by Ari Vazquez, LSPC Family Unity Analyst
Reimagine Child Safety Bay Area and Beyond (RCSBAB) aims to prevent, stop, and permanently end the harm created by the family policing system, commonly called “child welfare”. The historical roots of family policing, which are based in slavery and the genocide of Indigenous people, have created today’s child welfare system, which harms many people and continues to target Black and Indigenous families. RCSBAB was built on the recognition that across the nation, the most impactful changes to the family policing system have been led by grassroots groups whose goals and strategies are defined by people who have experienced injustice firsthand. One of the most impactful accomplishments of the coalition so far is providing a space for people who have experienced the injustice of family policing to connect with others who have had similar experiences or a passion for creating change.
Over the past three years, the coalition transitioned from mainly being composed of dependency lawyers and advocates without lived experience to a group stewarded by a team of system-impacted leaders, with the most engaged members being system-impacted. Dependency lawyers, policy advocates, and other folks passionate about the issue remain crucial members of the coalition, sharing their expertise and resources to build power with this grassroots group. The community developed within this coalition is deeply impactful, and all members are more empowered as advocates because of their connections to others in the group.
The current focus of the RCSBAB is on building power and capacity within membership, and changing the public narrative around family policing. Monthly meetings are typically half political education and half action planning. The focus of our action is to develop materials that raise public awareness of the injustice in the child “welfare” system and to guide families experiencing or at high risk of child welfare involvement. We want people to hear the stories of members and also know their rights, should they ever encounter the system themselves. Anyone interested in joining Reimagine Child Safety Bay Area and Beyond learn more by going to https://www.reimaginechildsafety.org/rcsbab or reach out to Ari Vazquez (ari@prisonerswithchildren.org) at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.
Family Integrity Coalition (FIC)
The CA Family Integrity Coalition’s mission is to cultivate a community where all families are treated with dignity and respect. It works towards empowering families to access the services and resources they need without fear of policing, aiming to shrink the pipeline into the child welfare system. The coalition is made up of parents, advocates, attorneys, justice-impacted individuals, and allies working collectively to protect and support families. Legal Services for Prisoners with Children supports the coordination of this coalition, which is a crucial connection point for statewide policy work aimed at protecting families. However, the coalition’s goals extend beyond sharing information and collaborating with other members on policy. One of the stated goals of the coalition is “amplifying the voices of those with lived experience”, and in pursuit of that goal, LSPC partnered with FIR4E to hold a workshop through the coalition, specifically designed to build the policy development and advocacy skills of individuals with lived experience in the family policing system.
Policy Advocacy Workshop
The workshop had seven participants and spanned six weeks. We began by all sharing about our lived experience with the child welfare/family policing system to identify common themes among us. Over the next five weeks, those themes were then analyzed with lenses we developed in each lesson, where participants learned about California’s policy process, the history and federal policy driving child “welfare” in the state, the state codes that define California’s child welfare system, the tools and language that are used to develop policy proposal, and the basic components of developing a campaign. At the end of the workshop, the group collaborated to create a presentation that was delivered at the state capitol, with legislative staff in attendance. The workshop participants shared about the policy issues they identified in the system. They paired their lived experience with all of the research and policy context they gained over the course of the workshop. They highlighted issues that needed addressing, like social worker accountability, prioritization of family preservation, and ending the practice of separating families due to poverty, and presented ideas of policy solutions. At the end of the workshop, legislative staff asked 40 minutes of questions, showing deep engagement and interest in the issue. Following the presentation, the participants made office visits to their elected officials, sharing the same key points, where they again received immense interest and support.
The work of FIC will be greatly enhanced by the ongoing participation of the workshop participants, and the impact of the workshop on the political landscape around family policing seemed to be profound. Many people are unaware of the ways the child welfare system/family policing is profoundly unjust, and by raising awareness and demanding solutions, the stage is set for radical change. Anyone interested in joining FIC or learning more about the workshop can got to https://www.cafamilyintegrity.org/ or reach out to Ari Vazquez (ari@prisonerswithchildren.org) at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.
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