Co-hosted by the Children’s Home Society of America and the Jordan Institute, the longstanding 'Wicked Problems of Child Welfare" conference in April brought together leaders from across the country committed to improving outcomes for children, youth and families. Participants explored the challenges and opportunities facing today’s families within the current policy and systems landscape. Discussions emphasized the importance of community-based prevention of child abuse and neglect, strengthening pathways to well-being for families, and translating knowledge into meaningful action at both the individual and collective levels. Participants expressed strong satisfaction with the content and learning opportunities with many highlighting sessions focused on lived experience, prevention innovations and braiding federal funding as particularly impactful. The quality of the presentations, the depth of discussion and the collaborative atmosphere were appreciated and people left with new ideas and tired brains!  Key themes were captured by the graphic narrator. See all the images, program and slides here.

HEAR 4 Mamas and Babies - Teaming Up to Support New Families in the Carolinas

HEAR (healing, equity, advocacy, respect) 4 Mamas and Babies is an evidence-informed screening and a referral program which helps identify medical, behavioral health and social needs from early in the pregnancy until the following year of postpartum. Created by the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), this program was identified by The Duke Endowment (TDE) as a new, multi-year, $13 million investment in mothers and babies in North and South Carolina. A team from the Jordan Institute worked with TDE to identify this as their focus intervention. Now our team is pleased to join MUSC in providing training and technical assistance to the five new pilot sites. Read the press release here. Stay tuned for updates - sites are in their planning phase through the end of 2026.

Focusing on the State of the Southern Family

Since 1996, MDC has led the State of the South, to learn about and report out on the economic conditions and demographic trends impacting communities in the US South. Blossoming from a report to a set of convenings across the region to build an equitable and inclusive South, Jordan Institute staff have partnered on these efforts.  In 2023, we traveled to Berea, KY, to moderate a session, “Strengthening Support for Children and Families,” for State of the South: True South Central Appalachia.  Building on these efforts and our work together on the 2021 Earned Income Tax Credit for rural North Carolinians study, we are now developing State of the Southern Family, a multi-year, multi-state initiative that examines how low‑income Southern families actually live, work, and care for one another in an economy and policy environment still modeled on the mid-20th-centure nuclear family model. With funding from the Kresge Foundation, the project aims to drive practical reforms, narrative change, and coordinated action by policymakers, employers, communities, and philanthropy. Our team is thrilled to join MDC and partners in this new work!