Compassion, Equity, Innovation, Hope, Respect, Community

The Oregon Child & Family Center for Excellence promotes innovation and quality social systems for children, youth, families, and communities through research, and best practices. We envision an Oregon where every child, youth, and family is valued and thrives in their home, school, community, and has access to supports if they need it. 

Launched in July 2022, The Center for Excellence is committed to deepening our impact and influence on behalf of children, youth, and families with the aim to catalyze the critical role of community-based human services organizations to build a stronger, more resilient, and healthier Oregon. 

Based on community input, industry research, and successful models in other states, the Center for Excellence is the only organization in Oregon charged with elevating our collective commitment to children, youth, and families by focusing on three fundamental components:

Workforce Development | Through training and professional development opportunities, the Center for Excellence will:

• Elevate those with lived experiences to ensure a pipeline of future staff and leaders for our member organizations and other agencies.
• Diversify Oregon’s provider workforce to represent the communities served.
• Increase resources to support and strengthen professionals in the field.
• Provide access to affordable best practices instruction and skill building throughout the state.

Systems Change | Through coalition building, deep community engagement, and focused advocacy, the Center for Excellence will:

• Make child safety and positive health outcomes a top priority across the state.
• Increase cross-system integration and collaboration to ensure a strong statewide network of providers.
• Support the effective and efficient provision of services as part of a cohesive statewide system of care.
• Foster prevention and prompt innovation to change the paradigm from downstream responses to upstream solutions.
• Equip organizations to undertake continuous and meaningful community engagement.
• Encourage and support health equity in all services and supports throughout Oregon.

Quality Improvement | To ensure evidence-driven strategies, plans, and actions grounded in best-practices, the Center for Excellence will:

• Promote data-informed practices supported by continuous quality improvement.
• Facilitate holistic and impactful improvements in the broad system of care.
• Research policy and practice reforms and determine relevance to local systems.
• Design curricula to ensure the highest standards and post-training sustainability.

See The Current Training Opportunities Here

Oregon Child & Family Center for Excellence Staff: