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Family Engagement & Leadership

The Family First Family Council (The Council or Family Council) is a key part of Kansas’s Family First Prevention Services initiative, and of the state prevention leadership landscape. The Family Council, convened for the purposes of state accountability to family-driven system design, participates in oversight and decision making related to Family First services and the overall state prevention strategy and programs. The Council reflects the belief that families with firsthand experience in the child welfare or prevention systems are uniquely positioned to inform people about what services are needed and how they should work.  

Council members include parents, caregivers, and young people who have navigated the system themselves. They share their experiences and perspectives to help ensure programs are practical, effective, and truly supportive of families’ needs. Their recommendations help guide program design, improve service delivery, and identify barriers that may prevent families from accessing help early.  

The Council is supported by the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF) and the evaluation team from KU-CPPR. Together, they work to strengthen the state’s prevention efforts by improving communication with families, refining service approaches, and supporting efforts to help families get the right help at the right time.  

Through the Family First Family Council, Kansas is elevating the voices of families and focusing on solutions that help children and parents thrive together in their own communities.  

About The Council

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What is the Family First Family Council?

The Family Council is an advisory group of lived experts who use their voices and stories to improve how services are designed, delivered, and evaluated across the state. Council members meet regularly to:

• Share feedback on programs
• Advise state and local agencies
• Co-develop strategies and resources
• Represent the voices of families in policy and planning

This is where real-life experience helps shape real-world solutions.
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Why The Council Matters

Family voices are essential to building better systems. The Family Council ensures that prevention services reflect what families truly need and want—not just what systems think they need.

The Family Council doesn’t just advise—it leads. And their contributions have helped reshape policies and improve outcomes for thousands of Kansas families. The council:

• Ensures services are respectful, accessible, and practical
• Builds trust between families and systems
• Lifts the strengths and resilience of Kansas families
• Helps prevent system involvement by informing what works early

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Who Makes Up the Family Council?

Members are diverse in background and experience—but united by the belief that families should be at the center of family-serving systems. Members are:

• Parents and caregivers who have received Family First prevention services
• Individuals with past experience in the child welfare system
• Kinship caregivers, adoptive families, and youth with prior foster care experiences
• Members from rural, urban, and tribal communities across Kansas

Impact and Accomplishments

Council members have spoken at conferences, led community training, and helped other parents navigate prevention resources. Their impact is both personal and systemic.

  • Reviewed and strengthened family outreach materials
  • Helped shape evaluation questions and data collection tools
  • Participated in hiring panels and program design sessions
  • Informed DCF’s statewide strategy for family engagement
  • Built regional networks of family leaders
  • Developed and published a model for engaging individuals with lived expertise as partners in systems change
Current Member Portal