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The Redlich Horwitz Foundation is pleased to continue our partnerships with counties across New York to achieve family-centered system reforms. Building on the Family First Readiness work plans created in year one, counties will now implement strategies to decrease residential care, increase certified kinship care, and make other family-centered enhancements in agency practice while supporting one another in responding effectively to the COVID-19 crisis.
In Year Two of the Family First Readiness initiative, 18 counties are continuing to implement their Family First strategies and make additional improvements to their placement processes, kinship practice and evidence-based support for all families who need it. The 18 counties participating in Year Two of the Family First Readiness initiative are: Albany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Clinton, Cortland, Erie, Franklin, Herkimer, Jefferson, St. Lawrence, Monroe, Montgomery, Rockland, Steuben, Suffolk, Sullivan, Tompkins, and Ulster.
This year’s effort also includes the launch of regional learning collaboratives to enable county staff to learn together with their peers as they implement their Family First strategies. During the pandemic, these collaboratives will be meeting together virtually to support peer learning around effective practices and emergency response.
RHF Relaunches the FamilyFirstNY.org Website
The Redlich Horwitz Foundation recently relaunched its Family First Readiness website, FamilyFirstNY.org, to share the story of our Family First efforts in New York State and to share tools and resources to support counties in their preparation for Family First implementation. These planning resources are increasingly valuable as we look for new, more streamlined ways of serving families and keeping them safely together.
The website will be kept up to date with new resources, templates and tools as they are created. RHF hopes this site will serve as a valuable resource for New York counties, as well as other states as they align their policy and practice with the goals of the Family First Prevention Services Act.