Kinship care is the full-time care of children by relatives or other adults with whom they have a close, family-like bond, also known as “fictive kin.” This arrangement typically occurs when a child’s biological parents are unable to care for them due to various circumstances, such as illness, death, substance abuse, incarceration, or abuse. Kinship caregivers can be grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, cousins, or even close family friends. According to Kids Count Data Center, there are 2.5 million children currently living in kinship arrangements in the U.S.  

Benefits of Kinship Care 

Research consistently shows that placing children with kin leads to better outcomes than traditional foster care. For children, the emotional and psychological benefits are profound. Kinship placements help minimize the trauma of being separated from their parents by offering a familiar environment with people they already know and trust. Children in kinship care experience greater placement stability, with fewer school changes and a lower likelihood of re-entering foster care. Kinship care also helps children maintain vital connections to their family, culture, and community. This continuity provides a strong sense of identity and belonging, which is crucial for healthy development.  

Though kinship care has historically been practiced informally outside child welfare systems, child and family services are now recognizing and prioritizing a “kin-first” approach, where they actively seek out and support kin placements as the preferred option for children who are removed from their parents’ care. This paradigm shift, marked by the passage of a new federal rule giving states greater licensing and standards flexibility for kinship arrangements, must be matched with state policies and concrete resources that support kinship caregivers to improve child and family outcomes. 

Challenges for Kinship Caregivers 

Kinship caregivers, while providing a stable home for children, often face significant barriers that can make their role difficult. In a recent study of 868 kinship caregivers in Washington state, respondents reported an array of challenges that varied depending on income levels, region, and reason for placement.  

The most pressing challenges reported include: 

Financial Pressure: Kinship caregivers often take on the responsibility of raising children with little to no notice and without the same level of financial support that traditional foster parents receive. This can be especially difficult for grandparents or other relatives who may be retired or on a fixed income. Financial concerns were consistently reported as a “Top 3” need, regardless of income and region. Those in lower income brackets reported needing housing, food, and basic amenities, but even those in higher brackets reported financial uncertainty and strain.  

Emotional Strain: Taking on the full-time care of children, especially those who have experienced trauma, can take a heavy emotional toll. Caregivers often report feeling overwhelmed, isolated, or unprepared. The challenges reported in this category include the need for more comprehensive mental health care, relationship counseling, and behavioral health support, particularly if the child was placed due to abuse.  

Legal Challenges: Gaining legal custody or guardianship can be a confusing, lengthy process. Without it, caregivers may find it difficult to enroll children in school, access medical care, or make critical decisions on their behalf. The requirements for approval and licensing are often strict and costly, and kinship caregivers may experience bias from caseworkers, making it hard to access information and understand their rights. 

Supporting the Future of Kinship Care 

To fully realize the potential of kinship care, systemic changes are needed. While a “kin-first” approach is gaining momentum, policies and procedures still create barriers for kinship caregivers.  

To provide genuine support for kinship caregivers, the system needs to evolve to: 

• Equalize support: Many kinship caregivers, especially those in “informal” arrangements, don’t receive the same financial, legal, and other essential support as non-relative foster parents, even when they are eligible. A promising solution is to create and fund peer-to-peer kinship support networks. These networks connect caregivers with others with lived experience, helping them navigate the system, access resources, and understand the financial and legal support they’re entitled to.  

• Alleviate legal barriers: To simplify the process for relatives to become kinship caregivers, preventative legal assistance is a crucial solution. This approach should focus on easing licensing requirements and providing no-cost legal services to help caregivers navigate the legal system and become legal guardians. Success hinges on the coordinated efforts of legal service providers, courts, and the Title IV-E agency to ensure a seamless and supportive experience for these families. 

• Create a “kin-first” policy environment: This requires advocating for foundational state policies that prioritize placing children with kin, even without immediate financial support. At the same time, forming grassroots networks can empower kinship caregivers to advocate for the legal rights and financial resources that put them on the same footing as nonrelative foster parents. 

By strengthening the kinship care system, we can create a more family-centered approach that benefits children, caregivers, and communities alike. 

Key Resources 

Explore these three top resources to learn more about impactful practices in Kinship Care: 

• Within our reach: What we’ve learned: Building a 21st-century child and family well-being system based on protective factors and strengthening families policy education and communications toolkit. Social Current & Casey Family Programs. (2024). 
• Special Issue: Building the Evidence of Effective Programs That Serve Formal and Informal Kin Caring for Their Relative’s Children. Families in Society, Volume 105, Issue 1. (2024). 
• Research Report Summary: What Can We Learn from the Voices of Those Involved in Kinship Care? Casey Family Programs. (2025). 

