We are excited to announce the 10th Annual Wicked Problems of Child Welfare Institute – Racial Equity. System Transformation. Catalyzing Change.
Due to COVID-19, this year’s gathering will be virtual on October 19th from 11am to 4:15 pm EST and on October 20th from 11am to 2:15pm EST. While held via a zoom platform, this event will be highly interactive as is tradition for Wicked! This is an invitation only event. If you are interested in joining, please email Nancy Ronquillo.
The event will feature sessions on “Thinking Big at the Crossroads”, How Public/Private Partnership can be Transformative, Practice Models and Solutions, Building Social Capital, and a reflection on the Grand Challenge and Opportunity of Kinship. The event will also feature an Institute for Family Film screening and LOTS of discussion.
Click for the Wicked Problems of Child Welfare Institute October 2021 Agenda.
Click here to access the event evaluation (for attendees after the event)
Interested in Preparing your Mind for the Event? New to Wicked Problems? The planning committee has some suggestions for your consideration:
- Join the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge that launches on October 1st (registrants will be accepted until October 4th). For 21 days we invite you to do one action daily to deepen your understanding of power, privilege, oppression and racial equity. The challenge will provide a daily, curated set of readings/podcasts/videos to deepen our understanding and racism and white supremacy and build our community. The challenge is open to anyone so please share widely! There is no cost to participate. Register here. There will be time at the Wicked Institute for small group discussion and processing.
- Click for a short “briefing” Wicked_Problems_Briefing_Sheet.
- Click here to read a short piece by Dr. Mark Testa on Disrupting the Foster Care to TPR Pipeline.
About Wicked Problems
The term wicked problem was coined in the policy sciences to refer to social problems that defy ordinary solutions. Child welfare—once considered a tame problem readily solvable by placing maltreated children in foster homes—has grown increasingly wicked over the decades as research has accumulated regarding the lasting adverse consequences of child maltreatment, the healing effects of stable family relationships, and the financial and ethical necessity of grounding child welfare policy and practice in solid evidence of what works.
To build on this knowledge, the Jordan Institute for Families in collaboration with Children’s Home Society of America convened five national meetings. These Wicked Problems Institutes assembled experts, service providers, and government officials to review research, discuss potential solutions, and—ultimately—to identify eight grand challenges in child welfare. These include:
- Preventing and reversing the effects of child maltreatment on brain development;
- Harnessing the natural motivations of parents and kinship caregivers;
- Synthesizing research evidence on the effects of out-of-home care;
- Sustaining family continuity and legal permanence;
- Strengthening the voice of youth in the child welfare system;
- Linking well-being measures to administrative data on child safety and family permanence;
- Attracting private investments and using performance contracts to improve child and family services; and
- Preparing the workforce for child welfare’s future wicked problems and grand challenges.
