Alia

Team Alia will be off to reset, relax and recharge for the new year ahead, as an investment in the wellbeing of our team, starting December 23. We'll return to the important work of keeping families safely together on January 6. Looking for ways to tend to your own wellbeing in the last two weeks of 2024? Explore practical tips, guided reflection and simple activities focused on self-care in our Caregivers Guide to Wellbeing: https://hubs.ly/Q02-_cQs0

"We—the collective doing this important work—have been walking through a time of deep, transformative change in our industry." In our latest newsletter, Executive Officer Amelia Franck Meyer reflects on the state of child welfare and the work we've accomplished alongside trusted and incredible partners, supporters, and staff. Just this year, Alia has: ✨ Introduced Ethical, Equitable (2E) Co-design, our way of finding solutions with those closest to the problems. ✨ Helped launch, operationalize, and implement the ground-breaking Minnesota African American Family Preservation and Child Welfare Disproportionality Act in Ramsey County. ✨ Released Dear Workers, a free family engagement resource to prepare workers in child welfare to bring family voice and power to the system. ✨ Transformed our workforce wellbeing work with an industry-leading partnership with Keyhubs, a relationship mapping technology. ✨ Progressed our work with Rock County on the Rock Families First Movement (shoutout to the BeeHive and LaMikka James, Associate Director of Community Engagement, for being awarded the Wisconsin DCF Putting Families First Award!). ✨ Launched our first pilot of intergenerational trauma healing for parents. ✨ And so. much. more! Read all about our highlights from the year: https://hubs.ly/Q030f8G50

🤔 What happens when we ignore the life-long impact of family disconnection? The child welfare system was built on the false assumption that “any parent will do.” This approach overlooks the profound, life-long harm caused by severing children from their families, culture, and communities. While short-term safety is important, it cannot come at the cost of a child’s long-term well-being and identity. The truth is, disconnection from one’s family creates enduring harm that ripples across a lifetime: physically, emotionally, and culturally. Fighting for a child to remain with a foster parent (instead of with their family whenever safely possible), even with good intentions, often deepens the wounds of separation. When foster parents engage in legal battles to keep children from their biological families, the focus shifts away from the child’s true life-long best interest and toward short-term attachment at the expense of life-long belonging. We must redefine what it means to act in the “best interest” of children. It’s not about protecting bonds formed during temporary placements—it’s about honoring the enduring ties to their families and communities. We must strive to minimize life-long harm and prioritize outcomes that allow children to grow up connected to the people and places that ground them. At Alia, we’re co-designing UnSystems that look to the future, focusing on keeping families safely together and creating conditions where children can thrive within their own culture and community. This involves supporting families, not punishing and separating them, to build their parental capacities to safely parent. Separation of a child from their family is an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE—e.g., trauma). The work is challenging, but every step we take toward connection, belonging, and healing builds a brighter path forward. How can we ensure that the child welfare system prioritizes life-long outcomes over short-term solutions? I’d love to hear your thoughts! PS - This post is part of my ongoing series on the flawed foundation of the U.S. child welfare system. Join me as we continue reimagining a system rooted in healing, understanding, and connection. Follow for more! #ChildWelfareReform #FamilyConnection #BelongingMatters #UnSystem #LifelongBelonging

At Alia, our work is grounded in belonging. We take a heart-first approach, prioritizing relationships first to build trust and connect, and then move into mindset and practice shifts — which is one of the ways we lean into our values of fearless innovation and courageous partnerships. This work is not easy, but we look to our values to guide us and keep us committed to our vision where all children are thriving within their families and communities. As we reflect on this year, we are grateful for the ways our team has embodied these values, as well as the child welfare leaders and staff we work with. How have the values you (and your organization) are grounded in shown up this year? Do any of Alia’s values resonate with you? #belonging #keepingfamiliestogether #childwelfare

