Alliance for Children and Families

Alliance for Children and Families Logo

The Alliance for Children and Families, also referred to as simply the Alliance, is an international, membership-based non-profit organization. Its nearly 400 members from almost every U.S. state are private, nonprofit child- and family-serving organizations, as well as economic empowerment organizations.

About

Mission and Vision

The mission statement of the Alliance for Children and Families is:

To strengthen the capacities and influence of our national network of high-impact nonprofit human-serving organizations so that together we may pursue our vision of a healthy society and strong communities for all children, adults, and families.[1]

The Alliance's guiding commitment to members is “members first,” which is reflected in its strategic goals and objectives.

Members' Impact

Members range is size from as few as a couple dozen to thousands of employees. Collectively they employ more than 55,000 staff and utilize the services of more than 10,000 volunteers who serve on their boards and offer up their time and services in other support roles, ranging from driving older adults to medical treatment to reading to pre-school kids. Member economic impact is considerable with more than $10 billion in annual spending power.

Members include Neighbor To Family, Inc. and Rawhide Boys Ranch.

Location

The Alliance for Children and Families has offices in Milwaukee, Wis., and Washington, D.C. Most of its operations are conducted out of the Milwaukee office, with the exception of its public policy and civic engagement efforts, which are directed out of the office in Washington.

History

The Alliance for Children and Families formed in October 1998 when Family Service America (established 1911) and the National Association of Homes and Services for Children (established 1973) merged.

Services and Activities

In carrying out its mission, the Alliance for Children and Families provides its members with connections, knowledge, networking, and solutions.

Teleconferences and Webinars

Through teleconferences and webinars, the Alliance for Children and Families facilitates networking and learning opportunities among its hundreds of members. A wide array of issues and topics relevant to the field of nonprofit human services are discussed, including strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, fundraising, board governance, and much more.

Conferences

The Alliance also hosts several conferences throughout the year, many of which are annual events. The Alliance National Conference is the Alliance’s premier event and takes place annually in or around October. Other regular conferences include the National Leadership Conference on Child Welfare Issues, the Fund Development Conference, and the Senior Leadership and Executive Leadership Conferences.

Severson National Information Center

As a service to its members, the Alliance for Children and Families operates the Severson National Information Center, or Severson Center. The Severson Center functions as a national clearinghouse for information about the services, administration, and management of nonprofit human service agencies.

Designed, first and foremost, to meet the informational needs of Alliance members, the Severson Center also provides material to the media, business, government, and other social service organizations concerned with family issues. With a library collection that includes books, a document database, journals, and member program information, the Severson Center provides in-depth reference and library loan services to Alliance members and other individuals from the above-mentioned sectors.

The Severson Center also coordinates the creation and updating of the Scanning the Horizons Trends website. The Scanning the Horizons Trends website was created to house all of the trends, issues, drivers, and uncertainties that affect human service nonprofits in the areas of business, economy, demographics, nonprofit issues, social service issues, technology, education, health, and work. The website is open to the public and chronicles many trends that will affect everyone.

The website is a supplement to the Scanning the Horizons: Top Five Trends report, the Alliance’s print publication on CD.[2] It brings an in-depth look at current factors affecting nonprofit human service organizations. The Top Five Trends report helps Alliance members prepare for approaching challenges or opportunities and spot new business concepts or entirely new ventures. It is available to Alliance members free-of-charge as a download from the trends website. Nonmembers may purchase copies of the trend report on CD through the trends website.[3]

Public Policy

The Alliance has a public policy office in Washington, D.C.

New Age of Aging Initiative

The New Age of Aging initiative is one of two broad initiatives of the Alliance for Children and Families.

The New Age of Aging initiative is funded by a five-year grant from Atlantic Philanthropies and is helping Alliance members respond to the needs of the rapidly expanding population of older adults by improving the readiness of the nation’s nonprofit human service workforce.[4]

The New Age of Aging initiative provides a variety of pass-through funding opportunities to support Alliance members.

Civic Engagement Initiative

The second broad initiative of the Alliance is the civic engagement initiative, which is focused on activating and strengthening the civic engagement efforts of Alliance member agencies, their staff, their clients, and their community.[5][6] It is funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Skillman Foundation, and Carnegie Corporation of New York.[7]

A component of the Civic Engagement initiative is the Alliance’s long-standing annual National Family Week program. The program is supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.[8]

Publications

As part of its commitment to providing intellectual capital, the Alliance produces two print publications: Families in Society and the Alliance for Children & Families Magazine.

Families in Society, founded in 1920, is one of the oldest and most respected journals in North America on social work and related social and human services. Written primarily for practitioners, researchers, and students, the double-blind peer-reviewed quarterly publication is available in both print and online form.[9]

The Alliance for Children & Families Magazine, also published quarterly, includes features about emerging trends and best practices, regular informational and “how-to” columns, and news articles that provide information and knowledge development resources for members of the Alliance and the entire nonprofit human services sector.[10]

Organization

Board of Directors

The Alliance for Children and Families is governed by the Alliance Board of Directors, which is made up of both representatives from member agencies (typically the President or CEO) and volunteers.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Alliance for Children and Families Mission and Vision", Alliance for Children and Families, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-8-14.
  2. ↑ "Scanning the Horizons", Alliance for Children and Families, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-8-14.
  3. ↑ "About: How to Purchase", Alliance for Children and Families, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-8-14.
  4. ↑ "Project Overview", Alliance for Children and Families, 2008. Retrieved on 2009-8-14.
  5. ↑ "Purpose", Alliance for Children and Families, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-8-14.
  6. ↑ "Alliance for Children and Families, Inc.", Rockefeller Brothers Fund, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-8-31.
  7. ↑ "Program Overview", Alliance for Children and Families, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-8-14.
  8. ↑ "National Family Week", Alliance for Children and Families, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-8-14.
  9. ↑ "About Families in Society", Alliance for Children and Families, 2008. Retrieved on 2009-8-14.
  10. ↑ "Alliance for Children & Families Magazine", Alliance for Children and Families, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-8-14.

External links

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