Nov 15 Centering the Child: The National Federation of Families Conference

(November 15, 2024)

As part of our ongoing work to End the Need for Group Placement (ENGP) members of the Allies for Children team, along with our partners at Cayuga Centers, were honored to attend the National Federation of Families’ (NFF) 35th annual conference. We were joined by several members of our ENGP Co-Design Team, which includes members of the community with lived and professional experience with the child welfare system in Allegheny County. The Co-Design Team is a vital part of the ENGP process, ensuring that the voices of those with lived experience are directly involved in creating the recommendations to end the need for group placement. CYF staff were also in attendance at the conference.

The NFF conference is an opportunity for providers and advocates who work with and for children and families across the country to get together and learn from each other’s experience. The ENGP delegation from Allegheny County had the opportunity to attend sessions and hear about how the challenges within child welfare are being addressed in other places.

A highlight of the conference was gathering with the other jurisdictions who are working on Ending the Need for Group Placement. Allegheny County is just one of the pilot jurisdictions that the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Casey Family Programs are funding to develop solutions to keep children from entering group homes. In Connecticut and Oklahoma, ENGP teams have had a bit of a head start on Allegheny County – they’re already in the process of implementing the recommendations that were produced by their Co-Design Teams.

Some of the overarching themes that the Connecticut and Oklahoma teams found through their information gathering reflect what we have been seeing here in Allegheny County. These themes include better communication across systems, more preventive services, and a growing need for strong community partnerships.

The conference’s keynote speaker, David Ambroz, said something that resonated with the entire Allegheny County team: when it comes to child welfare, we must center everything around the child. Too often, we are too worried about who has ownership over the child – their parents, their family, the system. We have to keep in mind what is best for the child, as their own, individual person.

Laura Condon, Allies for Children Project Coordinator