Project Summary

The Colorado Partnership for Thriving Families (the Partnership) is a cross-sector collaborative of human service, public health, community, and family partners that work together to create a strong family well-being system. The Partnership aims to reduce child maltreatment and create conditions for families and communities to thrive by shifting from a reactive child welfare system to a prevention-oriented child and family well-being system. Since inception, the Colorado Lab has supported the Partnership in embracing a collective impact approach to implementation and evaluation, to better reflect the collaborative work and measure population and systems level change. This includes developing a toolkit that can be used by any local community to evaluate the Partnerships ongoing investments, including implementation and outcome indicators. Select projects also undergo deeper evidence-building, including: qualitative research highlighting community norms in social support among Colorado families; data insights to inform policy and practice actions to delink poverty from neglect and improve financial well-being among families (en Español); and an evaluation of the federally-funded Family Support through Primary Prevention (FSPP) grant, in collaboration with the OMNI Institute. FSPP findings are expected by October 2026.