Here is an excellent editorial on this subject, sent by my friend Lynn at First Five of Marin. In a nutshell, this piece brings our attention to the mental health needs of foster children and the ways our systems have failed to meet them.  Specifically, it says, psychiatric assessments and care are not provided soon [...]

“Reconciliation” Margaret Adams Parker

Over the past few years, we've taken an interest in "contested hearings" in child dependency court. That's where the children's welfare system wants to remove a child from their home and one or more of their parents/guardians is "contesting" the order. It goes to court and the judge decides. In our [...]

Here’s a question for all you family conferencers out there. It came up in a conversation I was in yesterday: what do you do when the child welfare system’s requirements for a family clash with the family’s cultural norms? Like when “the System” has your children because you “neglected” them by leaving a [...]