Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater
Written by Tim Buckley, February 2025
Dr. Amelia Franck Meyer, Alia Innovations
Dr Meyer’s family-centric work has resulted in significant reduction in the number of youths in care (29%), youth in residential care (39%) and youth removed from families (31%).
She believes that we must begin by gathering and sharing knowledge and creating a sense of urgency for systemic change. “As leaders and practitioners have access to this greater depth of knowledge, a sense of urgency to do better develops,” she said. “True change takes everyone working together.”
“Innovators found common ground in the belief that a child’s family and surrounding community are vital to solving the challenges they face,” she added. “What emerged was the critical role of family and an urgent need to focus on what the family needs to prevent children from entering the system in the first place. How do we engage in a supportive family-driven approach to keeping children safe?”
Oregon has been working on the same issue for years, using similar strategies that Dr. Meyer and her company Alia employ. In a recent interview on OPB’s Think Out Loud, DHS Director Pakseresht and Child Welfare director Flint-Gerner talked about the value of embracing new mindsets and systems change.
“Oregon has seen a steady decline in the number of children in foster care, down from almost 8000 in 2018 to just over 4500 in 2023,” said Flint-Gerner. “(At the same time) we saw a 74% increase in placement with what we call kith and kin: grandmas, aunties, uncles.”
“So we’re talking about building safety within communities rather than only focusing on separation to get to child safety,” Pakseresht added. “Obviously, we’re still going to have a foster care system, but we would much rather serve kids in communities where they’re known and where they’re loved, where we can build sustainable safety rather than having to traumatize children introduced into foster care.”
CBEL’s work in Salem and Keizer neighborhoods is based on the same principles, looking at families not as the problem but the source of solutions. “That ‘common ground’ Dr. Meyer talks about is what we call system integration,” said Jim Seymour, Director of CBEL. “We’re creating synergy between families, grassroots neighborhood family councils, community resource organizations and civic leaders that focuses on the family needs.”
