CISWH’s Bethlyn Houlihan Shares ROOTED IN HUMANITY Framework at Family Voices Leadership Conference and NASW Virtual Symposium 2026   

Families of children with medical complexity and the professionals who support them are navigating systems that often feel fragmented and burdensome. Speaking at the 2026 Family Voices Leadership Conference (FVLC2026), Bethlyn Houlihan, senior project director for the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health (CISWH) at BU School of Social Work (BUSSW), guided participants through the ROOTED IN HUMANITY framework, an interactive tool that uses storytelling and dialogue to address systemic barriers, workforce strain, and administrative demands while strengthening authentic family-clinician partnerships and advancing more sustainable, relationship-centered care.   

Houlihan also presented “ROOTED IN HUMANITY: An Urgent Action Framework for Care that Matters for Children with Complex Needs,” an interactive session at Virtual Symposium 2026, hosted by the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Chapters of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). Designed for social workers and allied professionals across New England, Houlihan’s live workshop examined how ableism shows up in systems of care and offered evidence-informed, family-partnered strategies for systems change, along with practical tools and focused time to plan implementation steps.   

Together, these sessions carried the ROOTED IN HUMANITY framework into two influential national spaces, giving leaders, clinicians, and advocates concrete ways to redesign systems so that care for children with medical complexity truly reflects the priorities and lived expertise of families. 

Learn more about the ROOTED IN HUMANITY Urgent Action Framework.