If I Wasn't Poor, I Wouldn't Be Unfit: The family separation crisis in the US Child Welfare System

One of the key factors that makes FECs powerful is that both the physically space and the centers offerings to the community are designed with community members and caregivers. [...] PARTICIPATION • What steps does ACS take to ensure there is genuine, meaningful, and sustained involvement of parents with lived experience of the child welfare system in ACS policies, practices, and programs? • We understand the stated role of the Parent Advocacy Council is to meet and share recommendations with ACS leadership in an effort to include more parent voices in policies, procedures, an. [...] The recently published study in the Children and Youth Services Review titled, “Outcomes of the Parent Advocacy Initiative in Child Safety Conferences: Placement and Repeat Maltreatment,” examined the impact of the child safety conferences on case outcomes of families served by parent advocatesThe study revealed that, with the Parent Advocacy Initiative in place, ACS saw a significant increase in. [...] • What steps has ACS taken towards fulfilling the OCFS requirement to develop and implement the blind removal process, where social workers and supervisors decide on a plan of action for a child based on data that excludes race and related factors? • We understand that ACS developed the Equity Action Plan as part of the agency’s commitment to confront and address racial disparities at key stages i. [...] The “applications unit” that you mention in your question is the team that does the initial intake and clearance of the case as it is assigned to a caseworker, as with all incoming cases forwarded to ACS by the state.