OPT-In Launches Initiative supports families at earliest sign of need
Our current child welfare system, with its roots in surveillance and reactive interventions, often harms families instead of supporting them. In 2024, we were proud to support the launch of a new effort of the Doris Duke Foundation, the Opportunities for Prevention and Transformation Initiative (or OPT-In for Families), which seeks to transform traditional approaches to child welfare by prioritizing prevention.
who have been impacted by child welfare, in key initiative decisions. In April 2024, we hosted the kickoff convening, drawing together some 100 key collaborators from across the four jurisdictions. This event, held at Duke Farms, provided space for participants to build a shared vision for the future of OPT-In, which emphasizes the role of community collaboration in reenvisioning child welfare. Throughout 2024, Foster America focused on the implementation of an advisory committee in each site to guide the initiative. We convened a diverse cross- section of collaborators, emphasizing the voices of those with lived experience in the system to join in transforming it. These advisory committees are central to the initiative’s strategy, emphasizing the importance of local insights and direct community involvement in shaping a responsive and effective child welfare system. Each committee is tasked with identifying key areas for improvement and collaboratively designing policies that prioritize the well-being and stability of families. By focusing on early intervention and empowering local communities, OPT-In for Families is setting a new standard for how child welfare can more effectively support and protect vulnerable families, taking a significant step toward a system that is both just and equitable.
OPT-In builds on work done across the country to create and test a meaningful alternative to the child welfare system — one that moves from a punitive system focused on assessing whether children should be removed from their homes to a prevention-oriented well-being system that leads to better outcomes across a child’s life. As a founding technical assistance partner (alongside Think of Us, Chapin Hall, and the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance
Lab), Foster America is entrusted with engaging intergovernmental and community partners, especially those
24 | Foster America 2024 Annual Report
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