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
Cutting Foster Care in Half by Centering Humanity with David Lujan
Valerie sits down with David Lujan who is the former Director of the Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Arizona School for the Arts. They discuss his pivotal role in significantly reducing the number of children in care in Arizona. In 2017, there were nearly 19,000 kids in foster care in Arizona. During David’s time at DCS, he oversaw a dramatic decrease in the foster care population, from 13,000 to under 8,000 children. This change was made possible through a strategic shift in case worker mindset, a focus on prevention, community-based services, and keeping children safely with their families. David shares his insights on how Arizona began prioritizing family preservation, including early intervention programs that provided parents with resources and support to address challenges before they escalated to removal.
David also reflects on the challenges he faced in transforming a system that had been designed primarily for intervention into one that prioritized preventing family separation. He explains how collaboration across state agencies, communities, and nonprofit organizations was key to creating lasting change. Tune in to hear about David’s leadership, the lessons learned through this transformative process, and how these strategies could serve as a model for other states striving to create a more family-centered child welfare system.
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. Community In-Site Blog - Thriving Families
Here are some additional resources Heather would like to share with you.
- A drastic decrease in the number of children in foster care | The Arizona Way
- DCS reaches milestone in safely reducing the number of children in care | Arizona Department of Child Safety
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