Rise parent leaders Nancy Fortunato and Jeanette Vega presented to 400 attorneys at the American Bar Association conference for parent attorneys on April 25. Here is the text of their speech:
Thank you for the opportunity to present about parents’ perspectives on family court.
The main thing we want you to hear today is that parents come into court feeling powerless. When our children are removed, we feel the ultimate in powerlessness.
To get our children back, we … Read More
This Saturday, the film Custody by director James Lapine will air on Lifetime at 8pm EST. Starring Viola Davis, Hayden Panettiere and Catalina Sandino Moreno, the film explores the professional conflicts and personal dramas of a mother, a lawyer, a caseworker and a judge as a case of suspected abuse makes its way through the family court system.
In the background is the recent death of another child known to the system. The aftershocks of that … Read More
Rise hosted a screening of the film Custody, which was filmed in Manhattan Family Court and traced the shadow that a horrific case can cast across the entire system. Starring Viola Davis, Hayden Panettiere and Catalina Sandino Moreno, the film humanizes a mother caught up in the system and documents how minor challenges can cascade into a child’s removal for a poor family.
The screening was followed by a panel discussion featuring Jeanette Vega, a Rise parent leader whose … Read More
Caseworkers play such an important role in whether parents succeed in getting their children home from foster care. To build parents’ understanding of caseworkers and workers’ understanding of parents, Rise ran two writing groups for frontline staff at the NYC agency Sheltering Arms. These stories show the challenges caseworkers face, as well as ways they’ve overcome those challenges.
READ THE SERIES:
Transparency and Trust – As a caseplanner, I know I have power over parents’ lives – … Read More
We encourage you to check out our annual report to learn more about Rise’s publications, presentations and partnerships in 2016.
In the past year, Rise has deeply focused on frontline staff training and on advocacy.
In December, Rise parent leaders presented testimony to NYC’s City Council about how preventive services have helped them overcome childhood experiences in foster care, access practical supports and build strong, safe families.
The New York Times published Rise Director Nora McCarthy’s letter to … Read More
