Hawaii

The Nā Kama a Hāloa Network, part of the Thriving Families Safer Children (TFSC) work, is a community-based Network focusing on addressing the crisis of the disproportionate number of Native Hawaiian children involved in the Child Welfare System. As nearly half of the children in Child Welfare in Hawaiʻi are Native Hawaiian, the Networkʻs current goal is that Native Hawaiian children are no longer being disproportionately represented in Child Welfare by the year 2030. The Network brings together the voices of the indigenous people of Hawai’i (past, present and future), parents, caregivers, youth, and professionals, and is successfully changing the Hawaiʻi Child Welfare narrative.

Our Collective Impact Network process is designed to be highly collaborative, taps into multiple perspectives, and tests and pilots ideas and projects so that vulnerable Native Hawaiian children and families become more connected with their communities and culture. This work also has high community engagement and is forging new relationships within the community between Native Hawaiian serving organizations, Child Welfare, and people with lived experience.