Nov 20 2022 56 mins
We are diving into another heavy and intense conversation here, as we talk about the family policing system, sometimes also referred to as the child protective system.
We are confronting what it means for us, as healthcare workers, as birth workers, to be tied up in this system that is involved in family separation, and ultimately, the policing of families.
When I was thinking through all of the different angles to take throughout the season, as we figure out what it means to be in community, with each other with those we serve one of the pieces that just kept coming back to me is how disconnected our care, especially in the hospital, can be from the greater community that we prepared to serve. And I think one of the big ways that that shows up is in how we interact with folks who use drugs, with folks that have mental health disorders, with folks who in so many ways, are othered, they don't meet our kind of expectation about "textbook perfect parent." We are thinking a lot about how that plays out in our role as mandated reporters, how we engage with these systems.
I am so grateful to have Carlyn Mast back on the podcast. Carlyn is an exceptional advocate a repeat guest on the podcast, who as a social worker, and parent advocate has a lot of information to share that it gives light to really some of what what goes on when we report folks, the family policing system, and how this impacts families, how it impacts communities, and really the role that we have within this as perinatal care professionals.
So this episode is for those of us who are not really familiar with the child protective or family policing system, how it came to be, and how it currently operates. Carlyn is going to share some of the actual steps that we can all take as we continue to interact with families so that we can show up as a community advocate with them.
Join us to dive into:
~Language: Family Policing System
~History of Taking Children from their Community
~Legislation that Criminalizes Poverty
~Racial Discrimination in the System
~Abolition of Incentivizing Family Separation
~Steps to Support Families
Connect more with Carlyn here.
*The statements from Carlyn Mast are her sole opinion and experience, not the opinions or views of her employer.
Resources:
Dorothy Roberts and her book Torn Apart
Joyce Macmillan
April Lee
Movement for Family Power
upEND Movement