Community In-Site
Community In-site is about the family well-being movement. Hosts Tecoria Jones and Elliott Hinkle bring their lived expertise with the child welfare system as well as their professional insights to each episode. We'll be talking to leaders, advocates, and community members who are working from the grassroots to the grasstops on strategies to invest in the well-being of families and communities in order to prevent child welfare involvement. The show will feature stories and lessons from community sites (featuring Thriving Families, Safer Children sites) that make the family well-being movement real and personal. Each episode will unpack a specific topic (e.g. racial equity or community partnerships) and what can be learned from the challenges and successes. The hosts hope to leave listeners with something they can take into their own work to help grow the movement in their community.
For more information about the family well-being movement and Thriving Families, Safer Children initiative you can visit, Thriving Families
Community In-Site
Parent Leadership in Action: Reducing Stigma to Improve Family Outcomes with Ashley Bates
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. comminsite@gmail.com