Children affected by the opioid epidemic need a complex array of services and supports to safeguard their health and wellbeing, including child protective services, legal representation, educational services, comprehensive physical and mental health care, and often foster care placement coupled with family reunification strategies. Timely access to these services is especially difficult in rural areas. A research team led by Ohio State University will examine strategies that use regional, multi-sector governing boards to help organizations work together in coordinating services for children and families in rural areas.

This study, funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program, will assess the feasibility, acceptability and potential impact of participatory budgeting (PB) as a mode of civic engagement to improve health outcomes and advance equity for racially and ethnically marginalized communities, using “The People’s Money” initiative as the first city-wide test of a participatory budgeting intervention for New York City. The intervention allows community residents to decide how to spend allocated Mayoral funds on projects to address prioritized needs within communities.

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The Systems for Action Program Office held Informational Webinars about the 2025 Call for Proposals on January 22, 2025 and February 24, 2025. Below you can find recordings and slides from the webinars. The content of the webinars is very similar; the primary differences are the questions answered...

At Systems for Action our thinking around our funding opportunities evolves as we learn from interactions with potential applicants, our National Advisory Committee, our grantees, and many other stakeholders. We will do our best to ensure that our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are kept up to...

This study, funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program, evaluates the feasibility of a modified Church-based home visiting program that aims to align health and social services for households with young children and dismantle forms of structural racism faced by these households. The program to be modified and tested is delivered by Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton New Jersey, a predominantly Black congregation, with the goal of reducing adverse childhood experiences (ACES) and promoting positive childhood experiences within historically marginalized families and communities.

This study, funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Systems for Action research program, will explore opportunities to strengthen a systems alignment approach to the refugee resettlement process in Virginia. Structural barriers in housing, healthcare, employment, and education can impede the effectiveness of resettlement and integration efforts. The current consultation process to coordinate refugee arrival and resettlement inadequately addresses these barriers while also failing to meaningfully include representatives from the medical, social, public health, and community sectors.