“Don’t let anybody, anybody convince you this is the way the world is and therefore must be. It must be the way it ought to be.”
Toni Morrison
Connecticut Department of Children and Families: Racial Justice Initiative (2012-present)
CT Department of Children and Families (DCF) is committed to becoming an anti-racist organization whose beliefs, values, policies and practices are developed to oppose and eliminate racism. JRA Consulting has worked with DCF since 2012 in this effort and serves as a Tri-Chair of the Department’s Statewide Racial Justice Workgroup and works with senior management, the leadership team at DCF, and offices across this state to deepen their work related to racial justice, equity, and disparities.
National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) Race and Trauma Initiative (2018-present)
In 2018, the NCTSN published a Position Statement on Race and Trauma. As part of a small planning team, JRA Consulting helped developed, lead, and manage a national Summit Initiative from 2020-2021 focused on Becoming Anti-Racist Organizations as a core part of trauma-informed systems.
New England Racial Equity Workgroup (2022-present)
In 2022, the New England Association of Child Welfare Commissioners and Directors, together with the support of Casey Family Programs, convened the leaders of racial equity and justice work in the child welfare agencies across all six New England states. Jen serves as a tri-chair in the leadership of this learning and support community.
New England Child Welfare Transformation and Pathways to Partnership (2020-2024)
As a longtime partner with the New England Association of Child Welfare Commissioners and Directors, JRA Consulting continued to support the Association’s ongoing work with the six New England states related to systems transformation. Sponsored by Casey Family Programs, this work has included facilitation and co-leadership of the vision and framework for authentic partnership with families in all system transformation efforts.
NCTSN Trauma-Informed Organizational Assessment (2016-present)
Beginning in 2016, JRA Consulting joined the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress (NCCTS) to develop, pilot, and implement the Trauma-Informed Organizational Assessment in child and family-serving organizations across the US. In this partnership, Jen has played a key role in co-leading learning cohorts as well as co-developing a coach-the-coach curriculum to expand the TIOA’s use. Most recently, the development team has been striving to explicit uplift the need to be anti-racist as essential for trauma-informed organizations.
NCTSN Trauma-Informed, Anti-Racist Suicide Prevention Breakthrough Series Collaborative (2023-present)
Throughout 2023, JRA Consulting has been working closely with the NCTSN to prepare for a national and tribal Breakthrough Series Collaborative focused on the role of community in supporting healing and wellness to prevent suicide in young people. This BSC will be launched in early 2024.
This Breakthrough Series Collaborative, led by the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI), has engaged child welfare state, county, and tribal agencies to focus on the child welfare workforce anchored in a framework that centers justice, equity, and inclusivity.
Becoming an Anti-Racist, Trauma-Informed Organization (2023-present)
Together with Dr. Elizabeth Thompson, JRA Consulting has worked with the Child Health and Development Institute (CHDI) in Connecticut to support their efforts at becoming an anti-racist, trauma-informed organization. This work has included the development, delivery, and facilitation of in-person all-staff sessions as well as technical assistance and consultation between sessions.
Social and Emotional Learning in Early Care and Education Breakthrough Series Collaborative (CCL BSC) (2023-present)
The Office of Research Planning and Evaluation (OPRE) has awarded a contract to ChildTrends in partnership University of Massachusetts-Boston, Mathematica, and JRA Consulting to conduct a set of Breakthrough Series Collaboratives focused on social and emotional learning in early care and education centers in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Illinois.
Center for the Study of Social Policy Consultation (2023-present)
JRA Consulting serves as a lead consultant to the Center for the Study of Social Policy’s Executive Leadership with a continuous focus on anti-racism at all levels of CSSP’s work.