In the Community, Of the Community with Cherie Craft Artwork

Seen Out Loud

Seen Out Loud is a show about disrupting the child welfare system by the simple act of seeing families in their full humanity. Seeing people for who they truly are, and learning from their stories, offers new perspectives and compelling insights that can lead to radical transformation of America’s foster care system. Listen with us to families as they share deeply personal stories about their experiences with the child welfare system. Hear them express how the moments they were finally seen and valued shaped the trajectories of their lives. In this podcast, we accompany these stories with conversations about the work happening on the front lines of the family well-being movement—a collective effort aimed at meeting the needs of families to prevent systems intervention and the removal of children from parents. Hear leaders of the movement describe how they are actively building a future where families are engaged in systems work and have what they need to stay together and thrive.

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Seen Out Loud

In the Community, Of the Community with Cherie Craft

July 13, 2022 • Institute for Family • Season 2 • Episode 7

Cherie Craft, the founding CEO and Executive Director of Smart from the Start, talks about her organization’s unique approach to engaging communities and addressing conditions to enhance child and family well-being. Cherie references a previous episode of Seen Out Loud with Matthew Jackson to explain how Smart from the Start builds trust with families. Cherie also offers advice for other organizational leaders on relationship building, reducing recidivism rates, and incorporating social justice into community work.

00:00:23 | Matt recaps the last episode S2, E5: The Impact of Community Conditions with Matthew Jackson

00:02:36 | What is Smart from the Start and what are they all about?

00:07:39 | What is Cherie’s “secret sauce” to building trust with families?

00:08:52 | Why don’t families trust social workers and service-providing organizations that come into communities?

00:10:14 | Cherie shares how Smart from the Start operates

00:13:03 | Cherie talks about how she saw Matthew when he first approached her at Smart from the Start.

00:18:00 | Cherie talks about baking a strengths-based approach to seeing families into Smart from the Start’s culture.

00:20:10 | Matt and Cherie recall a story Matthew shared in S2, E5: The Impact of Community Conditions with Matthew Jackson

00:25:27 | Matt asks Cherie about what happens when something her team vouches for doesn’t come to fruition.

00:29:06 | Matt asks Cherie how Smart from the Start responds to skeptics of her organization.

00:33:11 | Cherie shares more about her origin story.

00:36:44 | Cherie shares how her organization’s foundation impacts the recidivism rate for fully engaged families in organizational programs.

00:39:50 | Cherie explains Smart from the Start’s intentional approach to addressing systemic issues impacting families and the new program, Justice 4.

00:47:22 | Matt, an organizational leader at Children’s Home Society of N.C. and the Institute for Family asks advice from Cherie for leaders like him that feel like they don’t have relatable stories to use as building blocks when connecting with families.

00:49:12 | Final thoughts from host Matt Anderson.

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