Birth Parent National Network (BPNN)

ON THIS PAGE: JOIN US | RESOURCES  | EVENTS – RELATED PAGES: ANPPC | BFPP | TRAINING & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE | BOOK CLUB | PARENT VOICE

  1. Home
  2. Partnering With Parents
  3. Birth Parent National Network (BPNN)

Promoting birth parents as leaders and strategic partners in prevention and child welfare systems reform

Casey’s Community Opportunity Map: A Data Tool for Community Leaders

Wednesday June 18th | 5pm ET

The Birth Parent National Network is excited to bring information about Casey Family Programs Community Opportunity Mapping tool. he Community Opportunity Map is a tested, research-based tool for using data to work together across systems and across sectors to improve the broader conditions that affect the health, safety and opportunities of children and their families. You’ll learn how to use the tool to communicate with policymakers about your community’s needs, empower community residents to advocate and tell their own stories using data, and engage partners in education, public safety, health, business, and others to coordinate effective support systems for families. We look forward to exploring how this tool can help to inform the important work you are doing.

Register Now
BPNN The Message Matters Workshop Series

Click to Download the Workshop Flyer

The Message Matters:

A Workshop Series on Communication Essentials Training Opportunity

Communication is at the heart of every strong relationship, effective partnership, and successful leadership journey. Whether you’re a parent, caregiver, or someone who partners with families, the ability to communicate clearly and effectively builds trust and enhances engagement in all areas of life.

“The Message Matters” virtual workshop series offers practical, one-hour interactive sessions designed to help you strengthen your communication skills for everyday interactions—at home, in the workplace, and in your community.

Dates:

(All times are 1-2pm Eastern)

June 25, 2025: Silent Signals: What You Say Without Words (Nonverbal Communication)
Register Now | Download the Flyer

July 30, 2025: Hear Me Out: The Power of Listening That Connects (Reflective Listening)
Register Now | Download the Flyer

September 24, 2025: Keep Your Cool: Turning Conflict into Conversation (Conflict and Confrontation)
Register Now | Download the Flyer

October 29, 2025: Being the Message: Owning Your Presence, Intent, and Impact (You Are the Message)
Register Now | Download the Flyer

Hot off the press!
Announcing the release of our newest publication!

What Parents Say About…

Supporting Families Rather than Reporting Them: Changing Mandated Reporting Policies and Practices

What Parents Say about Changes in Mandated Reporting Policies

Download the Brief

This important and timely publication elevates the voices of parents with life experiences involving the mandated reporting system. Parents are speaking out about how mandated reporting can cause trauma to children and families. This brief is designed to inform policymakers, child welfare leaders and other stakeholders about:

  • Families who need support often get investigated – not supported.
  • Families are reluctant to seek services for fear of being reported.
  • The Child Protective Services system is overwhelmed due to unwarranted reports relating to poverty.
  • Improvements need to be made to mandated reporting laws, policies, and practices so that fewer families are subjected to unwarranted investigations.

We are a national network of hundreds of birth parents and organizations working together to strengthen families, communities and systems by engaging the voices of parents.

Join Us Now

Select the application form best suited to your role: Parent, Individual Stakeholder or Organization. You will be contacted once your application has been received. All forms will appear in a pop-up window.

Parent Individual Stakeholder Organization

BPNN Membership Flyer 2025

Download the 2025 BPNN Membership Flyer & Calendar

CARING CONVERSATIONS

First Monday of Each Month

1 PM PT • 2 PM MT • 3 PM CT • 4 PM ET

Children’s Trust Fund Alliance is building a better normal by bringing together the powerful strengths within the Birth Parent National Network (BPNN). The Alliance is holding Caring Conversations every other Monday to support the network and to facilitate collective wisdom. Social connections are a powerful protective factor in our lives. Through these virtual meetings, we can come together and share our experiences, successes and concerns.

Email Kara Georgi to get the link at kara.georgi@ctfalliance.org.

Promote Parent Voices

The Alliance’s BPNN recruits parents, individual stakeholders and organizations that work with parents to join together to promote and support the voices of parents to inform policies and practices that effect children and families. The dynamic BPNN membership consists of:

Parents who:

  • Are committed to a strength-based, preventative approach for systems that interact with families
  • Have high interest in engaging in policy work and drawing on their life experiences to inform and educate policymakers and other stakeholders
  • Have experienced challenges and have been at risk of child welfare involvement
  • Have been previously involved with the child welfare system

Organizations that:

  • Are committed to identifying and supporting parents as strategic partners in policy work and system reform
  • Have an interest in sharing materials and resources with their peers and colleagues nationally

BPNN Members meet four times a year by webinar for policy updates and information sharing. Also, the BPNN holds an annual virtual convening.

Resources

What Parents Say About…

The Children’s Trust Fund Alliance joined with a group of parents from the BPNN to produce these publications. They include the perspectives of parents with life experiences in using services to strengthen their families and focus on timely and important topics.

