The FLC: Reimagining What’s Possible for Families

2026

The Fiscal Leadership Circle: How Fiscal Leaders Are Reimagining What’s Possible for Families D.L. Moffitt and Deszeree Thomas

The Fiscal Leadership Circle: How Fiscal Leaders Are Reimagining What’s Possible for Families

D.L. Moffitt and Deszeree Thomas 2026

Acknowledgements

This report was made possible with support from Casey Family Programs. We are especially grateful to Joan Smith for her leadership, partnership, and early support for the Fiscal Leadership Circle and its vision for strengthening fiscal leadership and learning across the field. We extend our deep appreciation to the inaugural Fiscal Leadership Circle fellows, whose experiences, projects, reflections, and insights form the foundation of this report: Susan Roben (SC), Jennifer Anderson-Judkins (DC), Ryan Adams (IA), Kara Kuo (PA), Dustin Koury (WI), Sam Matteson (WI), Chris Stoner-Mertz (CA), June Miller (KY), LaShunda Williams (MS), Margaret Pletnikoff (NYC), Kevin Clark (CA), Tami Kane- Suleiman (OR), and Thad Paul (CO). We are also grateful to the field reviewers who contributed their perspectives and feedback: Angie Ocampo Hickenbottom, Don Winstead, Ann Flagg, Heather Baker, Jay Murphy, Miranda Lynch-Smith, the Casey Fiscal Leaders Group, ChildFocus, and the Child Welfare Funders Collaborative Fiscal Funders Group.

Purpose of this Publication This insights report is designed for fiscal and program leaders who guide key decisions and shape the flow of resources that impact the well-being of children and families across public, private, and philanthropic sectors. It is intended for a variety of partners who play a critical role in serving children and families, including: Fiscal and program leaders who set priorities, inform decisions and provide resources to children and families Cross-sector collaborators such as behavioral health, housing, and workforce development working at the intersection of funding, service delivery, and systems change Philanthropic and policy leaders interested in strengthening prevention financing infrastructure Field connectors who organize and convene groups, align agendas, and work collectively to advance shared prevention goals The report elevates the importance of fiscal leadership in advancing prevention, provides an overview of the Fiscal Leadership Circle (FLC), shares five emerging habits of effective fiscal leadership, and features emerging results from fellows’ projects. We conclude with reflections on how fiscal innovation can help create the conditions to accelerate prevention and strengthen supports for children and families. This report is also an opportunity to honor the experimentation and practical knowledge of the inaugural FLC cohort by making their learning visible and contributing it to the field’s evolving understanding of effective fiscal leadership for prevention. The insights reflect a point-in-time analysis of post-session data collected in 2025 and assessed during the first quarter of 2026; they may not capture subsequent implementation progress or emerging learning. The Five Fiscal Leadership Habits should therefore be understood as an evolving framework rather than a definitive or universal model. Grounded in the experiences, projects, and reflections of the inaugural cohort, the habits are now being tested, applied, and refined through a subsequent cohort. Together, these findings offer an early view of the practices and conditions that may help fiscal leaders shift resources, relationships, and decision-making toward prevention and family well- being.

How We Developed These Insights These insights draw on FLC’s inaugural cohort: 14 fiscal leaders across 10 jurisdictions. Sources included fellows’ fiscal innovation projects and presentations, workbooks, and reflections, learning from nine virtual sessions and three convenings, and a post- fellowship survey completed by 10 of 14 fellows (71%). The five habits emerged as Foster America identified patterns across fellows’ experiences—how they framed family prosperity, navigated technical and adaptive challenges, used data and storytelling, and built cross-sector partnerships. The findings were further refined through an April 2025 co-design session with fellows, faculty, system leaders, Casey Family Programs partners, and national experts. Participants explored strengths, opportunities, aspirations, results, and threats, helping refine the insights and inform the subsequent cohort. Field reviewers provided additional feedback. What do we mean by “prevention?” Prevention is a broad term, and in child welfare discussions, it can have more than one meaning. At times, prevention refers to everything that helps families thrive—stable housing, income, childcare, community connection—the broad conditions that make a family less likely to experience overload or crisis. Sometimes it refers more specifically to efforts aimed at preventing maltreatment through services like home visiting, substance use treatment, or parenting support. Still others use it in reference to preventing or diminishing contact with the child protection system—avoiding investigation, removal, or placement. In this document, when we talk about prevention and prevention investments, we use it in reference to preventing formal child welfare agency involvement: efforts and dollars that are intended to keep families from ever coming into contact with child protective systems or from moving deeper into removal and placement after initial touchpoints, typically by investing in alternative family supports.

