All parents need places where they feel safe and supported. Many parents want help but fear opening up about their struggles and don’t know where to safely find support. If children are in foster care, parents may not know what services to ask for to help them heal. Parents write about the supports that have helped them feel safe, bond with their children, grow as people and parents, reunify with their children—and keep their children out of foster care.
Hearing on “Strengthening Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect”
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services March 26, 2019
Good afternoon, Madam Chair Bonamici, Ranking Member Comer, and members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to be here today. My name is LaCrisha Rose. I currently reside in Cabin Creek WV with my husband and three children Remington, Sawyer and Meadow. I work for … Read More
Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath) in Boston pairs low-income parents with professionals to support them in gaining the resources and skills needed to attain financial self-sufficiency. Nicki Ruiz de Luzuriaga, Associate Vice President of Capacity Building for EMPath, explains how families can move up financially.
Q: How can mentoring help parents improve their economic stability?
A: Participants are paired with “Mobility Mentors”. Some participants are homeless and not working. Others work full-time but are still struggling. … Read More
This spring, NYC’s Administration for Children’s Services will open Family Enrichment Centers (FECs) in three neighborhoods with high child welfare involvement—Highbridge and Hunt’s Point in the Bronx and East New York, Brooklyn—run by Good Shepherd Services, Graham Windham, and the Bridgebuilders Community Partnership. Each site will have a director, two parent advocates, and a community liaison.
Jacqueline Martin, Deputy Commissioner for the Division of Preventive Services, and Kailey Burger, Assistant Commissioner for Community Based Strategies in the … Read More
The grief parents suffer when they lose children to foster care and adoption is “invisible and often goes unacknowledged,” explains Toronto-based social worker Kathleen Kenny and parent advocate Sheryl Jarvis, who run a 15-week support group for women who use drugs and have experienced having one or more children removed or adopted.
Q: How would you compare the grief of a parent who loses a child to adoption to a parent whose child dies?
Jarvis: When a child … Read More
Before my son entered foster care, I was working full time and going to school full time. I was known for multi-tasking. I never kept a calendar but I could make all appointments and never be late. I was on it. But once child welfare got involved in my life, things went sideways real fast.
After I lost my son, it was like I lost control over my body and mind. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t … Read More