About
Our current mission statement was developed at a 1998 Board / staff / parent retreat:
Through organized client involvement and collective advocacy both inside and independent of the system, the Child Welfare Organizing Project will change / transform the quality of services provided to New York City families through the New York City child welfare system.
Current Programs and Accomplishments
- Parent Self-Help and Support Group is offered every Wednesday from 11-1 at our East Harlem office
- Our Parent Leadership Curriculum started in Bushwick in 1999. We have offered approximately annually recurring cycles since in other communities including East Harlem, Highbridge, and Bedford Stuyvesant. Over 50% of Curriculum graduates have secured employment as Parent Advocates. Over 70% of those who had children in foster care at the outset of the Curriculum had regained custody by its conclusion
- CWOP was a founding partner of the Bridge Builders in the Highbridge section of the Bronx. Bridge Builders was designed to improve the well-being of families, through a combination of direct services, parent and youth empowerment programs, and social action campaigns
- The Parent Advocate Network (PAN) was established in October 2009 to support and organize the growing numbers of Parent Advocates in the field of child welfare
- A Multi-Family Group for East Harlem families with children recently returned from foster care, in partnership with the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine / Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
- Parents’ Rights Trainings are offered in drug treatment programs, homeless shelters, foster care agencies, and other venues where ACS-involved parents are likely to be found. We reach about 500 parents per year
- Parent Participation in Professional Education and Workforce Development: CWOP Parent Orgaqnizers guest lecture at local schools of law and social work, make presentations at conferences, and develop training curricula for child welfare professionals
- Facilitating Parent Dialogue with Policy-Makers: CWOP Parent Organizers regularly meet with and advise public and elected officials
- Media Work: CWOP staff and board members regularly work with the media to counteract negative and racist stereotypes of ACS-involved families, and are also instrumental in the publication of Rise Magazine (www.risemagazine.org)
- Collaboration with ACS: In recent years we have undertaken a variety of initiatives in partnership with ACS, including Child Safety Conferences, Visit Hosting and Coaching, and Preventive Services Evaluation
