The Shift: Voices of Prevention — A podcast by Prevent Child Abuse America
How do we create a future where every family is safe, supported, and filled with hope? The Shift explores bold, upstream solutions to the public health challenges facing children and families today.
Hosted by Prevent Child Abuse America, each episode features transformative conversations with experts, changemakers, and people with lived experience. Together, we dive into prevention strategies, policy breakthroughs, and the systemic shifts that have the power to change lives.
Part of PCA America’s movement to make family well-being the new normal, The Shift amplifies the voices and ideas shaping a brighter, more hopeful future for all families.
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Guest ideas or feedback? Email us at theshift@preventchildabuse.org
The Shift: Voices of Prevention — A podcast by Prevent Child Abuse America
Partnership & Upstream Impact with Dr. Melissa Merrick and Lisa Hamilton | CAP Month 2024
PCA America is thrilled to bring you the second episode in its first ever conversation series hosted by our very own President & CEO, Dr. Melissa Merrick.
Dr. Merrick explores the importance of working together, in partnership, to support families further upstream so all kids can have a brighter future with special guest, the esteemed President & CEO for The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Lisa Hamilton. Listen to the full conversation and learn more about ways to better invest in adolescence, intergenerational strategies for primary prevention and intervention, and how to create the conditions needed for families to thrive.
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Hi, everyone. This is Dr. Melissa Merritt, President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America. I'm so thrilled today to be with Lisa Hamilton. Lisa is the president and CEO of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and just a critical partner in this work. Before becoming president, Lisa served as the foundation's executive vice president and chief program officer and vice president of external affairs, leading Casey's work to provide data, analysis, research, and policy solutions to help all children realize their full potential. In this role, she oversaw the foundation's annual Kids Count data book that I know we all rely on, and was a key architect of the Race for Results series, which compares how children across racial and ethnic groups are faring at the state and national levels on key education, health, and economic milestones. Lisa has also spearheaded several new initiatives, including the Thrive by 25 effort, which I'm really excited to hear more about, because it aims to improve outcomes for adolescents ages 14 to 24 to ensure that they successfully transition to adulthood. Lisa, there's so much more I can say, and also just to say that I just find you to be such a kind and available and humble leader. And I'm just so excited to have this conversation with you today. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you, Melissa. I'm thrilled to be here, Prevent Child Abuse America. And you in particular have been just amazing partners with the foundation. So I'm happy to talk to you and to your listeners.
SPEAKER_01:Yay, excellent. So obviously, we're starting something new in Child Abuse Prevention Month, April, with this podcast series. And, you know, our April theme this year is building a hopeful future together. And I think it will resonate with you, but I would like to know how this resonates with you and why you think it's important that we promote Child Abuse Prevention Month in this country.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think that is a fabulous theme. And as I read it, um, two words in particular resonated with me: hopeful and together. Um, I think the word hopeful because we know what it takes to prevent child abuse and the things kids need to thrive. Um, it's not a mystery or an unsolvable puzzle. This work is doable and that certainly gives me lots of hope. Um, and then the word together. Um, I'm sure we'll talk about partnership a lot in this conversation, but I like the word together because um we know that to do this work requires a collective effort, not no single organization can do it alone. Um, and so I am thrilled that you've really highlighted um the role of partnership in this work. Um and then your question about why I think it's important that we continue to um have Child Abuse Prevention Month. Um, I think it's because this is such an important opportunity to educate people about what it takes to realize the vision of preventing child abuse. You know, I think lots of people know that the child welfare system is the public agency that's charged with responding to child abuse in this country, um, and that children whose families are deemed unable to care for them into the foster care system. Um, but I think there are lots of assumptions in this country among the general public about what child abuse is, you know, believing that the child welfare system is responding primarily to concerns about physical or sexual abuse. But as you and I both know, more often than not, um uh child welfare agencies are called in um to address issues of neglect, which um, you know, if 60% or more of um child welfare investigations are related to neglect, we really need to understand what's going on there. And um, you know, we we know neglect is defined differently across states, but it really typically applies to a lack of basic needs, everything from housing to child care to clothing, all of these things that um we know low-income families are struggling with. And so um to sort of bring it back, I'm just excited that we have this month every year because it's an opportunity to educate people on what this work is really about. And it's really um quite often about making sure families have what they need to meet their basic needs and be self-sufficient so that they and their children can thrive.