Across the nation, jurisdictions far and wide speak about the increasing complexity of the work and the need for new approaches and skills to equip themselves so they can best support children and families. We hear you--and here is an answer to that call!
We are excited to announce the launch of Dear Workers, a family engagement resource for workers in child welfare to understand the context of their position and to prepare them to bring family voice and power to the system. Thanks to generous gifts from funders, we worked alongside curriculum designers, lived experts, system experts, and professionals in the field to create a learning framework made specifically for frontline workers to create conditions for change.
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Dear Workers is deeply personal work of being and doing that starts from the inside out and requires acknowledging that we share responsibility as part of a system. This body of work has the potential to change how you see the world and the impact of your interactions with children and families.
Visit our website to read more about the development of Dear Workers and download the resource!
News & Insights
from Team Alia
Here are some ideas that got us thinking this month. Visit our website to read the full-length posts, and join us in the conversations online!
- Helping families with healing and belonging. One piece of the work we do with systems is discover underlying dynamics and untapped solutions for difficult youth or family situations. Nerée Jackson, Director of Learning, shares insight into our Healing and Belonging Labs as a way to explore alternative ways of meeting families' needs.
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Microaggressions and the necessity for courageous conversations. In the workplace and in our personal lives, language matters--especially in the context of conscious and unconscious bias. Kim Van Auken, Senior Director of Learning, reflects on a recent experience with microagressions and shares things to consider as you engage in your own courageous conversations.
Resource Spotlights
This month, we're highlighting the Bright Spot resource Parent Partners from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, a program that connects parents who have had their children removed and returned through the child welfare system with parents who currently have children placed in foster or kinship care. Explore this resource and more on the Bright Spots website!
10 Ways to Build Wellbeing is the fourth module in our UnSystem Toolkit, providing strategies for sustainable wellbeing practices and how to build a framework for wellbeing in the workplace. Visit our website to learn more about the UnSystem Toolkit and all of its modules, introducing you and your team to the fundamentals of change!