Social Current Solutions 

Webinar: Kinship Care in Transition 

This on-demand webinar, originally held Sept. 22, provides practical tools and strategies for engaging and valuing kinship caregivers as true partners in the system. Whether you’re a frontline worker, administrator, or advocate, you’ll gain takeaways to strengthen kinship placements and elevate the voices of those caring for their own.  

The presentation clarifies what’s changing, what remains consistent, and how organizations can remain compliant while also honoring the lived experience of kinship families. You’ll gain a clearer understanding of recent federal rule changes, practical steps for organizational alignment, and approaches to supporting and empowering kinship families across diverse communities. 

COA Accreditation 

COA Accreditation, a service of Social Current, supports organizations in effectively managing resources, implementing best practices, and creating an organizational culture of performance quality improvement. Our comprehensive accreditation reviews organizations’ administrative processes and infrastructure, as well as all programs with applicable service standards. 

Our Foster Care and Kinship Care standards were refreshed as part of our annual standards update in 2025. Learn more about the 2025 standards update on our website. 

To learn more about COA Accreditation, join a free upcoming webinar. 

Consulting 

We partner and co-create with communities and organizations to strengthen families and build supportive systems. Our tailored technical assistance and consultation utilizes recognized best practices, data, and lived experience to identify and move toward upstream solutions that reduce child abuse and neglect by building protective factors. 

Knowledge and Insights Center Resources 

Business, Media, & Research Databases 

From thousands of premium journals to the latest social sector news and media, Social Current Impact Partners and KIC subscribers have access to a wealth of evidence-based resources to support them in addressing any leadership challenge. 

About the Knowledge and Insights Center 

Social Current’s Knowledge and Insights Center equips social sector professionals with the research and resources they need to stay current on trends, implement best practices, and improve their organizations. It specializes in vetting information sources and systematizing information so that it is easy to understand. Gain access to the Knowledge and Insights Center by becoming a Social Current Impact Partner or purchasing access. 

About Social Current 

Social Current is the premier partner and solutions provider to a diverse network of more than 1,800 human and social service organizations. Together with our network, we are activating the power of the social sector to effect broader systemic change that is needed to achieve our vision of an equitable society where all people can thrive. We support, strengthen, and amplify the work of the social sector in five core integrated areas including brain science and trauma-informed approaches; COA Accreditation; child, family, and community well-being; government affairs and advocacy; and leadership and organizational development. 

Learn more by visiting our website. 
To learn more, subscribe to the Center’s announcements and visit the website.

Social Current has selected LifeWorks as the 2025 Innovative Impact Award winner for its Travis County Transformation Project. Based in Austin, LifeWorks serves youth and young families—many of whom have experienced homelessness—through its housing, mental health, education, and workforce services. The Travis County Transformation Project is a pre-arrest diversion program that deflects youth from juvenile justice into community-based respite services, case management, family counseling, and restorative healing circles to build well-being and prevent recidivism. 

LifeWorks will be recognized at the SPARK 2025 conference, Oct. 20-21 in Chicago. Leaders from LifeWorks and the Excellence Project, as well as the Travis County District Attorney will share their expertise in a workshop about the project. 

LifeWorks CEO Liz Schoenfeld recently sat down for an interview with Social Current’s Senior Director of Child, Family, and Community Well-Being Romero Davis to discuss key aspects of the project, collaborating with partners, and authentically engaging youth voice.  

Listen to the interview or check out the Q&A below. 

Could you please start by sharing a little bit of background and context around what led you to embark on the Travis County Transformation Project?  

Yes, absolutely! Our focus is really on solving youth homelessness, and a significant portion of unhoused young people in our community have experience with the juvenile legal system. So, our focus is not just putting roofs over people’s heads but also doing what we can to prevent the threat of homelessness in the first place.  

One of the things that was most shocking to me when we first started really embarking on this specific project was learning that the number one reason that young people end up in the juvenile legal system in our community is essentially family conflict. It is for a charge called assault family violence, which means that there is an argument in the home, it escalates, and the police are called. Because they are generally required to remove somebody from the home, they often will choose to remove the young person because that’s less disruptive to the family unit. It reduces the risk of CPS involvement, compared to if you were to remove the parent instead.  

