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On June 15, 2023, our North Minneapolis preschool hosted a family event to celebrate Juneteenth.

Imagine a preschool party where young scholars dance under hundreds of bubbles from a bubble machine. The sounds of upbeat music and laughing children fills the room. They dance surrounded by streamers that spell out “freedom” and portraits of heroic figures like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Rosa Parks. Off of the dance floor, parents sit in tiny chairs coloring with their children and chatting with teachers and other families.

Can you feel the joy?

This was the scene last week when teachers and families of The Family Partnership’s North Minneapolis preschool gathered to celebrate Juneteenth. Juneteenth marks an important day many years ago, in 1865, when formerly enslaved African Americans in Texas learned that they were free. The holiday has been celebrated by African Americans every year since and was made a federal holiday in 2021.

At North Minneapolis Preschool, teachers and children began this year’s celebration by wearing specially-made Juneteenth shirts. Designed by Brandy Murray, Danetra Love, and Cassaundra Davis, each shirt was as unique as the person wearing it. The designs showed “Black Girl Magic,” broken chains, colorful hearts, and afros adorned with crowns. Each shirt helped to tell a fuller story about the special day.

In the classroom, children created Pan-African flags with glue sticks, crayons, and construction paper in red, black, and green. Teachers shared Sesame Street’s “Let’s Celebrate Juneteenth Song” by Gordon and the Power of We club. As Gordon says in the video, Juneteenth is “the day that celebrates and reminds us that we are all equal and deserve the same freedom, kindness, and love.”

North Minneapolis Preschoolers run and dance for joy during the party.

After school, families joined in the festivities. Parents, siblings, scholars, and teachers gathered around to hear Portlynn Henderson, Family Achievement Coach from Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ), read Our Beautiful Colors. Children excitedly pointed to the beautiful illustrations that showed Black children “in all shades of brown” playing together on a warm summer day.

It wouldn’t be a real celebration without food. The group feasted on sandwiches prepared by The Hoagie Queen, who generously donated a tray. To go with the hoagies, Tunde, the husband of a staff member, made delicious jollof rice. And for dessert—popsicles!

After so much fun, it was time to head home. Each child received a gift bag that included a book and snacks.

From start to end, this year’s Juneteenth celebration was pure joy!

Celebrating African American children and families

Events like the Juneteenth celebration reflect North Minneapolis Preschool’s commitment to cultural care in early childhood education. Our multicultural program is located in one of Minneapolis’ largest Black communities and emphasizes African American culture.

Off the dance floor, parents and children spent time together coloring pages.

By celebrating African American children, North Minneapolis Preschool helps young Black scholars to see themselves in their role models and curriculum. At the same time, every young scholar learns to celebrate differences–including what makes them unique!

We leverage events like the Juneteenth celebration to strengthen partnerships with parents and caregivers. When parents, caregivers, and teachers spend quality time together, we improve our shared efforts to help young scholars succeed.

Parents and caregivers also have the opportunity during events to explore community resources and services for the whole family, as part of The Family Partnership’s two-generation approach.

We have to partner with the family in order for the child to be successful because we are all a part of their lives.

Cassaundra Davis, Preschool Director

As Cassaundra Davis, Preschool Director, says, “We have to partner with the family in order for the child to be successful because we are all a part of their lives.”

This approach works: more than 90% of children in The Family Partnership’s early childhood education programs graduate kindergarten-ready, compared with 60% of all children statewide and 52% of children from low-income households.

The next celebration could include you

You’re invited to be part of the joy!

North Minneapolis Preschool has current openings in our toddler and pre-K classrooms. If you want more information on enrolling your child, visit our program page.

We also have current job openings for Lead Teachers and Teachers Aides. If you are interested in working with us, visit our careers page.

We want to thank the staff and families who brought our Juneteenth event to life as well as NAZ for their time and book donations.

If you live or work with teens and tweens, you might know that pushing boundaries and testing limits is part of healthy development. Yet with summer almost here, some parents and folks who work with youth are concerned. More free time could potentially lead toward more high-risk behaviors and isolation from family and friends.