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I love talking to partners like you, where literally I'm like, I could have answered that question in the exact same way. Because it's the same two words that resonate with me too, hopeful, right? This this idea that there's something brighter on the other side, right? That's like just a basic human um condition. Um, and then together the fact that prevention can only happen in partnership, and that's among national partners like us, but it's among, you know, between families and people with lived expertise, and every sector has a role to play in this work, not just the child welfare system, right? And I think that we live in a country that's very reactionary, right? How we solve problems is we wait for families to be in crisis to get the services and supports that had they been available on the front end, it would have kept them out of ever being known to our downstream systems, as you as you said. So I just think we're so aligned, and and I think that this same kind of spirit came out in our um adaptive strategic planning process that you know we've been engaged in for the past two years, and we're now kind of implementing this theory of change for primary prevention in the US, because it really became clear to us that it was broader than PCA America's you know, adaptive strategy. You know, if once we listen to thousands of parents and partners and philanthropy and politicians, right? Everybody, we realize we're all trying to get to a collective North Star. And we believe that's one of that all children and families are living happy and purposeful lives with hope for the future, you know? And uh we think that that requires an aligned and comprehensive primary prevention ecosystem that currently doesn't exist in this country. Tell me about your perspective on primary prevention and how partnerships like ours and others play a critical role.
SPEAKER_00:Sure. Um, well, congratulations on this um uh work that you've been doing and the journey you're on to help us um in this country build a primary prevention ecosystem. It's among the most important things we can do in this country to ensure our children have a bright future. That's the mission of the Annie Casey Foundation. And so um, this work is fundamentally aligned with what we believe children need. So, you know, I think to start, I say that um this primary prevention ecosystem really challenges historical narratives that child abuse and neglect result just from the deficits of individual parents and caregivers who might be raising a child. You talked about the Kids Count data book. You know, it's such an important resource for us and for others in the field because it's trying to call attention to sort of the context that children are growing up in. And so um we're trying to call attention to systemic inequities we know that exist around economic opportunity, affordable housing, health care, um, education, incarceration, all of these things are societal conditions that make it ever more difficult for families to raise healthy, happy, um, thriving children. Um, and so, you know, because we know there's no way we can sort of get to the goals we want through just programs and these fragmented services and supports, um, we know we've got to shift this country to a focus on prevention. We can't just keep spending endless amounts of money trying to intervene after a crisis happens, as you said, um, and really struggling to get families back on track. So we we love this focus on primary prevention because it calls all of us to think proactively and not reactively. And we know that our public systems aren't set up for prevention, they are set up for intervention and reaction. Um, you know, a statistic I'm sure you know is that, you know, the$35 billion that federal, state, and local governments spend on child welfare, only 15% of it goes toward prevention. Um, you know, so most of the money is spent after a child and a family experience a child abuse investigation or crisis. And this absolutely has to change if we want a better outlook. Um, research tells us that for every dollar that's invested in public benefits programs, states save three times that amount in maltreatment costs. Um we've just got to move in a different direction and go upstream. It's better for children, it costs uh less, um, and is really the vision I think we all have of what it means to have a brighter future for kids. Um, you asked about partnership. I'll I'll reiterate, you know, in this context that partnership is critical to moving in that direction. What families need crosses um all kinds of sectors and different issues from you know business to nonprofits to what um public agencies provide. Um, and so we know that these solutions are gonna need to look different in every community. They've got a different set of nonprofits, different set of agencies that are supporting families. Um, and so I'm I'm really excited about the ways that we're starting to demonstrate what a tailored set of solutions can look like in places.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I love everything you said there, especially you know, the focus on what kind of what makes this work hard is that it's not a one size fits all or that it's going to look the same everywhere, right? Context matters, conditions matter, historical trauma, right? Who the stakeholders, who the champions in the community varies. Um and but but that doesn't mean that we couldn't try it. It doesn't mean that we couldn't say, look at all of our evidence, look at all of our solutions, look at that$35 billion that's going toward deep end, um, and only 15%. And what if we put 30%? What if we put that? What if we would have? Yeah, it's amazing, right? And so I think, you know, this is where I know I know that Annie Casey um shares this with PCA America and with many of our national partners, but obviously we need a prevention continuum, right? There are going to be families that need intervention, right? Or um there are going to be times that we need secondary and tertiary prevention activities. But if we really move to be more upstream, we can curb, you know, or stem the flow of children and families that touch our more deep end, more costly, more reactive system. So have what it takes. We do.