And so that results in the young person being arrested and taken to our juvenile detention center and being booked. That experience of being arrested and essentially being processed like a criminal—that can have a profound effect on how young people see themselves and can open this cycle of further involvement with the criminal justice system. From 2013-2019, nearly half of young people who had been picked up for these types of offenses recidivated within a year.  

Often, when family conflict escalates to that point, the underlying root is stress. It’s stress that’s being caused by financial instability, by housing instability, by food insecurity, by strained coping skills, or by lack of mental health resources. At LifeWorks, we just refuse to be satisfied with that as the status quo, And we knew that we could do better. Like nearly 90% of the families that we’re serving, were in an area of Austin characterized by racial segregation and historical disenfranchisement. It was these patterns that inspired us to embark on this initiative, and we knew that our community could stand by our youth in a more effective way.  

This project involves cross-sector collaboration. Can you talk about your partners their strengths, and their contributions?  

Yes, there are three core partners that are involved in the Travis County Transformation Project. There’s LifeWorks, there’s another nonprofit in town called the Excellence Project, and then there’s the Travis County District Attorney’s Office.  

I’ll start with the DA’s Office. They are responsible for assessing eligibility for the program. This means that when law enforcement is called to a family’s residence, they are responsible for determining if the individual might be a good fit for the project. This means that the DA’s Office was also responsible for recruiting and training law enforcement in the deflection protocol.  

Then you have LifeWorks, and the component that we provide is the respite services. This means that instead of the young person being taken to the juvenile detention center, the families have the option for the young person to stay at our shelter for a cooling down period of three to 14 days. During that time, the young person can be connected with LifeWorks’ family counseling services.  

The Excellence Project provides wraparound case management services to the family to help address their basic needs. They also facilitate the healing circles, which are based on the Circles of Peace restorative justice model. The goal of this piece is to involve other supportive figures in families’ lives, create practical skills to help them resolve conflict, minimize social isolation, and build the supports to prevent future family violence. 

In working with these partners, I just have been so impressed because this is an incredible example of how this type of cross-sector collaboration can result in impacts that really exceed the capacity of any one organization.  

What has helped you all make the collaboration successful?  

There are really three core things that have contributed to the success of this collaboration. And I would say that first and foremost, simply just having a shared vision. So, from the very beginning, every partner was just really aligned on this shared goal of reducing harm and developing a non-punitive approach and, instead, coming up with a community-based solution. We all recognized that if we wanted different outcomes for youth and families in our community, we would need to do our work differently. That has been the through line every step of the way—from conceptualization to today. 

Another thing that has really been critical for the project’s success is continuous communication. Collaboration at this level only works if you are in lockstep with each other, and this project team is in contact with one another in some way, shape, or form on a near daily basis. 

And then finally, just really keeping youth and families at the center. Instead of adhering to a rigidly prescribed model, we’ve stayed flexible and have tried to adapt to the program to meet the needs of young people. If they tell us that one element of the program isn’t something that they need or responsive to the challenges that they’re facing, they don’t necessarily need to participate in that element of the program.  

You really are seeing impressive outcomes. In the first 18 months of operation, the project achieved a 94% reduction in recidivism. That is 3% for project participants, compared to 49% of youth receiving traditional juvenile justice interventions. What aspects of the project do you think have had the greatest impact on success?  

I think that the greatest impact has come from our ability to keep youth out of the justice system altogether—from having the experience of being handcuffed. Research is clear that the trauma of arrest and court can really increase the likelihood of reoffending, and so by deflecting young people before that point, we’re really interrupting that cycle. 

Additionally, the holistic supports, including case management, family counseling, and healing circles, makes huge difference. Being able to ground the intervention in community and in tools and resources that families can carry with them beyond the program is essential for them to recognize their inherent strengths and how to access additional resources when they need them.  

What have you learned by centering the voices of those that are directly impacted?  

Listening to youth and families is at the heart of everything that we do at LifeWorks, and the Travis County Transformation Project is no exception. We firmly believe that youth and families are the experts of their own lives, and we really try to listen and to let them guide the way—and we have the honor walking alongside them.  

When this project was being developed, folks told us that that conflict was directly tied to the stressors that they were facing in the home and challenges like food insecurity, housing instability, and financial strain. That’s why we built in case management. Families told us that the lack of accessible and affordable mental health services were a barrier, and so that’s why we built in the family counseling component. They told us that social isolation made conflict worse, so that’s why we brought in the healing circle approach—to help those in the program choose folks in their lives that are meaningful, natural supports and involve them in their journey toward healing. It was through listening that we were able to build a program that families want to participate in and that truly meets their needs. 

