Annie E. Casey Foundation: the child welfare systems change and family well-being framing

The Strategy

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is the largest funder of child welfare systems change in the US. Their core strategy is to keep families together and reduce the need for foster care. If your proposal is we will provide foster care services, it is misaligned. If it is we will prevent foster care entry by strengthening families in crisis, you are in their lane. The family preservation framing: Casey funds interventions that keep children safely with their families — not interventions that remove children. Show how your work prevents foster care entry, reunifies families, or reduces the length of stay in foster care. The systems change: Casey funds systems change — changing child welfare policy, practice, and financing. Show the system you are changing and the leverage point. We will change the state child welfare financing to incentivize…