Originally launched by Alia as a separate site, Bright Spots is an online resource library of child welfare practices reviewed and recommended by parents who have been impacted by the system. Recently, we migrated this resource library into our master resource hub, keeping a filter to easily sort through Bright Spots resources!
Bright Spots is a resource library of child welfare practices reviewed and recommended by parents who have been impacted by the system. Bright Spots originated from and is coordinated by Alia.
Alia saw a need in child welfare for changemakers to access a collection of parent-approved resources and practices that keep more families safely together. So we created one.
- Bright Spots are directed to leaders and workers in systems.
- Bright Spots are determined by parents impacted by the child welfare system.
- Bright Spots is coordinated by national child welfare systems change organization, Alia.
Many leaders and workers are looking for approaches that work for families and understand that even the most well-intentioned services and programs can result in unintended consequences. When considering practice shifts, they ask themselves, “Is this what families want? Will this really work…for them?”
After hosting focus groups with lived experts, community service providers, and workers in child welfare systems, Alia learned that no such collection of practices existed.
It took months of gathering potential practices, building partner relationships, gaining needed funding, creating practice criteria, and building the website to prepare for launch.
It’s time parents who have been impacted by the system have a place to provide feedback on child welfare practice, telling clearly and directly to those in systems what works and what doesn’t.
Alia works with community members, those working in child welfare systems, and parent-led organizations to review and vet which practices and resources join the Bright Spots library.
Solicit: Alia seeks potential Bright Spots from parent-led organizations and parent-focused practice
Submit: Community members and those working within systems submit practices for review
Review: A panel of impacted parents review Bright Spots submissions and provide feedback
Implement: Approved practices are shared on the website and incorporated into system approaches
Potential Bright Spots practices are either solicited by Alia for review or submitted by family-serving organizations. Alia works with Bright Spots contributors to capture their practices in a succinct, actionable format, ready for parent review.
Three times a year, potential Bright Spots practices are presented to parents for official review. Alia partners with two of the most longstanding, reputable, radically parent-driven organizations in the field: Rise Magazine and Be Strong Families.
Parents who have been impacted by the system are asked to evaluate potential Bright Spots practices on these criteria:
- potential for keeping families together (their own and others),
- potential impact on the field (large or small),
- potential negative consequences, and
- conditions to make the practice more equitable or effective.
Lastly, parent reviewers are asked if they would or would not recommend child welfare systems adopt this practice.