So how do we help our teens reset and prepare for success this summer and into the next school year? Therapists from our Multisystemic Therapy Program (MST) have some tips on how families can plan a smooth summer with their tweens and teens.

1. Create routine and structure

Youth thrive on routine and structure.

While it isn’t necessary to schedule your youth’s day minute-by-minute, having some structure will decrease boredom, provide something to look forward to, and reduce the overall risk of your youth getting into trouble. 

2. Establish rules

Establish and enforce basic rules to reduce the potential for conflict in the home and the risk of negative behavior.

The most effective rules are:

A good example of an important rule to establish is curfew. Consider using legal curfew times based on your youth’s age.

Establish how much time your youth spends unsupervised. The less time your youth has on their own, the less likely they are to engage in negative behaviors.

Encourage compliance with the rules by tying them to meaningful rewards and consequences.

3. Encourage activities

Explore your youth’s interests, and look for opportunities to foster them in the community.

To get you started, here are a few local programs:

Youth programming is often available at community recreation centers, YMCAs, libraries, and schools. Your city or county may offer youth-specific programming, programs with incentives for youth, summer internships, or summer jobs.

4. Manage technology

It’s important to allow youth to have some screen time, but it’s also important to set limits.

Many devices and apps offer features that can help you manage your youth’s use of technology.

Remember: youth live what they learn.

Do everything in your power to model healthy technology use by setting your own limits and taking breaks from screens. Spend this time engaging and connecting with your youth!

5. Practice self-care

Self-care is important for maintaining a healthy and happy family.

Remember, self-care is not selfish! It’s not only essential for your well-being, it’s one of the most important factors in helping you become the best caregiver you can be. By prioritizing self-care, you’ll have more energy (and patience) to care for your tween or teen.

How can I tell if my tween or teen’s behaviors are putting them at risk?

Youth who exhibit antisocial or delinquent behaviors may be putting themselves or others at risk. Warning signs to look out for include:

It might be time to seek support if you see an increase in one or more of the above behaviors and haven’t been able to change the behaviors on your own. If you are struggling with your tween or teen, reach out to therapists in our Multisystemic Therapy Program (MST) for additional help.

Our MST therapists are trained to empower caregivers with proven parenting strategies that keep kids aged 12 to 17 in school, out of trouble, and in the home. Families who complete the MST program find a high rate of success, with 9 out of every 10 families experiencing positive outcomes.

For more information on MST and other resources, reach out to Jennifer Heldt, MST Program Manager and Clinical Supervisor for The Family Partnership. Jennifer’s email is jheldt@thefamilypartnership.org and her phone number is 763-291-8198.

We asked Board Chair Tommy Hillman and spouse Evelena Hillman to share their perspective on healing our community and why they support The Family Partnership. 

How did you get involved with The Family Partnership?

“I met Dianne Haulcy in 2009 at an event when we happened to be sitting at the same table and we connected right away. She was looking for a board member at Reuben Lindh (the organization she led prior to its merger with The Family Partnership). They had an early childhood education focus which was a perfect fit with my interests to help kids get a good start in life.  Now I’m thrilled she is back as President and CEO of The Family Partnership.” – Tommy

What has kept you involved?

“I see the direct line between the work we are doing to support the organization and how that is helping people in the community thrive and lead more fulfilling lives.” – Tommy

If you don’t have strong families, you can’t have strong communities. Everyone needs to play a role in how we’re building communities and making them stronger.

Tommy Hillman

“I see myself in some of the families, children and adults that are helped by the programs at The Family Partnership. To be honest, you’re just one circumstance or one opportunity away in some cases from being in a situation where you need services and support. I have been fortunate, but I understand that life is fragile.” – Evelena

 What are your hopes for our community?

“I understand the challenges of growing up in the United States and being African-American and all the different things you face. I want to instill in our kids, and all youth, the idea that you have the power to drive positive change and make things better in the world.