SPEAKER_00:And I'll I'll even note, you know, we're very excited about the potential of the Family First Act. I mean, here is a new federal financing flow that can help child welfare agencies and communities, doesn't just need to be child welfare agencies, and communities find the resources to go upstream. So I'll note there is policy action that is also providing a tailwind to help us move in this direction. And we're really excited about that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I would say along with Family First, which I think yes, is is an important new step in the right direction. We also have, you know, community-based child abuse uh, you know, uh prevention activities and efforts that we need more funding toward that, right? Before families are in crisis. Um I'm wondering if now might be a good time to talk about Thrive by 25, because what I've been learning about it, I've been just fascinated. I see it super aligned with this idea of a theory of change and a primary prevention ecosystem, but really interested in you giving our listeners a little glimpse into what that initiative is. And do you think it aligns with this creation of a primary prevention ecosystem?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I'll I'll answer the last question first and say 100% it aligns. Um, this work is really about trying to make sure that adolescents, young people who are between the ages of 14 and 24, make a positive transition to adulthood. As I became president of the foundation, I looked across all the work that we did and actually realized that adolescence was the through line in many of our efforts from child welfare focused on keeping older youth out of congregate care to juvenile justice efforts that primarily focused on teens and young adults to our workforce efforts that were trying to get young people into postsecondary or into work when they finished high school. And in the sort of child serving field, there's been lots of attention on younger children in preschool, very little attention on adolescents. And I thought with all this new Brian Science coming out about adolescents, how wonderful would it be for us as an organization to really put a stake in the ground around older young people to defend childhood in its fullness and help us make better decisions as a society to ensure young people thrive. And so that's what this work is about, just making sure across all of our various investments that young people have family connections, relationships, communities, and educational and employment opportunities that will help them thrive. It is important prevention work because if we don't do this, if we don't make sure that they graduate from high school and get to college of work, we don't make sure that they avoid criminal justice involvement, if we don't make sure they've got permanent family to guide them forward, we're going to end up in a place of intervention, of trying to help uh young people or adults get their lives back on track. And so we see this as absolutely important prevention work. And the other thing I'll say is that these young adults are the parents or future parents of young children. And all the things that we've been talking about are about how we make sure that children have what they need to thrive. And so I see it both as an investment in prevention for the lives of these young people, but also for the families that they will have in the future. Um, and so I think this is just completely aligned with your theory of change and a way of really investing upstream in an intergenerational way to make sure that families thrive.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. And it's exciting to hear you point to those two important prevention efforts, right? It's it's preventing later bad outcomes for these youth, but also it's true primary prevention of the next generation of kids that they're going to raise, right? To to break these cycles of violence and trauma and inequity over time. So, really, in that way, it's so true to all of the brain science, all of the science that shows that we need to take multi-generational or dual generation approaches to prevention. And I have to say that it's in large part because of our partnership with Annie E. Casey that we at PCA America had taken a look at our networks, like, you know, work with adolescents, right? Because it is what you say so true that so much of our field on primary prevention, we may think of birth to three or birth to five. But the truth is it's critical that we that we support positive childhood experiences throughout development. And the data are clear that that makes changes, right? On the positive for all of our health, well-being, and economic prosperity goals. Um, so I really have to say that it was really um in partnership with you all and Sandra's portfolio, Sandra Gasca Gonzalez and her team and such to help us start thinking uh in a critical way about how we can say, yes, we want to help young kids and families, but we don't stop wanting to focus on the adolescents, right? They're teaching.
