Today's guest, Mollie Warren, is the Director of Family and Children's Services in Boulder County, Colorado. I wanted to return to the conversation about Termination of Parental Rights with someone who is in a "practitioner" role and a position to make decisions about to the use of TPR on a regular basis. One of my goals in these conversations is to normalize a conversation about "what if TPR was no longer an option?" I think it's helpful if we can examine TPR from the perspective of what opportunities are created if we were to take it off the table as an option.  I started the conversation with Mollie about her recently evolving perspective on TPR. You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

In today's journal episode I share some of the questions and ideas that came up on this week's Proximity Podcast Club conversation. The jumping off question this week was what shifts are happening for each of us as we think more deeply about prevention. In other words, what are we trying to prevent, how, and for whom? This led to a really dynamic conversation. We talked about why it is so important that we remain curios and flexible, particularly as leaders. We also talked about the role of the child welfare system in prevention and the risks of prevention becoming another mechanism for surveillance. The Podcast Club conversation ended with an agency leader saying that they had a meeting the next day to talk about prevention and was able to use the group to think about how to shape that meeting. You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month. This is a perfect time to step back and ask ourselves, what is prevention? What values and narratives underpin our ideas of who and what we are preventing? In my conversation with Dr Melissa Merrick, President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, I wanted to understand prevention from the perspective of social justice. Dr Merrick and I talked about the shift that has been happening in both child welfare and the prevention field over the past five years. We also talked about Prevent Child Abuse America's relatively new theory of change and some of the principles that include race equity and changing the narrative of how we see and value parents. For more information about Prevent Child Abuse America and their Theory of Change you van visit their website. Theory of Change (preventchildabuse.org)You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

Today's episode is a conversation I had with my friend and colleague, Mike Shaver, who is the CEO of Brightpoint in Illinois. Brightpoint began as Children Home & Aid in 1883 and is going through a significant shift in how they see their role in advancing justice for families. Mike and I talked about the leadership challenges and successes he's experienced throughout his career as he worked on major organizational change efforts. What we got into is valuable for anyone who is working within an organization or system and wondering if they should stay and work on change from the inside or take the leap to working outside of the system. Mike and I have been on very similar paths throughout our careers, but we talked about why we made different decisions about whether to stay or go. We also talked about Brightpoint's vision and plans to impact the narratives, mindsets, and policies that drive the root cause issues facing families.  We started the conversation with something Mike said that caught my attention. He said, "when the number of children in foster care goes up, we should take it personally and as a failure." This was a jumping off point to a conversation about accountability and personal responsibility.For more information about Brightpoint and their blueprint for impact you can visit their website at Brightpoint.You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedInPlease connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

In this week's journal episode, I talk about a simple practice that I have used throughout my career to remain curious, adaptable, and in service of people. This is something that you can start doing today. This practice has helped me avoid falling into status quo and one I've observed it do the same for other leaders. The practice is to listen to people's experiences, learn from and trust their expertise, and take action together. I share some of my own experiences of how this practice has helped guide my work. I also mention a number of leaders who I really respect and continue to learn from about how they practice deep listening, learning, and action. I'll include their names and LinkedIn pages below as they are great people to have in your network.  Cherie Craft, Smart from the Start - Cherie Craft | LinkedInKatie Albright, Safe and Sound - Katie Albright | LinkedInJoyce McMillan, JMacforFamilies - Joyce McMillan | LinkedInMelody Webb, Mother's Outreach Network - Melody Webb | LinkedInSarah Winograd, Together With Families - Sarah Winograd-Babayeuski | LinkedInYou are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

I remember learning about the 2020 Vision in 2007 when I started working in child welfare. It was a new national initiative with the goal of reducing the number of kids in foster care by 50% by the year 2020. I was working with kids aging out and watching the impact of growing up in foster care play out in front of my eyes. I remember being inspired by this initiative and hopeful about its impact. Today's guest is Susan Smith who led the data team at Casey Family Programs for 16 years and was responsible for tracking and reporting on the initiative's progress. As we know, the initiative did not ultimately succeed. Susan and I use the 2020 Vision as a jumping off point to a conversation about what we can learn from the successes and failures of past initiatives. There are a number of national initiatives right now with bold ambitions. What can history teach us about solving and measuring the right problems. You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

This week's episode is a journal entry that was prompted by the Proximity Podcast Club conversation. We were talking about a question posed to the group by Corey Best, who am I without the family policing system? This immediately got me thinking about a few fundamental questions that I talk about in this episode. What did the system provide me? What did the system cost me? Where does my security actually come from?  Is there wisdom gained from sitting in the ambiguity that we wrestle with in this work? What would we imagine and create if we were unconstrained from trying to reform or improve the system? These are big questions that we can't answer on one podcast episode (or many) but they are good prompts for us to work with over time. I hope you find them helpful in your own journaling practice. You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

Today's episode is a conversation with Kathleen Creamer that you don't want to miss. Kathleen is the Managing Attorney at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia where she and her team use a holistic family defense model to help parents maintain custody of or reunite with their children. We center the conversation on the necessity of Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) as well as the constitutionality and morality of TPR. We also weave in some of the history of how these policies came to be and the mindsets that underpin them.  One of the questions we leave on the table is what if TPR no longer existed, what opportunities would that create to pursue justice? If you want to learn more about Kathleen and her work, you can visit Community Legal Services. Kathleen references the work and writing of professor, author, and activist Dorothy Roberts. You can learn more about her work at Dorothy Roberts.You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

This is part two of my conversation with Corey Best. You may want to go back and listen to episode one where Corey talks about growing up in DC, his son being born, and his experience of termination of parental rights (TPR). We end that conversation as Corey was hours away from reuniting with his son after 19 years. We pick up Today's episode with the first embrace that Corey shares with son and the experience of being together for a couple of days.  From there the conversation moves to explore the Adoption and Safe Families Act and TPR. We get into some of Corey's position on TPR , his process for why he wants to share this part of his story, and his approach to freedom seeking as it relates to TPR. We end the conversation with where we began episode one, what does freedom mean? Corey shares that he has fears about facing ASFA but he glimpses freedom when he faces his fears. To learn more about Corey and Mining for Gold you can visit the website.MINING FOR GOLD COMMUNITYYou are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people who are supporting one another through their own process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

This is part one of a two-part conversation with Corey Best. We cover a lot of ground in these conversations, but we center around Corey's relationship with his son who, until very recently, he hadn't seen or talked to in 19 years. We get into Corey's early years of growing up in DC, some of the pivotal people and experiences in his life, and the early part of his career. But the heart of the conversation is about Corey's relationship with his son (Corey aka Deuce) and the reunion they are about to have just hours after we recorded this episode. We also talk about Corey's relationship with the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 and Termination of Parental Rights, specifically Corey's experience of a judge terminating his rights in 2004.To learn more about Corey and Mining for Gold you can visit the website.MINING FOR GOLD COMMUNITYYou are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people who are supporting one another through their own process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn