e Vega Brown and Bianca Shaw were recently featured on After the Kids Move In, a weekly radio show produced by the Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York.
While moving toward our vision, Rise works to ensure that parents involved in the system right now have the support of a trained, life-experienced Parent Advocate. During the last program year, Rise trained two cohorts of Parent Advocates hired to work at New York City foster and preventive agencies, graduating a total of 12 Parent Advocates. Rise also hosted online support circles for graduates to continue to engage in peer support and build their resource networks.
As Rise moves into our second year of organizing, we are reflecting on our successes and developing plans for next steps in advocating for our Parents’ Platform. This year, we joined the efforts of a variety of organizations that have been leading the movement for affordable and accessible child care and equitable pay for child care providers. Rise brought the perspective of parents impacted by ACS into the movement for universal child care, recognizing lack of child care as a family policing issue and a driver of “neglect” allegations. We are excited about all we accomplished together in community during this program year.
The Rise & Shine Parent Leadership Program supports parents impacted by ACS in becoming powerful leaders to make change. During the 2022 Rise & Shine graduation in June, we celebrated six graduating parents who shared their stories, poems and experiences in the program. We are excited to continue sharing their writing and reflections about the Rise & Shine Program! Here, you can read the 2022 program report and graduate poems, view the graduation recording and learn about upcoming Rise & Shine open house information sessions.
Join us in person or via Facebook Live to celebrate the 2022 Rise & Shine Parent Leadership Program Graduates! During the ceremony, you’ll hear more about the program and graduating parents will share their experiences, stories and poems. We look forward to celebrating with you!