What struck me when I did speaking to elementary and middle school kids about my career in North Minneapolis was that many of them said ‘Oh, I don’t think I could ever be what you are, ever.’ I said of course you can! You are just in third grade, you can do whatever you want. But they didn’t have that belief instilled in them.”   – Tommy

I had experiences unlike anywhere else growing up with great schools in the diverse environment of North Minneapolis. My hope is that our city centers repair and grow to be a supportive beacon for the advancement of all people.

Evelena Hillman

What do you want people to know about The Family Partnership?

“Initially, we became involved because of my interest in early childhood education. But now we understand there is a lot more to The Family Partnership’s services. For example, the pandemic made us more aware of the mental health issues people face. Quite frankly, The Family Partnership is serving communities where people would not have access to those services, because they are not going to be able to pay for therapists out of pocket.” – Tommy

I wanted to do board service just as a way to give back, but I didn’t understand how much it was going to change me, or how much I was going to learn from the experience.

Tommy Hillman

 Learn more how you can support The Family Partnership through volunteer opportunities or ways to give.

Terry Forliti is a survivor leader and has worked with The Family Partnership on UPSIDE, an initiative targeting sexual exploitation in Minneapolis. We asked her to tell her personal story and why change is possible.

I am one of the lucky ones.

I survived a 30-year drug addiction and a decade living on the streets of Minneapolis being sex-trafficked. Today, because of Fentanyl, using any chemical can be a death sentence. I’ve said goodbye to many of my street family friends because of drug overdoses or gun violence.

Not many of us who have traded sex for money (or other items of value) want to perform sex acts up to ten times a day. It isn’t normal and it doesn’t feel good, despite narratives of sex workers that you may have heard.

I never thought I would end up trading sex for drugs or money. Nor did I think that my partner would use me as a tool to secure money, drugs and status as a trafficker. Nevertheless, that is exactly what happened. As a woman, I had the body parts to generate revenue and I was forced to use them.

“My life on the streets of Minneapolis and Saint Paul began when I was in my mid-thirties, which isn’t a typical scenario.“

Terry Forliti

I grew up in Bloomington in an upper-middle class family. When I was 15 years-old and got my first job, I was raped by someone I trusted, my boss. I buried my feelings and didn’t tell anyone about it, but that act took my self-worth away. It led me to bury my feelings with drug use, and to further experiences of sexual exploitation that I didn’t know how to process or cope with.

Eventually, I descended to unspeakable places and lows in my life.

I was living on the streets of Minneapolis/Saint Paul with chronic mental health issues and a real bad cocaine addiction. At that point, I had a failed marriage, the inability to care for my two babies, and I had lost a 15-year corporate career. The streets were my family now.

Surviving on the streets meant I had to learn the ‘game’

Most of the women and men that I met on Minneapolis/Saint Paul’s streets and avenues including Franklin & Chicago, Bloomington & Lake, University & Rice, and Broadway & Lyndale, were people of color and had family members that were already in the life and had many years of lived experience. They took me (a white girl) under their wing and taught me the skills to survive.

To reduce physical harm (beatings), I would have to be compliant and make quota so that we, my pimp, co-pimps and others, would have enough cocaine/heroin/crack and a place to stay for the night. I was also responsible for all food, clothing and hygiene materials that were needed on a daily basis. A woman working in sex-trafficking might be sold for 6-10 sex acts per day. I had to find a way to earn up to $500 to $1,000 every day in order to survive.

“That was my world for many years. I saw no hope. I wanted to die. I grieved my children. I was a failure and couldn’t shake it.”

Terry Forliti

I did not think that I could overcome my addiction. I spent weeks at different jails, workhouses in Ramsey, Dakota and Hennepin County. When I was released, I always came away with a new ‘plug’ or new hustle. I saw my life as a burden to myself and those around me.

The crew that I ended up being a part of, would find us a place to stay by sharing drugs with a vulnerable person. One day, the young lady we had been staying with, was getting evicted from her apartment. Once again we were going to be homeless and needed to find another place to stay.

