Frankie is 14 years old and lives with his sister, brothers, and moms. He and his sister were adopted when they were 2 years old and 4 years old, respectively. He loves spending time with his aunts, uncles, and cousins and loves being part of a big family.

Learn about negotiating boundaries, communication, support, and normalcy from a young person formally in foster care and her adoptive parents.

Explore considerations for testing, piloting, and staging new programs and practices with attention to equity and inclusion. 

Explore considerations for monitoring and evaluating new interventions and applying findings to make adjustments aligned with equity and inclusion. 

Explore considerations for planning and building capacity for equitable implementation of new programs and practices. 

Explore considerations for convening a diverse team of partners, including people with lived expertise, to support equitable change and implementation efforts.

Explore considerations for collaboratively developing an equitable theory of change.

Explore considerations for selecting, designing, and adapting effective and equitable interventions. 

Explore considerations for equitable, inclusive, and data-driven problem exploration.

Explore considerations for assessing readiness as part of an equitable and inclusive change and implementation process. 

Explore information and strategies for advancing racial equity through problem exploration.

Use this discussion guide with the CWVE 2021 videos to access a description of each topic, individual reflection questions to facilitate personal, on-demand learning, and conversation starters and team activities for child welfare staff and collaborative partners.  

This video is a part of the Empowering Caregivers, Strengthening Families Video Series. It demonstrates key aspects of agency support to caregivers, including the importance of quality personal contact, training, and resources to empower caregivers through the process of moving from foster parenting to adoption.

Highlights the beneficial role of agency support and encouragement to caregivers in ensuring effective foster parenting and successful reunification measures. In this video, a foster parent discusses the importance of communication and trust between caregivers and biological family members, along with agency training and resources, for successful reunification.

Learn to facilitate a normalcy conversation and to promote normal and developmentally appropriate experiences for youth in foster care.