PIVOT Towards Promising Futures

Mary Kathryn Nagle joins us to discuss the upcoming Supreme Court ruling on the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). MK discusses the main arguments being presented at court contesting the constitutionality of ICWA and why the outcome of this case is so critical when supporting Native American children that are at risk of being removed from their homes. MK dives more deeply into the significance of ICWA and its connection to the 14th Amendment and what both have represented historically. The case ruling is expected in June 2023 – tune in to learn more about what you can do to protect ICWA. Learn more about ICWA with the National Indian Child Welfare Association. #protectICWA

Margaret Hobart joins us to discuss how the domestic and sexual violence field can support people who are parenting after violence, challenging us to think critically about the design of shelters, mandatory reporting, and the barriers parents experience when seeking help. Margaret pushes us to think of our work as part of a collective movement towards children's well-being, rather than setting it at odds with other advocacy. Tune in and visit Building Dignity to explore more about improving shelter spaces and design: https://buildingdignity.wscadv.org/

What's missing in conversations around wellness and mental health for BIPOC communities? Natacha Kerelejza takes a systems approach to exploring what is necessary to center the experiences of historically excluded communities and truly "see" people in therapeutic practice and clinical interventions. Reflecting on her own experiences of learning and unlearning as a practitioner, Natacha speaks to the ways that mental health institutions categorize poor people and people of color and the learnings and values that can help us create meaningful change.

Eloise Sepeda dives deep into racial equity and how nonprofits and communities need to examine the ways they are impacted by structural racism in order to engage authentically with equity processes. She challenges us to continue the work of challenging white supremacy, no matter how long we have been working at this. It is not enough to keep reimagining. It is time to redesign, putting the people who are most directly impacted by our decisions at the center of the redesign process. She speaks directly to organizations that are just starting on this journey, those who have been tackling these issues for years, as well as funders who want to support transformative processes.Learn next steps you can take to pivot in this direction.

The passage of the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978 was an important step in repairing the harm done to Indian families for centuries before. As ICWA now faces a challenge in the Supreme Court, we hear from two indigenous advocates, Ann Haines Holy Eagle and Melissa Sampson-Grier, about the history behind this legislation and the ongoing trauma experienced by indigenous families because of the lack of accountability in child welfare systems. They call on us to pivot beyond just acknowledging the history of harm – and move towards open truth-telling about the impacts on families today and shared commitments to re-indigenize communities through community-based efforts like the Wolves Den. They remind us that true prevention requires that we share power and listen to those who are directly impacted by the policies and practices we implement. Learn next steps you can take to pivot in this direction.https://www.icwlc.org/

Arlene Vassel of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence reflects on the primary prevention inherent in Black families and communities that gets overlooked because of assumptions and biases, and calls on us to examine how we define primary prevention. She calls on us to listen to the stories Black families and survivors share about times when they felt safe and pay attention to the things that helped them thrive in those times. Implementing prevention strategies without the participation of Black families, survivors, or advocates will render them ineffective because those most directly impacted will have the best insights on what solutions will work. To succeed, prevention work needs to take leadership from communities and build strong connections across social justice movements. Vassel challenges us to get creative with our funding and use our imagination to BE the work in resisting anti-Blackness. Learn next steps you can take to pivot in this direction.preventipv.org dvawareness.org vawnet.org

Black women have been at the forefront of the movement to end violence and yet are excluded from mainstream DV work, both in terms of leadership and access to services. Detroit-based visionaries Umi Hankins and Ericka Murria encourage us to ask ourselves: how are we including Black mothers? How are our biases and stereotypes of Black mothers interfering with the possibilities for healing? What can it look like to recenter Black mothers and families to help them heal from the impacts of white supremacist thinking? Join us for this powerful discussion on why and how to reset our priorities and listen to the women who have been mothering the world. Learn next steps you can take to pivot in this direction.https://ujimacommunity.org/https://supremetransitions.wixsite.com/iamevidence

We kick off our podcast with a conversation with Mie Fukuda and Jessica Moreno on the Guiding Principles of Promising Futures. We discuss the importance of values-driven work to begin making the pivots we believe will improve outcomes for child and family safety. To learn more about Promising Futures and their process of developing the Guiding Principles, go to promising.futureswithoutviolence.org

Stories are the shortest distance between two people. tai simpson from the Idaho Coalition against Domestic Violence joins us to explore the power of storytelling and how to begin integrating this practice into violence prevention.

The over-reliance on criminal justice responses to IPV has come under closer scrutiny in recent years. Hema Sarang-Sieminski and Adrienne Ramcharan from Jane Doe, Inc., the Massachusetts DV/SA Coalition, share about their legislative efforts to prevent the expansion of mandatory reporting laws.

Amy Torchia from the Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence encourages us to notice the ways that our work perpetuates adultism and ask ourselves – Are we accountable to the children and youth we are working with? Learn more about what Amy and her colleagues have been doing to elevate young people's voices and address adultism at www.vtnetwork.org.

Listen in for wide-ranging discussions about how to improve child and family safety by transforming systems that have historically caused harm. Join us in pivoting toward supportive communities and following the leadership of people with lived expertise. Hosted by Wendy Mota at Futures Without Violence. Stay tuned for the official launch on October 20, 2022!