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Building Trust and a Shared Vision in Virginia

Part of the Critical Connections Podcast Season 1 Podcast
October 7, 2021

Virginia’s early childhood statewide system, Smart Beginnings, was created in 2005. Host Karen Ponder speaks to Kathy Glazer, president of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, and Abby Hamilton, president and CEO of United Way of Roanoke Valley, about this locally-driven enterprise creating community commitment to school readiness.

El sistema estatal para la primera infancia de Virginia, Inicios Inteligentes, se creó en 2005. La anfitriona Karen Ponder habla con Kathy Glazer, presidenta de Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, y Abby Hamilton, presidenta y directora ejecutiva de United Way de Roanoke Valley, sobre esta iniciativa impulsada localmente para crear un compromiso comunitario con la preparación escolar.

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State-level Data for Understanding Child Welfare in the United States

Report December 4, 2024

This comprehensive child welfare resource from Child Trends provides state and national data on child maltreatment, foster care, kinship caregiving, permanency, and older youth in care. The data are essential to help policymakers understand how many children and youth come in contact with the child welfare system, and why. States can use this information to ensure that their child welfare systems support the safety, stability, and well-being of all families in their state.

Ensuring Children in Foster Care get the Supports They Need: Innovating Our Way to Solutions

Blog November 26, 2024

Since 2020, BUILD Initiative has explored how the child welfare system and other early childhood systems (i.e., health, mental health, housing, early intervention, transportation, economic support, early care and education and all the child-and-family serving systems) can align and work together to achieve better outcomes for children and families. According to Dr. Cynthia Tate, who leads the project, several states are developing promising programs, policies, and strategies that can inspire other states.