What’s next for the program, and are there plans to replicate it? 

Yes, and it’s one of the things that I’m most excited about. Communities across Texas and the U.S. have already been reaching out about replication. We are also partnering with the University of Texas at Austin to do a formal evaluation and ultimately create a formal implementation guide to support other communities in doing this work. 

On top of that, we’re looking at how we can potentially expand the model locally, whether that is through expanding the age range of participating young people, expanding it to other types of charges, or even adapting the model to be able to use a similar deflection approach for families that would otherwise become involved with the child welfare system.  Our hope is that communities everywhere can adapt this model to their unique needs, so that fewer youth are being pushed into the juvenile legal system and more families can access the healing and support they deserve.  

Listen to the full interview online. 

Meet with Liz Schoenfeld and hear from the Travis County Transformation Project team at SPARK 2025. Make sure to register by Sept. 20 to save with the early bird rate. 

It’s time to ditch the word “nonprofit.” The social sector powers 12.5 million jobs and contributes $1.4 trillion to the U.S. economy, yet outdated systems, myths, and funding models limit its full potential. Today, Social Current, a partner to 1,800+ human and social service organizations in the U.S., Canada, and beyond, launches Five & Rising, a bold national movement to change that.

Five & Rising is designed to unleash the sector’s full economic power and rewrite the rules for how it’s funded and valued.

“Five & Rising is here to break the limits placed on our sector and to prove what’s possible when we stop treating it as a secondary player in the economy,” said Dr. Jody Levison-Johnson, president and CEO of Social Current. “These pilot communities will demonstrate that when we invest in the real cost of impact and trust local leaders to innovate, we unlock change that ripples far beyond their borders. What they build will raise the bar for the entire nation.”

Five & Rising takes its name from the social sector’s 5.2% share of U.S. GDP. It is both a reminder of the sector’s economic force and a statement that this is only the beginning.

Inspired by the documentary UnCharitable, directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal, which challenges conventional thinking about how the social sector should operate, Five & Rising will work with communities across the country to co-create systems that match the sector’s true scale and unleash its ability to deliver lasting impact.

“I’ve seen firsthand how the stories we’ve told about charity have limited what’s possible,” said Gyllenhaal. “It’s time we rewrite the narrative—one that reflects the truth: the social sector is a force of innovation, impact, and economic power. Five & Rising is how we break the old frame and finally fund real change.”

About the Pilot Communities

To be considered as a pilot community, applicants identified the issue they most wanted to address, the rationale behind it, and what they hoped to achieve. They also shared what excites them most about this opportunity and why their community’s involvement is essential.

Today, Five & Rising proudly unveils its three inaugural pilot communities. Together, these communities represent the bold ideas and deep engagement the movement was designed for. They will serve as proving grounds for scalable strategies that can transform how the social sector is funded, valued, and supported.

Center for Community Impact (Northwest Ohio)
Building Shared Infrastructure for Rural-Serving Organizations
In Northwest Ohio, the Center for Community Impact is proving that collaboration is the innovation in rural America. By co-creating shared systems, collaborative strategies, and readiness that attract investment, and by launching leadership boot camps to strengthen capacity and a shared services ecosystem, they show the rural social sector is not just ready to lead, they are already rising.

ChangeMakers Hawai’i (Hilo, Hawai’i)
Centering Indigenous Wisdom and Trust-Based Philanthropy
In Hawai’i, ChangeMakers is driving economic equity and justice through community engagement, financial access, and support for purpose-driven professions. Through Philanthropono, a capacity-building initiative grounded in Indigenous knowledge, they are elevating the leadership of Indigenous-led nonprofits by partnering with funders to simplify grants, expand unrestricted multi-year funding, and build authentic relationships, they are creating a replicable, equity-driven model for trust-based philanthropy that can thrive in historically marginalized communities nationwide.

Progressive Life Center (Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware)
Redesigning Foster Care as Healing Infrastructure
Across Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, Progressive Life Center (PLC) is working to transform foster care as a healing, family-centered system. PLC is leading a cross-sector coalition of caregivers, providers, policymakers and those with lived experience to stabilize care, reduce risk, and replace surveillance with support. PLC is tackling systemic fragility, naming the true cost of care, promoting trauma-informed approaches, and creating a model of sustainable, equitable care that can be replicated nationwide.

