Child safety partnership honors founding leaders, champion at Denver convening

The National Partnership for Child Safety recognized seven founding leaders and one champion at its 2026 national convening in Denver for helping build a nationwide effort to prevent child maltreatment-related fatalities. The group now includes more than 40 state, city, county and tribal child-serving agencies using safety science, shared data and peer learning to improve child welfare systems.

Why it matters: - The National Partnership for Child Safety is trying to reduce child maltreatment fatalities by helping agencies learn from one another instead of working in isolation. - The partnership now includes more than 40 state, city, county and tribal child-serving agencies. - The effort centers on safety science, shared data and continuous improvement, which can change how child welfare systems identify risk and respond earlier.

What happened: - The National Partnership for Child Safety honored seven child welfare leaders at its 2026 National Convening in Denver. - The awards recognized leaders for helping establish and advance the national collaborative. - The convening took place Sept. 1-3 in Denver. - About 150 child welfare leaders and professionals attended. - The attendees represented 44 child welfare agencies. - NPCS also presented its Champion Award to Dr. Zeinab Chahine, executive vice president of Child and Family Services at Casey Family Programs. - Casey Family Programs hosted the convening and has supported NPCS since its creation.

The details: - The Founding Leader Awards went to Brenda Gooley, Jodi Hill-Lilly, Diane Iglesias, Marie Noonan, Joseph Ribsam and Chip Spinning. - Gooley is director of operations at the Vermont Department for Children and Families. - Hill-Lilly is the former commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. - Iglesias is senior deputy director at the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. - Noonan is director of the New Hampshire Division for Children, Youth and Families. - Ribsam is acting commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families. - Spinning is executive director of Franklin County Children Services. - The award description said the honorees' early commitment, vision and continued engagement helped build NPCS into a member-led collaborative. - NPCS was created in 2018. - Dr. Chahine's leadership and innovative thinking were central to NPCS's creation and its focus on applying safety science to child welfare. - Casey Family Programs continues to support NPCS and the spread of that approach. - Over two days, participants discussed child fatality and near-fatality reviews using the Safe Systems Improvement Tool. - Sessions also examined workforce culture using TeamFirst Assessment of Safety Culture, or TASC, data. - The convening included expert panels, jurisdiction-led poster presentations and discussions on strengthening families, supporting the child welfare workforce and advancing child protection innovations. - NPCS uses nationally aligned critical incident reviews, shared data, standardized definitions, safety culture tools, workforce support, technical assistance and peer-to-peer learning. - The partnership is staffed by the Center for the Helping Professions, which provides administrative and technical support to member jurisdictions. - The organization says NPCS is the only national collaborative focused on applying safety science to reduce child maltreatment fatalities. - More information is available in the partnership's announcement. - NPCS also shared a LinkedIn page at its social media page.

Between the lines: - The awards signal that NPCS is formalizing the leadership that helped turn a 2018 quality improvement effort into a national network. - The convening format suggests the partnership is prioritizing practical learning, not just recognition, by putting data review and peer exchange at the center of the event. - The emphasis on safety culture and workforce support points to a broader view of child safety that goes beyond case-by-case response.

What's next: - NPCS is expected to keep expanding its learning network and spreading safety science practices across more jurisdictions. - The partnership said the goal is to translate shared learning into sustained system improvements that prevent harm and keep children safe. - Continued support from Casey Family Programs and the Center for the Helping Professions is likely to remain part of that effort.

The bottom line: - NPCS used its Denver convening to honor the leaders who built the network and to reinforce the model it says can help child welfare systems learn faster and prevent more harm.