Search Results for: they will not win

Brokering Change – Parents and community leaders are key in reducing Black children in foster care.

September 01, 2015 by Antoinette Robinson and Piazadora Footman

In Fresno, Calif., “parent partners” and “cultural brokers” specially trained to build connections between the child welfare system and the Black community have helped bring down the number of Black children in foster care. Here, Deputy Director for Child Welfare Wendy Osikafo, Fresno County Parent Partners Ritchie Barker and Tina Jaso, and Cultural Broker LaTrina Bowen explain the reforms that have made a difference.

Q: What motivated change in Fresno?

Wendy Osikafo: Before 2003, Fresno’s child welfare … Read More

Black, Male, Addicted–and Underestimated – The child welfare system assumed I didn’t belong in my children’s lives.

September 01, 2015 by

Child welfare came into my life in 2000. At the time, I was married with three children, ages 14, 11 and a newborn. I was also an addict.

I used anything that got me high: glue, coke, heroin, valium. I started getting high to belong with the bad guys in the neighborhood and I continued for 35 years.

Because of my drug use, I could not hold a job for long and at times I was an … Read More

‘Let All That Is Indian Within You Die’ – Recognizing America’s brutal legacy with Native American families.

September 01, 2015 by

Judge William Thorne as told to Antoinette Robinson

Shortly after I started working as a tribal judge, one of my cases involved whether to remove children from their family. I didn’t know much about the child welfare system and I needed to do some research. But I also trusted that the child welfare system knew the answers. The more I researched, though, the more I learned that the system was broken.

Since the 1880s, the United States … Read More

At the Table – Involving parent advocates before removal can help prevent unnecessary placements.

September 01, 2015 by Bevanjae Kelley and Jeanette Vega

Around the country, a number of child welfare agencies are beginning to partner with communities to keep kids of color out of foster care. In 2007, NYC’s Administration for Children Services partnered with the parent advocacy organization Child Welfare Organizing Project on a new approach—offering parents at risk of removal the support of another parent who has dealt with the child welfare system.

In NYC, the decision whether to place a child in foster care is … Read More

‘It Helps You Create That Special Bond’ – Two mothers explain how parent-child therapy helped them.

September 01, 2015 by

Kira Santana and Sara Werner are two mothers who have gone to parent-child therapy at the Albert Einstein Early Childhood Center’s Infant-Parent Project. Here they describe their experiences:

Sara: If you have the chance to come to this kind of parenting program, I would recommend it. Definitely.

Nobody forced me to come here. I chose to come. My caseworker said, “The program would be a good way for somebody to help you and your child learn to … Read More

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