I was too tired to go on. I felt sick, nauseous and was ready to quit. We didn’t even have a car to sleep in. Little did I know, but that day was the catalyst for my life changing.

Long story short…I ended up getting arrested in Ramsey County that same afternoon. I had eleven bench warrants for my arrest in three counties. That meant that I was going to be locked up for a minute. I would have to serve my time in each county before being released. During that time, a jail guard suspected that I was pregnant and had me do an ultrasound in the jail. Indeed, I was pregnant.

I went straight from jail to drug treatment and supportive services. I didn’t know at the time that there were places that provided services for those who had been sex-trafficked like me, but eventually I was able to find supportive services and housing. Compared to twenty-five years ago, there are many more resources and organizations available to help those who have been sexually exploited.

I went on to obtain a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Bethel University. Most importantly, I was able to deliver a healthy baby girl, who is now in her twenties. I also have a relationship with my son and daughter from my marriage and with my extended family.

“It is my passion to help others by speaking about my life journey overcoming addiction and sexual exploitation.”

Terry Forliti

I’ve spent years as an advocate and leader at several organizations walking alongside those who have had similar experiences in an effort to create community and healing. I know life can be hard, and it’s not necessarily fair or just. It’s not a cake walk, but I want others to know you can have joy and peace every day.

Change is possible! I believe that it takes a community of people that are non-judgmental and supportive. We can build that healing informed and person centered approach by mirroring it ourselves.

You can learn more about UPSIDE here.

The Family Partnership’s PRIDE program provides anti-sex trafficking services.

When I was growing up, diverse characters and stories in children’s books were almost non-existent. Although there are more opportunities to access diverse stories today, there is still much work to be done. According to the Associated Press and Huffington Post, in 2020, children’s books written about racially diverse characters or subjects represented only 30 percent of all new children’s books. And, their data from 2018 shows that there were more books with animals as the main characters compared to books with main characters from diverse backgrounds.

Black History month is a great opportunity for you to expand your children’s library and purchase stories written by African American authors that give a window into the African American experience. I have picked a few of my favorites I am pleased to share with you.

  1. Cute and Curly  by Dr. Rosemarie Allen

I love this story about a girl who loves her natural hair. She talks about the texture of her curls and the time it takes to put all the products on her hair. She also describes how she feels when people touch her hair without asking, “I don’t like it when other people touch my hair”, she says.  “Sometimes they touch my hair without even asking.”   

2. The Magic in Me (personalized book) by Timi Bliss

I love this unique concept, written by a Minnesota African American author, that allows you to personalize this book with your child’s name. Very young children need to see themselves in the stories that are told to them so they see their value and, in this book, they actually get to see their name as well!

3. Magnolia Flower by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi

This is my new favorite children’s story about a young girl born to parents who fled slavery and the Trail of Tears. Magnolia Flower is a girl with a vibrant spirit. It is a story about how love can conquer the injustice in our world and it aptly describes the history of both African Americans and Indigenous people in America.

4. Daddy, Why Am I Brown? A Healthy Conversation About Skin Color and Family by Bedford Palmer

This book is a great tool to use as a starter conversation on how kids can learn to talk about skin color in a way that is kind, thoughtful, and healthy. They also learn a little bit about how to understand the difference between race, ethnicity, and culture. This is an important conversation to have with young children so they can learn that it is okay to talk about race.

5. A History of Me by Adrea Theodore

This story is a good story for people that live in areas where there are few people of color. It aptly describes how it feels to be the only young black or brown child in a classroom. Life can be hard for the only brown girl in a classroom full of white students. When the teacher talks about slavery, she can feel all of her classmates staring at her. When they talk about civil rights, she is the one that other kids whisper about on the playground. In those moments, she wants to slip away or seep into the ground and she wonders, is that all you see when you look at me?

“What really matters is what she sees when she looks at herself. She is a reflection of the courage, strength, intelligence and creativity that’s been passed down from generation to generation through her ancestors.” From the publisher.

