BSF CEO couldn't be in the same room with her Trump-supporting brother after the 2016 election. Then came Thanksgiving. Her honest reflection on family, inclusion, and the unexpected path back to connection is exactly the kind of story that sits at the heart of BSF's mission.

In November 2018, we gathered staff, board members, parent leaders, and partners in Pasadena to dream about our preferred future and to ask our community to help shape it. Here's a look at where we were headed.

Nadia Washington was wearing a superwoman cape and a mask, but underneath, felt like she was falling apart. Her honest reflection on grief, the Protective Factors, and her journey to vitality is a testament to the power of safe spaces and authentic connection.

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued their strongest statement yet against spanking (which they defined as “noninjurious, openhanded hitting with the intention of modifying child behavior”) and also said to avoid non-physical punishment that is humiliating, scary, or threatening.

So, what’s a parent to do?

Written before the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre and published in its aftermath, this reflection from BSF grapples honestly with anti-Semitism on both the left and the right — and what it means to fight for justice for all families.

Weiss et al. highlight how family engagement is key to achieving equity for kids in schools, and offer examples of how engaging parents as co-creators, co-learners, community-builders and decision-makers creates the condition for equitable learning.

After losing both parents within 18 months, Robyn Harvey found herself leaning on the Protective Factors for support. Her reflection is a reminder that this framework isn't just for parenting — it's a foundation for navigating life itself.

No one ever talks about successful foster homes. A BSF staff member shares her own story of being removed from her home in Puerto Rico as a teenager, to finding the foster family she calls her forever home. A powerful reminder of what it means to truly belong.

A clickbait headline about what "successful" parents do differently turned out to reveal something more important: whose families research actually centers, and whose it leaves out. Alexis Moreno reflects on growing up in a lower-income household and what it really looks like to build a strong family without the assumed resources.