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7/30/2020 2 Comments

In case you missed last week's conversation to keep families strong during this COVID-19 pandemic...

Family-strengthening professionals from across Colorado came together earlier this week for the seventh in an ongoing series of conversations intended to provide a space to discuss successes and challenges, share resources, and collaborate to problem-solve ongoing and evolving challenges of supporting families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Family Tree shared the ways that they have adapted their programs that serve children and youth, support families experiencing homelessness, and support and advocate for families impacted by domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, they shared how their SafeCare program, which provides in-home care and education to parents with children 5 and under, has adapted to dropping off resources to families and then conducting their home visits and education related to safety, health, and parent-child interactions virtually.

They also raised questions that are on all of our minds:

How do we support parents in connecting with each other?
How do we support staff to enable them to continue supporting families, especially as many will soon be navigating how to homeschool their own children while continuing to work?

From virtual parent groups, to drive-thru resource distribution for families, and creative ideas for prioritizing self-care for employees, those who joined the call shared a wealth of ideas and resources on how to address these important questions.

To find a detailed record of the information and resources shared by Family Tree and other attendees, see the notes from the conversation or visit the FAQ to find a running list of resources to help strengthen families right now.

We will be taking a summer break from these conversations in August and will resume them in September. If you would like to ensure that you receive the email update in August and information on the next conversation in September, please be sure to subscribe HERE. If you are interested in sharing how your organization is adapting your support of families during COVID-19 at one of these conversations, please reach out to Cassie Davis.

Next Conversation on Keeping Prenatal to One Families Strong during COVID-19
Tuesday, September 22nd
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Please join us for September's conversation by REGISTERING HERE.

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7/24/2020 0 Comments

UPDATE: Colorado Partnership for Thriving Families Leadership Structure

The Colorado Partnership for Thriving Families has an exciting and important update about our governance structure. It takes all of us to work collaboratively across the State of Colorado to create the conditions for strong families and communities where children are healthy, valued, and thriving. To our members who have gotten us to this point--Thank you to all for your continued commitment to the vision of the Colorado Partnership for Thriving Families. As our efforts move from planning to action, the leadership of the Partnership wanted to share key shifts in our structure to better support the future work:

Sunsetting the CPTF Steering Committee and Co-Chair Roles: We're so grateful for the leadership and contributions of our steering committee members and co-chairs as part of the initial planning and establishment of CPTF. As we enter the next phase of our work, co-chairs and steering committee members have discussed the need to create a more nimble leadership space with more prominent and integrated family and community voice. As we sunset the steering committee and co-chair roles, we look forward to past members engaging in our brand new CPTF spaces to continue moving the work forward.

Shifting to the CPTF Leadership Team: To provide ongoing leadership to CPTF as we move to implementation, we'll be relying on the newly established CPTF Leadership Team. The Leadership Team will operate much like an executive committee and will be responsible for providing feedback and support on work group plans before implementation, offering nimble decision making on the implementation of current priorities, and determining when decisions need to be elevated to the full CPTF. This team will be meeting weekly on Fridays at 8am and includes community and family voice and state and local agency representation. A list of CPTF Leadership Team members can be found below. In the spirit of transparency, these weekly meetings are always open to visitors and any CPTF member can propose agenda items. Please reach out to Jillian for details about joining the Friday meetings and/or to propose agenda items.

Lifting CPTF Priority Area Work Groups: To advance the three priorities of CPTF, we're excited to be lifting a work group to lead on each priority. These monthly work groups will be responsible for developing plans for their respective priority area, building relationships with others to support the priority area, and implementing their plans with full CPTF support. To start, each work group will be refining goals, strategies, and tactics for each priority as well as developing and acting on priority area action plans to achieve CPTF's goals. As work groups get established, each will select co-chairs to guide the work group. We continue to need your participation and leadership to advance these priorities and invite you to join the monthly work groups that resonate with you:
- If you are interested in participating in the Community Norms/Conditions Work Group, please reach out to Hattie Landry.
- If you are interested in participating in the Early Touchpoints Work Group, please reach out to Cassie Davis.
- If you are interested in participating in the Alignment Work Group, please reach out to Cassie Davis.

Continuing to Rely on the Full CPTF for Decisions: As we move forward, the full CPTF membership will continue to make strategic direction decisions around our priorities, goals, and any major adjustments to the strategic priorities document. Additionally we'll be looking to the full CPTF to facilitate connections to support work group implementation of priority area plans, support work groups in problem solving, and to share successes and challenges in implementation to inspire collective learning. Our next full CPTF meeting will be August 12th, 8-10 a.m. where we will hear and discuss updates from the work groups around planning and action. Moving forward, Full Partnership meetings will continue to be hosted every other month on the second Wednesday.

Thank you all for your commitment to this work, and we look forward to continuing to work with you all to create the conditions for strong families and communities where children are healthy, valued, and thriving!

Leadership Team Membership:

Breanna Hernandez, Family Voice Representative
Daniel Makelky, Douglas County Human Services
Fikile Ryder, Family Voice Representative
Gina Robinson, Department of Health Care Policy & Financing
Heather Hicks, Family Voice Representative
Joseph Homlar, Colorado Department of Human Services-Division of Child Welfare
Jade Woodard, Illuminate Colorado
Jeff Zayach, Boulder County Public Health
Kendra Dunn, Colorado Department of Human Services-Office of Early Childhood
Mary Berg, Jefferson County Human Department of Services
Melissa Palay, Jefferson County Public Health
Sarah Grazier, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Susan Caskey, Boulder County Housing and Human Services
Tracy Anselmo, Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials

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In case you missed last week's conversation to keep families strong during this COVID-19 pandemic...

UPDATE: Colorado Partnership for Thriving Families Leadership Structure

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