Since the COVID-19 shutdown began, my emotions have flip-flopped between anger at the system, understanding for the safety of my children, and sadness in not seeing them, holding them, playing with them and reading to them. I feel a sense of helplessness knowing that, right now, their well-being is absolutely out of my control. I hope that soon this nightmare will end.
Search Results for: they will not win
Survival During Triggering Times
April 01, 2020 by
It is as if my past has caught up with me: Deserted streets. Food lines. Curfews. Yes, I feel like my past has finally reared its ugly head on American soil.
I have been struggling daily since I returned from the war in Iraq 17 years ago. Secretly, I call these experiences “Living in a Triggering Town.” It’s the constant pressure of surviving.
That’s New York City today. Not being able to travel on the buses, or trains, or by cab. Normally. Not able to leave the house unless deemed mission essential by the Governor. Transit workers, grocery store workers, hospital personnel. They keep us alive, but they cannot keep us sane.
Push Continues for Minnesota’s African American Family Preservation Act
March 13, 2020 by
Last year, Rise interviewed Kelis Houston, a family advocate and child welfare policy consultant in Minnesota, about Minnesota parents and allies fighting to address racial bias and violations of parents’ rights by the child welfare system. Rise spoke to Kelis Houston again to get an update on the African American Family Preservation Act.
Rise Recommendations to Address Schools’ Over-Reporting to Child Protective Services
March 02, 2020 by
The Rise series Surveillance Isn’t Safety began with a focus on schools because NYC schools call in 26% of NYC reports to the state child abuse and neglect hotline. Parents have described the harm caused to their families when schools did not support them, but then reported them.
Here, Rise highlights steps that the Department of Education (DOE) and individual schools, as well as our city and state child welfare agencies, ACS and OFCS, and others can take to better support families and reduce unnecessary reports.
New Research: How Fear of CPS Harms Families
January 22, 2020 by
Interview with Kelley Fong, PhD candidate in Sociology and Social Policy at Harvard University, Author of “Concealment and Constraint: Child Protective Services Fears and Poor Mothers’ Institutional Engagement”.
By Keyna Franklin, Rise Parent Leader, and Careena Farmer, Rise Contributor
Throughout our series on surveillance, Rise has exposed how child welfare surveillance harms families and communities, particularly low-income communities and communities of color. Far too often, when families are struggling, the response they are met with is a … Read More