“These incredible organizations are already creating meaningful change in their own communities,” added Levison-Johnson. “From strengthening rural networks, to transforming foster care, to elevating Indigenous-led solutions, they are proving what’s possible. As they build and scale their work, their successes will offer models and inspiration that can benefit communities across the country.”

Social Current, along with a group of cross-sector partners and allies will support the three pilot communities every step of the way by providing technical assistance, securing sustainable investment, helping to shape a national roadmap and building systems that deliver a lasting impact.

In their first year, Five & Rising pilot communities will engage in a yearlong capacity-building curriculum that will equip them to dismantle harmful myths about the sector, strengthen organizational resilience through new approaches to fundraising and governance, and amplify influence through advocacy, communications, and cross-sector partnerships. That knowledge will enable them to bring philanthropy, government, business, social enterprises, and community members together to confront root causes of local challenges, co-create bold strategies, and launch shared action plans.

This approach ensures communities are strengthening from within and building collective solutions, creating a playbook that can be scaled nationally to reimagine philanthropy and unlock the full power of the social sector.

About Five & Rising
Five & Rising is a national movement led by Social Current to unleash the social sector from the restrictions that limit its impact. Working with communities across the country, Five & Rising co-creates bold funding models, challenges broken norms, and builds the infrastructure needed for systemic change. Five & Rising is more than a campaign; it’s a call to rethink how the social sector is funded, valued, and supported. Learn more and join the movement at FiveAndRising.org.

The Quality Improvement Center on Helplines and Hotlines recently launched a website that offers practical, research-based solutions for child protection hotlines and community helplines to support all families in reaching their full potential. The website includes answers to common questions about child welfare, helplines, and hotlines, as well as curated news, op-eds, reports, and research briefs about hotlines, helplines, and the front door of the child welfare system.

The purpose of the Center is to develop practical strategies to keep children safe, target child protection resources effectively, and help families thrive. The Center is administered by Evident Change in partnership with Social Current and the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance as part of a cooperative agreement with the Children’s Bureau.

It has three goals:

• Support child protective services (CPS) agencies in their mission to protect children
• Help mandated reporters, CPS hotline staff, and other community partners make more effective decisions, particularly in distinguishing families who require child protection intervention from families whose needs could be met through community-based services and support
• Create an information hub for best practices and operations for community-based helplines to function as supportive resources for families whose needs do not require child protection intervention

To address these goals, the Center will:

• Collect and share best practices for CPS hotline interviewing and assessment, particularly to ensure that all child safety concerns are appropriately investigated
• Develop practical, evidence-based curricula to train mandated reporters and CPS hotline workers to make clear, quality decisions
• Collect and create information about best practices for distinguishing families who require child protection intervention from families whose needs could be met through community-based services and support
• Recruit and train pilot sites across the country to implement and test new strategies
• Conduct a rigorous evaluation of pilot sites and share findings nationally

By working together, we can support CPS agencies and mandated reporters to protect children from harm, create better pathways to meet families’ needs, and ensure all children and families have the chance to thrive.
To learn more, subscribe to the Center’s announcements and visit the website.

Social Current is excited to introduce the newest cohort of our Executive Leadership Institute, our yearlong leadership development program held in partnership with Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business. 

This dynamic group of leaders is helping to shape the future of the social sector. They represent a diverse cross-section of human and social services organizations, all united by a shared commitment to helping all people thrive. 

The participants will learn from experts, receive guidance from mentors, and apply their learning to projects that strengthen their organizations. We’re excited to support this cohort on this next step in their leadership journey. 

Learn more about the Executive Leadership Institute online. To stay in the loop about our 2026-2027 institute, share your email.

Announcing the 2025-2026 Executive Leadership Institute Cohort

Randy Bendle

Operations Director, Alaska Family Services, Inc.

Biography

Randy Bendle

Operations Director, Alaska Family Services, Inc.

Randy Bendle is an experienced professional based in Alaska, currently serving as the director of operations at Alaska Family Services Inc., a nonprofit organization located in Palmer, Alaska. In this role, Randy is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the organization, ensuring the effective implementation of services designed to support and improve the lives of families throughout Alaska. His responsibilities include managing staff, coordinating programs, and collaborating with community partners to deliver essential resources and support to those in need. 

Victoria Dawson

Vice President of Operations, Family Service Association

Biography

Victoria Dawson

Vice President of Operations, Family Service Association

Victoria Dawson serves as the vice president of operations at the Family Service Association (FSA), where she has made a significant impact in the nonprofit sector. She leads a passionate team committed to fostering innovative solutions that enable FSA to provide quality services to over 13,000 individuals in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties annually. Under her leadership, FSA has successfully implemented initiatives focused on process optimization, cost-saving strategies, and organizational growth.

