The Annie E. Casey Foundation has announced an expansion of its partnership with the U.S. Children's Bureau, Casey Family Programs, and Prevent Child Abuse America to reinvent child welfare across the United States.

Launched last summer, Thriving Families, Safer Children: A National Commitment to Well-Being is a multiyear effort aimed at demonstrating that intentional, coordinated investment in a continuum of prevention and community-based networks of support will promote child and family well-being, equity, and other positive outcomes for children and families. To that end, the initiative is assisting communities in developing more just and equitable systems that benefit all children and families and help break intergenerational cycles of trauma and poverty.

In addition to programs already under way in California/LA County, Colorado, Nebraska, and South Carolina, the initiative will expand its efforts to jurisdictions in Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and the White Earth Nation in Minnesota.

"With the addition of these jurisdictions that range from city centers to tribal communities to America's heartland, Thriving Families is demonstrating that there is broad support for redesigning our country's approach to ensure child and family well-being," said Sandra Gasca-Gonzalez, vice president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Center for Systems Innovation. "Instead of separating children from families, the focus must be on strengthening families with the kinds of resources that will keep children safe at home and families stronger together."