The mission of the Institute for Child and Family Well-Being is to improve the lives of children and families with complex challenges by implementing effective programs, conducting cutting-edge research, engaging communities, and promoting systems change.
The Institute for Child and Family Well-Being is a collaboration between Children’s Wisconsin and the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The shared values and strengths of this academic-community partnership are reflected in the Institute’s three core service areas: Program Design and Implementation, Research and Evaluation, and Community Engagement and Systems Change.
In This Issue:
- Meet the ICFW
- Program Design and Implementation
- Research and Evaluation
- Community Engagement and Systems Change
- Recent and Upcoming Events
Meet the ICFW
Meet Our New Predoctoral Fellow
The ICFW continues to support a predoctoral fellowship training program that provides mentorship and funding to doctoral students whose research can be applied to promote better and more equitable outcomes for children and families.
We are proud to announce our newest predoctoral fellow Jae eun (Janie) Park. Her research broadly focuses on identifying the risk and protective factors that influence vulnerability or resilience in children and mothers exposed to violence. Her overarching goal is to contribute to the development and implementation of culturally sensitive interventions that improve parenting, mental health, and child development outcomes.
Janie holds a master’s degree in Behavioral Health from Tulane University and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Notre Dame.
Meet our new MSW Interns
Ashley Ross is currently in the MSW program at UW- Milwaukee. Her areas of interest are in community-based social work and services related to children, families, and trauma informed care. She is excited to get involved with SFTCCC as well as the Overloaded: Understanding Neglect podcast hosted by the ICFW. Through her internship at ICFW, she hopes to learn more about the gaps in the community and initiatives that ICFW are working on to close these gaps.
Ashley also works part time at Rogers Behavioral Health where she has worked for the last 5 years. She has a BSW, and with her MSW she hopes to work in a macro setting to advocate for clients in her community who are in need of mental health services.
Jessica Thomas is currently studying for her MSW at Louisiana State University, Geaux Tigers! She has a mixed bag of experience through her previous studies, receiving her first degree, a BBA in Marketing from Boise State University, and later receiving her teaching license in elementary education.
Jessica is currently an academic interventionist whose interactions with her students sparked her interest in social work, specifically social-emotional development, mental health, and education reform. As a mother of a 10- and 14-year-old and a teacher for students who struggle academically, Jessica has witnessed and understands the importance of healthy and supportive environments for adequate child development. She is excited to be working with the ICFW on their initiatives to support Wisconsin’s families in overcoming adversity due to failing systems and policies, and is also most excited to be involved in their work that directly impacts the health and well-being of Wisconsin’s youth.
Annie Van Hoof is currently studying for her MSW at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee with a focus on macro level work. Her main areas of interest focus on advocacy for current and future social workers and investing in building the workforce to be able to provide better servicing to the community. Annie is also interested in helping to find preventative ways to alleviate families having ongoing involvement in the child welfare system who might not need it.
Annie currently works as an Options Counselor for Wraparound Milwaukee and has been in this role for just over 3 years. She previously attended UW-Milwaukee where she received her bachelor’s degree in Social Work. Since then she has been working in multiple direct service roles in juvenile justice, child welfare, and crisis stabilization.
Program Design and Implementation
The Institute develops, implements and disseminates validated prevention and intervention strategies that are accessible in real-world settings.
Translational Design Workshop
Welcome to the Institute for Child and Family Well-being (ICFW) online Translational Design Workshop!
Do you have a longstanding problem facing the families in your community? Is your agency or organization seeking innovative ways to influence the narrative surrounding child welfare, poverty or other systemic issues in your community? If so, this workshop is for you!
This workshop will strengthen your ability to translate the latest science and evidence into innovative solutions, work across sectors to identify points of convergence and foster the community collaboration essential for widespread implementation. It will ultimately serve as a structured space to connect, ideate and tackle challenging problems together to produce solutions that will uplift families and your community.
Learning Environment:
The Translational Design workshop consists of two 3-week training periods and is structured to meet the needs of busy schedules. At your own pace, you will complete weekly activities and exercises that are focused on creating tangible opportunities for knowledge application. Each workshop is customized to meet the needs of the attendees, with relevant activities that promote thinking about your “big question” and help you prototype solutions.
