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• Joining the System – Parent advocates who have been both child and parent of the system are a powerful resource to improve it.

  The first time I visited my son in foster care, I walked into the same CPS office that I’d sat in as a child. I saw my son looking at me with tears running down his face the same... Read More

• ‘I Want to Feel Safe but I’m Scared’ – I’m searching for a therapist who can help me with PTSD.

  I’ve been diagnosed with Chronic Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD). When I was little, my mother hit and kicked me all the time. My step-dad abused me. I’ve been raped multiple times. The last time was in 2005. I’ve dealt... Read More

• Laying the Past to Rest – Calming your body’s sensations can help to heal trauma.

  Bessel Van Der Kolk, medical director of the Justice Treatment Institute’s Trauma Center in Massachusetts and renowned trauma treatment researcher and specialist, talks about ways to recover from trauma.

  Q: Your recent book is called “The Body Keeps the Score.”... Read More

• Awakening to Magic – In addition to services, times of joy, connection and wonder keep me going.

  Magic really does exist. Magic is when you hear music that makes you laugh or cry; you feel it deep within your soul. Magic is also when you read a book that makes you feel like you can go... Read More

• ‘I Was Her Little Flower That Was Blossoming’ – Mentors and peers helped me find my way back to hope.

  “Girl, you better stop crying,” my grandmother said. I was young. Holding tears back was hard. My throat closed up and my head began to spin.

  My grandmother was a warrior. She was my soldier. When I was little, everything... Read More

• Making It Safe to Ask for Help – How can child welfare support more and investigate less?

  Over the past three years, Rise has worked with and interviewed more than 40 mothers who grew up in foster care. A common theme is our fear that if we reach out for assistance, our families will be hurt... Read More

• Dreaming Again – Parenting Journey, therapy and writing are helping me believe in myself.

  Being raised in foster care and my daughters ending up there used to seem like an unbreakable cycle. I had feelings of being stuck in the past. The abuse I encountered at home and in foster care left scars... Read More

• ‘We Want to Be Heard, Not Fixed’ – Child welfare needs to focus on supporting people, not fixing problems.

  When we grow up in care, we’re mandated to services. When we come back into the system as parents, it still feels like no one’s listening to what we think we need. Here, five foster care alum and parents—whose... Read More

• On My Own Terms – I needed to feel safe and in control to face my past.

  For the most part, my childhood is a blur, but I remember being about 7 and my uncle feeling on my backside when I was asleep. That’s when my hell began. At the time, I lived with my uncle... Read More

• Protecting Your Privacy – How to work with your lawyer to keep therapy as confidential as possible.

  When you’ve grown up in foster care and you return to the system as a parent, it often seems like the court knows your entire mental health history. Because your current therapist also reports to the court about your... Read More

• Do No Harm – Trauma-focused courts address the roots of foster care placement.

  Since 2010, the Chautauqua County Family Court in upstate New York has worked to become a “trauma-informed court.” Here, Judge Judith Claire and Aimee Neri, a licensed social worker who is the New York State Child Welfare Court Improvement... Read More

• Finding a Community

  I was 4 when I went into my first foster home. My mother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and severe PTSD from abuse she suffered from her mother, who was an alcoholic. My father was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder.... Read More