A New Case for Asset Framing: Lessons from San Diego’s Child and Family Wellbeing Transformation

One of my Sunday-morning routines (alongside attending church) is reading The New York Times. Last weekend, one story stood out: “Childhood Trauma Doesn’t Have to Be a Lifelong Curse.”

What caught my attention was not only the subject matter as someone who has worked in the realm of child and family wellbeing for nearly a decade now. It was the way the article made a clear scientific and health case for something I had just covered in KMC’s Storytelling for Advocacy and Fundraising nonprofit leader cohort sponsored by the IEHP Foundation: Asset Framing.

The story highlighted how child welfare agencies and partner organizations are working to strengthen child and family well-being by using a framework called Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences (HOPE). More than 100,000 health and social service providers have been trained in this approach, which helps them identify people’s strengths rather than focusing primarily on deficits and trauma (Adverse Childhood Experiences, also known as ACEs). That shift, the article notes, fosters resilience and agency. In San Diego County, partners are using the framework to address community health and drive deeper transformation.

Two clear examples from the Times’ story show this:

• "But checklists can be rigid. Dr. Pavlovich worked for years with a California initiative that encouraged pediatricians to screen all patients for trauma. Now, she starts each appointment asking patients about what’s going well for them or to describe recent moments of pride.”

• "When a pediatric resident at Stanford University asked a young mother about her strengths, Dr. Sege said the woman burst into tears, saying: “No one has ever told me I’m doing something right before.”

This core idea goes far beyond healthcare.

As someone who works closely with frontline nonprofit service providers, I see this truth every day: if we want better outcomes, we have to shift how we see people because beliefs + behaviors = culture. Nonprofits must build internal cultures that identify strengths first and do so in relationship with the individuals and communities they serve. When that happens, trust increases, resilience grows, and people experience more agency. Over time, that leads to better outcomes.

Asset Framing is About Changing How We Think

Asset Framing is a cognitive framework first. It is a way of seeing people and communities.

It asks us to start with:

• strengths
  
• contributions
  
• capabilities
  
• resilience
  
• lived expertise

This is why Asset Framing matters in social impact and social change work. It shapes how we think and, in turn, how we lead, and it spills over into how we communicate and the stories we share. The stories we carry internally can override facts and introduce bias. We often settle on a narrative first, then interpret new information to fit it. That is confirmation bias, and it is why nonprofit storytelling should be grounded in asset framing.

As social entrepreneur and equity leader Trabian Shorters, says, “You can’t lift people up by putting them down.” Trabian’s work has been foundational in elevating Asset Framing and challenging deficit-based narratives across nonprofit and philanthropic spaces. One of the most important reminders in his work is that Asset Framing does not ignore the barriers people face. It simply refuses to reduce people to those barriers and challenges.

Asset Framing holds a core truth: none of us is defined by the worst thing we have experienced, or by what has happened to us. It also doesn’t ignore challenges or risks. Every person is inherently worthy of dignity. Imago Dei.

Using food insecurity as an example, asset framing sounds like:

Many families in our community are working hard to make ends meet, yet rising costs and unexpected emergencies can make it difficult to keep food on the table. Our food pantry provides reliable access to nutritious groceries and connects neighbors to additional resources so families can stay healthy, stable, and supported.

Versus: 

Thousands of hungry families in our community don’t have enough food to survive. Many are unemployed and struggling to provide for their children. Our food pantry helps people in need who have nowhere else to turn. (Deficit Frame)

What This Means for Nonprofits

Many nonprofits adopting Asset Framing may be tempted to use it only as a communications practice, applying it to fundraising appeals or donor-facing storytelling. If it stops there, it becomes cosmetic and a short-term fix.

Asset Framing must be an internal culture change at nonprofits.

It should shape:

• program design
  
• partnership and engagement
  
• staff training
  
• outcome measurement
  
• and yes, communications, messaging, and storytelling

Because what we communicate is never neutral. It reflects our values, our culture, and the mindsets we reinforce inside our organizations (including nonprofit staff and board members).

From Mindset to Communication: Language and Visuals Matter

Once Asset Framing becomes a shared internal lens, it naturally shows up in how we communicate.

That includes:

• language that protects dignity and avoids reductionist labels
• storytelling that highlights agency and leadership, not only hardship
• visuals that reflect wholeness and strength, not stereotypes or “poverty performance”

This is where many nonprofits get stuck. They want better stories, but they have not done the internal work to shift how they see the people behind them.

A Real-World Example: San Diego’s Shift Toward Wellbeing

The New York Times story also included that San Diego’s child protection agency (commonly known as ‘child welfare’ or by the ‘CPS’ moniker) has rebranded itself as the Department of Child and Family Wellbeing.

On their website, they describe a fundamental shift that emphasizes prevention, partnership, and treating families as experts in keeping children safe. This goes beyond a new brand name; it is an entire reframing of identity and responsibility for a government agency historically known for separating children from their parents.

A Question Worth Asking

If you lead a nonprofit or mission-driven organization, here is a simple audit question:

Where are we still defaulting to deficit framing because it is familiar, fundable, or “how it’s always been”?

Asset Framing challenges nonprofits to go beyond messaging. It requires an internal culture shift rooted in trust, dignity, and partnership. If you’re looking for support to integrate asset framing into your nonprofit culture, reach out to Kairos Impact Strategies to see how we can help.