Yesterday, President Biden declared the Carlisle Indian Industrial School a National Monument, marking an important step in acknowledging and preserving a painful chapter in American history. Carlisle, located in Pennsylvania, was the first federal boarding school designed to forcibly assimilate Native American children—removing them from their families and erasing their languages and cultures. This tragic model was replicated across the nation, leaving a legacy of generational trauma.   Honoring this site ensures that these stories are not forgotten and that we face our history with honesty and accountability. Truth-telling is a crucial part of healing, and this designation represents a commitment to learning from the past to build a more just and compassionate future for all children and families.   May this site inspire reflection, resilience, and a collective commitment to a better way forward.   #TruthAndHealing #ChildWelfareReform #CulturalPreservation #JusticeMatters

Turnover in child welfare is devastating for families. Research shows children with one caseworker are 74.5% more likely to achieve permanency. With three or more, that drops to just 5.2%. At Alia, we serve organizations building a culture of belonging grounded in the evidence that a resilient workforce begins with a connected one. This work includes our industry-leading partnership with Keyhubs to uncover the hidden connectors holding teams together. These quiet influencers aren’t always in leadership, but they’re the key to a resilient workforce—and better outcomes for kids and families. Learn more about the power of connection in our latest blog: https://hubs.ly/Q02_5BVP0

Love in the workplace looks like creating a healthy team culture. Here are ways that child welfare leaders can better engage and nurture their teams: • Build trust and synergy between leaders and the workforce • Equip your team with the knowledge base to build a wellbeing-, resilience-, and belonging-focused culture • Support not just your leadership, but your workforce • Infuse new insights, practices, and inspiration across your organization (We at Alia are experts in this!) What strategies have you found most effective for engaging and nurturing your team? #ChildWelfare #Leadership #Teamwork #Engagement #Wellbeing #Resilience #Belonging

Giving Tuesday is here! At Alia, we actively working to change these outcomes for children across the country. In the communities where Alia is engaged in transformation, there is a more than 70% reduction of children living in foster care. It takes all of us, working together, to make this change happen so that all children can thrive. As a supporter of Alia, we ask that you consider donating today. A gift of any size can help Alia work with child welfare systems to change the outcomes for thousands of children in America. https://hubs.ly/Q02-7Mln0 #dowhatlovewoulddo #GivingTuesday

Today and every day, we have so much gratitude for our team, our partners, our supporters, and all those on the ground working day in and day out to keep families safely together. Expressing gratitude feels good, and it actually boosts our overall sense of wellbeing! Recent research shows that the power of gratitude can positively impact our emotional and social wellbeing, sleep quality, reduce the risk for depression, and increase favorable markers of cardiovascular health. We encourage you to spend time today actively practicing gratitude. #Gratitude #ChildWelfare #Wellbeing #SelfCare

Our child welfare system is built on an outdated financing model that reflects a bygone era. Decades ago, when the system was designed, there were few resources available to support families in crisis. Removal became the primary intervention, driven by the “battered child syndrome” mindset. But now, we know better. We understand the trauma of family separation, and we have a range of resources that could help families thrive together. The problem? The funding hasn’t kept up. Federal dollars are still disproportionately directed toward placing children in foster care, while only a fraction supports keeping families safely together. Many foster care agencies are reimbursed based on the number of children they have "in care," with these funds often covering social workers’ salaries and operational costs. When the financial model rewards separation over prevention, where is the incentive to keep children in their homes? This outdated system perpetuates a cycle where family separation becomes the default response rather than a last resort. The reality today is that the majority of removals—83%, in fact—are for neglect, often tied to poverty, mental health, substance use, or racial bias. These are challenges for which we now have resources to address, yet the funding remains tied to outdated approaches that prioritize removal over support. Imagine if we reallocated more of these funds to support housing stability, parenting programs, and mental health services—shifting from a system of reaction to one of prevention. This is our vision for co-designing UnSystems: systems that invest in families from the start, providing the resources they need to thrive together. We need a model that truly works for children and families—not one that is funded when families are separated. It’s time to challenge this outdated system and build a new way forward. PS - This post is part of my ongoing series on the flawed foundation of the U.S. child welfare system. Please join me in the conversation below, and share your thoughts on how we can create a system that invests in families before crisis. Follow for more! #ChildWelfareReform #PreventiveCare #FamilySupport #UnSystem #FundingReform