To download one or all eight of the popular What Parents Say About… issue briefs, click on the button below:

Download all What Parents Say Briefs

New What Parents Say About…

What Parents Say About…Supporting Families Rather than Reporting Them: Changing Mandated Reporting Policies and Practices is an important and timely publication elevates the voices of parents with life experiences involving the mandated reporting system. Parents are speaking out about how mandated reporting can cause trauma to children and families. This brief is designed to inform policymakers, child welfare leaders and other stakeholders about:

  • Families who need support often get investigated – not supported.
  • Families are reluctant to seek services for fear of being reported.
  • The Child Protective Services system is overwhelmed due to unwarranted reports relating to poverty.
  • Improvements need to be made to mandated reporting laws, policies, and practices so that fewer families are subjected to unwarranted investigations.

What Parents Say About... Changes in Mandated Reporting Policies
Download the Brief

Directory of Parent Partnership Organizations

The Parent Partnership Organizations Directory provides an overview of organizations nationwide that partner with parents to support, strengthen and sustain healthy families and communities. It was developed 5 years ago in partnership with the parent members of the BPNN. The 2022 update includes newly formed state parent advisory councils and other parenting initiatives, networks and national organizations that provide technical assistance, training and systems improvements. This is an evolving list and will be updated as new information is received. To submit new information, contact info@ctfalliance.org.

Download the Directory Add Your Organization

Parents Impact Policy

Family First Prevention Services Act

The Family First Prevention Services Act was passed by Congress in February 2018. This groundbreaking legislation changes the way child welfare systems can support families and provides new resources for prevention of foster care. The Alliance and our parent partners are working hard to educate policymakers charged with implementing this new legislation.

See additional information about FFPSA, including both a short and detailed summary of the legislation, an implementation timeline and the law language. Check out the resources below:

Family Voices United

Family Voices United is a collaborative project among Casey Family Programs, Children’s Trust Fund Alliance, FosterClub and Generations United. We support prevention services for struggling families, support for kinship caregivers, standardized requirements for  residential treatment placements and services that assist older youth aging out of care. We work closely with partners in multiple states and jurisdictions to elevate the voice and perspective of young people, parents and kinship providers. Learn more at www.familyvoicesunited.org.

Opioid Crisis

The opioid crisis is a serious problem for many families and our nation. The Alliance and our partners are speaking out about strong supports for families facing this challenge. Casey Family Programs’ CEO William C. Bell testified at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on the impact of the opioid crisis on children and families.

Events

BPNN Quarterly Webinars

BPNN Webinar February 28, 2025

February 28, 2025 – Celebrating the Stories that Strengthen Us: A BPNN Webinar Celebrating National Parent Leadership Month

BPNN Webinars Archive

2024 Webinars

February 29, 2024 – Exploring What Supporting Families Looks Like: Moving Away from Mandated Reporting Towards Policy and Practice Change

April 11, 2024 – Creating Strengths-based Messaging for Families and Communities

August 8, 2024 – Spotlight on Housing: Creative Solutions for Families

December 4, 2024 – What Parents Say About… Supporting Families Rather than Reporting Them Changing Mandated Reporting Policies and Practices

2023 Webinars

February 16, 2023 – Celebrating Parents as Partners in the Community

May 25, 2023 – Exploring a World of Sovereignty and Inclusion

July 11, 2023 – Exploring a World of Sovereignty and Inclusion Part 2

October 26, 2023 – Exploring how Race and Class Impact Helping Families

2022 Webinars

February 17, 2022 – Celebrating Parent Leadership: Tools, Resources and Exciting Updates

May 17, 2022 – Bringing Parent Voice to Policy and Practice

August 25, 2022 – Prioritizing Kinship Caregiver Placements: Current Policies, Practices and Challenges

October 27, 2022 – Analysis of State Definitions of Child Neglect and its Impact on Children, Youth and Families

2021 Webinars

February 25, 2021 – Celebrating National Leadership Month and Black History Month

May 27, 2021 – The Power and Impact of Parent Voice

August 26, 2021 – Impacts on Parents, Children and Communities

October 28, 2021 – A Focus on Fathers

2020 Webinars

May 26, 2020 – Parent Advisory Councils and Authentic Partnerships

July 14, 2020 – Policy Discussions and Developments Affecting Children and Families

July 29, 2020 – Elevating the Impact of COVID on Parents Involved in Child Welfare

July 30, 2020 – Parent Advisory Councils and Authentic Partnerships Part 2

October 22, 2020 – Race Talk: Facilitating Effective Conversations for Addressing Racial Justice and System Inequities

2019 Webinars

February 2019 – Celebrate National Parent Leadership Month with the BPNN and ANPPC

May 2019 – Parent Partnerships

August 2019 – Practice Changes in Sonoma County

October 2019 – Update on Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA)

BPNN Virtual Convenings

10th Annual Virtual Convening

Providing Economic and Concrete Supports: A Strengths-based Approach to Child and Family Well-being

This important convening focused on the importance of creating stronger economic and concrete supports for families. Clare Anderson discussed the evidence related to economic and concrete supports for preventing involvement of families in the child welfare system. She shared how economic supports, such as childcare subsidies, Medicaid, housing subsidies, and tax credits have reduced child maltreatment rates and foster care entries. State and federal policy options were discussed to inform strategies and policy agendas. Clare promoted the voices of parents in the Birth Parent National Network when she frequently shared the publication What Parents Say About… Building a 21st Century Community-Based Approach to Strengthening Families.