Milton Fonseca

Director of Performance and Quality Improvement & Director of Operations, Volusia County Advocate Program, Inc.

Biography

Milton Fonseca

Director of Performance and Quality Improvement & Director of Operations, Volusia County Advocate Program, Inc.

Milton Fonseca’s family emigrated from Cuba and settled in South Florida in 1991. Raised by a hardworking single mother, he learned the values of perseverance, integrity, and dedication to service. His professional journey began in 2004 when he joined the Advocate Program Inc. (AP) as a front desk clerk in the DUI Department. AP is a multifaceted organization serving the South Florida tri-county area of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe Counties, and as of 2024, has expanded its services to Volusia County in Northeast Florida.

Dr. Devon Goetze, MPA, PhD

Director of Housing Services, Auberle

Biography

Dr. Devon Goetze, MPA, PhD

Director of Housing Services, Auberle

Devon Goetze has a deep passion for housing and real estate, beginning her career in title and mortgage insurance. After the 2009 mortgage collapse, she transitioned to helping people in foreclosure, discovering a love for assisting others. She later moved into homeless services, where her leadership expanded a single housing program at Auberle into ten programs serving nearly 2,000 families annually. Devon holds a master’s in public policy and a doctorate in business administration. She is active in various community roles, including co-chair of the Allegheny County Housing committee, vice president of the Penn Hills Community Development Corporation, and member of the Penn Hills School Board, focusing on community development through collaboration. She is also set to graduate Leadership Pittsburgh this June. 

Celeste Hurley

Executive Director, Violence Free Futures, Inc.

Biography

Celeste Hurley

Executive Director, Violence Free Futures, Inc.

Celeste Hurley is the executive director at Violence Free Futures. With a master’s in social work from Ohio University and experience in community advocacy, she has championed the rights of survivors and works tirelessly to create safer spaces for those affected by violence. Celeste brings eight years of experience from her tenure at Violence Free Futures. Her journey began as an intern and progressed through various roles, including shelter support, crisis intervention specialist, Safe House case coordinator, prevention coordinator, and sexual assault response coordinator. Her commitment to empowering individuals and families has brought hope and healing to many in the Greene County area. 

 

Vanessa Kucera

Deputy Director, Chief Operating and Financial Officer, MYSI Corporation

Biography

Vanessa Kucera

Deputy Director, Chief Operating and Financial Officer, MYSI Corporation

Vanessa Kucera has nearly 20 years of finance and operations experience in the private and nonprofit sectors, with expertise in housing, community health, and violence prevention. She is deputy director and chief operating and financial officer at MYSI, a child welfare organization dedicated to transforming lives by providing holistic care, promoting independence, and advocating for the well-being of vulnerable youth and their families. The organization is accredited by COA Accreditation, a service of Social Current.

Iris Lopez

Division Chief Community Based Services, Hillsides

Biography

Iris Lopez

Division Chief Community Based Services, Hillsides

Iris Lopez, a devoted member of the Hillsides family for over 15 years, brings more than 29 years of invaluable experience to her role as division chief, community-based services. In this capacity, she oversees Hillsides’ community-based mental health services provided through Hillsides’ and Bienvenidos Family Resource Centers.

Amanda Masterson

CEO, Boys & Girls Haven

Biography

Amanda Masterson

CEO, Boys & Girls Haven

Amanda Masterson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the first female CEO—and just the seventh person—to lead Boys & Girls Haven since its founding in 1950. With over 20 years of experience in child welfare, Amanda brings a deep commitment to improving the lives of children and families through compassionate, trauma-informed care. 

Christine Roerig

Director of Marketing, Shelter Inc

Biography

Christine Roerig

Director of Marketing, Shelter Inc

Christine Roerig is an accomplished marketing and communications leader with over 12 years of experience driving strategic growth and brand visibility across the medical, education, food, and distribution sectors. She currently serves as the director of marketing and communications at a child welfare agency, where she leads integrated communications strategies to elevate mission impact, enhance stakeholder engagement, and support the organization’s vision for systemic change.

Michelle Saint Hilarie

Senior Statewide Program Director, Child & Family Resources, Inc.

Biography

Michelle Saint Hilarie

Senior Statewide Program Director, Child & Family Resources, Inc.

