East Providence, RI The Real Connections Program, a public-private partnership between the Rhode Island Foster Parents Association and the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families has been selected as one of 173 Bright Ideas Programs recognized by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Bright Ideas recognizes and shares creative government initiatives around the country with interested public sector, nonprofit, and academic communities. This year’s cohort of Bright Ideas was chosen by a team of expert evaluators made up of academics, practitioners, and former public servants. Selected from a pool of nearly 600 applicants nationwide, the Real Connections Program promotes permanency for youth in foster care through the identification and cultivation of adult mentors. It is one of only two Rhode Island programs chosen for the honor.
“Real Connections is an innovative public-private partnership that would never have been possible without the leadership of DCYF Director Martinez and funding support from the private sector including the Rhode Island Foundation, the O’Halloran Family Foundation and the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative. The program’s designation as a Bright Idea is truly a testament to the enormous impact that can be achieved through coordinated partnerships and investments,” said Lisa Guillette, Executive Director of the Rhode Island Foster Parents Association.
Real Connections was launched in 2006 as a small pilot program serving forty (40) youth in DCYF care who were most in danger of ‘aging out’ of foster care without permanent adult supports in their lives. Real Connections quickly became a vital resource to DCYF’s Permanency Support Teams. In 2009, the Rhode Island Foster Parents Association and DCYF, together with seven other agency partners, received a three year, $2 million federal grant to demonstrate and expand this permanency work for over 500 additional children and youth in DCYF care.
“Real Connections represents the comprehensive nature of Rhode Island’s system reform effort which is based on a shared vision that nothing is more important than providing each child with a safe, permanent home and a real connection. We have come together as state agencies, community providers, families and the philanthropic community to embrace this system reform which would not have been possible without the strong community partnerships. This recognition by the Ash Center for Democratic Government and Innovation validates the work we have undertaken and the goal to ensure every youth needs and deserves lasting connections to support them as they leave the structure of the more formal child welfare system,” said Patricia Martinez, Director, Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth & Families.
“Real Connections has made a real difference in the lives of children across Rhode Island. The Foundation and our donors seek to support innovative public-private collaborations like this because of the long-term positive impact in our communities, and this recognition rightly celebrates the success of this program. We congratulate the Rhode Island Foster Parents Association and DCYF for this positive, good news story which reminds us that there are unsung heroes in our state working every day to make a difference,” said Neil D. Steinberg, president and CEO of The Rhode Island Foundation.
“For over 20 years we have been honoring the country’s most creative public sector initiatives through our Innovations in American Government Awards Program,” said Anthony Saich, director of the Ash Center. “The creation of Bright Ideas was a natural next step to shed light on an even greater number of noteworthy programs and practices across our nation and to encourage practitioners to make these ideas work in their own backyards.”
The 2010 Bright Ideas will be showcased on the Center’s Government Innovators Network, an online marketplace of ideas and examples of government innovation for policymakers and practitioners. The inaugural group of Bright Ideas will serve as a cornerstone of a new online community where innovative ideas are proposed, shared, and disseminated. The Ash Center also envisions that these Bright Ideas have the potential to become future Innovations in American Government winners.
Bright Ideas is an initiative of the Ash Center’s Innovations in Government Program, which spotlights exemplary models of government innovation and advances efforts to address the nation’s most pressing public concerns. Throughout its history, the program has generated a wealth of research based on award-winning government innovations and the study of how innovation occurs.
About the Rhode Island Foster Parents Association
The Rhode Island Foster Parents Association provides education and other forms of support to families who provide substitute care, and to the community at large, in order to further the cause of children who are unable to live with their parents. For more information, please visit our website at www.rifpa.org