SPEAKER_00:And they are often in child welfare systems and enter many teens enter the child welfare system as teens for very different reasons, often for parent-child conflict. And we view, you know, work we're doing to help reduce those conflicts as an investment in prevention as well. If if teens and parents can have more productive relationships, we can again make sure fewer young people are entering the child welfare system. So thank you for uh appreciating and investing in the promise of adolescence, is something I'm passionate about and hope that more people join us in paying attention to to older older youth.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, absolutely, absolutely critical, critical part of the work. Okay, so let's talk about something that we are both also passionate about, and that's this Thriving Family Safer Children initiative. You know, it's such a it again highlights the the critical importance of collaboration and partnership and across, you know, multiple national partners, the CEC, the children's bureaus, uh, Libed Expert Leaders, Casey Family Programs, and NEE, together with PCA America, and 22 sites across the country coming together to really figure out how we can help families thrive while keeping our kids safe. You know, I think this early in Thriving Families, as we started visioning this, it was like this idea that, oh my gosh, we got to keep kids safe. And I think it's like, yeah, but kids are safer with their families than from their families when their families have what they need and are supported in their own communities with love and trust and without stigma, and again, before they're in crisis. That's really how I operationalize primary prevention. But so what do you, Lisa, envision for Thriving Families work going forward? And where do you see the alignment again with thriving families with this primary prevention ecosystem that we're all trying to create?
SPEAKER_00:I could not be more thrilled about this effort. You know, it is rare that we get to work with 22 jurisdictions at one time. Many people may not know the, you know, the Casey Foundation consults with various uh agencies to help them improve their practices. We do that, you know, in one or three agencies at a time. To be able to uh engage with 22 at one time and with this extraordinary set of partners is really special. And I hope people appreciate what uh a fantastic opportunity this is to really change, change the game for how kids and families are supported. You know, I think I'll say at the end of the day, what I am hopeful this work will create is a primary prevention system that means everyone in America, no matter your race, your background, your zip code, has the support. They need to live a fulfilling life, be self-sufficient, and have a sense of belonging so that everybody can thrive. To do that, I think it means we got to focus more on opening doors of opportunity than on preventing problems. And, you know, I love this quote by Frederick Douglass. It's easier to build strong children than to fix broken men. And I think that's really what this work is about. You know, sort of from a technical perspective, I think what this work is doing is creating new conversations about how decisions are made, how services are delivered, and how resources are allocated. And when we do that, I think it, you know, those are the levers we have to help not just public agencies, but sort of community agencies as well, all kinds of stakeholders make better decisions. Um, you know, we we come to this work knowing that, you know, nearly 40% of all children and half of black children in this country come into contact with the child protective system before the age of 18. I think those data are shocking to most people in the general public. They imagine this is like a small isolated set of children that this work applies to. We are talking about millions and millions of children in this country. And so to change the way our systems support families that might be struggling is no small issue. It is really fundamental to the success of this country. And so I'm hopeful that it'll help us address racial and cultural disparities in the way families are brought into contact with the system and transition through the system. I hope it will lead us to partner with communities and those with lived experience to develop better solutions and to overall just sort of prioritize prevention, health, and well-being versus problems. I was talking to one of my colleagues this week and I said, you know, we don't raise our children thinking, how am I going to prevent this problem? We raise our children with the idea of what doors of opportunity can I open for them? How can I help them live their best lives? And that's what we want for all children, is what we invest in and imagine for our own children. And so I think Thriving Family Safer Children is really the best platform we have to sort of make that vision a reality.
SPEAKER_01:Well, and actually, you know, the science is so strong, the data are so clear that my children will actually do better, and all of our children are doing better, right? And so I love this. You're you're kind of articulating something that um I know is maybe beyond what we were actually going to talk about today, but we're gonna talk about it now because you said it a couple of times and I hear it a lot. It's like the preventing a bad thing, right, versus what are the good things that we want. And so to me, that means there's kind of a disconnect between the word prevention and actually the work of prevention. Because the work of prevention is to assure the conditions and opportunity, doors of opportunity, the successes, social justice, you know, equitable policies, access to all the good stuff for everyone. That is true prevention, right? But where we get lost is we do the same reactive things, treatment stuff or removal stuff, and then we tap on the word prevention. So now prevention has this like thing, right? Like, oh, well, if you're preventing child abuse, for example, that means that you think families are going to harm their children. And I and I have to say, this is a critical thing that we need to dispel. We need to be very vocal and explicit as leaders. I know that you feel like this, like me, to say no, families love their children. We are all trying to do the very best we can do. And none of us does this job of parenting alone. We all rely on each other and we all need supports. So there's nothing. It's a village, literally. For all of us, it doesn't matter the degree you have, the amount of money you have, the you know, the family system and connectivity you have. None of us does this alone. And so I want to be, I want, I think the next generation of this work and through this theory of change and our North Star that really aligns so well with your vision at Annie, you know, this idea of making sure families have what they need when they need it, delivered in their own communities with love and respect and trust without stigma before they're in crisis. This is how children and families will be happy and will thrive and will be hopeful for the future, right?
