Meet Upstream: A community mapping model supporting children & families

We recently celebrated our 50th Upstream mapping event in Kane County, Illinois, a milestone that reflects the program's growing reach across eight states. Teri Deal, Upstream facilitator and director of research and systems design, explains what this milestone means and how Upstream is helping courts and communities support better outcomes for children and families. 

What is Upstream?

Upstream is a judicially led, community-based, facilitated process that brings together 40 to 60 professionals from court, child welfare, juvenile justice, schools, families with lived experience, and other community partners to discuss families in their community — who they are, what they need, and how they come into contact with the juvenile court.

Over two days, community members share existing resources, services, and support and collaboratively identify opportunities to address issues further upstream — before court involvement is necessary.  

At the end of an Upstream event, participants have documented action plans for how they will better coordinate efforts to improve outcomes for kids and families. 

Our staff assist with facilitation, bringing the expertise to guide courts and community partners through the community mapping process.

Why is Upstream so important - especially now?

Courts and communities are being asked to do more with less, and the traditional response has been reactive, responding after a family is already in crisis. 

Upstream matters right now because it helps courts and their partners work together to strengthen their community.  It's not always about filling gaps with something new — often it's about doing better with what we have or coordinating efforts.  

Sometimes what happens in juvenile court is a black box to community members and system partners. Upstream provides an opportunity for stakeholders to recognize that they are part of a broader network of supports for families. Courts, schools, child welfare agencies, juvenile probation departments, service providers, and community partners all play important roles, but no single system can do the work alone. Lasting success focusing on prevention and early intervention efforts depends on working together as partners.

In a time when trust in institutions is strained and resources are limited, a process that builds relationships and prioritizes collaboration, rather than imposing solutions from the top down, is especially valuable.

How has the process evolved over time?

Upstream is an adaptation of a community mapping model used in the criminal justice system. At the beginning, Upstream was focused only on child welfare cases, and then our partners in Kentucky and Nebraska encouraged us to expand to include the juvenile justice system, since there is enormous overlap between the kids and families involved in child welfare and delinquency. That has worked really well.

In Missouri, Upstream is in every one of their 46 judicial circuits. We've also worked in Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania and recently adapted the model for guardianship cases with a pilot in two jurisdictions in Massachusetts.  

Why is this work especially rewarding?

We always say that at every single Upstream, we can guarantee that every person who leaves there, even if they've worked in that community for 30 years, learns about a new resource or meets someone who can help them. It's fun to see the group solving problems in real time, sharing resources, and making connections across their work.