Michelle Saint Hilarie is a seasoned nonprofit executive and strategist with over 33 years of experience championing equity, education, and opportunity for children, youth, and families. Known for her dynamic leadership and innovative thinking, Michelle has led high-impact initiatives across public, private, and nonprofit sectors, particularly in early care and education transformation, youth development, and systems change. 

Meleah Spencer

CEO, The Kitchen Inc.

Biography

Meleah Spencer

CEO, The Kitchen Inc.

Meleah Spencer is the CEO of The Kitchen, Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to providing stability and purpose to individuals experiencing homelessness. She holds a bachelor’s from Drury University, where she also pursued graduate coursework in communications, marketing, and business administration.

Tony Weaver

Vice President, Clinical and Housing Services, Wayfinder Family Services

Biography

Tony Weaver

Vice President, Clinical and Housing Services, Wayfinder Family Services

Tony Weaver, LCSW, is a seasoned nonprofit executive with extensive experience in clinical and housing services. Currently serving as vice president of clinical and housing services at Wayfinder Family Services, Tony has demonstrated exceptional leadership in developing new programming serving unaccompanied minors, and families and children who are child-welfare involved through housing and community mental health services and implementing strategic initiatives, enhancing program excellence, and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. His previous roles include vice president of housing programs and director of supportive housing programs at St. Anne’s, where he successfully expanded housing budgets, led trauma-informed care initiatives, and developed the Permanent Supportive Housing Program for Beverly Terrace apartments. Tony’s commitment to social services is further evidenced by his time served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania where he worked as a Community Health Educator, his volunteer work as a Court Appointed Special Advocate and his board memberships with various organizations.

The second half of 2025 will be replete with contrasts for the social sector. Opportunities to build trust, promote workplace wellness, and leverage technology will be met with serious threats from funding reductions, policy changes, and chronic workforce shortages. Navigating this reality requires a clear understanding of the forces at play.

To help you lead with confidence, Social Current’s latest report highlights the key trends that our subject matter experts and Knowledge and Insights Center staff are following closely in the third quarter of 2025:

• Government affairs and advocacy including federal budget updates, and HHS reorganization and staffing cuts
• Leadership & EDI including redefining and refining your EDI approach
• Financial matters including leading with local funders and philanthropy’s shift to a more proactive approach
• Workforce including staffing shortages and fighting burnout and healing approaches
• Technology including AI-supported therapy

Download the full trend report for insight and related Social Current solutions.

Specialized Research Tools for Human and Social Services

Social Current’s Knowledge and Insights Center offers a robust resources portal, which includes a digital clearinghouse library with over 20,000 records; aggregated research and business databases; diverse topic collections and library guides; original content summarizing complex information; and coaching that helps users maximize these resources.

As you plan for 2025 and beyond, make sure you’re utilizing all the tools in your toolbox. For more information about available tools and support, visit our website or contact the Knowledge and Insights Center.

Social Current has selected LifeWorks as the 2025 Innovative Impact Award winner for its Travis County Transformation Project. Based in Austin, LifeWorks serves youth and young families—many of whom have experienced homelessness—through its housing, mental health, education, and workforce services.

The Travis County Transformation Project is a pre-arrest diversion program that deflects youth from juvenile justice into community-based respite services, case management, family counseling, and restorative healing circles to build well-being and prevent recidivism. The program is a partnership between LifeWorks, the Excellence Project, and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. It specifically targets youth ages 15-16 who have been involved in physical conflict with caregivers, which is the most common reason youth end up in Travis County’s juvenile justice system.

Youth who agree to participate are never charged and do not touch any aspect of the traditional juvenile justice system. Instead, youth and their caregivers participate in holistic supportive services that help resolve underlying stressors that contribute to conflict, including housing instability and food insecurity, while building healthy conflict resolution skills and connecting to a broader network of community support.

“I am thrilled to recognize LifeWorks for their innovative efforts to provide community-based support as an alternative to juvenile justice involvement,” says Jody Levison-Johnson, president and CEO of Social Current. “Their results are inspiring—a testament to holistic and asset-based approaches, as well as community collaboration.”

In the first 18 months of operation, the Transformation project achieved an impressive 94% reduction in recidivism (3% for project participants compared to 49% of youth receiving traditional juvenile justice interventions). This program is an innovative approach that has been designed in collaboration with impacted youth and families to address their self-determined needs and goals. It combines the local expertise of LifeWorks and the Excellence Project with best practices from other justice diversion programs and a youth-specific adaptation of the evidence-based Circles of Peace restorative justice model.