Each weekly session will be supplemented with instructor-led practice sessions, where you can ask questions and build a community of practice with your peers. Teamwork is encouraged and teams can be as large as four people.
As a result of this workshops, innovators will be able to:
- Brainstorm and design solutions to longstanding challenges
- Engage content and context experts in the design and improvement processes
- Build a Community of Practice which can serve as a learning collaborative and supportive capacity-builder
- Identify and frame the challenges concerning complex issues that have been standing in the way of program-and client level success
- Move your program or current research more quickly into practice (a new program, service, curriculum, tool, etc.)
Registration fee: $400 for a team of up to four people. Scholarships available!
If you are interested in learning more about the workshop or registering for this upcoming cohort, contact Megan Frederick-Usoh at mfrederick-usoh@childrenswi.org or Luke Waldo at lwaldo@childrenswi.org.
Research and Evaluation
The Institute accelerates the process of translating knowledge into direct practices, programs and policies that promote health and well-being, and provides analytic, data management and grant-writing support.
Recent ICFW Publications
Romain Dagenhardt, D., Sharif, S., Belasco, E., & Topitzes, J. (2024). Examining the strengths and challenges of a Smart Reentry Program: Lessons learned. Journal of Social Service Research.
Community Engagement & Systems Change
The Institute develops community-university partnerships to promote systems change that increases the accessibility of evidence-based and evidence-informed practices.
Strong Families, Thriving Children, Connected Communities Initiative – Reimagining Mandated Reporting
By Leah Cerwin
The Institute for Child and Family Well-Being (ICFW) hosts learning sessions involving various invested parties to address the challenges of mandated reporting training and laws in meeting the needs of overloaded families. People from various counties across the state have come together to address how family separations resulting from neglect are frequently linked to poverty. The practice of mandated reporting can create surveillance and trauma for these families without offering the necessary support and resources.
The Mandated Reporting Reform workgroup, comprising members from Dane, Walworth, Waukesha, Rock, Brown, and Milwaukee Counties, has identified common themes in the experiences of mandated reporters. They have also highlighted opportunities for fostering connections to drive positive change.
Over the past many months, we have hosted presentations from medical social workers, school social workers, and child welfare trainers who have shared their lived experience with mandated reporting in medical and school settings as well as with systemic racism and bias.
In the coming months, we will be identifying the gaps in perspectives that exist within our network before transitioning into some initial scenario planning that may lead to new proposed actions and solutions to the challenges presented by mandated reporting’s current state. Now is a great time to consider joining the conversation and network to share your experience and learn from changemakers from across our state and systems.
If you are interested in joining us, please email Leah Cerwin at lcerwin@childrenswi.org or Luke Waldo at lwaldo@childrenswi.org.
Join our Strong Families, Thriving Children, Connected Communities’ Critical Pathways journey here.
Milwaukee Independent Column Featuring Strong Families, Thriving Children, Connected Communities Initiative
By Luke Waldo
Beginning in January of this year, I was given the honor to share the work that we are doing in Milwaukee and across our state with our Strong Families, Thriving Children, Connected Communities initiative through a monthly column in the Milwaukee Independent. Read my latest columns below.
May’s column: Why Mandated Reporting is not Supporting Children and Families in Wisconsin
June’s column: Why Reimagining the Workforce Across Wisconsin Will Better Support Overloaded Families
August column: The Promise of a Guaranteed Income for the Economic Stability of Milwaukee Families
Recent and Upcoming Events
The Institute provides training, consultation and technical assistance to help human service agencies implement and replicate best practices. If you are interested in training or technical assistance, please complete our speaker request form.
Upcoming Event
- Together for Children Conference: Virtual Series – September 17th
- Connecting the Dots: Wisconsin Public Child Welfare Conference – September 23rd-25th
- Wicked Problems Institute: Virtual Child Welfare Convening – October 1st
- Title IV-E Scholars & Community Partners Conference: Parental Substance Misuse in Child Welfare – October 4th
- Building Brains with Relationships Workshops with WCWPDS
- Translational Design Workshop – New Cohort this Fall
- Overloaded: Understanding Neglect Season 3 – Coming this Fall!
Recent Events
- PCIT International Convention 2024 – September 4-6th