Reported by Keyna Franklin and written by Aleesa Mann
Jovonna Frieson is a parent advocate at New Alternatives for Children. The only one. It’s a job she considers an honor but also a stressor given that the agency works with hundreds of families annually while Frieson can only support about a dozen parents at a time.
Legislators in New York State are considering passing a bill to ensure that children adopted from foster care can continue to have contact with their parents, even when rights are terminated, if it’s in the child’s best interest. Here, Rise’s Sara Werner, who lost her daughter to adoption but reunified with her son, interviews Amy Mulzer, a staff attorney for law and appeals in the Family Defense Practice at Brooklyn Defender Services:
Supporting parents and working to change the system brings meaning to advocates’ lives. But it’s also painful work. Here, Rise Training Director Jeanette Vega, Senior Parent Leader Nancy Fortunato and Parent Leader Keyna Franklin explain their own journeys and the support they believe all parents need to lead change. Both Jeanette and Nancy began at NYC’s Child Welfare Organizing Project, the first parent advocacy and peer support organization in the country.
Fortunato: When I was a … Read More
Hearing on “Strengthening Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect”
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services March 26, 2019
Good afternoon, Madam Chair Bonamici, Ranking Member Comer, and members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to be here today. My name is LaCrisha Rose. I currently reside in Cabin Creek WV with my husband and three children Remington, Sawyer and Meadow. I work for … Read More
Interview by Keyna Franklin
Katya Smyth is the CEO and founder of the social change organization The Full Frame Initiative.
Katya Smyth
Q: Can you tell us what you learned about services from running On the Rise to help women in crisis?
A: I knew going in that programs and systems tend to see people as problems. What I came to appreciate is how hard it is even for frontline workers who don’t want to see people that way to … Read More
