Khatib Waheed
Since 2011, Khatib Waheed has initiated Racial Equity Learning Exchange sessions as a national consultant, trainer, and facilitator to support various judicial circuits, child welfare jurisdictions and organizations working to improve services and outcomes for
children and families of color involved with child welfare and juvenile justice. Over the past year, the work has expanded to include other large systems including law enforcement, criminal justices, as well as behavioral, emotional and mental health
agencies across the country.
Prior to his consultant role, Khatib served as a Senior Fellow for the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) in Washington, DC from October 2003 to May 2011. While there Khatib helped to initiate and lead CSSP’s involvement with a national, multi-year campaign to safely reduce disproportionality and disparities for children and families of
color involved with the child welfare system called the Alliance for Racial Equity in Child Welfare. From 2001 to 2003, Khatib worked as Senior Associate for the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, which focuses on improving opportunities and outcomes for youths transitioning from foster care to adulthood. He also served as Senior Associate for the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Comprehensive Community Initiatives from 1999 to
2001.
While working at Aspen, Khatib helped to develop “frameworks” for analyzing how structural and institutional racism, and interpersonal bias have helped to perpetuate long-term disadvantages for African American and other children, families and communities of color. During this same period Khatib also served as the Special Assistant to the Director, Missouri Department of Social Services, where he established a multi-agency coalition to help reduce youth violence, drug trafficking and teen pregnancy in the St. Louis area. In 1989, with support and funding from the Danforth Foundation and the Missouri Departments of Mental Health, Social Services, Education and Health.
Khatib Waheed co-designed and implemented the Walbridge Caring Communities Program (WCCP) in a
North St. Louis neighborhood called Walnut Park. The Walbridge Caring Community Program was subsequently expanded to 20 schools in St. Louis and 100 throughout Missouri, receiving state-wide, national and international renown as an innovative approach for delivering multiple family-centered services, from a school-based setting to families whose children were at-risk of failing in school and being placed in foster care or juvenile detention. The WCCP model has been studied and written about in numerous publications and books and has been replicated both nationally and internationally.
Khatib has received numerous awards for his service to children, families and communities and holds a M. Ed. from the University of Missouri – St. Louis and a B.A. in History and Political Science from Webster University, with a Missouri Secondary Education Teaching Certificate in Social Studies.
Khatib has participated in policy briefings at the White House; presented at several National Governor’s Association Conferences about the needs of children and families, and has testified before Congress about disparities in foster care. He is also a past participant in the International Initiative for Children, Youth, and Families, which allowed
him to visit both the Netherlands and Israel to network with policy makers, field experts and researchers representing fifteen countries about developing policy aimed at strengthening families and neighborhoods.
WORKSHOP: “Promoting Racial Equity in Community Transformation and System Reform.”
This session introduces racial equity and structural racism as a framework to describe why and how race still matters; how the framework can be used to further advance non-violent community transformation; and share examples of existing work in child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health and schools that are using these approaches.