This session highlights how Help Me Grow (HMG)—the nation’s only evidence‑based early childhood systems model—strengthens community resource networks to better support children and families. Participants will hear a brief overview from HMG National, followed by Washington’s innovative approach to developing a community-based Plan of Safe Care referral pathway for families experiencing perinatal substance use and infants with prenatal substance exposure.
Presenters will share how HMG Washington, in partnership with state agencies, public health, hospitals, and individuals with lived experience, co-designed a family-centered system that provides supportive, wrap-around resources outside of child welfare. The session will explore lessons learned, tribal considerations, braided funding, insights from disaggregated data, and early evaluation results, with a look ahead to future intersections with the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA).