June 2021Vol. 22, No. 6Building an "UnSystem" to Promote Primary Prevention
Alia, a national nonprofit that works with public and private child welfare systems to create and support innovative approaches to keep families together, published a guide that provides help for child welfare agencies that want to change their system to an "UnSystem" with the goal of keeping families together through the primary prevention of child abuse and neglect. An UnSystem is locally based and driven, is antiracist, and requires a paradigm shift of how child welfare is viewed. Alia suggests that there are five phases to designing and implementing a primary prevention UnSystem:
- Preparing to lead change
- Building the foundation
- Shifting agency mindset
- Aligning practice with your "why"
- Reaching a tipping point toward primary prevention
The guide is based on over a decade's worth of evidence that suggests separating children from their families creates lifelong harm. It provides an indepth walkthrough of what each phase entails and reviews the challenges agencies may face, the services Alia provides, and what to expect.
Read the guide, Building Your UnSystem: The Phases of Change to Primary Prevention, for more information about becoming an UnSystem.
