June 2021 – December 2021
The Wisconsin Public Child Welfare and Home Visiting Data Project was a rapid cycle analysis conducted to help inform Wisconsin’s IV-E service planning process. Using eight years of administrative records, we examined the risk profiles of families who received a screened-in CPS report during their time...
Children thrive when they have regular interactions with responsive, caring adults. Families experiencing significant stressors related to financial insecurity, housing instability, or the impact of systemic and interpersonal trauma can be overloaded with stress, interrupting those interactions. Families that are experiencing this overload of stress...
In partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR), ICFW will work to develop, implement and test a consumer quality improvement plan at the Milwaukee central city location. This initiative builds on an extensive consumer service review that DVR conducted in 2019. Stakeholder interviews...
Youth aging out of foster care do not fare as well as their same-aged peers. Frequent exposure to trauma and adversity stresses executive functioning skills most needed to perform essential life skills that set the foundation for self-sufficiency and independence. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, youth who are aging out of...
August 2020- December 2021
The Goodwill Boys & Men of Color Initiative aimed to support unemployed or underemployed young men of color in Milwaukee, by offering intentional and aligned access to career training programs and holistic supportive services. During the pilot of this initiative, youth and men participated in a training program...
Children entering the child welfare system are more vulnerable due to the exposure to one, often multiple, adverse events prior to their placement in foster care. These adverse events can lead to decreased activity in areas of the brain affecting learning, memory, stress regulation and can result in life-long problems in learning, behavior, and physical...
October 2018- October 2021
The Higher Expectations’ Two Generation Initiative was a StriveTogether-funded project that aimed to support unemployed or underemployed mothers with young children, by offering intentional and aligned access to workforce...
Healthy brain development is the foundation for child well-being and community prosperity. Changing systems and implementing policies that are informed by brain science can support children, families, and communities. From 2015 to 2017, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin was one of 15 sites in the United States and Canada that participated in the...
2016 – 2020
Project Safe Neighborhood: Welcome Home (PSN) and Smart Reentry are innovative initiatives aimed at preventing recidivism among men returning to Milwaukee neighborhoods from state correctional facilities. The Wisconsin Department of Justice, in collaboration with other project partners, launched both projects in 2016. While...
October 2016-September 2018
Funded through the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, Alternative Response (AR) or Differential Response is being implemented by 22 Wisconsin county child welfare agencies with the aim of serving families with low-to-moderate safety concerns without launching an official investigation of maltreatment....
A stable, healthy, and affordable home provides a foundation for well-being and prosperity for children, families and communities. Stable housing can positively affect a broad spectrum of outcomes for children and families, including academic performance, physical, and mental health. Families that struggle to achieve or maintain housing stability...
Youth with good mental health develop skills and capacities that become the basis for strong communities. Toxic levels of stress and trauma negatively impact the architecture of a youth’s developing brain, which has lasting effects into adulthood. Youth in foster care face these challenges and many others, which contribute with significantly...
October 2007 – September 2013
Wisconsin’s Western Region is the area of the state with the highest concentration of methamphetamine abuse, and on par with the state as a whole in its problems with alcohol. This project responded to those needs by forming an alliance among state, regional, and county/tribe-level partners who are committed...