Strong Families, Thriving Children, Connected Communities Initiative

Background

Reimagining Neglect Prevention Through Local Leadership and Systemic Change

Strong Families, Thriving Children, Connected Communities (SFTCCC) is a statewide initiative that empowers changemakers to reimagine how we strengthen families and prevent child neglect. It moves beyond crisis response to build conditions where families can truly thrive—addressing root causes of neglect such as poverty, social isolation, and community underinvestment. Powered by lived experience, cross-sector collaboration, and continuous learning, SFTCCC brings people together to lead change from the ground up.

The Challenge

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 are at greater risk for having neglect identified as a threat to their child’s safety.

Child neglect represents a critical social justice issue, with 37% of all children in the US experiencing a Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation before age 18. In Wisconsin, neglect accounts for 54% of all CPS reports and is a primary or contributing factor in 65% of family separations into foster care. These statistics reveal a system that struggles to distinguish between neglect and poverty, with systemic issues like housing instability, underemployment, racial inequities, social isolation, and inadequate access to community resources creating conditions where overloaded families become vulnerable to adverse experiences and family separation. We believe that there are pathways forward to preventing many of these separations from happening.

SFTCCC’s Vision

The conditions that lead to neglect are complex, extending beyond any single system or solution. SFTCCC envisions a Wisconsin where every child and family thrives, free from the threat of neglect and separation. Our goal is to reduce family separations for reasons of neglect by building a community focused on collaboratively pursuing policies and practices that support overloaded families and address systemic failings.

What We’ve Built Together

SFTCCC is not a program; it’s a growing ecosystem of people and places advancing shared goals through diverse approaches. As a field catalyst, the Institute for Child and Family Well-Being (ICFW) strategically connects fragmented stakeholders, builds local capacity, and facilitates conversations that challenge existing paradigms. Through roundtables, collaborative workshops, data walks, storytelling, podcasting, and continuous learning, ICFW builds shared understanding while remaining adaptive and responsive to community needs.

Together, SFTCCC has:

Contributed to local and state policy shifts through cost analysis and narrative change projects.
Launched four Critical Pathways to coordinate and focus action across social connectedness, workforce innovation and inclusion, economic stability, and community collaboration.
Created platforms for shared learning through roundtables, Critical Pathway convenings, and the Overloaded podcast.
Developed a Steering Committee to help guide and sustain this growing network.

SFTCCC’s strength lies in its people—parents, social workers, educators, and system leaders and changemakers—who are constructively dissatisfied with the status quo. To join the conversation and action:

Join our Critical Pathways communities of changemakers – Inspired to reimagine mandated reporting or collaboratively develop a toolkit to increase families’ social connectedness? Seeking innovative solutions to growing housing insecurity or workforce burnout and turnover? There is a network of changemakers ready to work with you.
Listen to Overloaded: Understanding Neglect — Our podcast series aspires to change the narrative around overloaded families through conversations with national and local changemakers.
Read more about Reimagining Neglect Prevention: Strong Families, Thriving Children, Connected Communities (PDF).
Learn more about Building Community Prevention Systems that Work (PDF).

Want to Build Something Like This?

If you are interested in building dynamic local ecosystems to prevent neglect, SFTCCC offers tailored support. Learn more about how ICFW can support your efforts through technical assistance and coaching.