Creating a Modern and Responsive HHS System

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An effective H/HS system increases resiliency and builds protective factors to enable parents to better manage setbacks and to mitigate the effects of trauma on them and their children. In the broader context of well-being, an effective H/HS system promotes vibrant and thriving communities where businesses, school districts, neighborhood organizations, and medical facilities are well-connected and work in service of each other. The Public Policy Solutions We Need In order to accelerate this systemic change, H/HS leaders urge policymakers to: • Align federal policy consistent with whole family approaches and incentivize states to adopt two generation approaches; • Allow for significant expansion of demonstration efforts and local experimentation aimed at reducing disparities and inequities among various populations; • Embed prevention strategies that include public health approaches; • Invest in infrastructure capacities to scale up promising approaches and evidence-informed/evidence-based practices; • Align federal funding with desired practices (e.g., child welfare) and allow the blending and braiding of funds to better leverage resources and meet the specific needs of children and their families.