Before joining a peer support group, I would walk into the foster care agency ready to raise hell. I was having real concerns about my case. I didn’t feel that I was getting the information I needed. I was struggling and had no one to talk to. I wore my anger on my face and didn’t think twice about lashing out.
Throughout my life, I have been used and let down and I learned not to … Read More
In October, NYC’s child welfare agency, the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), released a concept paper on foster care and residential services, outlining its “vision for family foster care and residential foster care services for children and families across New York City.”
Rise offered feedback on this concept paper. Our comments reflect the input of parents who contribute to Rise and who work in the field as parent advocates in foster care and legal agencies. … Read More
In 2007, Children’s Home Society of Washington held a statewide summit for child welfare leadership. Parents who had been involved with the system made up 10% of participants. The keynote speaker, Brenda Lopez, “stunned everyone with her story of losing her kids and then getting them back and becoming a transformational person,” says Nancy Roberts-Brown, former director of Catalyst for Kids, a statewide coalition affiliated with the Children’s Home Society.
That summit led to two parent … Read More
I unjustly lost 7 of my 8 children to the child welfare system because I was seen as unfit because I was a poor, African-American mother in an abusive relationship.
During my fight for my family, I discovered how child welfare professionals who don’t know you or your children can decide that you are a disease that your children need to be cured of.
Now I am determined to bring about change by writing about the harm … Read More
It was a knock on my door in the middle of the night in 1999 that altered the trajectory of my life. I was residing in a family shelter with my 2,4, and 6-year old boys when it happened. I looked through the peephole and saw an African American man and woman. They were caseworkers from New York City’s Administration for Children Services (ACS).
They told me they were there to remove my children because I … Read More
