Learning Session: Making Investments in Community-Based Voluntary Care

Connecticut and New Hampshire are trying to transform how state agencies support children and families. Officials are investing in community-based, voluntary services for families without open child protection cases. By investing up-stream, outside of child protective services (CPS), officials are hoping to create more just and effective systems that provide support for caregivers and children before crises emerge and empower families by offering voluntary services that may help prevent more punitive or coercive interventions.

On June 9, 2022, the Government Performance Lab spoke with leaders in New Hampshire and Connecticut who shared insights from their journeys to reimagine family support.

Key Topics:

1. Families with high needs, but no safety concerns, want ways to access services without involving CPS.
2. Connecticut and New Hampshire officials are testing how CPS can coordinate with, and lend support to, community service providers.

Featured Speakers:

• Joseph Ribsam, Former Director of the Division for Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
• Michael C. Williams, Deputy Commissioner of Operations at the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF)