Kimberly: All of us are parent leaders in Washington State. We’re “veteran parents”—parents who are veterans of the child welfare system. I got involved 8 years ago. CPS had taken my daughter. When I got her back, they asked me to get involved in implementing the first Parent-to-Parent program. Now I’m a social worker at the Office of Public … Read More
Search Results for: they will not win
‘I Made a Mistake’ Not ‘I Am a Mistake’ – How parents—and the child welfare system—can stand up to shame.
September 01, 2015 by
Ambrosia Eberhardt, Danielle Goodwin and Heather Cantamessa are “Veteran Parents” with the Washington State Parent Advocate Network, a project of The Children’s Home Society. Here, they explain the importance of addressing shame in child welfare:
Q: Parent advocates and child welfare administrators in Washington state have begun a series of panel discussions on shame. Why shame?
Heather: All of us are parent advocates who had our own children placed in foster care. In the past year, we’ve … Read More
To Speak or Not to Speak – Weighing the pros and cons of revealing past trauma in court.
September 01, 2015 by
When parents are facing a child welfare case, they often keep silent about their past history of trauma. Sometimes parents’ past experiences are too painful to talk about. Other times parents fear that talking openly about experiences of violence or victimization might hurt their case. Parents are right to be concerned that what they say in court or to their worker can be used against them. At the same time, keeping all past … Read More
‘What Did I Do That They Took Me From You?’ – My son’s time in care left him feeling like there was something wrong with him.
September 01, 2015 by
Illustration by YC
My son came home from two years in foster care a scared, angry and confused 6-year-old. I kept telling myself that his fear, anger and confusion would all go away when life was “normal” again, but life never really got normal for us.
Lies and Stealing
I had already successfully raised three children when my youngest son was born. But my son’s father died unexpectedly when I was pregnant with my son, and … Read More
Apart But Not Alone – My grandson has made progress in a facility that works closely with family.
September 01, 2015 by
photo by Rosa Perin
From the day my grandson Nathan made his arrival into this world, we felt that something was different. Nathan was a fussy baby. He didn’t like to be held or rocked. Getting him to sleep was always difficult. As he became a toddler, Nathan couldn’t sit still or stay focused on any one toy for any length of time, even watching TV. Interacting with other kids his age was … Read More