The following materials are available to download:

 

Previous BPNN Virtual Convenings

The Alliance’s Birth Parent National Network (BPNN) hosts a free virtual convening each year. BPNN members and keynote speakers share new ideas and strategies to create opportunities for parent voices to improve policies and practices impacting children and families nationwide.
2023 Virtual Convening

2023 9th Annual Virtual Convening

Supporting Families at the Front End of the Child Welfare System

The Birth Parent National Network (BPNN) 9th Annual Virtual Convening explored results when a participatory research project incorporated a partnership approach between funders, researchers, parents and youth. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Stand Together and the Aviv Foundation funded this project to understand more about the front end of the child welfare system and the impact of child abuse investigations and case planning on children and families. BPNN parent partners with prior experience with the child welfare system interviewed 100 parents to learn more about their experiences when they were investigated for allegations of child abuse and neglect and discussed findings from the interviews conducted by Think of Us with youth whose families experienced an investigation. A thought-provoking discussion and highlighted findings gathered from parents, youth and other stakeholders about their experiences with the investigations process.

The following materials are available to download:

2022 Virtual Convening

2022 8th Annual Virtual Convening

Racism and Anti-Racism in the Social Ecology

The Birth Parent National Network (BPNN) 8th Annual Virtual Convening examined how racism shows up across the social ecology of children and their families’ lives. The June 23 convening was led by Dr. Charlyn Harper Browne and Cailin O’Connor from the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP). They explored the many ways that racism permeates our lives, and how we can take active, anti-racist steps as individuals and within systems.

The virtual convening ended with participants sharing how we, as individuals, can implement anti-racist strategies, policies and practices in our relationships, organizations, communities and society.

The following materials are available to download:

2021 Virtual Convening

STRUCTURAL RACISM AND CURRENT DAY IMPLICATIONS: How We Got Here and a Better Path Forward

December 2, 2021

2020 Virtual Convening

Creating Thriving Families and Communities in a 21st Century Child Well-Being System

December 3, 2020

Part 1 – Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors Framework: Bringing the Protective Factors to Life in Your Work

Part 2 – Communities of Hope

2019 Virtual Convening

Prevention Across the Continuum

December 3, 2019

2018 Virtual Convening

Putting Families First

November 27, 2018 – Session 1

December 4, 2018 – Session 2 

Alliance Resiliency Project

The Children’s Trust Fund Alliance developed the Alliance Resiliency Project to support parents during the COVID- 19 national crisis. We partnered with Casey Family Programs to provide a trusted and supportive resource to almost 400 parents who are members of the Birth Parent National Network (BPNN), the Birth Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC) and the Birth and Foster Parent Partnership (BFPP).

Flexible funding through the Alliance Resiliency Project helped support families and filled gaps not met by other resources. The importance of the support for concrete needs cannot be overstated. Often, these funds provided safety and security when all other options had been exhausted and the ability to help stabilize family situations has made a powerful, lasting and important difference in the lives of many families.

Caring Conversations Continue Today

Although the Alliance Resiliency Project grant period ended June 30, 2021, the Alliance is continuing to hold Caring Conversations every Monday at Noon CT for parents to share and network with one another.

Alliance Resiliency Project Report

The Alliance compiled a full report on the project when the grant period ended June 30, 2021. The report – Alliance Resiliency Project: A Model for Flexible Funding to Support Families – contains lessons learned and has become a resource as states and organizations work to build a supportive approach for families they are partnering with.

Download Project Report

Parents Talk About the Alliance Resiliency Project

Children’s Trust Fund Alliance staff asked three parents to share what the Alliance Resiliency Project meant to them. Clips from the interviews have been featured in presentations at multiple conferences and events.

Terecca DeFehr and Tiffany Csonka are regular participants in the Caring Conversations. Both were connected with a TouchPoint Parent for concrete and emotional support. Tecoria Jones is a TouchPoint Parent and shares how she grew in that role and also discusses the full project and the Caring Conversations in which she was a regular participant.

Terecaa DeFehr  – Participant in Caring Conversations (14:51 minutes)

Tiffany Csonka  – Participant in Caring Conversations (7:22 minutes)

Tecoria Jones – TouchPoint Parent (17:20 minutes)