Early indicators of a movement for systems change

We stand at a pivotal moment, facing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fundamentally reshape the child welfare system. 

There has been a growing consensus in recent years that child welfare fails to meet the needs of those it serves and leads to negative outcomes across the lifespan. This has shifted the ecosystem from a narrow concept of child safety to a broader emphasis on family wellbeing. Reform efforts are increasingly focused on supports that enable families to stay together, preventing entry into foster care altogether. 

Now, the collective experience of the pandemic has forced the child welfare ecosystem to rapidly adapt to novel challenges. Expanded funding opportunities have been put to innovative uses. More than ever before, decision makers, state administrators, and frontline practitioners are open to new ways of doing things. However, while there is broad agreement on our greatest challenges, we struggle to find solutions that address root issues and work at scale. Think of Us is uniquely positioned and aligned with partners across the ecosystem to help create these solutions and drive this national movement for change. 

We know that the most successful movements for systemic change - ending child labor and Jim Crow, gaining women’s rights and LGBTQ+ rights - all have one crucial thing in common: they were envisioned, built, and executed by the people closest to the problem. Centering lived experience means we’re committed to a process, not a predetermined solution. Our novel structure and approach are the results of this commitment, consistently applied.

Our work creates unprecedented proximity between the decision-makers and people with lived experience, building pathways to a child welfare system built on solutions that are practical, holistic, and truly reflect the needs and priorities of those impacted.

Initiatives that are founder-led become sustainable at the point where ownership of the vision is shared among senior leaders. This year, this has become true for Think of Us as we have welcomed world-class leaders from diverse sectors to drive our mission forward. Our commitment to deeply engaging lived experts has allowed us to codify a perspective, process, and set of tools that together create a novel pathway to effecting large-scale systemic change. We’re grateful to the community of lived experts who have shared their leadership and wisdom to build this movement. We strive to honor their candor, creativity, and urgency in everything we do. 

We stand on the shoulders of giants who began the work of centering lived experience and stand together with our many partners and funders who are continuing it today.

Thank you.