Our Prevention Portfolio

Each of our initiatives is part of a larger prevention portfolio. Initiatives can be plugged into each Community Prevention System to address specific issues along the cradle to career spectrum.

Initiatives

Nebraska Children has developed age-specific initiatives to address specific areas where a community may see a need for improvement.

• Early Childhood - Sixpence Early Learning Programs, Communities for Kids, and Rooted in Relationships address the needs of the youngest children, ensuring that parents and caregivers have the necessary knowledge to foster healthy development.
• School Age - Beyond School Bells works with school districts across the state to provide afterschool and summer learning opportunities that are proven to close the achievement gap. Camp Catch-Up reunites siblings from age 8-19 who have been separated by foster care. The goal is to nurture the critical connections between brothers and sisters, to create a sense of permanency in the lives of children who have experienced far too much upheaval and instability.
• Older Youth - Connected Youth Initiative works to harness the voice of "unconnected youth" ages 14-26 -- many of whom have aged out of the foster care system -- and to help them create a plan to transition to a stable, productive adulthood.

The Products

The overall context of how these initiatives and practices are delivered:

• The Process | Collective Impact - A specific type of collaboration that ensures community ownership and maximizes existing resources.
• The System | Community Response - This model for the resulting Community Prevention System allows families a voluntary and coordinated reponse by community organizations without unnecessary involvement of the child welfare system. 
• The Outcome | Protective Factors - The result of the initiatives, Evidence-Based Practices, Collective Impact process and Community Response model is an increase in Protective Factors, a nationally recognized predictor of family strength, health and stability.