Milwaukee Case Study: Racism, Family Resources, & Child Health

Project: Milwaukee, WI Case Study

Funding: JPB Foundation, CDC

Perspectives on and actions to promote child healthy weight for optimal growth and development are increasingly focusing on the social and structural determinants of health as central to long-term child health outcomes. As a coalition of multi-sector agencies and groups living and working in Milwaukee, with collaborating academic partners from the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center, healthTIDE, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Boston College School of Social Work, and Tufts University, we have seen the value of centering equity, community voice, and restorative justice practices to better understand, repair, and transform the conditions in which children develop and thrive. In this project, we present processes and outcomes from the Milwaukee County Organizations Promoting Prevention (MCOPP) Healthy and Fit Kids Strategic Planning Committee participating in the Stakeholder-driven Community Diffusion (SDCD) theory-informed intervention, with Community-based System Dynamics (CBSD) as a key element, through a case study with a focus on cross-sector collaboration, restorative justice, and elevating community voices in its work.

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Selected Current Research Projects (2023)

community coalitions
Child health equity 

sexual violence
structural racism