Ohio's prevention approach takes center stage at the 20th Annual Safe Babies Cross Sites Convening. * 1 day ago By Dominique Johnson, Policy Associate As the statewide coordinating entity for Ohio's Safe Babies Program, Groundwork Ohio joined partners from across the country at the 20th Annual Safe Babies Cross Sites Convening, hosted by ZERO TO THREE and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The convening brought together judges, community coordinators, family peer mentors, state leaders, federal partners, and technical assistance providers to celebrate two decades of Safe Babies while sharing ideas to strengthen outcomes for infants, toddlers, and families. This convening highlighted the ways Ohio's Safe Babies team is redefining the national approach by focusing on prevention, working with families before the trauma of child removal occurs whenever possible, and how those lessons are informing Safe Babies work across the country. Ohio's Family Outcomes Recognized by HRSA Safe Babies, a program by ZERO TO THREE, was established in the 1990s to prioritize the unique developmental needs of infants and toddlers involved in the child welfare system. The program has grown substantially in popularity and impact, now operating in an estimated 142 communities across 30 states. Through HRSA, the federal government has invested in Ohio as one of the country's 12 Statewide Expansion Sites for Safe Babies. Before the full Cross Sites convening began, the HRSA grantee states gathered for a full day to share accomplishments and promising practices. Since launching the country's first prevention-focused Safe Babies site in Cuyahoga County in January 2025, 7 of 11 families served last year closed their child welfare cases without a removal, with even more families being supported this year. Ohio was also recognized for using Protective Factors surveys to measure the impact of this prevention-focused approach, with results showing meaningful improvements for families, including: * 53% increase in family functioning and resilience * 63% increase in nurturing and attachment * 107% increase in access to social supports * 120% increase in access to concrete supports These conversations also gave grantees an opportunity to explore how Safe Babies work aligns with broader federal priorities, including healthcare transformation, childhood chronic disease prevention, and partnerships with home visiting and other early childhood initiatives. Building a Sustainable Future In a 2026 application led by Groundwork Ohio, its state was selected as one of six states to participate in ZERO TO THREE's Sustainability Policy Collaborative. As part of this collaborative, Ohio assembled a multidisciplinary team including Jennifer Millisor from the Public Children Services Association of Ohio (PCSAO), Nicole Sillaman, Executive Director of the Ohio Children's Trust Fund, and Tequilla Washington, Children's Justice and Court Engagement Program Administrator at the Ohio Department of Children and Youth. Together, this team has been working to develop Ohio's long-term sustainability plan for the Safe Babies initiative. It was through participation in this Sustainability Policy Collaborative that I was invited to share how Ohio has approached Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) differently as Groundwork Ohio shifted its Safe Babies work upstream to focus on preventing child welfare involvement before court intervention occurs. Rather than measuring only traditional court outcomes, Groundwork Ohio is building a framework that captures family experiences, community collaboration, and the barriers families face before child welfare involvement occurs. Ohio was invited to participate in a closed session with other states participating in the Sustainability Policy Collaborative, where ZERO TO THREE hosted a data walk featuring examples of strong data collection practices from states across the country. Ohio was highlighted in two areas. Cuyahoga County's parent experience data demonstrated how families increasingly felt valued, respected, and supported by their Community Coordinators throughout their engagement with Safe Babies. Lucas County's Active Community Team (ACT) survey was also recognized as an example of measuring the impact of community collaboration, with: * 95.5% of participants reporting stronger collaboration across agencies * 81.8% agreeing ACT meetings provide valuable information and resources * Nearly one third (33.3%) of ACT participants reporting new partnerships or collaborative projects as a result of participation. These examples reinforced that measuring both family experiences and community collaboration tells a more complete story about prevention. Celebrating Twenty Years of Safe Babies The official opening session celebrated twenty years of Safe Babies and reflected on how the model has evolved across the country. Ohio was recognized throughout the celebration for its commitment to listening to families and allowing their voices to guide its work. Ohio's newest partnership with Nationwide Children's Hospital was also highlighted as the first Safe Babies site nationally to be embedded within a healthcare system, an exciting milestone that creates new opportunities