April 2024 CSQ

employment on the various programs in which a family might be enrolled.
Shaneen shared how important the support of children and families is to
the Minnesota Governor, and how he has invested in this support, creating
the Children, Youth, and Families agency to encompass several programs
under one umbrella in order to elevate support for children and a familycentered
approach. Eileen provided valuable information on New York’s
approach to integrated eligibility and no wrong door, with a mission on
positive outcomes and financial stability.
Friday morning concluded with Konitra Jack conversing with
authors Kathy Edin, Luke Schaefer, and Timothy Nelson of The
Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America.
This dynamic session provided a historical look at poverty in
rural America, which has the poorest communities, despite the myth that
they are mainly in urban settings. Though they touched on several
outstanding key points in history supported by data, this session would
have had to expand through the entire day to capture the full breadth of the
book.
Friday afternoon kicked off with
the “Thanks for the Help! A
Family-Centered Approach to
Employment Services” plenary.
Angelisa Young, Chief of the Shared
Services Section of the D.C. Child Support
Services Division, and Robert Prevost,
Deputy Director of Arapaho County,
Colorado, engaged with moderator
Kimberly Curtis, Director of the Division of
Policy and Training for OCSS, to explain different approaches to
employment services. Michael Stevenson, Workforce Development
Specialist with the D.C. Child Support Services Division, along with parents
Robert Holliday and Nickie Thompson, demonstrated the success of D.C.’s
employment services, and how their collaboration opened the doors to a
better relationship with their children.
Friday ended with Heather McGhee, author of The Sum of Us:
What Racism Costs and How We Can Prosper Together.
Heather shared that despite its position as one of the world’s
most advanced economies, America has, time and time again,
created policies that routinely fail its people, from the 2008 financial crisis to