GOOD NEWS ABOUT RACIAL DISPROPORTIONALITY WORK IN

 CHILD WELFARE by, Paula Moore and Sandy Bernabei, AntiRacist Alliance

Antiracist organizing in the Northeast region in 2009 reached a high point at a September Symposium that attracted nearly 800 people to Baruch College in New York City, including leaders from City and State child welfare systems, to hear how the People’s Institute (PISAB) Undoing Racism™ process is helping states reduce racial disproportionality in child welfare.  

Texas, Kentucky and North Carolina CPS leaders dramatized how, when CPS administrators, front line staff, and parents learn effective language and common analysis of structural racism, families are more likely to be reunited and communities become stronger. Following Texas implementation of Undoing Racism Trainings, African American children who represent 12% of all children in the state, reportedly declined from 39% to 32%. As a result, the state has accrued savings of $103 million, a portion of which is now being diverted to family preservation efforts.  We want this for New York State.

Since the symposium, local agency leaders, together with parent, began to address issues related to the child welfare system in our state.  As a first step, the group designed a “Power Analysis” a model used by People’s Institute Undoing Racism™ Workshop to demonstrate the interaction and power structure of social systems’ impact on families, children, and the community-at large. By using this model, they were able to identify allies, partners, and key stakeholders.

They connected to several Judges who are leaders in the disproportionality child welfare work in their states. Judge Joe Smith joins our monthly post symposium meetings through teleconferencing. He shared his experiences with participating in the Undoing Racism Training and how the training increased his awareness about race issues faced by families of color. Judge Joe Smith said it has improved his daily decision-making process in family court. He is an advocate of more Judges participating in this training and is particularly interested in sharing his experience with Judges in New York State/City.  That is the focus of our current organizing.

The post symposium meetings are held every first Friday of the month at Edmond Gordon Center located 2090 Seventh Avenue in NYC on 8^th floor conference from 9:00 am to 11:00 am.

AntiRacist Alliance general meetings are held in Westchester.  We meet on the second Monday of the month at Fordham University in West Harrison from 5:30-7pm to strengthen our antiracist leadership.   Last month we learned about the use of a racial equity impact statement in policy-making which is a tool that allows policy-makers to examine the impact of a particular policy on communities of color prior to establishing policy or legislation. To learn more about it read “Racial Impact Statements: Changing Policies to Address Disparities” by Marc Mauer Criminal Justice, Volume 23, Number 4, Winter 2009.

On a personal note! Members of the AntiRacist Alliance share their reflections about the impact of the Undoing Racism™ Workshop experience in their personal and professional lives. 

"I am retiring in three weeks.  I have been a community organizer for over thirty years.  I recently took the Undoing Racism workshop and finally "got it". .

(Silence)…….I required the new executive director to take the workshop before beginning the job."

"I work for protective services in Westchester County.  Last week I went to a home and all the indicators pointed to removal.  I realized in that moment that I would be re-enacting history.  I told myself “NO. I WILL NOT DO THIS!”

I searched for kinship and when that did not work out I contacted Sanctuary and we will work together to find an alternative to removal."

"The Undoing Racism™ Workshop has informed all the work I did this year and it also informed all the committee work and the committee members."

"It was the most life-changing workshop that I have taken…and I have taken quiet a few in my life.  Racism has do with everything…. across the board…This training is for everyone. Racism as about structure and strategy."

"Undoing Racism™ saved my life in 2006.  I have been a social worker for a long long time.  Started out as a community organizer.  Years ago we had an environment that nurtured us.  That is gone.  When David Billings put up that system…I understood …the system is doing what we used to do for ourselves.  We have turned adults into children."

"The frustration was getting too much for me.  The URW re-energized me."

"Dialogues of Racism are with anger and emotion for me.  Many nights I’ve cried and did it for years and years.  I am dried out now….

Undoing Racism is our escape… like the Underground Railroad!"

We invite you to join us for the next workshop on  March 14-16, 2010 

Register online at www.antiracistalliance.com