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Massachusetts CASA is determined to be a leader in contributing to a more compassionate, equitable, and just child welfare system. A system that supports families in the way that they deserve and prevents children being removed unnecessarily. And if removal is unavoidable, a system that ensures that children and youth receive the care and attention that we demand for those within our own families and parents receive the support that they need to have their children returned as quickly as possible.

Here were just a few of our efforts in 2023 which were ALL led by experts with lived experience:

* We led a first of its kind state-wide training for CASA staff and volunteers on implicit bias and interrupting poverty.
* We piloted a pre-service equity and justice-centered training program for new volunteers. They learned the “real” history of the child welfare system, explored the concept of societal neglect, dove deeper into the root causes of racial disproportionality and disparities in the child welfare system, and were challenged to explore their motivations for volunteering.
* We launched a first-ever statewide PR campaign on public radio and social media that directly addressed the conflation of poverty and neglect and racial disproportionality in foster care. The campaign reached over 1.5 million people across New England and significant funds were allocated towards reaching BIPOC community members through advertising on shows such as Latino USA and Code Switch, as well as targeting specific zip codes on social media.
* We testified in front of the legislature and made a call for action to get bolder AND much more sensible about child welfare solutions. We challenged the legislators, and all child welfare stakeholders present, to shrink the system by better supporting families. We stressed the importance of keeping children OUT of the system which research clearly has found often harms children as much as it “protects” them.

These are just a few steps we took in 2023. We will relentlessly, humbly, and unapologetically continue to demand better of ourselves and others.

If you’d like to get involved, please hit me up @charles@macasa.org! You can also visit our website to sign up to volunteer, make that end of the year donation, or subscribe to our email list at https://macasa.org/.

Happy Holidays to All!

Recording this live podcast with my sister Molly was one of the most significant honors of my life. https://lnkd.in/ewQTx__k .

It was Molly’s first “public appearance”. It’s a very difficult podcast to hear because it’s raw, unfiltered, brutally honest, and highlights the worst of our child protection system. At the same time, I hope it also educates, uplifts, and honors voices too often silenced. I’m beyond proud of my sister. I’m appreciative of Angela Tucker who is a remarkable host. She’s extraordinarily compassionate and created a space that led to a very unique outcome. Thank you to Treehouse Foundation and Judy Cockerton for their vision and creating a platform for others to be heard.

I’ve been part of the child welfare system for 48 years. I’m moving away from telling my story and moving towards ensuring that others have the opportunity to tell theirs. I’m moving away from explaining the realities of the system and moving torwards shifting those realities. As I say in the podcast, we are removing limbs from children and families in the child welfare system. When you remove limbs from a tree in the wrong way, you kill the tree. We’re destroying families, disproportionately BIPOC and/or those living in poverty. Join me in disrupting what has always been, repairing the harm, and getting it right. hashtag#getitright.

An accomplishment that so many should be proud of. The first-ever CASA program in Southeastern Massachusetts. Get involved if you’re in the area or pass the word along. Every child in foster care should have a zealous advocate to ensure that they receive the care they deserve and get out of foster care ASAP.

I whole-heartedly agree with Judge Erskine and appreciate that she’s speaking out. “The system” is defective from entry to exit. It’s harmful, discriminatory, and lacks humanity and compassion. I realize that there are arguments in support of abolishing the system all together. I don’t entirely disagree even though I believe we’re far from not needing some version of a “child protection” system. I hear the arguments against “best interest” representation due to the subjectivity and biases that inform it. However, let me be clear–representation of “expressed wishes” only without some version of best interest advocacy and representation (in and outside the courtroom) jeopardizes the safety and well-being of children. Take it from someone who nobody was paying attention to and suffered the consequences because of it. I’m tired of the lack of humility and compromise in finding solutions that will strengthen families and improve child outcomes. Let’s keep the foot on the gas until we create the change we need!

Every child entrenched in the system deserves at least one zealous advocate to look after them. Harmony Montgomery didn’t have one.

I entered the child welfare system in 1975 shortly after my 14-year-old mother, Dee, gave birth to me. She was poor and struggled with substance abuse and mental illness, like all the adults in her family. As a child, I bounced from foster home to foster home. I don’t recall much of my early childhood but there’s one memory that’s fixed in my mind. It’s me at 4, waking up in the morning, wet, frightened, and waiting for my foster mother to enter the room and beat me for wetting the bed.

My entire childhood was tainted by abuse and neglect. But there were caring adults who stepped up for me during important points in my life. They gave me hope, and because of their belief in me, I became a college graduate, therapist, professor, child welfare leader, and adoptive parent to my nephew. None of these accomplishments, though, erase the memories of childhood abuse, which has had a lasting legacy.

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Phoenix Santiago and Charles Lerner discuss the responsibilities we have to care for those who have experienced trauma under our watch. They ask the question “How dare we abdicate our responsibilities after the age of 18?” and discuss what it looks like to offer radical compassion.

Welcome back to INNOVATE! for Season Two! This season, host Angela Tucker highlights REFCA Champions who are inspiring a Re-Envisioning of Foster Care in America. These visionary leaders are using their wisdom, expertise and lived experiences in foster care to transform the foster care narrative from Alaska to New York, California to Missouri, the Pacific Northwest to New England.

To learn more about INNOVATE!, the Re-Envisioning Foster Care in America (REFCA) Movement and the Treehouse Foundation, go to treehousefoundation.net. As always, be sure to like and subscribe to the podcast to be notified when new episodes are released.

ABOUT THE HOST:

INNOVATE! host, Angela Tucker, is a REFCA Champion and a nationally recognized mentor, entrepreneur, educator and consultant. Angela is a transracial adoptee who, having been adopted from foster care by a white family, grew up in a city that was demographically just 1% Black.

She is the Founder of The Adopted Life, a child-welfare consulting business where she strives to center adoptee stories and bring clarity and truth to narratives about race, class and identity.

Angela has produced The Adopted Life 3-part web series where she interviews transracially adopted youth. She is the host of The Adoptee Next Door podcast where she amplifies adult adoptee voices to showcase the wide spectrum of experiences. Her own adoption experience searching for and reuniting with her birth family is the subject of the documentary CLOSURE.

Angela’s first book is scheduled for publication in spring 2023 (Beacon Press).

Angela Tucker – Host & Producer
Nicholas Ramsey – Editor & Producer
Judy Cockerton – Executive Producer
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