family search and engagement learning collaborative!

The #10thousandlives movement is a concerted effort to connect more children in foster care to their family. Our goal is to reach 1,000 professionals across the country, who will make a collective impact in the lives of 10,000 children and families. It’s a lofty goal, but thanks to all of you who have joined us, together, we have made tremendous are making great progress! 

For every professional or agency participating in #10thousandlives services, we request data of our impact. As of February 2021 our participants have reported: 

* 488 professionals participating in the movement 

* 239 other professionals impacted

* 537 lives of children and families impacted 

* 176 free hours of service provided

#10thousand lives timeline

August 2020: Webinar Series Launched.  "Family Search and Engagement During a Pandemic" was a series of 6 free webinars offered to child welfare professionals. We had over 200 registrants for each webinar, and a total of 15 countries sign on! From the overwhelming response, we knew we needed to offer more. 

October 2020: First round of #10thousandlives coaching and consulting services were offered.   We opened our application process for committed child welfare professionals and agencies to apply for FREE coaching, consulting, and training hours. We dedicated 100 free hours from October through December 2020, to continue our goal of reaching 1000 professionals to impact #10thousandlives.   

November 2020: Think tanks launched.  We at the Institute are bringing together dedicated child welfare professionals to participate in a collective of think tanks, each one unique in topic. The focus topics are hot button issues that  have been flagged by individuals across the country. Our first Think Tank, “Learning from Youth in Care,” was convened in November 2020. We’ve paused for the holidays but are gearing back up to start again to help share the ideas of what’s working across the country with all of our colleagues.  

January 2021: Second round of #10thousandlives coaching and consulting services are being offered.  With the numbers we saw from the first round, and the impact we saw, we couldn’t just stop. So, we opened up another round of free services to be provided from January 2021 through March 2021. Once again, we dedicated 100 free hours to assist professionals and agencies to further their family search and engagement practices.   

March 2021: Now accepting applications for Round 3 of #10thousandlives coaching and consulting services! The third round of #10thousandlives services will be offered from April through June 2021! We are almost halfway to our goal of reaching 1,000 professionals so we can’t stop now! If you are an enthusiastic child welfare professional in the United States or Canada and would like for you or your agency to receive FREE coaching, consulting, or training, please complete the application form above. Once again, we will dedicate 100 free hours to assist professionals and agencies to further their family search and engagement practices. We are committed to our goal of reaching 1000 professionals to impact #10thousandlives.   

Who?  Are you or those in your agency working to connect children and families?  Yes? Then this is for YOU. We aim to reach 1,000 professionals in order to make a collective impact in the lives of 10,000 children and families.   

What? We are offering 100 free hours of coaching, consulting, and training, specifically tailored to each agency’s individual needs, to ensure child welfare professionals have the tools and confidence needed to find and engage families. No matter the barriers!

Why? Because, advocacy, mindset, and systems change. We are mending cracks, building bridges, and creating the foundation for a new child welfare infrastructure. When COVID-19 started we knew we needed to expand our work to help children and families connect - and that's just what we're doing. Will you join us?

The end result?  1,000 workers who will, together, make a collective difference in #10thousandlives by securing family connections for the children who need it most. We have until August 2021 to reach our goal! 

If you are interested in securing a spot in our #10thousandlives movement, please complete this simple application and our team will contact you with next steps.