SPEAKER_00:Right, right. And I think, you know, helping everyone see the role they have in this work. You know, so many of the families that come in contact with the child welfare system are just families struggling, trying to navigate the complexities of modern life. And I think many decision makers, particularly business decision makers, don't appreciate how what might seem like a smart business decision creates stress and challenge for families. You know, things as simple as alternating work schedules. If I don't know how many hours I'm working next week or next month, look at the financial challenge that prevents for me. Am I going to be able to pay my bills? Am I going to be able to have the right child care situation in place? All those things, I don't think people realize how a very simple decision about how many hours someone works in a week impacts their livelihood and stress levels. I mean, it's it, you know, access to transportation, just simple things that if we understood how much they cause compounding problems for families that they are then frustrated with and trying trying to navigate, I think it would help us all make more compassionate and thoughtful decisions, whether you're a business leader or a policy maker, you know, you or your child having access to health care is critically important. If you as a parent are struggling and can't get access to mental health services because you don't have health insurance, again, this puts families in a really vulnerable place. That is what we're trying to prevent upstream. So everything from, you know, just making sure they have health care, behavioral health care, safe, affordable housing, regular work schedules that let them know what they can plan around. All of these things contribute to either the positive experiences families can have or the extraordinarily stressful circumstances that can lead to poor outcomes for their children.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I just love how you operationalized all of the context, all of the different pieces that go into keeping a family strong, right? To helping families work. They need child care. You know, we just did, as you know, a congressional briefing in March on the Hill on primary prevention of child abuse and neglect, and had partners from Andy E and lots of partners in the audience as well. And someone talked about shift work and talked about when you're on the late night shift and there's no child care center open at that time for your children to, you know, have a safe place, then you can't have that job, but you need that job, right? And how you know 24-hour childcare and high quality affordable childcare is also going to make businesses more money, right? So it's not only that it keeps to the the health and well-being of the family, but it can it contributes to a more prosperous economy, right? And so how there's there's when you really take a true public health approach to this, it's we're all connected, right?
SPEAKER_00:And you can show up. I mean, parents can show up in as full and productive employees if you're worried about child care and who's going to get your child, or are they in a safe place? You can't show up as your bring your best self to the work. You cannot. Um, so you know, things like paid leave, making sure that people can take the time they need to to take care of their children. You're a parent, I'm a parent. I have had a sick child. I know how stressful that is. I have, you know, been worried about making it to daycare to pick up. I'm calling my friend, pick a small town, you know, and I have a car, and it was stressful if you are reliant on public transportation, you know, that might not be running on time. Just all these things are um compounding stress for families that we can we can just do a much better job of um um, I I love the word ecosystem, like we can create a healthy ecosystem for folks to grow up in.
SPEAKER_01:That's right. Oh, I love that. And I think it's just so true to the science, too. We know what works, we just need to bring more of those solutions, right, to bear for families. So I guess maybe one of the last questions is we we know that true transformation for families requires that we elevate the leadership of parents and caregivers and really center families as decision makers, which really supports our Cat Month campaign, building hopeful futures together. And we've really seen a lot of progress and bright spots where this is happening, and really led by in large part by Annie E, especially among youth. But it's not really embedded into our field as a standard of standard of practice, right? I mean, this idea of co design and co creating solutions and lived expertise, it's pretty new still. We all understand that it's critical, but figuring out the best models for doing that in an authentic. Authentic way, early and often, not after you have your plan. And then you just like invite some parents or young people. That's not cool. That's not gonna work, right? So, how do we continue to ensure that youth and families are in positions to co-design and provide leadership in developing and creating real solutions? Um, and how do we get to those that are not touched by the child welfare system, right? I think that is also something that I'm seeing a lot as we have a lot of people with lived expertise of in these deep end systems, which is critical. Um, but what about families that have stayed out, maybe because they've had paid child care and you know all the supports that we want them to do? How do we meaningfully engage with people across those different types of expertise to design our primary prevention ecosystem?
