Innovations Institute

Big news! 🎉

UConn School of Social Work's is joining forces with the College for Behavioral Health Leadership (CBHL) and Global Leadership Exchange (GLE) to expand leadership development and continuing education for behavioral health professionals.

This new collaboration brings together academic expertise, national leadership, and global partnerships to help professionals strengthen cross-sector collaboration, share innovative practices, and build strong systems of care for children, adults, and families.

Together, we’re investing in the leaders who are shaping the future of behavioral health.

👉 Read the full announcement: s.uconn.edu/ii-cbhl-gle

The themes we recognized throughout June extend far beyond a single month. , , and each reinforce the importance of creating systems where every child, youth, and family can thrive.

💙 National Family Reunification Month highlights the importance of strengthening families and supporting safe, timely, and lasting reunification whenever possible.
❤️ Juneteenth honors freedom while reminding us that advancing equity, justice, and opportunity remains an ongoing responsibility.
🏳️‍🌈 Pride Month celebrates the resilience, authenticity, and contributions of LGBTQIA2S+ communities and the importance of creating spaces where everyone belongs.

While each observance has its own history and significance, together they reinforce a shared commitment to dignity, authentic partnership, belonging, and family connection.

At , these values continue to guide our work alongside children, youth, families, communities, and the systems that serve them.

Read this week's Policy Corner for more: s.uconn.edu/6-29telegram

During National Family Reunification Month, we celebrate the resilience of families and recognize the dedicated professionals, parent partners, judges, and community leaders working to make safe, timely, and lasting reunification a reality.

From 2020–2025, led the National Quality Improvement Center on Family-Centered Reunification (QIC-R), helping to advance innovative approaches supporting safe, timely, and lasting reunification for children and families involved with the child welfare system.

🎥 Want to hear what family-centered reunification looks like in practice? Watch our Video Perspectives from the Field series, featuring parent peer support partners, judges, clinicians, site leaders, and others sharing lessons, experiences, and the lasting impact of reunification.

▶️ Watch, listen & bookmark the series to explore the power of family-centered reunification: s.uconn.edu/qic-r-vids

Join us today at 12:00 PM ET for June's Pyramid Practice Lunch & Learn from our Parent, Infant & Early Childhood team!

The session will focus on emotional literacy. This session is for anyone interested in learning more about strategies to support young children with identifying and expressing emotions in both home and educational settings.

🖥️ June Pyramid Model Practice Lunch & Learn
📅 TODAY, Thursday 6/25, 12:00–1:00 PM ET
🎟️ Register: s.uconn.edu/piec-6-25

Learn more about our PIEC team's work: s.uconn.edu/piec

🎙️ New Episode — "The Birth of Wraparound: A Conversation with John VanDenBerg"

Forty years ago, Alaska launched an ambitious effort to bring children home from costly out-of-state placements and support them in their own communities. That effort—the Alaska Youth Initiative—would help spark a nationwide transformation in how systems serve children, youth, and families with complex needs.

In this episode, hosts Coviello and Conan sit down with pioneer Dr. John VanDenBerg to explore the origins of the movement, the power of outcome data, the importance of family and youth voice, and the role of natural supports in creating lasting change.

From a small state initiative to a global movement, this is the story of how Wraparound began.

🎧 Listen now: s.uconn.edu/vdb-unwrap

📬 Stay connected with the latest in comprehensive crisis care!

is excited to launch the new quarterly Crisis Newsletter—a resource designed for crisis responders, peers, leaders, and system partners seeking practical strategies, emerging trends, and real-world insights to strengthen crisis systems and support children, youth, families, and communities.

Be among the first to receive updates, training opportunities, resources, and lessons learned from the field.

🔶 Scan the QR code or navigate to s.uconn.edu/CrisisSignup to receive the inaugural issue!

Looking to deepen your skills even further? Registration is also open for the Fall 2026 cohort of Crisis 365: Academy for Comprehensive Crisis Care, a 3-part virtual training series focused on family-centered crisis support, cross-system collaboration, and community-based coordination.

🔶 Learn more about Crisis 365: s.uconn.edu/crisis-365

Today, we honor Juneteenth—a celebration of freedom, community, and Black achievement.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865—the day the last enslaved Black Americans learned of their freedom, more than 2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. It reminds us that progress is often uneven and that the work of advancing equity and justice requires sustained commitment.

At , we remain committed to partnering with communities to build systems where every child, youth, family, and community can thrive. May this day inspire reflection, learning, rest, and celebration

At , we know that healthy child development depends on the well-being of the adults who care for young children every day.

That's why findings from ZERO TO THREE's "Rattled: Tracking the Experiences of Families with Infants & Toddlers in 2025" are so important. Drawing on data from Stanford Center on Early Childhood's RAPID Survey Project, the report reveals that economic pressure, emotional distress, and uncertainty intensified throughout 2025—even as families continued to show remarkable resilience, stability, dedication, and opportunity to their young children.

Families are resilient, but resilience should never be a substitute for support. Building a strong foundation for children means investing in policies, services, and systems that help caregivers thrive during the earliest years of life.

📖 Read the report & join us in considering what actions we can take to better support infants, toddlers & their families: s.uconn.edu/ztt-rattled

Children and youth with complex behavioral health needs often rely on multiple systems for support—but too often, those systems operate in silos.

A recent SAMHSA TA paper explores how states can strengthen coordination across child-serving systems to improve outcomes for children and families. It also highlights practical opportunities to reduce fragmentation and build more connected systems. Collaboration isn't just best practice—it's essential.

We're proud that helped author this important resource in partnership with National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and the Center for Health Care Strategies.

📖 Read the full paper to learn how states can bridge gaps in care and create more coordinated, family-centered systems: s.uconn.edu/samhsa-csc

🚨 Registration is now open for the Fall 2026 cohort of Crisis 365: Academy for Comprehensive Crisis Care!

Following a successful spring launch, Crisis 365 returns with a three-part virtual training series designed for crisis responders, peers, and leaders. Participants will gain practical strategies to strengthen family-centered crisis support, build cross-system partnerships, and enhance coordination across their communities.

Space is limited to support meaningful collaboration.

🔶 Learn more & register today: s.uconn.edu/crisis-365
🔶 Sign-up to receive our brand new quarterly Crisis 365 nwesletter: s.uconn.edu/CrisisSignup