Opportunities for Prevention & Transformation Initiative  

Collaborating to Prevent Abuse and Promote Hope

A collage with three images; a woman in business attire smiling, a child being kissed on the cheek by a bearded man, and a girl looking up at a woman, all within diamond shapes on a neutral background.

What we can achieve together

Sam Gill

President and CEO of the Doris Duke Foundation

“Supporting those leaders across the country who are daring to imagine anew the child welfare system.”

OUR INITIATIVE

Building a New Model for Child Well-being

The current child welfare system, with surveillance at its center and maltreatment concerns as its trigger, too often causes lasting harm to children and families and misses the opportunity to support them in their community and help them thrive. 

We believe there is a better way to prevent abuse and neglect.  

Launched by the Doris Duke Foundation, Opportunities for Prevention & Transformation Initiative, or “OPT-In for Families,” builds on work done across the country to create and test a meaningful alternative to the child welfare system—one that moves from a punitive system focused on assessing whether children should be removed from their homes to a prevention-oriented well-being system that leads to better outcomes across a child's life.

A smiling man with a child on his shoulders outdoors, both looking happy.

Creating Engaging Opportunities for Families

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT

OPT-In for Families builds on data, community insight and the perspectives of people with lived experience. Research shows that child welfare, by design, addresses acute safety issues but does not meaningfully help families thrive.  

access

Each selected site will focus on families at an early signal of need.

navigation

A trusted community-based person will help families navigate services, so the search for help doesn’t itself become a hardship.

engagement

With compassion and respect, community-based programs that are outside the child welfare system will then reach out and engage these families. 

support

We will provide funding so selected sites can implement a strategy that has been shown effective: providing concrete material support directly to families.

GETTING THINGS DONE

Innovating and Collaborating to Drive Change 

Transforming the child welfare system is hard work, and we must meet it with the core elements of successfully implementing innovation. OPT-In for Families provides each site with intensive on-the-ground program design, implementation and research support to develop their new initiatives. We provide start-up support, including staff, technology and expertise, in addition to flexible financial support for families.

A happy family of three, with a man, a woman and a baby, sitting together and smiling.

To help the demonstration sites meet the challenge of implementing innovation while continuing daily operations, OPT-In for Families:

  • Provides targeted resources and dedicated staff 

  • Coordinates closely with other relevant initiatives and other technical assistance providers within the selected site

  • Makes a strategic and time-limited investment to support the creation and evaluation of the innovation

  • Supports sites to scale and carry forward the work by maximizing government funding streams that are designed to benefit children and families in need but are often underutilized, including the Family First Prevention Services Act

Building Infrastructure to Activate Change 

A diagram divided into four segments representing stages of a process: "Design response based on unique circumstances of each jurisdiction," "Learn from the evidence," "Iterate design," and "Test innovation and measure results"

Ensure appropriate stakeholder development feedback loops

Ensure that families who are the beneficiaries remain at the center of
the design 

WHO WE WORK WITH

Collaborating for Better

OPT-In for Families works with four technical assistance providers to comprehensively support selected sites as they build out their prevention initiatives. 

Learning—and Scaling—What Works 

Together, we will test new approaches, build a learning collaborative, conduct research, and advocate for national policy changes. We commit to learning what works through data and research-informed demonstrations, and we will share our findings widely.  

Our goal is to refine and scale OPT-In for Families, assisting other states in building a community-based, prevention-oriented response system for families at greatest risk of foster care involvement, as well as to effect policy changes at the state and federal level that bends towards prevention—to have an enduring impact on the well-being of families and children.  

Two people holding hands in a gentle and caring manner, with a focus on their hands in the foreground.

Supporting Visionary Communities

The Doris Duke Foundation has selected four sites to demonstrate our proof of concept. These sites are well-positioned to succeed, demonstrating great promise and vision for change and having resources, partners and innovative pathways in place or in sight.  

Advisory Groups

  • Anthony Barrows
    Project Evident

    Lonnie Berger
    University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Dee Bonnick
    Parent Consultant

    Leonard Burton
    CSSP

    Maria Cancian
    Georgetown University

    Nia Cantey
    Casey Family Programs

    Regina Crider
    Chapin Hall

    Tim Decker
    Annie E. Casey Foundation

    Rob Geen
    Bipartisan Policy Center

    David Hansell
    Casey Family Programs

    Michael Huesca
    Paternal Opportunities Programs & Services

    Churmell Mitchell
    Children's Trust Fund Alliance

    Diane Redleaf
    Family Defense Consulting

    Joe Ribsam
    Annie E. Casey Foundation

    Shrounda Selivanoff
    Lived Experience Consultant

    Mary Wolf ​
    Tribal Consultant

  • Lonnie Berger
    University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Lindsey Rose Bullinger
    Georgia Tech

    Maria Cancian
    Georgetown University

    Deb Daro
    Chapin Hall

    Joseph Doyle
    MIT

    John Fluke
    Colorado School of Public Health

    Kelley Fong
    University of California, Irvine

    Brian Jacob
    University of Michigan

    Chandria Jones
    NORC at the University of Chicago

    Jaymie Lorthridge
    Kaye Implementation & Evaluation

    Nancy Marie Lucero
    University of Denver

    Peter Pecora
    Casey Family Programs

    Allison Thompson
    Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania

    Chris Wildeman
    Duke University

About the
Doris Duke Foundation

The mission of the Doris Duke Foundation (DDF) is to build a more creative, equitable and sustainable future by investing in artists and the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research, child well-being and greater mutual understanding among diverse communities. To learn more, visit www.dorisduke.org

 

If you’d like to receive updates on the initiative’s progress, please sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of this website. 

 

Questions? Please email us at opt-in@dorisduke.org

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