In celebration of Black History Month, The Family Partnership is giving away four of these books. Follow us on Instagram and click here for details!

Learn more about Dianne Haulcy’s Early Risers podcast. Early Risers is a podcast from Little Moments Count and MPR with frank facts, engaging stories and real how-tos for anyone who cares about raising children with a clear-eyed understanding of cultural differences, race and implicit bias.

Learn more about Early Education and Care at The Family Partnership.

In 2021, The Family Partnership’s Board of Directors adopted a refreshed strategic framework with five priority areas. The framework focuses on how we accomplish our mission to build strong families, vital communities and better futures for children.

In 2022, we made progress on each strategic priority as part of the three-year plan.

Impact Through Services

  • Launched UPSIDE A Minneapolis Anti-Sex Trafficking Initiative – an innovative effort that brings together service providers with experience working to combat sexual exploitation. The partners, Breaking Free, The Link, and The Family Partnership, created a unique collaboration that includes businesses and residents, in addition to survivors, in outreach efforts. Call or text 612-790-2460 for more information.
  • Outpatient Mental Health piloted a basic needs survey to connect individuals and families with needed resources so they can focus on addressing their mental health issues.
  • Created and filled the Data and Impact Specialist position that will allow disaggregated program data. With that data, TFP will be able to see and address any disparities by race, income, and geography in service utilization and outcomes.
  • The Greenlight Fund selected The Family Partnership to provide all case management services for LEAD, Let Everyone Advance with Dignity – Minneapolis. Focused on the East Lake Street corridor, LEAD provides harm reduction-based, intensive case management to individuals who come into repeated contact with law enforcement due to unmet behavioral health needs, homelessness, and/or extreme poverty.

Practice and Policy Leadership

  • Promise Venture Studio selected TFP as one of ten programs nationally for the highly competitive Promising Ventures Fellowship supporting social entrepreneurs leading in the early childhood field. They selected our Executive Functioning Across Generations® innovation that addresses the education gap for the Early Innovations track.
  • The Gates Foundation selected The Family Partnership to participate in their Measures for Early Success initiative based on our unique expertise in executive functioning. TFP is part of two design teams exploring the development of new, equity-centered school readiness measures for preschoolers.
  • United Way selected TFP’s preschools to participate in 80×3: Resilient from the Start early childhood learning cohort (TFP operates two of the nine early education programs selected). The program supports preschool teachers and children through trauma-informed approaches.

Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism

  • The Family Partnership’s workforce consists of 76 females (85%) and 51 people of color (57%) with 59% BIPOC managers (as of November 30, 2022)
  • Board of Directors consists of 50% females and 56% people of color
  • Added EDI specific interview questions to all job candidate interviews.
  • Continued providing EDI specific trainings for all-staff. Special sessions in 2022 included,
    • “The legacy of bell hooks” by L. Martina Young
    • “Trauma Across Generations: the Impact of Historical Trauma” by Sam Simmons; and,
    • “Trans and Queer Identity training” by Justin Toliver.

Organizational Health & Resiliency

  • The Board of Directors successfully stewarded the CEO transition.
    • For over 35 years, Molly Greenman led transformative changes at The Family Partnership.
    • The Board selected Dianne Haulcy as TFP’s new CEO. This is a homecoming for Haulcy, who served as Executive Director of Reuben Lindh Family Services from 2006 until its merger with The Family Partnership in 2011. Haulcy then assumed the Chief Operating Officer position from 2011-2014 to help lead the post-merger consolidation.
  • Implemented robust recruitment plans in a challenging hiring environment including:
    • Students from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management outlined improvements to recruiting efforts.
    • Direct mail campaign to Minneapolis households filled six positions for teachers at our preschools. Hiring at our Four Directions preschool will allow us to open the center’s first infant room in January 2023.
  • Improved staff retention through a robust, inclusive, welcoming process for new hires developed by staff-led Onboarding Council.
  • Supported staff via a health coach from the University of Minnesota during the first two quarters of the year.

