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.
CWOP is a self-help and advocacy organization of parents who have had contact with the
New York City child welfare system. Most of our staff and board of directors are parents
who have had children placed in foster care, succeeded in reuniting their own families,
and now use this experience both to help other parents facing similar challenges, and to
organize for system change.
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
- 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
