Strategies 2.0 Regional Learning Community
CFS Executive Director, Lisa Fraser, is the designated Strategies 2.0 Learning Community Facilitator for the Southern California (SoCal) region.
Strategies 2.0 is a collaborative partnership that supports the professionalization of California’s family strengthening field. Learn more at http://strategiesca.org
Throughout the year the learning community convenes to build the capacity of the regional participants to lead the development of strong, healthy, connected communities in order to support families and prevent child abuse and neglect.
A learning community is
an innovative approach to peer learning
for the family strengthening field.
The learning community is designed to connect members and allies of the child abuse prevention field, and facilitate a more collaborative and consistent prevention dialogue throughout the state.
The 9 counties in the SoCal region include:- Interactive convenings across the region
- Trainings
- Webinars
- Consultation services
Learn more about Strategies 2.0 and enroll for Learning Communities, trainings and webinars HERE!
2019-20 SoCal regional topics:
The Strategies 2.0 Southern California Learning Community is pleased to announce the 2019 – 2020 series designed to build leadership capacity to improve outcomes for children in the SoCal region.
Re-visioning Prevention: Exploring Systems Innovation and Best Practices in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
- Gain a shared understanding of effective primary, secondary and tertiary child abuse prevention programs in the SoCal region
- Increase your knowledge of research evidence that examines child maltreatment-related outcomes and how they inform prevention efforts
- Learn from concrete examples of how communities implement and grow child abuse prevention programs
- Engage in regional peer exchange to enhance connections between Family Resource Centers and CAPC programs
Thursday October 3, 2019
An Equitable Vision for Children & Families. An exploration of how to assess population measures of child and family well being. Presented by Efren Aguilar, GIS Unit Chief at UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families & Communities
Child Abuse Prevention in Los Angeles County. A portrait of 12 unique CAPCs in Los Angeles. Presented by Sara La Croix, MSW/MPA
Access the October 2019 SoCal convening recording, resources and materials here.
Thursday December 5, 2019
Implementing Effective Evidence-Informed Practices in Family Strengthening and Child Abuse Prevention Programs. Presented by Charles Wilson, MSSW, Senior Director of the Chadwick Center for Children and Families and Director of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse (CEBC)
- Increase your understanding of evidence-based models for preventing child maltreatment.
- Learn the difference between the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse (CEBC) and the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse.
- Explore ways to use the Protective Factors Survey to assess family strengths and identify programs to enhance well being.
- Engage with colleagues in an activity to enhance your ability to navigate and use the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse (CEBC) resources.
A panel discussion with San Diego organizations serving children and families helped us learn from concrete examples about how programs are preventing child abuse and neglect their communities.
Access the December 2019 SoCal convening recording, resources and materials here.
Thursday February 27, 2020
The SoCal Learning Community was thrilled to elevate the parent voice during the February 2020 convening.
Expanding the Prevention Culture: Father Engagement
Shawndi Johnson, MSW, program manager for Dads Matter, shared how we can recognize and celebrate a father’s important role in every child’s development.
Together we enhanced our understanding of how to engage fathers in family strengthening work and ensure that our program practices include them as partners in supporting child, family, and community well being.
Lived Experience Panel – parent partners share their experience as family strengthening program participants
Roger De Leon
Currently a Parent Partner with the Parent Partner Program for Riverside County’s Children Services Division, Roger has been at this position for five years. He was the first Parent Partner hired for Riverside and is one of the originals who was a part of developing and maintaining this program. He has also been a part of different fatherhood coalitions, is one of the founders and steering committee members for Riverside County’s “Dads Assisting Dads” (D.A.D) coalition.
Amber Kopp
Amber is a Parent Partner with Riverside County Children’s Services. She has been with the Department for almost 5 years and is one of the original Parent Partners who helped to build the program ground up. Amber also sits on many different collaboratives, and sub-committees throughout Riverside County including Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) and Hope Collaborative (District 1).
Cecilia O. Herrera
Being part of the Santa Barbara County Child Abuse Prevention Council is Cecilia’s passion. After suffering abuse and trauma at a young age, she truly believes in prevention! In her own words, “It is great that there is help for the abused, but it is greater to prevent it! If you fall and your knee is bleeding then you put a bandage on the wound, that is perfect. But why not avoid the fall altogether? I was sexually abused by my father since I was 4, at 8 I tried to commit suicide, on my 15th birthday I finally stood up and stopped the abuse! But the lasting trauma, depression and shame were killing me inside. Knowing that I’m not the only one trying to be resilient is what ignites my passion to help my Latino community.”
Lindsey Day
Lindsey is a Peer Parent Partner with Good Samaritan Shelter in Santa Barbara County. She provides assistance and support to parents that are navigating the Child Welfare System currently in the process of reuniting with their child/children. Lindsey is also a member of the Child Abuse Prevention Council (CAPC) for the Santa Barbara County area and serves as a Strengthening Families Educator.
Access the February 2020 SoCal convening recording, resources and materials here.
Thursday May 14, 2020
Re-visioning Child Abuse Prevention in Your Community
CA Office of Child Abuse Prevention CAPC Best Practices Project
2018-19 SoCal regional topics:
Achieving Impact through Evaluation and Data for Family Strengthening Programs
The Strategies 2.0 SoCal Learning Community developed a series for the 2018-2019 year, titled Achieving Impact through Evaluation and Data for Family Strengthening Programs. Through four sessions stakeholders in the family strengthening field gathered to learn how to utilize data to improve family strengthening initiatives and increase community engagement.
