Authentic engagement of children and youth is most powerful when policy and practice are brought to life by local leadership grounded in the realities of the communities they serve.
The Quality Improvement Center on Engaging Youth in Finding Permanency (QIC-EY) is producing a series of Lessons Learned to share fundamental insights about engagement of children and youth, especially in relation to permanency decisions. Each lesson brings to life insights and knowledge gained as the QIC-EY project progresses.
The Lesson
Authentic engagement of children and youth is most powerful when policy and practice are brought to life by local leadership grounded in the realities of the communities they serve.
It’s not enough to have the right programming on paper—real change happens when systems listen to the voices of lived experts and community members, let local wisdom lead the way, and adapt programming in partnership with those most impacted.
This lesson affirms that authentic engagement isn’t a rigid process—it’s a flexible, evolving practice—one that honors local context, uplifts community wisdom, and centers children, youth, and family voice every step of the way.
Application of the Lesson
Adapting for local relevance ensures new programming and practices for authentically engaging with children and youth are in rhythm with the community. When child welfare leaders embrace this mindset, they empower teams to think about what will work for the children and youth in the community they serve.
Flexibility becomes a strategy—not a compromise. And with that strategy comes the potential for more meaningful engagement and lasting impact. As QIC-EY teams are working in sites, we are seeing the different ways leaders are adapting to meet local needs while staying grounded in core values.
1. Community Voice at the Center
Authentic engagement of children and youth doesn’t happen to communities—it happens with them. That’s why children, youth, families, and community members must be involved early, often, and with real influence. When people with lived experience help shape how programs are implemented, delivered, and adjusted, the results are more relevant, more respectful, and more sustainable.
Community voice also informs how we communicate. Adaptation means more than translating materials—it means adjusting for tone, context, and style that resonates. When content speaks the local language—both literally and figuratively—it connects more deeply and builds stronger trust.
Centering Community Voice in Hawai‘i
In Hawai‘i, culture isn’t an add-on—it’s the foundation. The community is the culture, and authentic engagement begins by honoring that truth. From the start, the QIC-EY team worked in close partnership with EPIC ‘Ohana, Inc. and the Department of Human Services to ensure every aspect of implementation was grounded in cultural values and community wisdom. Their efforts align with the ‘Ohana Nui framework—a multigenerational, collective approach rooted in Hawaiian values like ohana (family), kuleana (responsibility), and pono (balance).
Hawai‘i’s leaders did not simply adapt a national model—they co-created something local. They brought in the HI H.O.P.E.S. Board, a group of youth and young adults with lived experience in foster care, to guide the development of training materials and Pilina Circles—a small-group conversation format rooted in relationship-building. These resources were made more relevant and resonant by incorporating Hawaiian language, local images, cultural art, and real-life scenarios. This ensured the content reflected the lives of the children, youth, and families it aimed to serve.
Importantly, community voice was not a one-time consultation. It shaped every step of the process—from development to delivery—and was treated as essential to building trust, relevance, and long-term impact.
Across Hawai‘i’s islands, each region and community brings its own unique history and social context. What works in Hilo may not work in Kona. By recognizing and respecting these differences, the team reinforced the idea that local history and culture should shape how the work is done.
When engagement efforts are grounded in culture and co-created with lived experts, systems not only meet the community where they are—they move forward with them.
2. Let Local Wisdom Lead the Way
One size does not fit all. With the right content and purpose in place, local teams are best positioned to determine how programs will work in their specific systems. Flexibility allows ideas to align with local structures, cultures, and team and community realities.
Giving sites the space to adjust and innovate isn’t a loss of fidelity—it’s a pathway to relevance. When sites are trusted to lead with what they know, engagement becomes more grounded, more relational, and more likely to stick.
Oklahoma Southern Plains CPT Consortium: Local Wisdom Across Tribal Nations
In the Southern Plains region, the QIC-EY is partnering with a consortium of seven Tribal Nations, each operating independently while maintaining high-level collaboration. Though connected through shared priorities and planning, each Nation brings its own history, governance structure, and cultural traditions to the work.
The consortium has embraced a flexible approach—making space for each Nation to adapt the program in ways that align with their community’s unique needs. While the overall goals remain shared, the implementation looks different in each Nation. This balance between unity and autonomy reflects a deep respect for Tribal sovereignty and local wisdom.
The initiative, titled Our Shared Legacy: Connecting Tribal Youth to Kin, Community, and Culture, was named by a Tribal elder to reflect each Nation’s long-term commitment to their youth. The program integrates cultural teachings with permanency efforts by using metaphors like the growth cycle of the oak tree to help youth understand their cultural grounding and personal development. Youth engage in activities adapted from the My Two Aunties model, documenting reflections in a customized version of the FosterClub FYI binder that includes new sections on relational and cultural connections. Caregivers also receive these insights to support culturally sensitive engagement.
This work centers identity, belonging, and tradition as key components of permanency. The intentional inclusion of culture in case planning, legal understanding, and community connection helps youth prepare for adulthood with a rooted sense of self. Leaders across the consortium have embraced the vision of relational, cultural, and legal permanency as interwoven goals—supporting healing, resilience, and strength for generations to come.
This thinking applies beyond Tribal communities as well: every county, town, or region has its own character. Leaders strengthen their work when they ask, “What about this specific place matters?” and allow the answer to shape how engagement unfolds.
3. Focus on the Process, Not Just the End Product
The work—whether permanence or relational responsiveness—is not just an end product; it’s an ongoing process. And that process is just as important as the tools being used. Leaders who encourage teams to learn, adjust, and grow in real time are modeling the kind of flexibility and responsiveness that makes engagement of children and youth stronger.
This work is rarely perfect. The goal isn’t to “get it right” the first time—it’s to stay in relationship with the work and the people it serves. That means building feedback loops, taking time to reflect, and having the courage to revise as needed.
When teams feel permission to adapt thoughtfully—to learn as they go and adjust—they’re more likely to try new things, stick with the hard work, and ultimately create stronger connections with children and youth.
Progress Over Perfection
Hawai‘i’s QIC-EY team approached their work with intentional relationality. They listened deeply to young people and frontline staff, created space for ceremony, shared food, and prioritized in-person connection whenever possible. In Hilo, for example, local staff were empowered to suggest adaptations—and those suggestions were genuinely heard and incorporated. These small but meaningful acts of community-building contributed to a culture of trust, adaptability, and shared ownership of the work.
In Rhode Island, local leaders explored how to deepen engagement by rethinking how and where training happens. Rather than hosting a single event or large gathering, they offered parallel training experiences for youth and adult supporters, focused on similar core content but tailored to each group. Youth were also involved in content creation—developing materials and ideas that were later used in micro-learning opportunities for caseworkers. These short, 15- to 20-minute sessions were embedded in staff or unit meetings, making learning accessible and responsive to real-world time constraints. This approach built consistency, encouraged cross-role understanding, and reflected a deep respect for local capacity and voice.
When local teams are invited to adapt QIC-EY to fit their communities, they are creating space for authentic engagement of children and youth to flourish. This approach doesn’t sacrifice integrity—it strengthens it. By rooting implementation in local context and lived expertise, systems elevate programs and practices while staying true to culture and core values.
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Engagement Begins with Centering Community Voice
This lesson extends far beyond a single initiative: meaningful systems change requires leaders to hold structure and flexibility in balance, allowing adaptation to serve as a pathway to deeper connection and impact that meets the needs of a community.
The full QIC-EY Lessons Learned series can be found here.