Policy & Practice | Summer 2024

authentically involve people with lived experience, like me, as a consultant at the beginning, middle, and end of policies and projects. Like the quote I mentioned at the beginning, “Life offers us tickets to places that we unknowingly ask for.” That happened to me, and it is hap pening to others like me every single day. We must step up, step forward, speak out, and boldly go where we can dream. With the right research data and the expertise of people with lived experience, we really can achieve a transformative 21st century child and family well-being system.

lived experience to come together and share how agencies can better involve them in their research efforts, working in partnership rather than making decisions for those affected by systems. In the beginning of my advocacy journey, I felt no one would listen to me. Feeling so voiceless and powerless when you desperately need to be heard is heart-wrenching. Yet here I am today working on projects dedicated to achieving a better child welfare system for children and families. Change is happening, we all just have to be up for the challenge. We need more research in the areas called for by the National Research Agenda initiative. Those ideas and research gaps are ready for anyone wanting to make something important happen. They can also be customized to unique problems existing within states and territories. More data gives us more opportuni ties, but we must invest in the right research. It takes someone willing to fund it, and the right team to do the work. It requires local, state, and national child welfare systems to

7. https://www.gu.org/app/ uploads/2023/11/GU_2023

Grandfamilies-FullReport-FINAL.pdf

8. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/ lrcsearch#tabs-6

9. https://www.chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dcbs/ dpp/oohc/Documents/2023%20DCBS%20 Relative%20and%20Fictive%20Kin%20 Caregiver%20Report.pdf 10. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/ lrcsearch#tabs-6 11. https://www.grandfamilies.org/Topics/ Guardianship-Assistance 12. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/kar/ titles/922/001/145/ 13. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/ record/24rs/hcr117.html#:~:text= Establish%20the%20Kentucky%20 Kinship%20Task,meet%20monthly%20 during%20the%202024 14. https://www.gu.org 15. https://www.casey.org 16. https://www.aecf.org 17. https://kyyouth.org 18. https://wtgrantfoundation.org/ meaningfully-engaging-lived-expertise-in child-welfare-research 19. https://nationalresearchagenda.org 20. https://www.cwla.org/call-for-abstracts child-welfare-journal-lived-experience-cfa/

Reference Notes 1. https://kinshipky.org 2. https://www.gu.org 3. https://kyyouth.org/

wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ KinshipCareInfographic_BLOG_2.pdf

4. https://cidev.uky.edu/

kentuckyhealthnews/2014/09/09/ kids-count-report-says-hard-times-in/

5. https://www.chfs.ky.gov/News/ Documents/caywoodeditorial.pdf 6. https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/ record/17RS/SB29.html

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Summer 2024 Policy & Practice 29