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Our first annual summit is less than a month away! Please register at this link, which you can also find on the Summit landing page (registration closes at 5:00 pm ET on Monday, April 5th).

Our virtual summit seeks to inspire a group of leaders who will, together, champion a movement to shift how we support children and families, creating systems of care based on understanding, equity, and trust. Morning plenary sessions will feature Dr. Bob Sege’s introduction to HOPE and a snapshot of our current efforts, as well as a keynote address by Rev. Darrell Armstrong, pastor of the Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton NJ and a nationally recognized leader on issues pertaining to child welfare and family strengthening.

In the afternoon, highly interactive working group sessions will be led by some of the leading national figures in advancing care for children. Each speaker will briefly introduce their topic, share how they are already implementing HOPE in their fields, and then engage the group in a discussion—focusing on your ideas about how to move HOPE forward in the particular area discussed. These rich discussions will inform the future of HOPE!

The complete list of afternoon breakout sessions can be found on our landing page. Each week leading up to the summit, we will highlight some of the amazing workshops you can sign up for. This post focuses on Judy Langford (Originator and former national director, Strengthening Families; Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of Social Policy) and Jeff Linkenbach (Director & Research Scientist, The Montana Institute).

The HOPE Innovation Network, Judy Langford

Launched in January 2021, the HOPE Innovation Network (HIN) consists of representatives from a variety of organizations at the forefront of incorporating HOPE into their work. Current status, lessons learned, and plans for the future will be discussed.

Judy Langford was the originator and national director for Strengthening Families, a family development framework adopted in multiple disciplines, jurisdictions and agencies to promote healthy child development and prevent adverse childhood experiences. She lends her expertise to HOPE as a National Advisory Board member, and she has been instrumental in shaping the HOPE Innovation Network. Judy Langford is retired from the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, DC and continues to serve as a Senior Fellow. She has also served as a leader for the federal Quality Improvement Center on Early Childhood (funded by the Children’s Bureau in the Administration on Children Youth and Families). This session will also feature members of the HOPE Innovation Network who are leading the way in HOPE implementation.

The DNA of HOPE: The Science of the Positive Framework, Jeff Linkenbach, EdD

Dr. Linkenbach will present his work on ‘the framework beneath the framework.’  In this highly interactive session, participants will learn about the history and process of developing the HOPE Framework from a Wisconsin-based Positive Community Norms project; a three-year CDC think-tank; and the process of applying the Cycle of Transformation:  SPIRIT – SCIENCE – ACTION – RETURN as a generative process.  Participants will explore how the Science of the Positive framework can help to enliven and transform their current HOPE-related practices.

Dr. Jeff Linkenbach is the Director & Research Scientist at The Montana Institute, a co-investigator of HOPE, and a member of the National Advisory Board. Dr. Linkenbach is bringing over 30 years of experience in public health leadership to this breakout session. He has developed national award-winning research-based programs to change norms, as well as founded the Center for Health & Safety Culture at the Western Transportation Institute, the National Conference on The Social Norms Approach to Prevention, and the Montana Summer Institutes on Positive Community Norms. In this session, Dr. Linkenbach will walk you through the development of HOPE and the framework underpinning its development: The Science of the Positive.

We hope to see you at the Summit! Click here to read the previous post in this Summit series.

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