Why Fiscal Leadership Matters Now Across the country, promising efforts—including supportive housing, flexible (drop cash) economic assistance, and early family support—are demonstrating the potential to help families remain safely together. Yet underfunding can keep these efforts episodic and small in scale. States are also moving in a tighter fiscal climate as federal priorities change, pandemic relief dollars fade, and budgets become more constrained. Risk aversion, fear of disallowance, siloed systems, and mistrust can also slow investment in prevention. While places across the nation are increasingly interested in investments that support family safety and well-being without the use of investigation and foster care, the majority of funding still flows to these ‘downstream’ interventions, with only 15% of U.S. child welfare spending supporting preventive services . 1 Family First Prevention Services Act implementation has been slower than anticipated. Constraints such as strict definitions, evidence-based program requirements, eligibility restrictions, and complex administrative and infrastructure demands maintain a child welfare orientation toward placement.

1 Kristina Rosinsky, Megan Fischer, Maggie Haas, and Alyssa Ibarra, Child Welfare Financing SFY 2022 (Child Trends, July 2025), 49. The analysis found that 15% of child welfare agency expenditures were used for preventive services, based on 43 states with sufficient data. Child Trends, Child Welfare Financing SFY 2022

The Fiscal Leadership Circle: Model and Reach

FLC’s inaugural cohort brought together 14 fellows from 10 jurisdictions collectively overseeing $4.3 billion in child welfare expenditures. The fellowship is designed to strengthen the capacity of fiscal and program leaders to align funding, strategy, and partnerships in service of prevention—equipping fellows to shift resources upstream while navigating complex system dynamics.

FLC cultivates a prevention-first fiscal mindset. Fellows deepen:

Technical mastery. Claiming, cost allocation, rate setting, and federal funding alignment

Adaptive leadership. Diagnosing challenges, collaborating effectively, and addressing scarcity mindsets and mistrust

Fiscal innovation tools. Tools and approaches that support the development, implementation, and monitoring of fiscal strategies

Strategic storytelling and partnership development. Articulating a compelling vision, shaping narratives, influencing decision-making, and cultivating cross-sector relationships that mobilize action

The aim is not simply better budgeting, but systemic realignment toward community-based, voluntary support.

Short-Term Outcomes According to our post-fellowship survey, all FLC fellows strongly agreed that the experience was a valuable use of their time. Further, all agreed that the fellowship met their learning needs. Specifically, FLC fellows: Early Results and Indicators In launching our fiscal leaders cohort, we focused on equipping leaders to navigate complex fiscal rules, break down funding silos, and forge deep cross-sector partnerships to invest in family well-being. The early evidence points to results on all three fronts. Enhanced fiscal and strategic capacity. Fellows reported stronger understanding of flexible funding pathways, child welfare system inequities, and adaptive leadership strategies. They report greater ability to identify funding opportunities and implement prevention-focused efforts.

Designed and implemented prevention-focused projects. Fellows designed or fortified projects that increase prevention investment.

Strengthened cross-sector relationships and collaboration. Fellows cultivated meaningful connections with peers.

Increased system-level awareness and influence. Fellows grew their abilities to navigate organizational and systemic challenges, identify historical inequities, and articulate a compelling prevention financing story that can influence decision-making.

Intermediate Indicators

Five projects demonstrated potential to unlock approximately $125.77 million in prevention-oriented resources over time. These early fiscal projects offer tangible examples of how strategic resource allocation can advance prevention in child welfare through: 2

Unlocking federal dollars for prevention

The District of Columbia developed a cross-agency governance model unlocking $12M in Title IV-E reimbursement through alignment of claiming, invoicing, and service delivery. South Carolina implemented an emerging dual administrative claiming model generating $5.2M in federal reimbursement that continues to grow. Pennsylvania’s Allegheny County positioned to access $10.2M in additional federal reimbursement through evidence-based prevention expansion and automated planning.

Financing concrete supports to address housing instability

Wisconsin’s Family Keys invested flexible funds in housing supports, generating $370,000 in avoided foster care costs and supporting faster reunification.

Building regional prevention infrastructure

Fellows’ projects demonstrate how strategic fiscal approaches can expand prevention capacity— offering evidence-based services, supporting navigation and case planning infrastructure, enabling voluntary engagement and support through community pathways, and reducing administrative barriers. These projects will be documented in the upcoming Prevention Financing Briefs, offering insights for other jurisdictions to adopt and adapt. California’s Family Resource Center Network developed a model to expand Family Resource Center capacity across 165 providers, with the potential to unlock $98M in federal reimbursement.

Foster America analysis of fellow documentation, TAGGS award data, jurisdiction estimates, and projections by fiscal expert Don Winstead. Includes generated and projected federal reimbursement, potential fiscal resources, and estimated avoided foster care costs. 2

Five Habits of Successful Fiscal Innovators

F ield implic a tion : Shared language about family prosperity anchors fiscal strategy across sectors and programs and is foundational to building a coherent prevention agenda. Habit 1: Lead With a Vision of Family Prosperity and Safety Fiscal strategy shifts when leaders anchor decisions in a clear vision: every family deserves stability, and every child thrives when their caregivers are supported. This vision drives alignment around asset-based rather than deficit views of families, reframing investments as tools to strengthen existing family and community capacity. Across varied contexts, five recurring habits surfaced from our inaugural cohort of fiscal fellows and their projects. These habits represent actionable guidance for fiscal and program leaders, cross-sector collaborators, and field partners seeking to strengthen prevention investments.

