Newsletter
Summer 2024
June 20, 2024
An Anti-Racist Approach to Shrinking New York City’s Child Welfare System and Promoting Black Child, Family, and Community Wellbeing
Welcome to the Narrowing the Front Door newsletter! Here you’ll hear about events, resources, and information.
Join us on August 6:
Confronting the Complexity: Keeping Children Thriving and Supported in their Families and Communities
Join an event hosted at the New School, featuring the Narrowing the Front Door Workgroup, the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), and other guests on August 6, 2024 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm for a thoughtful discussion on the evolution and impact of the child protective services (“CPS”) system.
In recent years, ACS has implemented a number of policy and practice changes to decrease use of family separation without any increased risks to children. Yet, the system still has the power to threaten and disrupt the integrity of families, despite no wrongdoing on their part. While thousands fewer Black and Hispanic/Latinx families are subjected to formal investigations, court prosecutions, and family separation than in previous years, the system continues to inflict these harms disproportionately on Black, Latinx and LGBTQAI+ children, youth and families. In NYC, a Black child is almost seven times as likely as a white child to be the subject of an intrusive and traumatic CPS investigation and a Hispanic child is nearly five times as likely.
Community experts, policymakers, and practitioners will share perspectives on the role of CPS, what kind of family support system is needed, and how communities can support safe and thriving children in their families. Topics to be discussed include the authority and limits on the government’s surveillance, monitoring, and regulation of families, and how public resources can be used effectively for family support. Participants will address recent media coverage, delve into current data and trends within New York City’s CPS system, and offer strategies to promote the health and well being of children in their families.
Join us in person on August 6, 2024, 6 pm- 8 pm, for an engaging discussion on how to best support the wellbeing of children and families.
Participants include:
Angela Burton, Attorney and Co-Chair of Narrowing the Front Door Workgroup
Jess Dannhauser, Commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services
Leah L. Habersham, MD, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Addiction Medicine, Mt. Sinai
Lavern Harry, Vice President, Preventive, Foster Care & Adoption at Graham Windham
Leah A. Hill, Ann Moynihan Distinguished Clinical Research Scholar & Clinical Professor of Law, Fordham University School of Law
Joyce McMillan, Founder and Executive Director of JMACforFamilies, and Co-Chair of Narrowing the Front Door Workgroup
Anne Williams-Isom, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services
Moderated by:
Melissa Russo, Television Journalist (WNBC-TV News Channel 4)
Dr. Sophine Charles, COFCCA Downstate Associate Executive Director
Date: August 6, 2024
Time: 6:00pm-8:00pm
Location: The New School
Theresa Lang Community and Student Center
55 West 13th Street, 2nd Floor
This event will also be livestreamed.
CALL TO ACTION
The new voter and City Charter-enshrined Commission on Racial Equity (CORE) has released its Draft Community Equity Priorities and is inviting feedback before finalizing the list. The deadline for responding is August 16, 2024.
Although many of the Commission’s priorities are aligned with our goals of investing resources and decision-making in communities and holding government accountable for delivering quality and responsive services that respect families and communities, none of the priorities reference child welfare/CPS/family policing, an intersection of racial and gender oppression disproportionately affecting Black and Latinx families. See the specific priorities here.
The Community Equity Priorities include eliminating racial, gender, and disability gaps in how government delivers services, supporting community-based services, reducing incarceration and police intervention in mental health crises, holding police and other city workers accountable for harm, increasing community members in public-decision-making, and more.
Please tell the Commission to explicitly include family policing in its Community Equity Priorities. Complete the Draft Community Equity Priorities Response Form here OR download the Response Form in a pdf format and submit your response to AskCore@core.nyc.gov.
Here is a suggested script to submit in the Suggestion Box at the end of the form:
To address the government's role in racial inequity, the City must explicitly acknowledge the harm caused by “child protective services/CPS” (the family policing system). In NYC, Black and Latinx children and families are targeted for intrusive, traumatic, and life-altering CPS investigations, all too often leading to unnecessary court ordered supervision/oversight, child removal, and termination of parental rights. To ensure conditions for children to thrive, CORE should prioritize support for families targeted by CPS; include in the Community Equity Priorities the establishment of a Family Regulation System Accountability Council as recommended by the Narrowing the Front Door Workgroup; and clearly outline measurable outcomes aimed at facilitating urgent and necessary change.
2024 Legislative Recap
Two important pieces of legislation failed to pass the legislature this year: the Family Miranda and Anti-Harassment bills. Family Miranda would require child protective services to inform parents of their rights at the onset of an investigation. The Anti-Harassment bill would require reporters to the State Central Register to confidentially provide their name and contact information, ending New York’s practice of accepting anonymous reports. The Anti-Harassment bill passed the Senate and made it to the floor of the Assembly.
