The GPL child welfare team in New Hampshire led by Assistant Director Jessica Lanney was recently recognized by the state’s Division for Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) for contributing to the transformation of the agency’s child well-being services and improving outcomes for Granite State residents.
The award, presented to Jess on March 30, 2021 at Granite State College in Concord, New Hampshire, recognizes the GPL’s, “exceptional external partnership and collaboration” with DCYF, in working to improve the state’s child welfare system over the last three years.
As part of the ceremonial remarks, DCYF Director Joe Ribsam acknowledged several contributions Jess and her team have made that are leading to a “radical transformation of our service delivery system.” Chief among them were the GPL’s support in, “creating thoughtful procurement tools which have repeatedly proven to attract strong interest from providers throughout our community,” and, “implementing a new Active Contract Management process to ensure that the kids and families are actually seeing improved outcomes as a result of our services.”
Jess and the GPL team were also recognized for supporting the agency’s response to the pandemic. Specifically, they helped develop a COVID-19 Child and Family Well-being Guide which, “quickly became a national model replicated by many other jurisdictions,” according to Ribsam.
The performance improvement tools spearheaded by the GPL team in New Hampshire -- including Active Contract Management and Results-Driven Contracting -- have not only contributed to the transformation of core services at the DCYF. According to Ribsam, the GPL’s innovative practices have helped the state, “reduce the number of children and families in out-of-home care, both in child protection and juvenile justice services, in favor of keeping more kids and youth safe at home.”
Congratulations to Jess Lanney, Sean Alexander, Aaron Hirsh, Scott Kleiman, Emilie Litsas, and Grace Palmer for helping to produce these high-impact outcomes for families and children in New Hampshire and earning this extraordinary recognition.
To learn more, visit the New Hampshire Child Welfare System Transformation project page and view the full DCYF awards ceremony.
Photo credit: New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
 | GPL staff receive award from New Hampshire DCYF | 217 KB |