Family Group Decision Making - Making a Difference in Disproportionality

This may appear to be a dry subject matter but it is well worth reading. I have worked for a government child welfare agency for over two decades; one could say that I grew up in the child welfare field. I began my journey of cultural awareness and self identity over five years ago. Fast forward to 2010 I now became involved in the agency’s  plan to reduce the percentage of the African American children who are in foster care at disproportionate rates, not just in my state but this phenomenon has been playing out throughout the country for years. The two most affected communities are Native Americans and African American children, with the Hispanic population fast approaching the mark. Historically the child welfare system was not designed to serve people of color therefore; the outcomes reflect a continuation of white cultural values which permeate institutions, policies, and programs. For over a year I have provided the planning committee information and perspectives of a white person on how best to move forward regarding changing the work environment.   However, there was something I could do then and there to assist programmatically. Because I am a unit manager of two in-home programs, I began facilitating change from the onset by modifying the FGDM practice to be more culturally responsive than orignally planned. I also implemented into the assessment process a section specifically exploring every family's right to self identify their race and/or culture.

One of the African American’s community legacies is family. Charles Waite writes, “The most enduring cultural strength that Black African brought with them from the African continent was the extended family and its strong kinship networks.” 

 Now for a moment a comparison of the Maori people of New Zealand will be made to the African and Native American communities here in the US. The Maori tribal people are rich in family tradition, culture, and history. Family Group Conferencing was developed by a group of social workers from New Zealand one whose name is Mike Doolan (above video) along with the Maori people, in response to the disproportionate number of Maori children placed in the foster care system in the early 1980‘s. The Maori people became vocal in their loss of their children’s cultural identity, values, beliefs, and traditions. Mr. Doolan and his colleagues believed that the Maori people knew their families best and could plan for their children’s future hence, Family Group Conferencing (Decision Making) was born. Mr. Doolan provided insight into the development of this practice as well as, the need to maintain fidelity to the model. In the simplest terms, FGDM is a meeting that is family driven, child centered and culturally sensitive. The family agrees to a meeting and assists in developing the actual purpose of the meeting, invitation list, and meal planning. The family is not restricted  and are encouraged to invite family and  whom ever the family considers as a resource, can be invited such as the pastor of their church, baseball coach or a close neighbor. This concept is known as “widening the circle” of supports. Strength, and concerns for the family are presented at the meeting and then the family adjourns into what is referred to as “family private time. A meal is shared and the family develops a plan for the child which addresses the agency’s concerns.

The FGDM practice began to leave out the family's cultural traditions from the actual meeting. In addition I thought from the very first meeting with the family, cultural issues should be explored rather than glossed over. My strategies continue to be implemented and modified as needed, to ensure that the family is operating based upon their cultural family belief system. The cultural factors should not be secondary considerations but rather primary in order to facilitate the change needed. We still have a ways to go because to my mind, this is not a one shot deal!

Currently, I am exploring the potential in integrating an Afro centric intergenerational model with the FGDM practice. I am anticipating the introduction of a new and improved FGDM model to community chuches and faith based organizations by the end of 2013. Stay tuned!

MLK's Message . . .Take a Seat at the Table???

Once again I have learned to view my perspective from a diverse, cultural  lens.  I think it is a true testament to  Martin Luther King's life and work to have Dr. King’s message of brotherhood created from economic and social justice, memorialized and celebrated through the creation of the Martin Luther King Monument in Washington, D. C.  But then I stumbled over an article by L. Arthalia Cravin. Although she  voiced her excitement regarding the MLK project, her observation of the television commercial advertising the monument's dedication was profound in my humble opinion.


Ms. Cravin eloquently described her initial thoughts and warned   "we should be very careful that Dr. King’s true message of brotherhood is not glossed over in favor of pomp and circumstance".                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                     The reason for this warning, was upon Ms. Cravin's initial viewing of the commercial advertising the gala celebration, she noticed empty plates adorning the long table as the words of Dr. King were spoken of his dream of the “former sons of slaves and the former sons of slave owners” sitting together at the "table of brotherhood”.


                                      and empty plates...


Ms. Cravin speaks about the growing economic disparities and social conditions for Black America. How can different people from different walks of life sit at the same table if the portions of food are so vastly different, how does this signify true brotherhood? 


You can read Ms. Cravin's message in it's entirety at http://blackamarillo.us/wp2/?p=6348

Immigrants Travel on the Orphan Trains to Children of Color Lingering in Foster Care

      

          From the English Poor Laws and workhouses to the United States, Charles Brace the founder of the Children’s Aid Society had well meaning intentions when he thought of a new idea to save poor children. From the mid 1800’s to approximately the 1930’s, as many as 200,000 destitute, white immigrant children were taken from the streets of New York or from overcrowed orphanages and brought to Midwestern towns by train in order to find farm families  for the now orphaned children.  Although some children found good homes, others were placed into indentured servant status. Many were victims of severe abuse and/or neglect. Finally all of the children’s ties to their biological families were torn and severed, records were not maintained and their heritage was lost in time. The Orphan Train phenomenon evolved into the development of the formal adoption, foster care laws and child welfare practices in the United States.

       Throughout history it appears that a family’s socioeconomic status has been one of many variables that has impacted and is factored into the decision making process regarding risk for abuse and/or neglect of minor children.  What happened to the African American children during the Orphan Train tragedy timeline?  Of course they were denied any services at all.   However, unbeknownst to this newly freed community of people, being excluded from child welfare services may have been a blessing considering what was about to happen to their community and family structure  in the years to come. Up until the 1930's or so, the African American community cared for their own children whether they were blood related or not.  During the Roosevelt era the Federal government began funding the states to enlarge the child welfare system.

Now that  Federal dollars were being used, the US Constitution needed to be adhered to and states could not discriminate based on…..you got it, Race.

So now the states had to be inclusive of the African American Community and their children when delivering foster care services. In addition, AFDC benefits which were originally legislated for white mothers whose husbands were serving in the military during war time, was built on the foundation of male exclusion in the home in order to be eligible, collect and maintain these government benefits.  AFDC benefits/requirements coupled with the child welfare system's service inclusion of the African American community, resulted in the current disproportionate numbers of children of color, most notably African American and Native American children, lingering in the foster care system.   

Similar to Charles Brace, contemporary child welfare assessment decisions are made based on the caseworkers and social workers sincere and good intentions however, they are based on laws and policies of an institutional structure where racism is embedded in the cemented foundation of this child welfare system.

So how do we derail this runaway train??? 

“And the Winner is … ”

My 18 year old son somehow convinced me to watch the move “Predators” the other night. Although I found this science fiction movie to be action packed with some decent special effects, for my taste, there was way too much testosterone gone bad!  In any event, as Joseph and I continued to watch the story unfold, my son said to me “I bet you anything Mom that the African American dude gets killed first”   “No Way” I replied. I was astounded by this assumption because I think that Mahershalalhashbaz Ali as Mombasa, is not only awesome for the part, but he is damn good lookin’ to boot! Well I was right, it was an American Mexican who was killed first, Dan Trejo... so there!

Whoops, not more than a few minutes latter BAM, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali was skewed like a shish-kabob!

So here I thought I found out this hidden little industry secret. As soon as I went to work I tracked down an African American friend/mentor, (I’ll call her MW) whom I admire and anxiously told her of my new found revelation!  New…Hmmm, I don’t think so as she chuckled as she repeated to me that the Black actors who are not box office wonders, usually get killed first or soon there after.  Well thanks MW, there goes my new found theory! But in all seriousness, I am glad that I learned just one more fact that validates how racism is so embedded in our societal culture, that it has become second nature when refuting the possibility that this still occurs, and is a constant reminder of how much more work we need to actually do!!

If you are a Black actor but you are not a big headliner like Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Laurence Fishburne, Morgan Freeman, and Samuel L. Jackson to name a few, there are three elementary questions one should asked themselves before watching a movie, during and up until the movie credits.                                                                       

1. Does the Black actor die first?

2. If not, how soon does he/she die?

3. Can a Black person ever make it to the credits?

Oh yeah, I would like butter on my popcorn too please!