In working to reduced and address trauma, it is common to get frustrated by the "systems" that contribute to ACEs and undermine efforts to help children thrive. Systems that often have good intentions and well-meaning people can have unintended consequences that serve as barriers to the wellbeing of children and families. One such system involves child protection and foster care.
Most people involved with foster care feel powerless to transform a complex "system" like the one involving foster care. Some parts are formal. Other parts are informal. And the many different stakeholders often have complex motivations, agendas, and constraints.
The processes, techniques and tools around strategy mapping are well suited to bring many of these stakeholders together to explore what a desired future state looks like and then begin co-creating the pathways to move towards that desirable future state. While no one organization has the insight or power to accomplish that transformation on their own, a cross-sector, multi-stakeholder group can bring about inspiring change if guided through a process to co-create a strategy map and assemble the underlying information and communication to build a consensus about many mutually reinforcing activities.
The crisis that the State of Arkansas was experiencing in their foster care system in 2015 and 2016 is an example of this. The urgency and magnitude of the problems were serious enough that the newly elected governor convened a large gathering that led to the launching of Restore Hope Arkansas to focus on the dual (and intertwined) problems related to the high rates of incarceration/recidivism and the overwhelmed foster care system.
Paul Chapman was picked to head a new statewide non-profit to focus on this issue, and he engaged Bill Barberg and InsightFormation to guide the coalition through a process of developing strategy maps.
This 6-minute video was edited from an October 2016 webinar done shortly after that initial strategy map development process. It features a discussion with Bill Barberg and Paul Chapman, the Director of Restore Hope Arkansas.
https://vimeo.com/699188957/3d0a766561
The journey of building and using a strategy map is not a quick fix, but it lays a foundation for breakthroughs in collaboration and action that would otherwise not likely happen. Such is the case in Arkansas. In February of 2022, Paul Chapman shared an update in a webinar. This 7-minute video shares that inspiring update.
https://vimeo.com/699190200/7272325aae
This example of system transformation is relevant for anyone working to change or transform any social system, regardless of the mix of formal or informal elements.
There will be a more detailed webinar on May 6 in which Paul Chapman and Bill Barberg will share more about this ongoing journey of transformation and how the techniques and tools can be used for both transforming foster care in other states and also for embarking on other types of system transformation initiatives.
https://improvepophealth.org/may-6-webinar
Peer-Reviewed Paper on These Techniques and Tools
When progress is made on system transformation, the impact can be extraordinary and lasting. These videos and this webinar will show some of the techniques and tools that are being recognized as valuable for system or social transformation. They were recently featured in a peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Change Management entitled "Leading Social Transformations: Creating Public Value and Advancing the Common Good." (May 2021).
Don't just fight broken systems (or give up hope). Be part of transforming them.
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