Financial Stability

  • Weathered the storm post-COVID with no PPP loans or additional government support (that existed in the previous two years). In Minnesota and nationally, early education is in crisis. TFP is actively seeking public policy solutions that will create a more sustainable long-term funding model for early education.
  • Created an earned revenue stream, signing a lease at the South Minneapolis location with TruCare Clinic and Urgent Care.
  • Exceeded all contributed revenue goals.
    • Eight foundations supported TFP’s work for the first time in 2022! Giving from individuals in 2022 was 45% higher than the budgeted revenue goal.
  • Acquired two new programs with new funding streams: Greenlight Fund and ARPA funds through the City of Minneapolis.

For National Human Trafficking Prevention Month our PRIDE team answers a Q&A on UPSIDE, a new innovative anti-sex trafficking initiative. The Family Partnership, Breaking Free and The Link, service providers with a history of doing anti-sex trafficking work in Minneapolis, are working together to provide coordinated services to people that are being sex trafficked.

Q. How big an issue is human trafficking/sex trafficking in Minnesota?

Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the U.S. and 28 million people are trafficked worldwide. In 2015, Minnesota had the third-highest number of human trafficking cases nationally, and the FBI ranked the Twin Cities as one of 13 U.S. cities with the highest incidence of sex trafficking for youth (although people of all ages are trafficked).

The Duluth harbor has been a source of trafficking since the turn of the century, while today interstates 94 and 35 are routes traffickers use to move people between Midwest cities. For more than 40 years, The Family Partnership’s PRIDE (Promoting Recovery, Independence, Dignity and Equality) program has provided support services to sexually exploited adults, youth and their families so they can live a life free of exploitation and abuse and move towards self-sufficiency.

Q. What is your approach?

The UPSIDE  outreach teams meet people experiencing sexual exploitation on our streets today – especially those facing the greatest disparities in access to services (Black, Indigenous and People of Color; and, transgender/gender non-conforming individuals).

What makes UPSIDE unique is that collectively, we have the opportunity to “pair” folks up with culturally specific, safe and healing informed services that are age appropriate and gender-based. Each agency in the partnership offers an array of services that we can leverage. We help people access food, clothing or a place to stay, medical or mental health care, and provide longer-term intensive case management, participation in survivor led support groups, legal advocacy and more to provide the support systems needed for lasting change.  

Q. How does this initiative differ from past efforts?

Our strategy is to offer help, resources and real options for the whole community, not just survivors but businesses and residents as well. We offer one phone number to call or text for information. The UPSIDE team offers trainings on how to identify sex trafficking and what to do if you suspect someone might be trafficked.

Through street outreach (or by request by businesses) we offer outreach kits with personal hygiene items, hand and feet warmers, snacks, water, information cards and hand sanitizer. In the winter months, we also bring hats and mittens for those who need them. The kits offer tangible resources and a bridge to conversations with those in need.

Q. How will you determine if UPSIDE is making a difference?

To track progress, UPSIDE is using a measurement tool called “The Bridges to Self-Sufficiency” which gauges progress by survivors in specific, measurable goal areas. A goal may start small such as talking with a case manager or attending drug counseling or support group meetings. This leads to bigger goals like finding stable housing, gaining education or getting a new job.

We also track the number of people we interact with on the streets. We know it takes multiple contacts with those in “the life” to build trust. In short, we walk alongside victims, as they become survivors.

Q.  What gives you hope for change with UPSIDE?  

We see positive changes every day. We believe that connections and relationships are powerful forces for change. Street outreach is a tool we use to bring people to UPSIDE, but the real change begins when they are connected with a case manager or advocate. By demonstrating grace and respect to everyone we interact with, UPSIDE is empowering people with sustainable solutions that stand up against some of the darkness in our community.

UPSIDE is funded by the City of Minneapolis through the American Rescue Plan Act.

The Family Partnership is expanding pilots across Minnesota of its Virtual Home Visiting Executive Functioning Across Generations™ curriculum. Through a partnership with the Minnesota Coalition for Family Home Visiting and the Medica Foundation, The Family Partnership seeks geographic and cultural diversity in the family pilot participants from northern, central and southern Minnesota programs.

