Let's Have a Conversation

This is the third and final segment of our conversation with Outagamie County Child Welfare, to discuss their journey to install and implement family finding since 2014. In this episode the remaining staff share more success stories, further discuss the importance of alignment, and identify some of the necessary system changes to sustain the practice.

This is the second of our three segments with Outagamie County Child Welfare to review the last 5 years of their work to install and implement family finding. We dive into the importance of front loading the family finding intervention to prevent isolation and loneliness of young people from the very beginning and the discussion also references the critical importance of how families are engaged so that they can be involved in the matters that impact them. Finally, the conversation addresses the training and support Outagamie has created to cultivate the values necessary to support family finding.

Back 2014 NIPFC was contracted to train across the state of Wisconsin in 5 regionalized county sites to assist with the phase implementation of their family finding practices statewide. One of the counties was Outagamie, Director Bob Friend checked in with division manager Melissa Blum and family finding supervisors Jennifer Sailor to find out about their results, key discoveries, and remaining challenges along the way. This conversation is broken down into three separate episodes. This is the first episode, the group discusses their journey to install and implement family finding, the key moments and opportunities that impacted their course, their efforts to improve alignment.

In our 8th episode of our "Let's Have a Conversation" podcast series, Director Bob Friend converses with attorney and fellow NIPFC trainer, Kelly Beck, and Martin Henderson, founder of Fatherhood Matters, Inc. in San Antonio, Texas. The discussion delves into their work to include fathers in Juvenile Dependency Court in child custody proceedings.

We're excited to release another episode of our podcast “Listening to and Learning from lived Experience.”  Program manager at NACAC Kim Stevens directs efforts to expand post-adoption services throughout the United States and Canada, providing training and support to parent and youth leaders. She sits down with Bob and discusses how her work with those who living in/or have lived experience in foster care continues to shape and sharpen her perspectives, advocacy, consultation and program management.  

We're excited to release another episode of our podcast. Melanie Sheetz, Executive Director of the Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition in Missouri, and Mike Kenney, co-founder and Executive Director of Kinnect in Ohio, share their common story to install and implement the 30 Days to Family model in 9 Ohio counties to address the impact of the opioid epidemic on families in Ohio facing child welfare system involvement

We're excited to release another episode of our podcast. Kevin Campbell describes his international travel experiences to NIPFC's Mike Mertz, comparing the approaches in social work amongst different cultures and communities.

We're excited to release the final episode of our four part podcast series with Kevin Campbell. NIPFC director, Bob Friend, sits with Kevin while he describes the shift of justifying family finding to it being understood as a human right.

We're excited to release the third of our four part podcast series with Kevin Campbell. NIPFC director, Bob Friend, sits with Kevin as he looks back on his experiences and the combined effort that went into the passing of the Fostering and Connections Act of 2008, and the impact on current practice.

In part two of four, NIPFC director, Bob Friend, chats with Kevin Campbell about the experiences he has had witnessing the impact of the connection of loved ones with youth who have been in and out of the foster care and child protection system.

NIPFC director, Bob Friend, sits down with Kevin Campbell about the origin, evolution, and future of Family Finding.

In Part 1 of 4, Kevin explains to Bob what inspired him to develop the Family Finding Model.