to identify and support families earlier through healthcare partnerships. Throughout the convening, Ohio's local leaders in Lucas, Cuyahoga, and Scioto counties shared their expertise on the national stage. Cuyahoga County Community Coordinator Delaney Jones presented during a session on advancing prevention through Safe Babies Active Community Teams. Using a real Ohio family experience, the presentation explored the barriers many families face when trying to access services, highlighting the importance of prevention efforts to improve coordination across community partners. Later, I led a breakout session, "Building Prevention Without the Court: Ohio's Barriers, Pivots, and Breakthroughs," alongside Cuyahoga County Community Coordinator Delaney Jones, Scioto County Community Coordinator Jordan Oberling, and Lucas County Active Community Team member Olivia Leverich from Harbor. Nearly 80 participants from across the country, including state leaders, community coordinators, family peer support specialists, and judges, joined Groundwork Ohio to learn about Ohio's journey from a court-based model to an upstream prevention approach. Together Groundwork Ohio discussed the successes, challenges, partnerships, referral pathways, and community collaborations that have shaped Ohio's work while helping participants think through what it would take to implement similar prevention-focused approaches in their own communities. Bringing It Home Before returning to Ohio, its state team spent dedicated time reflecting on everything Groundwork Ohio learned and identifying how those ideas could strengthen its work moving forward. The convening concluded with a panel on economic security and upstream prevention featuring Cuyahoga County Community Coordinator Maddy Moser. Maddy shared the story behind Cuyahoga County's Emergency Family Fund, which provides small, flexible financial assistance for urgent needs such as preventing utility shutoffs, transportation to employment opportunities, or securing housing. The discussion reinforced what families have consistently told Groundwork Ohio throughout Ohio's work, that addressing immediate material hardships can prevent larger crises and reduce the likelihood of deeper child welfare involvement. Looking Ahead This year's convening reinforced Ohio's leadership in advancing prevention-focused Safe Babies work. Through its data, partnerships, and willingness to rethink traditional approaches, Ohio continues to demonstrate how supporting families earlier can strengthen outcomes for infants, toddlers, and caregivers. Groundwork Ohio is grateful to ZERO TO THREE, HRSA, its Community Coordinators, Advisory Group members, and community partners for their continued collaboration. Groundwork Ohio return to Ohio energized and committed to continuing this important work. Interested in learning more or getting involved?

Childcare crisis spurs Wisconsin parents to advocate on Capitol Hill. Published June 8, 2026 at 6:41 AM CDT Wisconsin parents are traveling to Capitol Hill this week to urge Congress to prioritize affordable childcare as families face rising costs and cuts to programs for babies and toddlers. Binta Ceesay, a mother of two from Middleton, said her family relies on state child care subsidies but the structure of the subsidies can create a poverty trap, forcing families to choose between work and affordable care. "I got this degree and I want to use it," Ceesay emphasized. "But every time our income goes a little bit over, we are taken off of the state subsidy program. But when I choose a job, a lot of times the math is not really adding up because the jobs don't pay enough to cover childcare for two kids." The average cost of care for a toddler in Wisconsin is nearly $15,000, more than in-state college tuition. Ceesay will join parents from across the country Tuesday in Washington, D.C., for Strolling Thunder, an event organized by the nonprofit Zero to Three. The parents plan to advocate for policies that better support working families. Research shows more than 455,000 women in the U.S. left the workforce between January and August 2025 and 42% cited caregiving and childcare costs as the reason. Ceesay argued the system forces parents to treat children as obstacles to employment and financial stability. "I wish that it wasn't so hard for me to have to decide between choosing a career and choosing my kids," she lamented. "These are the kids that I love and prayed for, that I wanted so bad, so why do I now have to sound like they're a burden?" Ceesay noted her family's situation has become more complex since both she and her son were diagnosed with autoimmune conditions and the emotional toll has created significant stress for her family. "It's not even like he wants to work all those hours, but that's what he has to do, and that means he's carrying a heavy weight," she explained. "But if you're not careful, you're building resentment because you're seeing them doing what they're meant to be doing, and you can't do that because you're stuck at home taking care of the people that you do love. But you also want to contribute meaningfully." Experts estimate childcare challenges cost the U.S. economy $172 billion each year in lost earnings and productivity.