The Children’s Cabinet has adopted three overall themes that support its collective work: Racial and Ethnic Disparities (R/ED); Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and trauma-informed practices (TIPs); and research-based practices. These themes or “lenses” should be applied to all programs/strategies proposed for FY23 as follows:

1. Racial and Ethnic Disparities (R/ED): All programs/strategies must incorporate intentional efforts to address racial and ethnic disparities, including:
   
• The strategies that the applicant will incorporate to reduce/eliminate R/ED within the target population(s);
• How the applicant’s R/ED efforts will support and inform planning, assessment, implementation, and evaluation of the program; and,
• A discussion of the most recent local R/ED data (demographic data and disaggregated program/outcome data by race/ethnicity, as available) with citations.
• Information on how the applicant will create and/or utilize the collection of disaggregated data to monitor progress and outcomes for program participants, and identify trends and challenges that prevent participants from successfully obtaining services and reaching goals.
• Provide detailed information on the applicant’s efforts and plans to incorporate internal/external strategies (training/technical assistance, assessment of programming, and other strategic opportunities) to create a more racially equitable organization and partnerships.
• The applicant’s ability to gather and analyze qualitative data by surveying/interviewing program participants, and incorporate the voices of those at-risk or impacted by system involvement (youth, parents/caregivers, community members, etc.) in program planning and implementation efforts.
2. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and trauma-informed practices (TIPs): All programs/strategies must incorporate intentional efforts to reduce ACEs and increase TIPs. Successful adoption of this ACEs/trauma-informed lens includes:
•  Increasing awareness of ACEs and TIPs among State- and community-level prevention professionals;
• Emphasizing the relevance of ACEs and TIPs to behavioral health disciplines;
• Engaging prevention planning efforts that include ACEs and TIPs among the primary risk and protective factors;
• Joining or establishing a local committee within your jurisdiction and targeted service areas that works to address ACEs and TIPs within the schools and community levels;
• Incorporating the experiences of system-involved youth and families into your current and future planning efforts to gain their perspective on serving this population and enhance your service delivery; and are
• Designed to address ACEs and TIPs, including efforts focusing on reducing intergenerational transmission of ACEs and trauma.
3. Research-Based Practices: It is strongly preferred that programs/strategies proposed for FY24 implement a continuum of clinically researched practices that have some demonstrated success with youth to include promising practices, best practices, and evidence-based practices. For example, if proposing to fund a home visiting program to address the Low Birth Weight Indicator, the program could employ the Healthy Families America model or some other as applicable.

For information about program and strategy priorities, see: http://goccp.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/FY2024-CCIF-NOFA.pdf#page=6

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)