When the child welfare system enters your life, there are already so many assumptions that you don’t have strengths as a parent. When you’re also disabled, often your limits are all anybody seems to see.
A report released 18 months ago by the National Council on Disability, “Rocking the Cradle: Ensuring the Rights of Parents with Disabilities and Their Children,” said that too often the child welfare system bases it judgments on prejudice, not … Read More
Questions for this interview were developed by parents at Rise and at the Child Welfare Organizing Project (CWOP), a New York City parent advocacy organization. The interview was condensed and edited for publication.
Before I interviewed Gladys Carrión, the new commissioner of NYC Children’s Services, I was expecting generic answers to my questions. I expect people in power to not relate to, agree with, or even hear … Read More
This informative new video from Legal Services of New Jersey can be used to educate policymakers, judges, lawyers, caseworkers and foster parents on the need for frequent, meaningful visits. Developed for Family Reunification Day, it features Rise Director Nora McCarthy
My introduction to Rise was through the writing workshop at the Child Welfare Organizing Project. When I started, I was writing just to write. Then I found that writing was a way to gain insight into my life.
I never knew that writing words on paper would open up so many old wounds.
The first thing I discovered was that I’d suppressed a lot of what happened in my life. I remembered things my … Read More
For over 20 years, I was isolated. I was afraid to speak about what I’d been through or how I felt. I didn’t think peoplewould listen. In the past I was blamed and judged.
When I did try to speak about what had happened to me, I re-lived the pain and would cry.
I joined Rise in 2008. I love to write and I wanted to put my stories on paper.
The editor, Nora, … Read More
