Building Bridges Initiative

Building Bridges is a national initiative working to identify and promote best practice and policy that will create strong and closely coordinated partnerships and collaborations between families, youth, advocates, community and residential service providers, and oversight agencies.

ACRC Becomes Home of the Building Bridges Initiative

After nearly two decades of partnering, the two leading organizations in the therapeutic residential and community services space officially unite under one umbrella to better serve children and families.

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(MINNEAPOLIS) – The Association of Children’s Residential and Community services (ACRC) and the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) announced today that they are formally joining forces to amplify their efforts to drive equity, ensure quality, and center the voices of those with lived experience in the policies and practices of residential and community services for youth and families.

The strategic alliance, announced during ACRC’s 67^th annual conference, underscores how closely the two organizations have worked together for the past 17 years. The move will combine the boards, staffs and resources into one organization. The known synergies will allow ACRC and BBI to grow their reach and deepen their impact.

“By creating a home for BBI in ACRC, this strategic alliance will bring us even closer together, and it will serve as an intentional and beneficial alignment on behalf of children, youth and families who are experiencing some of the most challenging times of their lives,” said Kari Sisson, ACRC executive director.

For BBI’s Mark Nickell, who will serve as the organization’s director of strategic initiatives, it comes down to the power to change and be changed.

“The timing is right, and everything aligned. It all feels so cosmic,” he said. “Together we will be better positioned to actively influence the national and international conversation about how to best support thriving youth and families along the continuum of residential and community services.”

ACRC’s board president, David Wallace, LCSW-R, who has worked closely with both organizations over the course of his career in child welfare, juvenile justice and mental health, believes in the multiplier effect the two will have on the field.

“We truly will be, together, the voice,” said Wallace. “Our teams and resources will be integrated, making the whole greater than the sum of our parts. So, now, when our members or partners reach out to one of us, they’ll be getting both of us.”

BBI’s board chair Okpara Rice, MSW, believes this is the right move to continue elevating the voice of the youth and families who have received mental and behavioral health services.

“Our goal has always been to impact community and residential service providers, as well as oversight agencies, in an effort to improve the experience people have when accessing care,” said Rice. “Coming together like this, as one focused organization on behalf of youth and families, will only make their voices resonate more.”

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About ACRC: ACRC envisions youth and families thriving in their homes and communities with uncompromised access to high-quality residential and community-based interventions in a robust continuum of care. Since 1956, ACRC has worked in the United States and internationally to promote youth-guided, family-driven, research-based innovative treatment and best practices in the field.

About BBI: Building Bridges is a national initiative founded in 2006 to identify and promote best practices and policy that will create strong and closely coordinated partnerships and collaborations between families, youth, advocates, community and residential service providers, and oversight agencies, leading to sustained, positive outcomes.

Mark’s Message

Hello BBI friends,

We are in an unprecedented era in our field providing us with many challenges and many opportunities. The strides we have made have had a critical impact towards positive change, however, there is more work to do, more challenges ahead, and new horizons of discovery. Together – we believe our efforts and our partnerships will be the catalyst for change that is necessary as we work to create a system that leads to healing and wholeness for ALL families.

Mark Nickell
Director of Strategic Initiatives

BBI Technical Assistance & Training

Building Bridges Initiative provides a wide range of technical assistance & training opportunities. Including training curriculum, toolkits, and other tools.

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Leaders of Color Project

Our vision is for a world where diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging (DEIAB) are valued and practiced by all individuals, groups, and service organizations.

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Voices from the Field

At the 67^th Annual ACRC Conference, we announced a new strategic alliance between ACRC and BBI. Joining forces will elevate our impact. But don’t just take our word for it. Watch this video to hear from leaders, friends, and partners of both organizations about how this integration serves as an intentional and beneficial alignment on behalf of children, youth, and families.

Our Vision

Community and residentially-based treatment and service providers share responsibility with each other, families, and youth to ensure that comprehensive mental health services and supports are available to improve the lives of young people and their families.

Our Mission

The mission of the Building Bridges Initiative is to identify and promote practice and policy initiatives that will create strong and closely coordinated partnerships and collaborations between families, youth, community – and residentially-based treatment and service providers, advocates and policymakers to ensure that comprehensive services and supports are family-driven, youth-guided, strength-based, culturally and linguistically competent, individualized, evidence and practice-informed, and consistent with the research on sustained positive outcomes.