Upstream Hopes To Connect Those In Need With Available Resources

Connecting people in need with available resources has long been recognized as a problem in the court system. A program called Upstream is hoping to change that.
Upstream is a community-based approach that leverages court resources, judicial leadership, child welfare and juvenile justice agency partnerships to enhance community collaboration to strengthen communities, prevent system involvement, and support safe and healthy families. The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) has facilitated Upstream mapping workshops in other states, but Nebraska is the first state to combine the needs of children, youth, and families involved in child welfare and youth justice systems.
Upstream serves as a conceptual framework for communities to:

• Map their specific community resources, gaps, and collaborations;
• Develop a comprehensive landscape of how children and families enter and move through the child welfare system and the courts;
• Identify opportunities to divert families to appropriate resources both before and after formal court involvement and at each Point of Prevention and Intervention; and
• Create a strategic action plan informed by the community map.
  Jefferson County Court Judge Linda Bauer told FJN, “And this will confirm that the ‘mapping workshop’ is tentatively scheduled for April 30 and May 1, 2025. We have a steering committee working with the State Court Improvement Project to develop a list of invitees and potential survey participants.”

Twinrivers