SPEAKER_00:Sure. I think this is one of the most important elements of Thriving Family Safer Children, and one that I think is sort of the secret sauce that's going to give us two the right answers. We believe firmly that authentic engagement is crucial, whether you're working on housing or child welfare or health. Youth and families can tell you what the barriers are they're facing and can give you really good ideas about how to address them. And so we think co-design doesn't just help us do better work, it also keeps us from perpetuating negative experiences or harm, and you know, other unintended consequences for people who haven't actually experienced this work. So we we are thrilled at the ways that these partnerships are helping us embed more lived experience and perspective into the work. I think it's really going to be great. You know, I I think the fact that we've got families with lived experience in child welfare, child welfare is extraordinary, but I am always struck by the fact that, you know, if if 40% of families come in contact with the child welfare system every day, there are millions of families who are just sort of one phone call away from being you know being connected to these systems. And, you know, we know from other work we do around education and workforce or health that there are families who stand ready to engage, you know, to help you understand what they need, mostly around just their basic needs, helping them manage their basic needs. I'll give you an example of an effort that we've been engaged in for about the last eight years that's doing just this, sort of engaging families and communities in conversations about what they need. It's called evidence to success. And it's really built around education in school. You know, what are the barriers to children thriving academically? So we created something called the Youth Experience Survey. So we partner with the school system. So the young people are the first ones who can tell us what they need and what they're struggling with. And many are saying they are struggling with depression and anxiety, or they say they are dealing with food insecurity. I'm hungry, I can't pay attention in school. It often reveals challenges that kids are dealing with that the school leaders or even their parents might not always be aware of. With that data, we bring it to parents, to school administrators, and say, okay, so this is what kids say they are dealing with. What are we going to do about it? And it's in that partnership between the parents, community, and school leaders that they figure out, okay, what are the evidence-based practices or programs that we need to bring to the school that will help these young people overcome these challenges? And through this process, we've seen many institute school-based mental health programs that didn't exist before. Levels of depression have dropped by 70 or 80% in these schools. And so now young people can show up at school and they're able to succeed academically. I say all that to say I think what's really helpful in this work is what's the data tell us? Engage families and young people in that conversation. What are the strategies and solutions from your life that you that you've seen work and then partnering with policymakers and community-based organizations so they can bring those things to life. Every time we try to do something without the involvement of young people and families, we get it wrong. I have to admit that we get it wrong. And um, every time we bring them in, we get smarter, we learn, you know, a different way of looking at things or a different way of addressing the problems. And so we see in these 22 communities where we're working, you know, where we're able to help them set up infrastructure strategies to connect with families, um, both with lived lived experience and child welfare and those not, the work is just going to be going to be better. It's going to be richer. So I think this is a real important part of what we're doing here.
SPEAKER_01:Such a critical part. And I have to say, there's also just the part of, you know, being a young person today is different than when we were young, right? And we're not that old. I'm not that old. You're not that old. I'm not claiming being that old either. Yeah, no, we're we're young too, but you know, mental health was still seen as such a stigma, right? And now young people, they want to talk to, you know, someone. They want to have access to mental health support. Not only do they need it, obviously the times right now and and the data reveal that our young people are struggling, but it's like they give me hope for what's possible, right? This idea that like that scene is a real asset, a real strength. I was doing some like college visits with my daughter. She's only 15, but she's very precocious. She has lived before. And we, you know, every time we travel, we we go somewhere. But some of the places that we've been going when the students, the current college students are giving the tour and they're excited, they're like, and guess what? We can see a therapist once a week. And and then everyone's like, oh wow, that's so cool. You know, even just this reframe, I think if we did not, we were not connected to young people, we would think in my time it was still so stigmatized, right? Because no one talked about being in therapy. Now that it's seen as such a strength and such like a, you know, it's an investment in your well-being. It's prevention. It is prevention, that is for sure. And so I just think young people give me a lot of hope too, about about what's possible, right? About the idea that that you don't always do what you've always done, right? Like my angel who always tells us when you know better, you do better. And you know, we can only do better in partnership and broadening what we mean by partnership. We mean young people and families and communities.