Three sites selected, applications remain open!

Three sites are conducting new pilots of The Family Partnership’s parenting component of the executive functioning curriculum in Minnesota. Family Home Visiting pilots are beginning in Stearns County and the Healthy Families America® programs with Headway and The Family Partnership in Minneapolis. Each pilot site will recruit 10 households with at least one parent and a child 3-5 years of age in the household. The curriculum is designed for delivery in 10 sessions over 20 weeks.

Who is eligible? Any Home Visiting program in Minnesota, serving families with children ages 3-5 is eligible to apply for this pilot program—full details are in the application materials here.

Application deadline extended until participants are selected!  Applications should be emailed to: John Everett Till, VP of Strategy and Innovation, The Family Partnership at jtill@thefamilypartnership.org. Call 612-728-2086 with any questions.

Programs will receive training in brain-science concepts and coaching during the implementation process, implementation funding and ongoing access to the Virtual Adaptation of the Executive Functioning Across Generations™ curriculum materials. Full details in the application materials.

Brain-Science Curriculum Builds Core Life Skills

The Family Partnership’s intervention counteracts the negative impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and trauma faced by many young children and families, especially those living in poverty. The 2Gen Executive Functioning Across Generations© curriculum, is the first designed to boost children’s and their caregiver’s executive functioning and self-regulation skills – the essential skills needed to stay on track with goals, imagine consequences of actions, inhibit impulsive behavior and succeed in school and life.

Award-winning, Nationally Piloted Curriculum

The Minnesota Council on Nonprofits (MCN) recognized The Family Partnership as the winner of its 2021 Nonprofit Mission Award for Innovation for the Executive Functioning Across Generations™ model.

The Family Partnership’s original curriculum for preschool classrooms, piloted in 2017-2019, led to national pilots in four states. The curriculum was adapted for home visiting and parenting group pilots supported by The Harvard Center on the Developing Child Frontiers of Innovation (FOI).

Dr. Chris Wing developed the language-based curriculum that first establishes “Internal State Words” for thoughts, feelings, sensory perceptions, physical sensations and moral concepts. As children learn, they can use these words to identify and express themselves and develop personal narratives about their experiences. As parents’ skills related to executive function and self-regulation increase, they are able to model use of these language skills with their children. The parents also increase their ability to recognize and respond to their children and provide supportive relationships.

Read more about how Brain-Science informs our work here.

The Family Partnership was one of ten programs nationally selected for the highly competitive Promising Ventures Fellowship supporting social entrepreneurs in the early childhood field. Our Executive Functioning Across Generations® innovation that builds school readiness, buffering kids against toxic stress while building brainpower, was selected for the Early Innovations track.

Dianne Haulcy, President & CEO and John Everett Till, Sr. Vice President of Strategy and Innovation will participate in the fellowship for six months (October 2022-March 2023) gaining access to innovators and experts in both early childhood and social enterprises. The fellowship includes dedicated coaches and specialized training resources with sponsorship from the Overdeck Foundation.

“This fellowship provides the opportunity for us to accelerate taking our curriculum to scale nationally. Boosting children’s executive functioning brain skills is proven to stick with them over time, advancing both learning and lifelong success.”

Dianne Haulcy

Promising Ventures selection criteria included ventures that centered equity along with having the potential to drive social impact at scale. The Family Partnership’s executive functioning curriculum was centered from the beginning on the children and families of color that The Family Partnership serves  building-in a strong focus on addressing equity in communities seeking resources to break intergenerational cycles of poverty, adversity, and trauma.

Promise Ventures Studio invited The Family Partnership to participate in a national exploration of school readiness ventures hosted by the Gates Foundation in October. The new international initiative called Measures for Early Success brings early childhood innovators together so they can pool their talents to identify equity-centered measures of school readiness that do not “fade out” when children enter kindergarten.

Learn more about Executive Functioning Across Generations©