Mayor Bill de Blasio’s recent announcement that New York City will invest millions in “family enrichment centers” sounds like a win for families. But this initiative should be reconsidered, and the city should start by listening to what families actually want.
Join Rise to celebrate our class of 2021 graduates from our Rise & Shine Parent Leadership Program! Hear parents’ experience with the family policing system, their vision for strong and safe communities and what you can do to support our parent-led movement.
Rise interviewed Marilyn Reyes, co-director of the Peer Network of New York, about harm reduction peer support as part of our process for developing the report, Someone to Turn To: A Vision for Creating Networks of Parent Peer Care. Here, Marilyn says, “I never tell people what to do. I ask them what they want.”
Rise is building a peer care network that can strengthen families while reducing contact with the family policing system. Rise seeks to do this work collaboratively in New York City in partnership with other community-led organizations, beginning with communities most impacted by ACS (Administration for Children’s Services). We hope you will join us and get involved!
This Insights paper presents Rise’s vision for a peer network of collective care by and for parents. This fall, Rise created a parent Peer Vision Team to explore building a peer care model that can strengthen families while reducing contact with the family policing system.
Nationwide and in New York City, where Rise is based, it’s crucial to broadly reorganize supports for families so that accessing resources and services does not put parents at risk of state intervention in their families. Government dollars should target community conditions, not families. This report shares a vision for one critical component of strong communities: networks of peer support and community care.