SPEAKER_00:And and young people are so empathetic. I am always struck by how no matter what they've been through, their deepest goal is to prevent someone else from having to experience that. I that is always the most beautiful thing that comes out of talking with young people. I think folks don't really appreciate how how your sort of empathy center turns on in adolescence. And every young person I've met, they are willing to share very hard truths about their lives and about their journey in hopes that it will keep just one other young person from having the same challenge. And I think that's such a gift of them to reveal themselves, to advocate so that they can help other young people have positive, productive lives.
SPEAKER_01:I love that. It's a beautiful way of bringing us to a close. You know, at Prevent Child Abuse America, we always talk about how childhood lasts a lifetime and how you're really we want the best stuff happening early and often, right, to transform lives. So I just really appreciate this opportunity to talk with you, Lisa. The last question I have is just because of our mutual love for Atlanta. You know, I know that uh you grew up there, I lived there for several years, and I'm just wondering what are your some of your favorite things to do in Atlanta? In particular, what are your favorite places to eat? Because I'm all about food. And I Atlanta has some really good food.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, so it's changed a lot. I haven't lived in Atlanta for 12 years now, and so every time I go home, I'm always thrilled to try a new place. Well, I have always loved Midtown in Atlanta. It's where people are the park is, it's the arts and culture heart of the city. So I just love Midtown, whether it's the botanical gardens or the high museum. I always find myself in Midtown when I am home. And there is a relatively new restaurant there called Poor Calvin's, which is um sort of a mix of Asian and Southern. You'd think it doesn't go together, but it does. They've got creative cocktails. So that's maybe the most recent place I've tried that I really love.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I love that. I love Midtown too. I was just in Atlanta recently and stayed in Midtown, and some of my favorite restaurants are in Midtown. My favorite these days is Cooks and Soldiers. It's like Spanish tapas, and they just uh it's like in the West Side, which is oh, yeah, the new West Side. Yeah, exactly. The new West Side. So well, I'm going back in May. So I'll oh, so you gotta try it.
SPEAKER_00:I will, and thank you so much, Melissa. You are such a light in this work. Your passion and your intelligence and your commitment to this work is just an inspiration to all of us. You are a wonderful partner to so many in the field and especially to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. I was joking that Melissa's um presented it to our board probably more times than most people, but it's because you are such a resource and such an expert in the field. We want to expose them to the best. So thank you for the time you have spent with us, um, both in board meetings and numerous uh other conversations across the country. We are thrilled to be in partnership with you and um Prevent Child Abuse America and all of the partners in Thriving Family Safe for Children. I really do think this is um an extraordinarily important opportunity moment for the field, and I'm hopeful that we can look back and say this partnership really did create a different uh structure, set of systems and opportunities for families. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Lisa, likewise, I mean, all of that, same, same, same. And really your tremendous leadership. You are a light and people, um, your leadership shines through. And I know that we will look back and say that the partnership and the way that we are co-creating a new vision for children and families in this country. Um, so much of it is because of uh your leadership and all of the wonderful leaders at Annie E. Casey, the way that you lift up again, young people, adolescents, and just the power of not always doing things the same way, right? And when and again, being good partners. I just think together we really can prevent some of the nation's, you know, leading causes of death and illness and disparity. We can really um have, we can realize in our lifetimes the vision of hope and well-being and thriving and love. So thank you, Lisa, so much. Um, look forward to many other opportunities to connecting soon. Thanks for tuning in to this exclusive episode. The 2024 Cat Month series can be streamed on our Cat Month page, preventchildabuse.org backslash Cat Month 2024, and wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find more information at preventchildause.org and on our social media channels. Remember, prevention is possible, and together we can prevent child abuse, America, because childhood lasts a lifetime.