Rise magazine is written by parents who have faced the child welfare system in their own lives. Many people don’t know that the majority of children who enter foster care return home to their parents–and that most children in care wish for a lifelong relationship with their parents, whether they live with them or not. Helping parents is fundamental to helping children in foster care.
Through personal essays and reporting, parents illuminate every aspect of the child welfare experience from parents’ perspectives. For professionals, Rise stories offer insight that can improve how you engage and support families. For parents, Rise offers information, peer support, and hope.
During a community-building workshop early on in the Rise & Shine Parent Leadership Program, we did a group activity where we spun around in circles until we were informed to stop. We were told that when we stopped, the person we were facing would be our buddy. I am usually guarded, have a wall up and do not prefer activities like these—but I was hoping for the best.
from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and monitoring my children. I had no privacy. The homemaker would watch and feed my children. If I had to step out, she would accompany me. It was outrageous. I didn’t feel like I was the parent because she did everything for me. I would’ve rather had child care without someone in my home intruding and controlling everything.
We are organizing for universal child care unaffiliated with ACS, including community-based respite care to support families when last-minute child care needs or emergencies arise. Most recently, Rise conducted an online survey about NYC parents’ child care experiences and needs and held a Virtual Town Hall on Child Care. Our next steps and calls to action involve organizing a letter and social media campaign and building partnerships to create an NYC-focused child care coalition. We hope you’ll join us!
city budget totaling $101 billion for fiscal year 2023. The budget determines funding for essential services and systems in New York City and reflects the Mayor’s and City Council’s priorities.
I vividly remember walking into a visit at the foster agency with my girlfriend, bringing clothes for my son. Twice, I corrected a worker who was misgendering my partner, calling her “he” and not “she” because of her attire.