Through additional collaboration with evaluators at The University of Texas at Austin and New York University Center for Violence and Recovery, they are documenting and evaluating approaches and producing materials for replication. The Transformation Project is actively seeking to expand its reach locally and to encourage replication in other communities.

Learn More at SPARK 2025

LifeWorks will be recognized at the SPARK 2025 conference, Oct. 20-21 in Chicago, and staff will share their expertise in a workshop about the project. Join their session to hear from LifeWorks, the Excellence Project, and the Travis County District Attorney.

Child, Family, and Community Well-Being is an area of focus for SPARK 2025 workshops. Other sessions in this focus area address building continuums of care to help youth succeed, using data to drive positive service outcomes, and cost-effective strategies for evaluation studies.

Register for SPARK 2025 by Sept. 20 to receive the early bird rate.

Throughout 2024, Social Current continued its efforts to activate the power of the social sector and effect broader systemic change in support of an equitable society where all people can thrive. In collaboration with our network and partners, we focused on strengthening our influence, our voices, and our impact.

We are grateful to have your support as we continue to strengthen and amplify the work of the social sector to facilitate impact and systemic change through our core solutions and impact areas.

Our 2024 Year in Review features:

• A note from Social Current President and CEO Jody Levison-Johnson
• Engagement stats for our partnerships and service offerings: COA Accreditation, Impact Partnerships, Consulting, and Knowledge and Insights Center
• Milestones related to our five core integrated impact areas
• Highlights of SPARK 2024

Download the full report.

Our technology infrastructure is a critical component to the services we deliver to our network. After careful evaluation, it was decided that a complete overhaul was needed to ensure the stability and evolution of our systems moving forward and provide an overall enhanced user experience.

Social Current is pleased to announce the completion of its technology redevelopment project. This was a major undertaking and requiring significant financial investment, with the project spanning 14 months of planning and development to evaluate all business processes and rebuild everything from the ground up – from intake to invoicing to site visits to accreditation – and everything in between. As is often the case with these types of initiatives, a significant amount of work took place on the back end and while not directly visible, is foundational to the changes you will notice.

Your ongoing feedback has been critical to the success of this project, and we have listened to the pain points to streamline processes and increase usability. A few key enhancements include streamlining the entire accreditation process, discontinuing the use of Box for materials submission allowing for direct uploads of materials, updating schedulers to enhance the intake process for organizations beginning the accreditation process, and creating an integrated and seamless experience across all Social Current portals and for event registration.

Our work does not stop here, and we continue to invest in and improve our systems to ensure an optimal user experience. We will continue to solicit user feedback as you begin to utilize the new portals.

Questions?
Organizations that are in-process for COA Accreditation should view the FAQ section in the MyCOA portal or contact their accreditation coordinator. All other organizations should email our helpdesk.

If you have questions regarding the new MyCOA portal, please visit the FAQs Guide.

Social Current has partnered with the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) to offer new trainings on a variety of leadership development topics.

The on-demand trainings will address:

• Innovation leadership
• Avoiding burnout and building resilience
• Managing virtual and hybrid teams

CCL is a premier leadership development organization that creates courses for leaders at all levels, as well as assessments and leadership development tools.

CCL helps to expand human potential by developing the mindsets, capacity, and capabilities needed to excel in an ever-changing world. With an emphasis on the power of people, backed by research, and fueled by a focus on innovation, CCL is trusted globally to deliver transformational leadership solutions that cultivate positive change.

Social Current has chosen to partner with CCL because of its:

• Leadership Experts: As pioneers of the industry, it is seen as the gold standard when it comes to leadership development.
• Research Foundations: All offerings are based on 50+ years of research.
• Pioneering, Hands-On Development: Its unique, transformational learning experiences meet people where they are.
• Purpose-Driven: It is a mission-based organization, with a belief in the powerful potential of leadership to benefit society.
• Trusted Providers: Leadership is CCL’s sole focus.

“Social Current is excited to partner with the Center for Creative Leadership to bring high-quality leadership training opportunities to our network and the sector,” says Robena Spangler, senior director of leadership development and organizational development. “Our organizations are aligned in our mission and vision to address pressing organizational challenges in support of innovative solutions for public and private sector leaders.”

Over its 50-year history, CCL has more than 1 million alumni from 160 countries and has worked with two-thirds of Fortune 1,000 companies.

Learn more about CCL and Social Current’s Leadership and Organizational Development Impact Area.