Coming Together, Achieving More!

The Children and Families Coalition of Orange County strives for an equitable child welfare system, partnering with national and local organizations to integrate anti-racism practices. Collaborating with the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), the Coalition applies an Anti-Racism Intersectional Frame to the Strengthening Families approach. This includes emphasizing culturally relevant practices and addressing implicit biases.

Additionally, the Coalition supports the Alliance for Racial Equity in Child Welfare, which identifies and addresses harmful policies and practices affecting children and families of color. Through research, policy advocacy, and community engagement, they aim to shift the child welfare system towards anti-racist principles.

The Coalition, in collaboration with the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI), focuses on addressing racial disparities within the child welfare system. This includes promoting cultural competence training, recruiting foster families reflective of children's backgrounds, and reducing racial disproportionality in services.

Lastly, the Coalition partners with the Mental Health Equity Collaborative of Orange County to advocate for policy and systems changes in mental health care services, ensuring they are responsive to community needs and promoting collaboration between relevant advisory groups.

The Coalition is working to bring current child abuse prevention efforts in Orange County to scale to match the level of need. This includes increasing the capacity of the FaCT network of Family Resource Centers (FRCs), optimizing the utilization Neighbor to Neighbor Network (N2N) and Neighborhood Resources (NRN) programs, and adding additional prevention strategies. We support SSA efforts, working in coordination with HCA, to increase substance use disorder treatment for parents and other mental health treatment for children.

Providing Access and Transforming Health Capacity and Infrastructure Transition, Expansion, and Development (PATH CITED) is a dynamic initiative to enhance the capacity and infrastructure of community-based organizations. The primary focus is on facilitating the transition, expansion, and development of CalAIM Enhanced Care Management (ECM), Community Supports (CS), and Community Health Workers (CHWs) with the ultimate goal of improving healthcare delivery and outcomes in partner communities. CFCOC has been funded to support 15 community-based organizations in building capacity and infrastructure to become CalAIM ECM and/or CS providers. We are utilizing a community learning workgroup to encourage shared learning.

For more information, contact: Victor Mikhaeil

• ACEs Trauma Informed Network of Care project: CFCOC selected a consortium of CBO partners in Orange County, funded by an ACEs Aware Implementation Grant Round 2, to work together to expand capabilities for conducting closed-loop referrals across the healthcare and social service ecosystem. CFCOC supported the structuring and formalizing relationships and protocols across organizations to improve the provision of services in response to ACEs utilizing PDSAs and community learning workgroups. We collaborated to develop and implement a plan to create and test strategies to integrate Medi-Cal providers and practices with buffering resources and organizations. This also involved assessing and documenting current breakdowns in the system of care concerning coordination and referrals, as well as the impact on community members and organizations. Lastly, we participated in defining an ideal system of care that includes adequate coordination for effective delivery of services for holistic community member needs. 
• ACEs Resource Cards: CFCOC also piloted an ACEs project with the American Academy of Pediatrics of Orange County (AAP-OC) utilizing an ACEs resource card to support pediatric clinics screening for ACEs and families facing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in Orange County. Often, pediatricians are unaware of or do not have time built into their schedule to fully address the need for making referrals that will provide buffering services. Moreover, pediatricians may hesitate to conduct ACEs or PEARLS screenings if they cannot refer their patients to services or programs to address their needs. As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting the well-being of families in Orange County, we introduced the ACEs Resource Card featuring the ocfindhelp.com closed-loop referral platform and includes links to the aap-oc.com website and 211 supportive services. Pediatricians screen patients for ACEs and provide appropriate referrals through ocfindhelp.com. The ACEs resource card will serve as an additional resource, empowering families to directly access buffering services and community resources while awaiting specialized services. 
• ACEs PRACTICE Project: Increases the workforce and services needed for primary care clinics to expand and sustain screening and the response to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress in local communities. In the ACEs PRACTICE Round 3 project with CHOC as the lead,      CFCOC focused on strengthening partnerships among community health centers, clinics, CBOs, and Medi-Cal managed care plans to screen for ACEs and provide community resources. CFCOC developed and facilitated a quality improvement process using FindHelp.org as a closed-loop referral system. This included supporting collaborative learning sessions using a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) approach. This resulted in 1) Identifying areas for improvement to more systemically reach underserved populations; 2) Clarifying available and missing community resources; 3) Refining the referral pipeline; and 4) Creating a screening and close-looped referral workflow that all providers, including small community-based providers, could sustain. Our gap analysis created resource mapping of Trauma Informed Network of Care (TINoC) participation and clinical and CBO supports. This mapping and data review helped to inform decisions on the next steps regarding the growth of the TINoC. 

Our Native Community Power Building Initiative focuses on underserved populations, including American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native American, and Indigenous communities, by improving the integration of services in Orange County through an equity, access, and quality frame. We have included and valued community members and people with lived experience in programs and program decisions (e.g., child welfare system, FFPSA, CalOptima) and strengthened the “universal voice” for change across multiple providers. We focus on engaging community members of the Native communities in Orange County as partners to advocate and make decisions that support our efforts to advance health equity. Our Native Community power-building project creates spaces for promoting diverse voices within this community, improving the integration of services based on equity, access, inclusion, and quality. Lastly, our goal is to increase their capacity for doing equity work and addressing social determinants of health in their approach.  

The mission of our ECOC project is to cultivate and elevate partnerships and communities to advance the Early Childhood Policy Framework and use our collective strengths to have a greater impact on early childhood outcomes. Our emphasis is on advocacy, implementation, and dissemination of the Early Childhood Policy Framework. Our efforts are focused on working in partnership with communities and systems to prioritize fair and equitable policies and practices that allow complete access to the opportunities and support needed so all children and families can thrive. 

CFCOC partners in the EiOC Disabilities Population Health Collective and Advocacy for People with Disabilities: by supporting the expansion of Orange County Disabilities Coalition (OCDC) by recruiting partners and the retention of existing OCDC partners; this project focuses on increasing the capacity for advocacy by OCDC and parents of children with disabilities as well as increasing the data collected related to children’s disabilities and provide support in building the capacity of the disability community of Orange County to engage in individual and systems advocacy.

CFCOC has provided Technical Assistance for MECCA’s MultiEthnic CalWORKs Home Visiting Services: CFCOC identifies or develops training for home visiting staff and subcontractors; assists in operational details of the program as needed to advance its implementation; assists with father engagement strategies in MECCA home visiting and engaging families at every stage as partners in building home visiting services. We also support building trusting relationships with the SSA funder that displays credibility; assist with establishing and positioning the MECCA Home Visiting Program and connecting with all early intervention services, early care, and education, maternal health providers and stakeholders, Family Resource Centers, SSA, and HCA child abuse prevention stakeholders; and assist in building collaborative partnerships throughout the network of care in Orange County. Another focus is to advocate locally and statewide for policies and investments that remove barriers to access and engagement, elevate quality, and advance equity.