I learned a great deal from participating in the SoCal LCs over the past 12 months. The workshops provided a blue print on how to prepare for collecting data and developing evaluation reports. This summer I enrolled in a grants administration certificate program at a local university and put what I learned into action. Two of the assignments focused on data collection and evaluation reporting. I used what I learned in the LCs and applied it directly to the assignments. I also shared what I learned with my classmates and discussed some of the basic components of first level data reporting. It was a great feeling to share something I felt was valuable and useful to my classmates. I have always been apprehensive about data collection and evaluation reporting, but the LCs provide a collaborative learning environment with recorded workshops and accessible tools. This is ideal for my learning style and professional development. I look forward to participating next year and inviting others to join.
~ SoCal LC Los Angeles County participant
September 14, 2018. Know Your Audience: Foundations, Contractors and Board of Directors
Topic Specialist: Todd Sonsa, Ph.D., Chief Program Officer for Children’s Institute. Dr. Sosna brings extensive knowledge and experience as an executive with nonprofit organizations and as a management consultant for public and private behavioral health, social service, and corrections agencies. His prior positions have included Sr. VP of Operations for Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, Sr. VP Program Evaluation and Improvement for CII, Deputy Director for the California Institute for Mental Health, and Assistant Director for Santa Barbara County Mental Health.
Resources & Materials
November 30, 2018. Know Your Audience: Local Civic Leaders/Policy Makers and Community Partners
Topic Specialist: Cheryl Wold. Cheryl is the principal consultant and owner of Wold and Associates, an independent consulting firm. The firm was founded to advance innovative, collaborative strategies for improving health and well-being. Projects include, outreach and strategic support to the Portrait of LA County project; consultation to First 5 LA to support the Countywide Prevention Plan; and, evaluation services to Maternal Mental Health NOW and to the California HealthCare Foundation.
Resources & Materials
March 8, 2019. Know Your Audience: Staff and Volunteers
Topic Specialist: Amina Jones Fields. Amina is responsible for leading Children’s Institute’s Research and Evaluation Center (REC) in the preparation of service delivery and outcome data, management of research projects, and program innovation. She supervises the REC research associates/assistants and provides monthly, quarterly and annual reports to guide senior staff in data-informed programmatic planning. Amina previously worked as Director of Education for the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and as Research Partner at WestEd’s Center for Educational Equity.
Resources & Materials
“By participating in the SoCal LC Series I had an epiphany on how to manage and utilize our Family Resource Center data. By learning with my peers during this series approach, my breakthrough came to me in the 3rd LC convening. I now have the knowledge and confidence to lead and develop our Family Resource Center data management system.”
SoCal LC Riverside County participant
May 17, 2019. Know Your Audience: Program Participants, Clients and Community Members
Topic Specialist: Lori Clarke. As Chief Program Officer for the Social Policy Institute at San Diego State University, Lori oversees statewide and local initiatives focused on child, family, and community wellness. She leads the Continuous Quality Improvement effort for Strategies 2.0, and is also a principal consultant for Age-Friendly Communities. She was the lead facilitator for the California Child Welfare Council’s Prevention and Early Intervention Citizen Review Panel from 2009 – 2017. After serving as the lead facilitator for California’s Child Welfare Services Redesign that brought Differential Response to California, Lori helped design the California Evidence-based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare and continues to provide training, consultation, and facilitation statewide and nationally on a wide range of health and human services issues.
Resources & Materials
2017-18 SoCal regional topics:
September 26, 2017. Engaging Uncommon Partners Towards a Common Purpose: how multi-disciplinary collaboration can champion child and family wellbeing.
Topic Specialist: Anne Light M.D., Medical Director for Orange County Social Services Agency and founding partner of the WE CAN Coalition, a county-wide collaboration to collectively address the intersecting needs of children, families and communities touched by abuse. WE CAN Overview. WE CAN Summary.
December 7, 2017. Building Community Engagement into Your Family Strengthening Collaboration.
Topic Specialists: Community engagement specialists from Safe Long Beach – a Citywide violence prevention plan adopted by Long Beach City Council which addresses a broad safety agenda aimed at reducing all forms of violence, including domestic abuse, child abuse, elder abuse, hate crimes, bullying, gang violence, and violent crime. Safe Long Beach Report Card.
May 23, 2018. Engaging Emerging Leaders in Your Family Strengthening Collaboration. Family Strengthening Organizations and Collaboratives need strong, skilled, confident leaders to sustain and grow the field.
Topic Specialist: etsuko kubo. etsuko is the Program Director for On the Verge, the flagship program of On The Move and brings over 18 years of education and nonprofit experience to the organization. On The Verge supports emerging leaders in building knowledge, clarity and strength at the personal, interpersonal and professional levels. etsuko is currently the primary coach for numerous On The Verge cohorts of leaders from the fields of education, youth empowerment and development, social services, family strengthening, and neighborhood development.
June 21, 2018. A Collaborative Model for Success: Magnolia Community Initiative
Topic Specialist: The SoCal Learning Community is pleased to showcase the Magnolia Community Initiative (MCI). This impressive, high functioning collaborative covers a 5-square mile/500 blockcatchment area that includes 35,000 youth and children in Los Angeles. With over 70 partners of residents, public and private organizations, MCI is transforming an entire community, with the ultimate goal of improving outcomes for an entire community of vulnerable, low income children.