Habit 2: Embrace Technical and Adaptive Challenges Fiscal innovation requires navigating:

Technical challenges: concrete, rule-bound tasks such as cost allocation, Medicaid claiming, and TANF alignment that require specific knowledge and procedural expertise Adaptive challenges: complex, relational issues—navigating divided authority between agencies, building trust, and moving past a scarcity mindset—that require leadership, collaboration, and problem-solving Jurisdictions advanced when leaders diagnosed early on which type of challenges they were addressing before settling on their approaches. Fellows also developed their capacity to build, test, and iterate on their projects in real time. Capacity building and pilot efforts create space to learn what works, but progress depends on consistent evaluation and a willingness to refine, pivot, or even stop initiatives that are not improving outcomes. F ield implic a tion : Investing in prevention and family wellbeing requires both technical knowledge and adaptive changes. Successful innovators are working iteratively: learning, adjusting, and evolving as their own leadership skills as well as local capacity for prevention efforts grows over time.

Habit 3: Measure What Matters for Families The true measure of prevention is not simply whether families avoid crisis or system involvement, but whether they gain the stability, resources, relationships, and agency they need to achieve their goals and thrive. Compliance, utilization, and reimbursement metrics remain necessary, but they cannot fully capture whether families are experiencing greater housing stability, economic security, community connection, agency, and well-being—or whether families define services and supports as helpful. This habit calls on fiscal leaders to pair family-centered, community-informed outcomes with coordinated data across programs and funding streams. The data needed to understand and finance community-based services often sits across different agencies and systems—including Title IV-E Prevention, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Social Services Block Grant (SSBG), Medicaid, and other funding sources. Connecting these data helps leaders see how public resources work together, identify opportunities to support families earlier, and assess whether investments are contributing to meaningful improvements in families’ lives. F ield implic a tion : A shared measurement framework helps system partners connect data across programs and define success from the perspective of families and communities. It can make visible how coordinated investments contribute to family stability and well-being while strengthening the effectiveness and sustainability of public systems. Habit 4: Tell Strategic Stories Storytelling helps make complex fiscal decisions visible, relatable, and actionable. When decision-makers know these stories, budget choices can change. Leaders translate the mechanics of revenue, claiming, and cost allocation into results for families: a mother securing support before eviction, a teen accessing cash assistance instead of placement, a child staying safely at home because help arrived early. These stories do more than illustrate impact. They make the case for change, helping partners and decision-makers understand why shifting investments matter and what becomes possible when it happens. Field implication: Prevention requires not only strong financial models, but also narrative approaches that make those models accessible, builds alignment, and sustains momentum across partners.

Habit 5: Build Prevention as a Relational Ecosystem Sustainable investment in family wellbeing depends on a coordinated set of partners, each playing distinct and connected roles.

Claiming Partner: Authorized to submit claims and draw down federal reimbursement (e.g., Title IV-E, Medicaid) on behalf of eligible services and activities. Invoicing/Billing Partner: Responsible for documenting, submitting, and validating service data and costs to ensure financial accuracy, compliance, and readiness for reimbursement. Trusted Family-Serving Partner: A community- based or public partner that engages directly with families, providing relational, culturally responsive support and services that meet immediate and ongoing needs.

Field implication: Prevention cannot be owned by a single agency. A “prevention ecosystem” must be co-constructed through shared infrastructure, aligned roles, and collaboration across partners.

Conclusion

An Invitation to Lead Differently: Making Prevention the Norm

Our inaugural fiscal leaders cohort demonstrates that skilled fiscal leadership can unlock new possibilities for children and families. When leaders combine technical expertise with adaptive leadership to form strong partnerships, budgets promote family stability and prosperity in new ways. Yet prevention will not become the norm simply because a cohort exists. Investments in family wellbeing grow only when fiscal leaders and many other collaborators work together, with an expectation that using resources differently is both effective and possible. Durable change requires collective action. Public leaders, private partners, philanthropy, policymakers, intermediaries, and field connectors must work in concert to align rules, resources, data, and narrative around a prevention agenda. By strategically using fiscal tools—leveraging flexible funding, maximizing federal reimbursement, braiding resources, and building infrastructure—leaders can create conditions where families are supported, investment in prevention is prioritized, and effective solutions are sustained and scaled. This report is an invitation to lead differently: to use fiscal strategy not only to manage dollars, but to shape systems, set expectations, and catalyze a culture where prevention drives decision-making and family well-being is the measure of success.

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