Alia

08/20/2026

You can lead an agency and still feel alone in the rooms where you're supposed to have the most power.

You can care deeply and still find yourself withdrawing when the pressure becomes too much.

What might feel like a leadership failure is actually just a human response.

Our latest blog reflects on a reality we don't talk about enough: the same nervous system dynamics we recognize in children are at work in leaders, workers, and families throughout the system.

Because the question underneath it all is the same: am I safe here?

Read more: https://hubs.ly/Q04tKBZd0

08/11/2026

Last call to join our upcoming UnSystem Roundtable!

If you're leading through this moment, we invite you to apply → https://www.aliainnovations.org/roundtables

How do we support families when needs are rising, but budgets are shrinking?

Across the country, child welfare and human services leaders are navigating a difficult reality: reduced resources, increasing demand, and growing pressure on the systems families depend on.

If you're a leader confronting these challenges in your system, apply to join Amelia Franck Meyer for our next UnSystem Roundtable: Family Stability in the Era of Budget Cuts on Thursday, August 20.

This is a solution-focused conversation about navigating increased demand with fewer resources, strengthening supports before families reach crisis, and building community-based solutions that keep families stable and out of the system whenever safely possible.

Learn more and apply → https://www.aliainnovations.org/roundtables

07/28/2026

How do we support families when needs are rising, but budgets are shrinking?

Across the country, child welfare and human services leaders are navigating a difficult reality: reduced resources, increasing demand, and growing pressure on the systems families depend on.

If you're a leader confronting these challenges in your system, apply to join Amelia Franck Meyer for our next UnSystem Roundtable: Family Stability in the Era of Budget Cuts on Thursday, August 20.

This is a solution-focused conversation about navigating increased demand with fewer resources, strengthening supports before families reach crisis, and building community-based solutions that keep families stable and out of the system whenever safely possible.

Learn more and apply → https://www.aliainnovations.org/roundtables

07/23/2026

Like any living thing, wellbeing needs to be planted, tended, and given space to take root.

Ramsey County, Minnesota's Child and Family Services unit gathered at the Alia office for a full day to do something their jobs rarely allow: step away from the chaos, reconnect with each other, and discover simple ways to weave wellbeing into their everyday lives.

What's most exciting is that this wasn't just a one-day event. An internal team of Wellbeing Champions from within CFS helped design and host this gathering, and they're committed to carrying these practices forward for their colleagues. The planting happened here, and the tending is just beginning!

06/29/2026

This week, our team is taking a week-long pause to rest, recharge, and reconnect.

We know that doing meaningful work takes energy—and that energy needs care. This time away isn’t stepping back from our mission, but pouring into the people who make it possible.

We’ll return refreshed and ready to keep showing up for the children, families, and communities we’re so honored to partner with and support.

06/26/2026

Child welfare workers are trained to show up for others. But who's showing up for them?

Our Associate Director of Transformation, Laura Witham, wrote something we think a lot of people in this field need to hear right now — about self-compassion, what the research actually says about it, and why it might be one of the most underused tools in this work.

Read it here: https://hubs.ly/Q04mJv-H0

FYI, insights like this go to our newsletter subscribers first! You can sign up from any page on our website.

Explore how mindfulness and self-compassion can enhance emotional resilience in child welfare professionals, fostering greater compassion for themselves and others.

06/22/2026

We could not be more thrilled for our friend and partner, Kate Luster, Director of Rock County Human Services, on receiving the 2026 APHSA Excellence Award for Local Member!

Kate's leadership demonstrates what is possible when public systems move beyond compliance to reconciliation, shared accountability, and human-centered design—creating sustainable change that keeps families safely together.

Congratulations, Kate!

Learn more about Kate's visionary leadership and the impact she is making in Rock County and beyond:https://aphsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-06-16_Press-Release_Summit-Local-Award_Kate-Luster.pdf

05/20/2026

Everyone agrees child welfare needs to change.
But agreement alone doesn’t create traction.

Leaders are navigating real constraints—limited capacity, competing priorities, and teams stretched thin. Even when there’s energy for change, it can be hard to see what will actually move things forward.

Often, the missing piece isn’t the vision. It’s readiness.

That’s why we created the Change Readiness Snapshot—a short, reflective tool to help you understand your organization’s starting point for meaningful, family-centered change.
In just a few minutes, it helps you:
• See early signals supporting—or stalling—progress
• Reflect on readiness across leadership, workforce, and conditions
• Make sense of what this moment means

There are no right answers—just a clear, strengths-based reflection on where you are and where you might go next.

If you’re asking, “Where do we begin?”—this is a place to pause and see more clearly.

Take the Change Readiness Snapshot →
https://hubs.ly/Q04hn8Mk0

05/19/2026

Three times a year, Team Alia gathers at our office in St. Paul, Minnesota — and each time, it fills our cups in ways that carry us through the months ahead.

This retreat felt especially meaningful. Being in the same room together was a powerful reminder of our commitment to our mission.

We spent our days thinking strategically about the road ahead, exploring curiosity through connection, and even watching a movie from cozy camping chairs to spark inspiration (with candy and fresh popcorn in hand).

And because team building can take many forms, we rolled up our sleeves and deep-cleaned the office so it’s ready to welcome the many partners we’ll host this summer.

We are so grateful for this team!

05/06/2026

Child welfare workers know that meaningful family engagement requires more than good intentions. But showing up authentically takes intentional inner work first.

If we want to truly empower the families we serve, we have to begin by looking honestly at ourselves and our role in the system. Dear Workers is a tool to help workers prepare for this specific journey.

Dear Workers is organized around five core principles that help create the conditions for authentic family engagement to occur:

• Context: Understanding the environments, experiences, and histories that shape how families — and workers — see the world

• Compassion: Cultivating awareness of others' suffering and a genuine commitment to alleviating it

• Change: Listening deeply to those harmed by the child welfare system and working toward something more just and equitable

• Consistency: Showing up reliably and remaining present and accessible at every stage of your work with families

• Collaboration: Working alongside families as true partners toward shared goals and outcomes

Authentic family engagement starts from the inside out. Dear Workers provides developmental activities and reflective practices to help you meaningfully prepare to bring family voice and power into the system.

Download Dear Workers here: https://hubs.ly/Q04dPzP_0