22^nd NCCAN Virtual Conference Agenda

Over the past year, our systems and structures have been confronted with the need to rapidly adapt to serve vulnerable families despite the challenges of the pandemic. This experience has forced us in the direction of amazing innovations, and it has taught us a lot about how our systems need to do better to support, serve, and engage youth, families, and communities. This session focuses on the lessons learned and system innovations created that can point to new ways of working and engaging families even as pandemic restrictions lift.

• Donna Hunt-O'Brien, Vice President of Professional and Program Development, Parents as Teachers National Center
• Angela Rau, Director of Program Innovation and Professional Development, Parents as Teachers National Center
• Alex Morales, Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Children's Bureau of Southern California
• Kayla Powell, Young Adult Consultant, Capacity Building Center for States

Research shows that we have better outcomes for children and families when fathers are involved, yet child welfare systems often overlook fathers when planning for children. Hear more about the barriers to father engagement from a panel that includes fathers with lived experience within child welfare systems and leaders from states moving forward on systemic engagement of fathers.

• Neil Tift, Outreach Project Coordinator, Native American Fatherhood and Families Association (NAFFA)
• Sallye Longshore, Director, Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention
• Churmell Mitchell, Fatherhood Director, Child Care Resource Center, Alabama
• Patrick Daleiden, Recovery Opportunities Open for Men (ROOM) for Dads, Sacramento County, CA
• Tony Parsons, Young Adult Consultant, Capacity Building Center for States, Federal Policy Specialist, Youth Villages

We have long observed the correlations between poverty and child welfare involvement, but new research is looking at how poverty drives child welfare involvement and how income transfers like the earned income tax credit and the delivery of concrete supports impacts child welfare rates. Hear from researchers working in this area about their findings and the implications for how we think about child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention.

• Darcey H. Merritt, Associate Professor, Silver School of Social Work, Co-Editor in Chief, Children and Youth Services Review
• Lawrence Berger, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research in The Social Sciences, School of Social Work and Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin–Madison
• Nicole Kovski, Ph.D. Candidate, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Washington
• Maddy Langan, Young Adult Consultant, Capacity Building Center for States

A number of states are exploring community response programs as part of their child abuse and neglect prevention strategies. These programs provide a range of supports to families who have been referred to child welfare but whose cases have not been substantiated—including flexible funds to help them weather crises. This session will explore a number of these models, including those that are intentionally linking prevention services to financial counseling and other economic supports. Jurisdictions represented will speak to both the policy-level framework for their efforts and how their efforts look on the ground at the local level.

• Rebecca Murray, Executive Director, Wisconsin Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board
• Alyson Ilstrup, Director of Family Support, The Parenting Place, Wisconsin
• Aaron Miller, Director, Family Strengthening Unit, Office of Early Childhood, Colorado Department of Human Services
• Allyson Warner Orozco, Director of Family Connections, Catholic Charities of Central Colorado
• Lindsay Williams, Executive Director, Ohio Children's Trust Fund
• Timberly Robinson, Columbiana County Family Coach, Ohio

This session will look at new approaches to engaging those with lived experience on the front line as peer advocates, mentors, family navigators, and other direct service roles. What support do these workers need? How do we build on their unique abilities to relate to families? How do we build roles for them that allow them to grow and develop their leadership within programs and systems?

• Tara Linh Leaman, JD, Program Director, Westchester Building Futures, Westchester County Department of Social Services, New York
• Kaylene Quinones, Westchester Therapeutic Boys' Foster Homes/BraveLife Coordinator, The Children's Village, Dobbs Ferry, New York
• Ebony Chambers, Chief Family and Youth Partnership Officer, Stanford Sierra Youth & Families, California
• Shelley Keeble, Family Partner, Stanford Sierra Youth & Families, California
• Elliott Hinkle, Young Adult Consultant and Coach, Capacity Building Center for States, Youth Development Subject Matter Expert