Raise the Future is on the forefront of bringing relational tools to Colorado

Raise the Future has become a statewide resource for caring for vulnerable children. Trust-based relational interventions (TBRI) give parents and others the tools they need to connect with people who've suffered trauma. 

Ashley Oliver is at the forefront of creating therapeutic homes for children living in foster care. 

"We definitely need more foster homes. We have seen an increased need for really strong homes who are dedicated to it," Oliver said. 

There is an increase in the number of youth who are having strong reactions to the trauma in their lives. They've moved multiple times. They've maybe run away. They're maybe participating in risky behaviors. Now Oliver is implementing TBRI in the therapeutic homes. 

"I have seen great successes," she added. 

"TBRI is definitely a way of thinking, a way of being. It's a lens of moving and a lens of how you connect with other people. How you communicate with other people," K.P. Longton said of the practice. 

Longton has been practicing TBRI for years. She encouraged Adams County Human Services to learn more about the practice through Raise the Future. 

"Once I became a practitioner, I realized it's not just a child-centered approach, it is a human-centered approach," Longton explained.

In 2024, Raise the Future held a TBRI Summit to introduce different stakeholders to the practice. Adams County was there. 

"I was really impressed with the whole concept of TBRI," said Kari Daggett, Division Director of Children and Family Services in Adams County. She quickly got on board with implementing TBRI across the division but also within the office. 

"A high percentage of people in helping professions being with them generational trauma of their own,"  Daggett explained. 

"It is very effective adult-to-adult, especially because everyone in the Human Services realm has taken on the difficult times of others and is providing that support for them, and that has an emotional labor to it," Longton said. 

Longton is now in charge of spreading TBRI techniques across the entire department with Raise the Future as a resource. 

"With this knowledge it really supports the metaphor of needing to put oxygen masks on yourself first. I think that's a big thing that I see any parent struggle with," Oliver said. 

Oliver continues to be inspired by TBRI among the families with which she works.

"I have one kiddo who's moved 7 times, and we were able to stabilize her, and she has now been in the same placement for a year. Moved 7 times, that is amazing," Oliver said. 

LINK: A Day for Wednesday's Child

CBS Colorado has been partner with Raise the Future for nearly 40 years. Join CBS Colorado for a day of fundraising and awareness during A Day for Wednesday's Child on Wednesday, April 16, 2025.