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
Episodes
53 episodes
Can a System Built on Separation Become a System Built on Well-being with Sixto Cancel
The child welfare field is increasingly focused on shifting toward a broader vision of family well-being, one that emphasizes prevention, stability, and keeping families together whenever possible. But a fundamental question remains: can the sy...
Community is the Infrastructure: A Practical Case for Family Well-Being with Angela Burton
The child welfare field is increasingly asking what it would take to fundamentally change how we support families, and whether the systems we have today are capable of evolving into what communities and families have been asking for.One ...
What if Termination of Parental Rights Didn’t Exist with Toia Potts
Termination of parental rights is often described as a last resort, something that happens only after every other option has been exhausted. But many families and advocates question how those outcomes are shaped long before a case reaches that ...
Youth Engagement Starts with Checking Your Privilege at the Door with Blanca Goetz and Kathleen Holt-Whyte
For more than twenty years, there has been a growing emphasis on youth engagement — inviting young people into the conversations and decisions about the systems that impact their lives. However, there are still fundamental skills that many peop...
Stories Are Data With A Soul and Will Transform Systems with Dr. Jessica Pryce
This episode of Community In-Site is a re-release from Season 2 with Dr. Jessica Pryce. Dr. Pryce is a research faculty at Florida State University and author of Broken: Transforming Child Protective Services. Dr. Pryce is a nationally...
Funding the Future: How Philanthropy Can Drive Innovation and Social Change with Marvin Smith
As the family well-being movement continues to push toward prevention, experimentation, and community-led solutions, what does it look like for philanthropy to support that shift? How can philanthropy be a leader in driving innovation and socia...
How Cash Assistance with No Strings Attached Can Prevent Foster Care with Melody Webb
Direct cash support for parents can sound both simple and provocative. Research shows that neglect is the most common reason families become involved with child welfare, and it is often tied to economic hardship, which is why direct cash suppor...
How Transitional Housing Can Help Youth Build Wealth with Mike Williams
When most people think about transitional housing for youth aging out, Mike Williams thinks about home ownership as a way to help them build generational wealth. Mike is the CEO of Dreams and Success Homes and SMART DREAMS Inc. Some would say t...
Why Less Intervention Doesn't Mean Increased Risk with Mollie Warren
Some would say that reducing child welfare intervention puts children at risk, while others argue that too much intervention causes its own harm. How can stepping back be seen as both responsible leadership and potentially risky, and what does ...
Why Abolition Shouldn’t be a Scary Word with Erin Miles Cloud
Some would say that abolishing the child welfare system would put children at risk while others would say it is a beautiful vision for families. How can one idea, one word, spark such vastly different points of view, and what does this differen...
How Entrepreneurship Can Solve the Right Problems with Bobbi Taylor
Producer's Note: Season Three is Coming in January....In this episode, host Valerie Frost talks with Bobbi Taylor, an experienced child welfare advocate and founder of Proximate Solution about why entrepreneurship matters in the family w...
Thriving Families: Insights on Preventing Family Separation [Re-release] with Lisa Lawson
Since our original conversation with Lisa Lawson, she’s published a new book called Thrive: How the Science of the Adolescent Brain Helps Us Imagine a Better Future for All Children. The book is a powerful reminder that adolescence is ...
Launching DC’s Warmline and Building Community Trust with Director Tanya Torres Trice
In this episode, host Valerie Frost talks with Tanya Torres Trice, Director of Washington DC’s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), about CFSA’s efforts to build trust with the community as they launch DC’s Warmline to better support famili...
From Exclusion to Youth Leadership: Organizing for Racial Justice with Demarco Mott
In this episode, host Valerie Frost speaks with Demarco Mott, a passionate youth leader and advocate from Miami who has spent years fighting racial disparities in child welfare and school systems. Demarco is the Chair of the Citrus Family Care ...
How a "Third Place" Became a Catalyst for Change in New York with Liangliang Han
In this episode, host Valerie Frost speaks with Liangliang Han, Program Director of the Family Enrichment Center at the Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Together, they explore Rise Up, a community-driven initiative where immigra...
Leading with Courage and Clarity in Uncertain Times with Dr. Melissa Merrick
In this episode, host Valerie Frost sits down with Dr. Melissa Merrick, President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America (PCAA), to talk about what it means to lead today as we all navigate through uncertainty. She emphasizes the importance of ...
How Legal Advocacy at Birth Can Keep Families Together [RE-RELEASE] with Adam Ballout
In this re-release of one of our most impactful episodes, host Valerie Frost revisits her conversation with Adam Ballout, public defender and co-founder of the F.I.R.S.T. (Family Intervention Response to Stop Trauma) Legal Clinic in Washington ...
A Two-Generation Approach to Family Resource Centers with Daniela Molina
In this episode, host Valerie Frost speaks with Daniela Molina, lived experience leader and financial empowerment coach at the Liberation Family Resource Center in Richmond, Virginia. Liberation is part of the Family Resource Center cohort with...
When Youth Lead and Adults Listen, Bills Get Passed with Alayna Leonard and Sam Garman
In recognition of five years of the Thriving Families, Safer Children initiative, this episode highlights the power of youth and adult partnership. Valerie sits down with Alayna Leonard, a youth advocate and former member of Indiana’s Commissio...
Support Over Separation: Rethinking 40 Years of Child Protection with Dr David Sanders
In this episode, Valerie Frost talks with Dr. David Sanders, Executive Vice President of Systems Improvement at Casey Family Programs and one of the early visionaries behind the Thriving Families, Safer Children initiative.As the initiat...
Stories Are Data With A Soul and Will Transform Systems with Dr. Jessica Pryce
In this episode, Valerie talks with Dr. Jessica Pryce. Jessica is a Research Faculty member at Florida State University and the author of the book Broken: Transforming Child Protective Services. In addition to being a researcher and au...
Off the Bench and Into the Community: How Judges Advance the Movement [RE-RELEASE] with Judge Jay Dugger
In this re-release of one of our most resonant Season One episodes, we revisit the conversation with Jay Dugger, Chief Judge of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court in Hampton, Virginia. Host Valerie Frost wanted to bring this epi...
Centering Fathers to Advance Justice with Carol Mitchell
In this episode, Valerie sits down with Carol Mitchell, a seasoned attorney, social justice advocate, and founder of the Institute for Black Justice (IBJ). With over 20 years of public sector leadership experience, Carol is dedicated to transfo...
Going Deep Within Yourself Before Helping Others with Sarah Winograd
In this episode, Valerie sits down with Sarah Winograd, the visionary and founder behind Together With Families, an organization committed to transforming the way we approach family support. Sarah explains the philosophy behind Together with Fa...
Economic Shocks: Public Policy Can Support or Stress Families with Clare Anderson
Today’s guest is Clare Anderson, a policy expert and passionate advocate for using evidence to drive upstream investments to prevent child welfare involvement. Claire is a Senior Policy Fellow at Chapin Hall, and she’s spent years organizing da...