsinHost: Luke WaldoExperts:Ashlee Jackson – Family Support Specialist II, Children’s WisconsinJennifer Jones – Chief Strategy Officer, Prevent Child Abuse AmericaTheresa Swiechowski – Family Support Supervisor – Children’s WisconsinDr. Kristi Slack – Professor, University of Wisconsin School of Social WorkBryan Samuels – Executive Director, Chapin HallTim Grove – Senior Consultant – Wellpoint Care NetworkBregetta Wilson – Lived Experience Coordinator, Wisconsin’s Department of Children and FamiliesHannah Kirk – Healthy Support Supervisor – Children’s Wisconsin0:00 – Julie Woodbury – “It’s not somebody else’s problem, it’s everybody’s problem.”00:14 – 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 BureauThe Water of Systems Change - FSG4:36 – Ashlee Jackson – Addressing mistrust by clarifying child welfare’s role and goals for the families it serves.5:50 – Jennifer Jones – Racial disparities in child welfare and access to community supports.6:35 – Theresa Swiechowski – “Parents don’t wake up and say, ‘Man, I just can’t wait to have mental health issues today…to have my car break down today....to be in a system.” Navigating our systems is really hard, and it can lead to people feeling shame, isolation, and shutting down.8:23 – Dr. Kristi Slack – The experience of being reported to or investigated by the child welfare system can be traumatic. “If there were other ways to help families that didn’t need to be there, then we should pursue those other strategies.” 8:58 – Luke Waldo – How might we divert overloaded families that may not need child welfare intervention to supportive services that keep their families together and help avoid the trauma and mistrust that comes from family separation? Introduction of next speakers that discuss the challenges presented within our policies, practices and resource flows. 9:44 – Jennifer Jones – Considering the complex relationship between race, poverty and neglect, “by putting an actual bigger emphasis on addressing poverty, we should see, without a doubt, a decrease in neglect cases in the U.S.” We spend $33 billion federally on our child welfare system and only 15% of that on prevention programs. Invest more in anti-poverty and prevention community-based resources.The Social Welfare Policy Landscape and Child Protective Services: Opportunities for and Barriers to Creating Systems Synergy – Dr. Megan Feely12:55 – Theresa Swiechowski – Introduction to Children’s Northern Wisconsin child welfare programs. Families are in crisis when she first meets them.Children’s Wisconsin’s Child Welfare programs14:37 – Ashlee Jackson – Policies change when their impacts are felt closer to home. How might we treat the impacts of trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences like we have treated the opioid crisis?15:50 – Luke Waldo – How might we change how policymakers and systems leaders see overloaded families, so that they implement policies that strengthen families and keep them together? Introduction of next speakers that discuss our society’s role with our policies, practices and resource flows. 16:47 – Bryan Samuels – Policy impacts practice. Policy changes need to be made to enable the work at the community level. “Shift resources, shift power, and then ultimately, change outcomes.”18:25 – Dr. Kristi Slack – If you change policies, change outcomes. Cognitive load makes it more difficult for parents to care for their children. What part of that is society’s responsibility? Economic safety net as a child maltreatment prevention strategy.Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)CDC’s Essentials for Childhood FrameworkCenter for the Study of Social Policy’s (CSSP) Protective Factors Framework22:33 – Luke Waldo – It’s striking to hear Dr. Slack talk about the social safety net, a concept that assumes individuals or families will fall, as a set of supports that too often barely gets overloaded families above the meager poverty line. Introduction of next speakers that discuss accessibility of social safety net and the impacts of relationships and power dynamics on mistrust between systems and communities.23:49 – Dr. Kristi Slack – Accessibility of social safety net programs such as WIC and SNAP. Tax credits and direct cash assistance can have sizable impacts on families. Community response such as Family Resource Centers can divert families from the child welfare system.Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)Supplemental ...
