A journey can take you many places you never dreamed you’d go. You can start at Point A, expecting to end at Point B, but you eventually discover Points C, D, J, and L were the most important legs of your journey.
In Iowa, we’ve embarked on a journey of partnership. We left behind our historical culture of separate entities working independently and are finding our way down a path of collaboration. With a shared destination guiding us, we are discovering how we can help each other find the best way. We are evolving beyond our roles and focusing instead on our shared outcomes.
Simply put, the journey is collaboration, communication and problem solving. It’s partnering with people around you. But it’s not always so easy to put into practice.
That’s why the Child Welfare Partners Committee (CWPC) was created. We all know we need to collaborate, but the day-to-day realities of our jobs can make collaboration a luxury.
In Iowa, families and children are a priority, so the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) and private human services agencies committed to create a unified approach to delivering child welfare services – the CWPC.
Two representatives from this committee – one from DHS and one from a private agency, will share their experiences of shared accountability, a commitment to collaboration and how it translates into better results for Iowa’s kids and families. Wendy and Chris will share what this partnership looks like as it blossoms into a fruitful environment for child welfare services.
