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Ensuring Authentic Representation and Collaboration Along with Research to Re-Design Child Welfare

In this invited paper, we critique Barth and colleagues’ (2021). “Research to Consider While Effectively Re-Designing Child Welfare Services” paper that presents 10 commonly held misconceptions in child welfare to provide a foundation for child welfare system reform. We argue that research alone cannot guide the reform of the child welfare system. Rather, we argue that people with lived expertise in the child welfare system and programs must be involved in all parts of collaborations in order to re-design child welfare. Research has limitations and privileging it in setting any reform agenda and efforts is potentially dangerous. We conclude that for effective child welfare system re-design to occur, research-policy-practice partnerships must be built with people with lived expertise in the child welfare system and programs.