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Progress

The Redlich Horwitz Foundation is committed to sharing progress and insights from our partnerships as we support movement-building and collective action to achieve equity and justice for New York families.

A Year of Powering Partnerships and Progress

Our
Strategies

Mobilize Mobilize Movement and
Power Building Support Support Youth Who
Experience the
Foster System Influence Influence Policy and
Advocacy Action
for Change Reimagine Reimagine Community
Response for
Child and Family
Wellbeing

Highlights

In 2024, the Redlich Horwitz Foundation launched our refined philanthropic approach to invest more resources in keeping families intact by increasing community-driven supports that promote child and family well-being and reducing unnecessary child welfare system involvement.

Following an intensive statewide listening tour with advocates, families, and community leaders, we identified four integrated strategies to guide our grantmaking priorities:

During this first year of implementation, RHF set ambitious strategic funding goals and awarded 36 grants — representing a $6.2 million investment — to help achieve a more just and equitable New York where all children and families have what they need to thrive together.

Read the full 2024 Progress Report to learn more about the positive momentum accomplished by our partners and key insights that emerged during the past year.

Partner Spotlights

RHF partners are at the forefront of the growing movement for family justice. We are proud to support the work of these and other grantee partners working to improve the lives of children and families in their communities and across New York.

Mobilize

Building for Community Action

RHF mobilized the “Building for Community Action” cohort of community leaders, grassroots organizations, lived experience experts, and other stakeholders as part of the Foundation’s first-ever open call for proposals to strengthen local movements and community-based advocacy to bolster statewide advocacy. Grants were designed to engage groups working in other issue areas adjacent to child welfare, connect them to the family justice movement, and increase awareness-raising activities in their communities.

Influence

Legal Services of Hudson Valley & Erie County Assigned Council

Legal Services of Hudson Valley and Erie County Assigned Counsel lead two different legal advocacy pilots offering early defense services to low-income families under CPS investigation. Records show that access to timely legal counsel effectively reduces the likelihood that a petition will be filed against a family in over 90% of cases of alleged child abuse and neglect. These programs show great potential for minimizing trauma and disruption for thousands of New York families each year.

Reimagine

HOPE585

HOPE585 launched the Reimagine Initiative to engage a diverse group of stakeholders in co-designing and sustaining a community-driven response to child poverty issues that often lead to unnecessary child welfare involvement in Monroe County.

Insights

We also gained valuable insights from our partners and the communities they serve:

Community organizing, mutual aid networks, and statewide advocacy have to work hand in hand. Advocates draw inspiration and ideas from individuals who have firsthand experience with issues requiring attention and policy solutions.

The differences between child abuse, neglect, and conditions of poverty are widely misunderstood. Public perceptions and a lack of understanding about child welfare policies and practices perpetuate an overreliance on costly and unwarranted system responses that fail to address unmet family needs.

To effectively replace an ineffective status quo, we must first acknowledge the negative system impacts that deeply affect families and communities before developing culturally responsive community-based solutions that promote family wellness and autonomy.

RHF will continue to listen and learn from people with lived experience, grassroots organizations, advocates, child welfare leaders, and policymakers working to build community power and redesign more responsive, accessible, and effective family support networks.

Read the Full Report

This progress report looks back at an energetic first year of cultivating partnerships and supporting action focused on examining, challenging, and transforming child welfare.

It highlights several examples that demonstrate the power of building and connecting a diverse advocacy infrastructure to advance reforms and explore more effective, cost-efficient, and humane ways of supporting children and preserving family integrity.

Download