A Better Way Inc

10/09/2025

Parents and Kids Agree: Loneliness is Today’s Biggest Mental Health Challenge
https://childmind.org/blog/loneliness-is-todays-biggest-mental-health-challenge/

10/08/2025

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! 🎉
We’re celebrating the strength, culture, and heart of our Hispanic and Latino communities, today and every day.

We’re grateful for the families, staff, and partners who bring their traditions, stories, and spirit to everything we do. Your courage and resilience inspire our mission to help children and families heal and thrive.

💛 Thank you for all the ways you make our community stronger!

10/07/2025

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! 🎉
We’re celebrating the strength, culture, and heart of our Hispanic and Latino communities, today and every day.

We’re grateful for the families, staff, and partners who bring their traditions, stories, and spirit to everything we do. Your courage and resilience inspire our mission to help children and families heal and thrive.

💛 Thank you for all the ways you make our community stronger!

10/07/2025

The Family First law empowers states and tribes to spend federal child welfare funds on supporting families, so children don’t need to be placed in foster care. Cancel, who lived in foster care for much of his youth, says that allows organizations like his to achieve their main goal of avoiding the “unnecessary separation” of children from their families.

A California woman in the hospital after being beaten by her husband faced having her children removed because she had no safe place to go to after treatment. But Sixto Cancel, founder and CEO of Think of Us, which seeks to improve foster care and keep families together, told a session at the 2025 N...

10/06/2025

Malcolm came to A Better Way (ABW) at age 15 after a difficult childhood marked by neglect and instability. When he entered the home of his foster parent, he was struggling with anger and uncertainty about his future. But with the consistent support, therapy, and guidance of his ABW social worker and mental health clinician, he made steady progress.

Now Malcolm is looking ahead to community college and a potential career in the Navy. He has become responsible and focused, taking pride in maintaining his home life and education.

This progress is thanks in part to the dedication of our donors and supporters, who help make it possible for our social workers, family support specialists and mental health clinicians to help young people like Malcolm build a future that once seemed out of reach.

* Name changed to protect client confidentiality

10/01/2025

When Angela was struggling with ADHD, our Family Support Specialist spent time with her family. She listened, encouraged, and shared her own ADHD journey. That openness helped Angela feel less alone and gave her hope.

With new routines and school supports in place, Angela began to rebuild her confidence. Step by step she learned to advocate for herself and is now thriving.

It's a reminder that when families and caring adults come together, real change happens.

Read Angela's story in our Blog: https://www.abetterwayinc.net/blog/she-needed-someone-to-believe-in-her

09/10/2025

👏👏👏
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office said the program’s expansion will save families in the state $12,000 per child per year on average.

The program may offer a blueprint for other states on an issue that was prominent during the 2024 campaign.

09/08/2025

A new study found that using smartphones before age 13 could damage kids’ mental health

Using smartphones before age 13 could damage kids’ mental health, according to a new study based on self-reports in a survey of nearly 2 million people in 163 countries.

08/20/2025

“Anxiety feels like a bomb in my stomach and every second feels like a year and nothing makes it stop,” said one young woman. “Anxiety tastes like bad coffee on an empty stomach. Anxiety feels like something watching me sleep.”

08/19/2025

✨ From Foster Care to Future Leaders ✨
Every year, more than 4,000 young people in California age out of foster care. Too often, they face barriers to housing, jobs, and stability. Not because of who they are, but because systems have not given them the support they need.

That is why A Better Way is preparing to launch the Transitional Opportunities Project (TOP) next year. This 8-month program will help foster youth (ages 18–26) gain the training, mentorship, and career pathways they need to step into roles as mental health professionals, advocates, and leaders.

TOP will include hands-on training, resilience-building, mentorship from foster alumni, a $500 monthly stipend, and even a brand-new laptop.

We are excited to share this vision and plan to launch the pilot in 2026 with 24 participants. Read more on our blog: https://www.abetterwayinc.net/blog

A Better Way is launching a bold new program to help former foster youth build careers in the helping professions.

08/18/2025

Our Chief Program Officer shares what motivates him, the wins that matter most, and how flexible support can turn crisis into engagement.

Warner Graham has been with A Better Way (ABW) for almost six years. What drew him here, and what keeps him here, is simple: service with purpose. In this quick Q&A, he shares what motivates him, the wins that matter most, and how flexible support can turn crisis into engagement.

08/14/2025

Today, our SF Mental Health Program Director, Monica Dirr, represented A Better Way at the San Francisco Human Services Agency's Family and Children Services Providers’ Fair.

It was a warm and collaborative gathering of agencies that, like us, support children, youth and families in San Francisco. Monica connected with HSA administrators, protective services workers, and others who are on the front lines every day.

We’re grateful to stand alongside amazing partners like Alternative Family Services, Seneca Family of Agencies, San Francisco CASA, Family Support Services, and Support For Families Of Children With Disabilities — all working toward a brighter future for San Francisco’s kids. 💙