South Los Angeles Child Welfare Initiative

The South Los Angeles Child Welfare initiative is a collaborative effort being led by seven agencies in two targeted south Los Angeles geographies designed to decrease child welfare involvement for children ages 0 to 5 by reducing risk factors and increasing protective factors within families. The initiative is framed by a public health approach that supports a continuum of universal promotion and prevention, early identification and intervention of children and families with significant vulnerability, and intensive services and supports to the families with the greatest need. Within that framework, there are particular sub-populations whom we know to be at higher risk for poor long-term outcomes, and whom we believe are critical to breaking the generational cycles of systems involvement. One such population is children born to teen parents, especially those recently emancipated from or still wards of the formal child welfare system. The other is children 0-5 in kinship care (both formal and informal) whose guardians are often not equipped to deal with their needs. (the group isn't a non-profit, but all seven agencies are non-profit)