Family Forward advocates started out as a grassroots advocacy movement. Our initial goal was to change child welfare's role in accessing complex need care for kids with significant trauma histories. We sought to take the "parent policing" culture out of accessing child mental health care and intensive psychiatric treatment and services. Our work to expand awareness around the impact of early childhood trauma and the loss of biological parents on young children, support family integrity, and support parents raising kids with high Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) has changed how Connecticut's systems serve families.

Our Family Forward ACTion Team of professional and experienced parents, all with complimentary skill sets, work to fix flawed child-serving systems in CT. At the federal level, we align with other groups working to reform CPS systems that harm healthy families by leading reform efforts around child welfare and family court systems, expand kinship rights in child welfare matters and keep more kids safe at home. FFACT partners with other advocacy organizations, and with lawmakers willing to listen and entertain our platform. 

In concert with the Family Forward Foundation, a national nonprofit whose mission is to Endorse the Right to Parent in America, FFACT established itself as a credible voice at advocacy and oversight tables in Connecticut and informed legislation in Washington D.C. The Family First Prevention Services Act ('18) is our crowning achievement at the federal level and CT DCF moving its underserving Voluntary Services program for complex need kids out of its child protection services are our biggest achievements to date. 

FFACT focuses on raising awareness around the impact of early childhood trauma on kids, the value of early access to appropriate trauma competent treatment and supports, supporting parents in intentional ways, and spotlighting what happens to families and society when our nation fails its task.