News

Webinar: Strategic Learning and Social Innovation in Times of Uncertainty

July 9, 2020

Social innovation within our complex systems, such as child welfare, housing and mental health, demands a difficult balance between trial and error, responsiveness to those directly impacted, and actively sharing learning to build on our progress and failures. Being a learning organization serves multiple purposes: creating institutional memory, supporting just-in-time iteration, and clarifying our hypotheses …

Webinar: Housing as a pathway to prevent child maltreatment

July 7, 2020

July 30 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm Stable housing provides a foundation for health, 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, employment, physical, and mental health. Threats to stable and healthy housing are complex and intertwined with systemic …

Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) & Child Welfare

May 27, 2020

Children who have experienced maltreatment and are involved in the child welfare system often exhibit behavioral difficulties, and their parents often struggle to provide effective discipline, may unintentionally engage in coercive parenting practices, or may appear to lack sensitivity towards their children due to their own history of trauma. Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) has …

Child Welfare in Times of COVID-19

May 14, 2020

We are in unprecedented times. COVID-19 is ravaging our health and economic infrastructure, with untold losses still to come. Globally and nationally the pain of the pandemic is widespread, and it is a particularly dire situation for those among us who are most vulnerable. These include individuals and families who struggle with extreme poverty, housing insecurity, substance use, health and mental health problems, and chronic stress.

Making the Unspeakable, Speakable: Making a Case for Trauma Screening and Assessment

May 11, 2020

Trauma-informed care has increasingly become common nomenclature to social service providers, therapists, researchers, school staff and the general public.  To become trauma-responsive, it is essential to conduct trauma screening and assessment so as not to make assumptions, miss vital information, reinforce shame through silence and avoidance, set inappropriate goals and lose rapport with clients.  This …

Webinar: “Trauma screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (T-SBIRT): An Introduction”

May 7, 2020

The Institute for Child and Family Well-Being is proud to host the webinar “Trauma screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (T-SBIRT): Introduction to a promising, brief protocol for social service and healthcare settings” with Dr. Dimitri Topitzes, Clinical Director of the Institute for Child and Family Well-being, and Lisa Ortiz, UMOS, on June 17th at 11:00 …

Webinar: “Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) & Child Welfare”

April 28, 2020

The Institute for Child and Family Well-Being is proud to host the webinar “Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) & Child Welfare” with Dr. Emma Girard, PCIT Master Trainer, and Kate Bennett, Children’s Wisconsin Well-Being Lead Clinician, on May 20th at 1:00 CST. Children who have experienced maltreatment and are involved in the child welfare system …

Authentic Community Engagement: Made in Milwaukee

April 22, 2020

Community engagement, or “the intentional process of co-creating solutions in partnership with people who know best, through their own experiences,”[1] requires the creation of authentic, collaborative relationships between context and content experts. Complex social problems such as gun violence, children’s mental health, and living through a global pandemic require solutions that are developed in collaboration with …

Dr. Choi Selected for NDACAN Summer Research Institute

April 20, 2020

Dr. Changyong Choi was recently selected to participate in the Summer Research Institute through the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect (NDACAN) at Cornell University. Changyong is a postdoctoral fellow with the Institute for Child and Family Well-Being. His major research aims are to understand how adversities in childhood are embodied in multidimensional …

Webinar: “Making the Unspeakable Speakable: Making the Case for Trauma Screening and Assessment”

April 16, 2020

The Institute for Child and Family Well-Being is proud to host the webinar “Making the Unspeakable Speakable: Making the Case for Trauma Screening and Assessment” with Meghan Christian, ICFW Child and Family Therapist, Dimitri Topitzes, ICFW Clinical Director, and Cynthia Franzolin, Licensed Professional Counselor from Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers and Franzolin Consulting Services, LLC …

Evaluating Systems Change: An Inquiry Framework for Uncertain Times

April 15, 2020

A nurturing environment promotes resilience, reduces toxic stress, supports healing and is the foundation of child, family, and community well-being. The COVID-19 crisis has presented our communities with unprecedented health and economic challenges, while also accelerating pre-existing disparities.  Tools for evaluating system change efforts in an uncertainty context can be a critical tool to inform …

Meet the New ICFW Affiliates

February 21, 2020

As Community Engagement and Systems Change are a core service area of the ICFW, collaboration with our community and systems partners is critical to fulfilling our mission. In recognition of those that value collaboration and whose mission seeks to improve child and family well-being, we have invited those partners to join us as ICFW Affiliates. …

Enhancing Systems through Evidence Based Treatment Training and Lived Experience

February 17, 2020

According to the 2019 annual report by the Office of Children’s Mental Health (OCMH), Wisconsin continues to see trends such as increasing rates of diagnosed mental illness in young children and adolescents, increasing rates of untreated depression and anxiety in youth, and a significant lack of mental health providers available to the community. In our state, a common concern shared by families and clinicians alike is the accessibility of early intervention and quality mental health services.

Sustaining Advanced TF-CBT Practice Sessions

February 11, 2020

Sustaining Advanced Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) Practice Since 2012, the Wisconsin Trauma Project at the Department of Children and Families has trained clinicians throughout Wisconsin on Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). In the final year of the Wisconsin Trauma Project, efforts are being focused on sustaining and strengthening the practice of the clinicians and …

2020 Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) Learning Collaboratives

February 8, 2020

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) TF-CBT is an evidence-based, short-term treatment model that effectively improves a range of trauma-related outcomes in children/adolescents, ages 3 to 18, and caregiver. TF-CBT is highly effective at improving youth posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as well as many other trauma impacts, including affective (e.g. depressive, anxiety), cognitive and behavioral …

UWM Community Building Workshop – February 2020

February 21 – February 23 The Workshop experience has been described by experts as “Trauma-Informed Care in action.” Others simply call it transformative. Learn about: Community Building skills Promoting acceptance Communication skills Developing a diverse, inclusive campus culture All UWM affiliated personnel along with Milwaukee community members are invited, and participation is free of charge. Register with …

T-SBIRT Protocol Addresses Trauma Exposure

November 19, 2019

By Dimitri Topitzes Trauma screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment, or T-SBIRT, is a brief, standardized, semi-structured protocol developed at the Institute for Child and Family Well-Being for use within health and social service settings. Adapted from the original SBIRT for substance misuse,1 T-SBIRT addresses trauma exposure and symptoms among recipients of health and social …

Developing a Group-Based Solution for the Growing Demand for Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

November 13, 2019

By Myra Werner The Institute for Child and Family Well-Being has provided evidence-based Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to families for the last six years, with the intention of integrating the therapy into the child welfare system. We initially provided in-home PCIT services to break down access barriers for families. We also provided an adaptation …

Trauma in Our Community Conference

April 5, 2018

June 20 at the UWM Union, 2200 E Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee. Join counselors, social workers, clinicians, psychologists, physicians, nurses, and related practitioners as they present trauma-informed practices.

SAMHSA Grant Increases Access to Treatment for Families Exposed to Trauma

October 4, 2017

The Institute for Child and Family Well-Being (ICFW) is collaborating with Wisconsin’s Department of Children and Families and Office of Children’s Mental Health on a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that will increase access to evidence-based mental health treatments for children and families that have been exposed to trauma.

Change in Mind

September 18, 2017

Change in Mind is a three-year initiative supporting the alignment of emerging research on chronic stress and developmental trauma with public policy and community practices.

Family Drug Treatment Court (FDTC)

This 3-year project focuses on Milwaukee County’s Family Drug Treatment Court (FDTC) program, which serves parents whose substance use disorder is a safety concern that results in the removal of the children from their care.

TF-CBT Training

February 14, 2017

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an evidence-based …

New Affiliates Dr. David J. Pate Jr. and Dr. Laura A. Voith Join ICFW

November 23, 2016

Dr. David J. Pate Jr. is a leading expert on low income African-American men, fatherhood, and child support. Dr. Laura A. Voith focuses on violence prevention and intervention, particularly violence against women and children, and implementation science on the delivery of violence prevention programs.

Brighter Futures

February 27, 2016

Children’s Hospital joins Brighter Futures program.