About Rise

Founded in 2005 and led by parents impacted by the family policing system, Rise believes that parents have the answers for their families and communities. Our mission is to empower parents to be leaders and to create communities that invest in families and offer collective care, healing and support.

Rise continues to hold fast to a future vision of communities that are free from injustice, separation, and a society that is cultivating new ways of preventing and addressing harm. We imagine a radical commitment to ensuring that all families have what they need to live beyond survival and truly thrive. This new mission does not change that and it reflects the focus of Rise’s current work towards that ultimate vision.

We create safe spaces where impacted parents can reflect on their lives, connect with peers, learn about the family policing system’s history and policies, strengthen their writing, public speaking and advocacy skills, and mobilize their communities for justice.

Learn more about our vision and how you can get involved.

News

Why Rise Matters to Me: Jim Dossett, Parent

December 08, 2014 by

When my grandson was 5 weeks old, he was a bubbly little baby boy, living at home with his parents and grandparents. One day he was not feeling well and had a slight temperature. My daughter and son-in-law took him to the hospital. While being examined, the baby let out a horrific scream. The x-ray showed he had a fractured femur—his leg was broken and we didn’t know how it happened.

An unexplained … Read More

Parent Presentations

Rise Writers Present at CFR Panel on Mental Health and Young Parents in Foster Care

December 05, 2014 by

Rise’s Piazadora Footman and Lindsay Reilly presented on mental health and young moms at a Center for Family Representation panel discussion for lawyers and social workers. Together Pia and Lindsay read a selection of story excerpts by young mothers who grew up in foster care and were diagnosed with mental illnesses. Pia joined a panel with mental health experts to discuss her experience with parent-child video therapy.

 

News

Graham Windham Offers Rise Writing Group for Parents: ‘We Want to Really Learn from the Parents We Serve’

December 01, 2014 by

Interview with JESS DANNHAUSER, LYNN BROWN, KIM HARDY WATSON, PEGGY GIBBS 

Jess: Graham Windham is a child welfare and youth development agency in New York City. About a year and half ago we sat down and talked about what we could do to further our support for parents. When we started to talk with parents about what they value, they said they valued their relationships with peers.

We thought that a Rise writing … Read More

Partners

Why Rise Matters to Me: Washington State Parent Leaders

June 08, 2014 by

Interview with Washington State Veteran Parents Kimberly Mays, Alise Hegle, Heather Cantamessa and Ambrosia Eberhardt 

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

Parent Presentations

Harvard Center on the Developing Child and CSSP Share Rise Video on Babies in Care

June 05, 2014 by

Rise’s video, “I Hope My Judge Still Sees the Good in Me,” shares the experiences of five parents whose infants entered foster care. Developed in partnership with the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Harvard Center on the Developing Child to contribute to a joint effort to improve the experiences of infants in foster care, it can be used to sensitize child welfare staff, lawyers, judges and policymakers to the experiences of parents with … Read More

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