News And Events

In 2007, the mother of two 10-year-old twins with significant disabilities went to New Jersey’s Division on DevelopmentalDisabilities for help. They told her they could not help her and suggested she bring her children to the emergency room if she couldn’t handle them. When she did, New Jersey’s child protection system stepped in. They placed her children in a residential treatment center, as the mother hoped they would. But they also stripped the … Read More

Angel was a single father of two and I was a single mother of two whenwe found each other three years ago. Angel and I were soul mates. Bringing our four children together was another story. I never, ever could have imagined what it would take to blend our families.

By the time Angel and I decided to unite our families, we had all visited one another many times and the kids … Read More

In many places, families who are investigated for child abuse or neglect face an unexpected and unwanted visit from a child protective worker who knocks on the door and announces that she will investigate the family. During the investigation, parents are often focused only on getting child welfare out of their lives—even if they really do need help with practical problems like child care or clothing for their children, or parenting supports that … Read More

I was a ward of the state of New York from age one until I graduated from high school in 1993. The foster care system saved me because my parents were addicted to drugs and neglected my siblings and me. But it also destroyed me. During my time in foster care, I was in seven different foster homes and two group homes. In five of those homes I experienced physical, sexual and what I … Read More

In the 1980s and ’90s when I was a kid, they used to say the South Bronx was on fire, and growing up here was very hard. There were a lot

of gangs and people robbing people. In high school I used to run from school to the bus so that I wouldn’t get beat up.

Things are still hard in my neighborhood. I live in the Highbridge section of … Read More