Strengthening systems to create strong and resilient children, families, and communities
The Thriving Families Center at JBS works to help families stay together and connected to their support network by expanding the use of evidence-based practices in justice and social service systems. We address this work through the lens of the family: identifying the challenges they face and creating systems change that builds on their resiliencies and strengths.
We are experienced at working with all the various entities involved in family-serving systems, including federal, state, and Tribal governments and agencies; courts and judicial systems; and other youth and family support entities and stakeholders. We evaluate their systems and outcomes, with the objective of identifying practices that ensure safety, permanency, and well-being for children and families We also deliver cutting-edge training and technical assistance to help the various partners in a system work collaboratively, adopt processes of continuous quality improvement, and build in accountability.
Our Expertise
Training and technical assistance
Compliance and systems monitoring
Data collection, validation, analysis, and reporting
Instrument and materials development
Website and portal design, construction, and maintenance
Center for Native Child and Family Resilience
As part of a Children’s Bureau initiative to raise awareness of Tribally engaged prevention and intervention efforts, the Center for Native Child and Family Resilience (CNCFR) supports and enhances culture-based, resilience-related approaches to Tribal child welfare. CNCFR gathers and disseminates information about Tribally relevant practice models, interventions, and services—developed by and for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations—that contribute substantively to child and family well-being and resilience. In addition to its roster of experienced staff and subject matter experts, CNCFR maintains a deep bench of AI/AN consultants to help guide its work and ensure its cultural congruence.
Real Results: Supporting Culturally Grounded Programs and Sharing Knowledge
For 4 years (2019–2022), CNCFR partnered with 5 Tribal communities to design or refine, implement, and tell the story of the effectiveness of their community-based interventions aimed at preventing and intervening in child maltreatment, subsequently preparing versions of the program materials and evaluation reports for dissemination. CNCFR also produced surveys of child welfare interventions in use in Indian Country (i.e., literature review, environmental scan); created online materials to help communities and evaluators work together and center Indigenous Ways of Knowing in all stages of their work; and developed, with the support of AI/AN experts in child welfare, the Resilience-Informed Care Curriculum, an effort to center trauma-informed care on child, family, and community resilience.