JMACforFamilies, other advocates, and families met with legislators and made many visits to Albany. These efforts have educated lawmakers and there is growing support for these measures. Another bill that failed to pass but is gaining momentum is the Guaranteed Income Pilot Program, Mothers and Infants Lasting Change(MILC) allowance (Senate Bill S4578A). MILC would provide income to eligible participants for the last three months of pregnancy and the first 18 months after the child is born.
Pictured in Albany - Joyce McMillan, Angela Burton, Shalonda Curtis-Hackett and Dorothy Roberts.
The legislature passed several pieces of legislation that will support families including:
Civil Rights Commission Releases Recommendations
The Civil Rights Commission Report, released by the New York Advisory Committee on May 8, 2024, examines the New York City Child Welfare system and delves into the effects it has on African American children and families.
The committee spoke with several individuals during briefings and utilized many written statements when preparing this report. The report includes several findings that highlighted the harms committed on Black families who were investigated by the family policing system (ACS). Based on the findings from the study, multiple recommendations were produced. Many of the recommendations from the Narrowing the Front Door report were highlighted in the Civil Rights Commission Report.
You can also check out the Imprint article with a quote from Narrowing the Front Door’s Co-Chair, Angela O. Burton.
Know Your Rights! Awareness Campaign Hits the Bronx
JMACforFamililies continues to fight for the rights of Black and Brown families in NYC through continuous advocacy efforts. Most recently, JMACforFamilies started advising families of their rights and access to legal counsel by running bus ads. The first round of 63 buses will run in the Bronx. Please donate to JMACforFamilies to help support the continuation of the bus ads in other boroughs to ensure that families are aware of their rights.
Child Poverty Reduction
Governor Hochul established the New York State Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council (CPRAC), under the Child Poverty Reduction Act. This council’s mandate includes analyzing child poverty in New York, making policy recommendations to reduce child poverty by fifty percent within a decade, and measuring and monitoring the State's progress towards achieving this goal.
The CPRAC is holding public hearings in New York City. A recent hearing allowed New Yorkers to share their experiences with accessing and utilizing public benefits.
THANKS FOR JOINING OUR RECENT EVENTS - and check out the recordings
The Reckoning Part I: Transforming Systems to Achieve Family Justice and Integrity
On March 14, 2024, Narrowing the Front Door, Graham Windham, Good Shepherd Services, and New York Foundling co-sponsored ”The Reckoning: Transforming Systems to Achieve Family Justice and Integrity” at the New School. It was a full-day conference dedicated to reflecting on the child welfare system and transforming perspectives within the field. The event delved into the history of the child welfare system, explored the consequences of government surveillance, separation, and harm, and discussed strategies to put an end to the challenges faced by Black and Latinx families and children impacted by the system. The event was supported by the Redlich Horwitz Foundation.
You can watch recordings of the event:
The Reckoning: Session 1 - The History of Child Welfare
The Reckoning: Session 3 - Community Approaches as Alternatives to Systems
The Reckoning Part II
Thank you for joining Narrowing the Front Door, Graham Windham, New York Foundling, and Good Shepard for a virtual convening of The Reckoning Part II: Transforming Systems to Achieve Family Justice and Integrity.
The Reckoning Part II discussed the feedback received from the Reckoning Part I and delved into discussions around the framework for analyzing reform, harmful agency practices and ended with a discussion on accountability and an acknowledgement of harm from the CEO’s from Graham Windham (Kimberly Watson), New York Foundling ( Melanie Hartzog) and Good Shepherd (Michelle Yanche).
You’re InvitedRSVP Her
Please join JMACforFamilies for their annual fundraiser, Just Making a Change for Families. The event will take place on Thursday, September 26, 2024 from 5:30-7:30pm at 195 Montague Street, Brookly, NY 11201.
The fundraiser will support families who are in need of basic necessities through JMACforFamilies partnership with St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The Community Closet was established to assist families with free clothing, diapers, wipes, and other material goods for their children.
Minimum donation for tickets: 200.00 to JMACforFamilies or an equivalent purchase of necessities for families off of their Amazon wishlist.
Please send proof of purchase to info@jmacforfamilies.org to receive your ticket.
Thank you in advance for supporting families in need!
Employment Opportunity
JMacforFamilies is hiring a program facilitator.
To apply for the Program Facilitator position, please send your resume and cover letter to info@jmacforfamilies.org
WHAT TO READ:
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