Most of the information we have about Black families in the United States focuses on deficits and negativity, says Dr. Chrishana M. Lloyd, principal investigator of the newly launched Black Families Flourishing (BFF) project. “We don’t know a lot about flourishing, wellbeing, and Black family strengths more generally,” Lloyd said.
Understanding the factors that help Black families succeed is essential for advocates who want to promote effective policies. The BFF Project wants to help by highlighting the strengths, agency, and diversity of Black families and moving away from deficit-based perspectives.
BFF recently launched its Data & Insights Hub, a digital platform featuring maps and statistics that track the well-being of Black families with children nationwide. The Hub uses publicly available Census data, and it allows users to explore county-level details, including geography, child age, family structure, and income levels.
Lloyd explains that the BFF initiative wants to broaden the traditional scope of sociological research. “The Hub builds on existing efforts and analyses by broadening the definition and understanding of Black families — from including families with children up to age 25 to recognizing the rich diversity of family structures and ethnicities within Black families.”
BFF’s first data release, “Fresh Look at Black Family Households with Children in the United States,” looks at the geographic distribution of Black families with children compared to the overall Black population nationwide. Their research indicates that as Black people and families continue to remigrate to the U.S. South, support systems are being created to help ensure their well-being in these new areas.
The BFF project uses 2019-2023 American Community Survey microdata and plans to publish additional data throughout summer 2026. The Hub is specifically designed to provide information for researchers, policymakers, community leaders, and members who need to make informed decisions and support the development of thriving Black communities at the local and state levels. Lloyd emphasizes that the most impactful work happens at the neighborhood level: “Ultimately, what’s really happening with families is happening at a local level,” she said.
The BFF project, part of Child Trends — a national research organization focused on childhood development — began in 2020, following a push to expand specialized research on Black domestic life. After reviewing a century’s worth of academic studies, researchers found a persistent trend of portraying Black families as lacking. “We want to understand the diversity and heterogeneity of Black families. … Most of what we know is really deficit-focused and negative,” Lloyd said, noting that government funding priorities have historically emphasized problems over inherent strengths.
Defining the capacity to thrive
A key part of the project was the development of a clear, formal definition of what it means to be a “Black family flourishing.” According to Lloyd, “Black family flourishing is the sustained capacity of Black families to love, care, and thrive together over time and generations, and is grounded in families’ agency, cultural assets and strengths, diversity, and voice.” She said this definition was created after numerous literature reviews and consultations with a Black advisory group and nationwide focus groups. “We will continue to refine it as we do our nationally representative survey and other work,” Lloyd added, noting that the definition will evolve as new insights emerge.
The project is mainly funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which supports the three-year effort to promote strengths-based research. The project’s early work received support from the Doris Duke Foundation, Mackenzie Scott, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Lloyd noted that private funding allows for greater academic freedom. “From a researcher’s point of view, you have a lot more autonomy when you have private dollars,” she said.
By the fall of 2026, the BFF project plans to launch a nationally representative survey and expand its research on how federal economic changes, such as layoffs and furloughs, impact Black households. “We really want to take what we’re learning, communicate it, and disseminate that in ways that shift the narrative and highlight the positive aspects. … There are successful things happening, and we can learn from them, scale and replicate them, and bring about change,” Lloyd stated. “We want to…shine a light on what Black families look like, writ large, which nobody really knows right now.”
To follow the project’s progress and receive updates, BFF offers a newsletter sign-up at http://eepurl.com/i9OUxY. Learn more about the initiative at https://blackfamiliesflourishing.org/.