CFR Parent Advocate Monique Stanley in her own words
In both December of 2009 and in January of 2010 CFR's parent advocates were highlighted in the American Bar
Association's national publication, "Child Law Practice," reaching readers in all 50 states.
CFR's parent advocates are parents who have personally experienced Family Court, and have had children enter
foster care. Because of their unique vantage point, parent advocates are able to provide critical
support to mothers and fathers struggling with poverty, depression, substance abuse, or domestic violence--
they understand the challenges to becoming a better parent, and importantly, how to overcome adversity.
They also understand what it means to be accused, which helps them to gain the respect and trust of clients.
CFR was the first legal services provider in the city and the state of New York to involve parent advocates
in interdisciplinary Community Advocacy Teams (which consist of an attorney, social worker, and parent advocate),
to help strengthen families in crisis and keep children out of foster care. CFR's team approach
is attracting attention from other states seeking to improve their work with families, and has already been
adopted by organizations in Michigan and Vermont.
Our parent advocates (Robin Lyde, Milagros Sanchez and Monique Stanley) also train students and professionals
throughout the city. By sharing their stories, they help others learn parent engagement strategies
that are compassionate and effective. As one Social Work Professor said after a training, "their
frank honesty, sensitivity and positive outlook as well as their critical view of the system was wonderful to
hear and inspiring for our students."
To read more about how parent advocate Monique Stanley helped a client believe in her team and in herself,
click here (page 152);
to read the ABA article on parent advocates, click here.
With your support, in the past year CFR served more than 1,200 parents with more
than 2,000 children.
Thank you for helping to keep children Home for the Holidays and throughout the year.
CFR wishes you a happy and healthy Holiday Season and a New Year filled with opportunities for
Celebrating Families!
Junior Board Provides Gifts for Families
This holiday season, the CFR Junior Board collected donations to provide toys, books, warm clothing, and
essential supplies to families in need. Their efforts helped more than 160 children
and more than 80 families!
The Junior Board could not have accomplished this feat without the support of generous donors like you.
And although the holidays are drawing to an end, the need for your support is still great!
Thanks to our many donors, sponsors, and our Junior Board, CFR provided nearly 200 kids with new backpacks and school supplies
so they could start the year off right!
Special thanks to:
Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer LLP
Bauman Katz & Grill LLP
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP
Built NY
Visit our Facebook page to see more pictures and to become a fan of CFR.
CFR Hosts House Party for Supporters and Friends
Executive Director Susan Jacobs, Andrea Mastro-Hoinacki, Board Member Shiva Farouki, Millicent Fortunoff
On Thursday, December 3rd CFR hosted a House Party for friends and supporters.
At the event, CFR introduced our programs and described our results to new friends.
Speakers included CFR Board Chair Deirdre Miller and Development Committee Co-Chair Hunter DuBose.
Thanks so much to everyone for a great evening.
Stephanie Lataif Stiker, Nikki Perez Glickman, Board Member Hunter DuBose and supporter
CFR's Third Annual Client Holiday Party
CFR's Junior Board hosted its Third Annual Client Holiday Party on Thursday, December 10th. The event was
our largest to date—nearly 120 children and parents attended the festivities.
The evening included face painting, balloon styling, ornament making, delicious treats, and a raffle.
Each family left with a gift bag filled with goodies, presents, and essentials.
Thanks so much to everyone who helped make the party such a success for our families. For photos, and a
full list of sponsors and supporters, click here.
CFR Reaches National Audiences
CFR helped bring together the first ever National Parents Attorneys Conference, on May 13th and 14th in Washington, D.C.
This exciting gathering was convened by the National
Project to Improve Representation for Parents Involved in the Child Welfare System,
which is co-sponsored by the American Bar Association's Center on Children and the Law and funders including the Annie E. Casey Foundation,
Child Welfare Fund and Casey Family Programs. CFR's Board Member, Martin Guggenheim and Executive Director, Sue Jacobs are
members of the Project's steering committee and presented at the conference along with CFR's Deputy Director, Michele Cortese and Supervising
Social Worker, Jillian Cohen.
Prof. Guggenheim facilitated the inspirational plenary, and exhorted the audience to be more than excellent lawyers for parents and to form a
movement to challenge a national practice in which children in foster care are overwhelming poor children of color. Plenary speakers
also called for federal funding incentives to strengthen families, and reminded participants to learn who their clients are as parents and people
and to strive for equal justice for their families.
This past February, CFR also presented at the Child Welfare League of America's 2009 National Conference in Washington, D.C. Parent
Advocate Robin Lyde, Social Work Supervisor Jill Cohen and Litigation Supervisor Maura Keating addressed an audience of caseworkers, social
workers, parent advocates and agency administrators about the huge impact Parent Advocates can have with parents involved with the child welfare system.
CRR's Parent Advocates are parents who have directly experienced the child protective and foster care systems and have reunified with their children.
Their life experiences afford them the ability to inspire and motivate parents while they plan for their children's futures by improving their own.
The panel provided concrete advice and support to child welfare practitioners across America who want to integrate Parent Advocates into their practice,
or to improve effectiveness of existing parent advocate programs.
The New York Bar Foundation Awards $5,000 Grant to CFR's CAT Program
Robert Haig presents CFR Board Chair Deirdre Miller with a check from the New York Bar Foundation.
Pictured: Genevieve Christy, Philip Segal, Deirdre Miller, Robert Haig, Susan Jacobs, Judith Marshall, Jane Spinak
This spring, Robert Haig of The New York Bar Foundation presented CFR with a
$5,000 grant to support its successful Community Advocacy Teams (CAT) program. CAT works to prevent and shorten foster
care placements and to ensure that families achieve the stability to prevent foster care in the future and in generations to come.
For more information about CAT, please click here.
The New York Bar Foundation provides grants to organizations and conducts other activities to further the objectives of:
increasing public understanding of the law; enhancing professional competence and ethics; facilitating the delivery of legal services;
and improving New York's justice system and its law.
CFR Links with Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership to Help At-Risk Families
CFR is excited to announce a formal referring collaboration with Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership (NMPP), a maternal
and child health agency whose mission is to reduce the infant mortality rate in the Harlem Community.
NMPP is one of more than 20 community-based organizations in CFR's referral network. CFR provides the families referred
by NMPP with confidential advice, advocacy, and referrals to help address any risks to their children, with the goal of avoiding
any court involvement or family separation.
Share your Love: Jeans for Families Raises Over $9,000
Click here to learn more about Jeans for Families.
CFR Awarded Equal Justice Works Fellow
CFR is pleased to announce that Rosanna Roizin, a former CFR legal intern, will join us
in September as a 2008 Equal Justice Works Fellow. Rosanna will represent
parents with mental illness. Her fellowship is sponsored by Pfizer, Inc.
The Equal Justice Works Fellowships Program was launched in 1992 to address the shortage of
attorneys working on behalf of traditionally under-served populations and causes in the
United States. It is now the largest postgraduate legal fellowship program in the
nation, and currently supports 100 Fellows. The mission of Equal Justice Works is
to create a just society by mobilizing the next generation of lawyers committed to equal justice.
Rosanna has previous experience in child welfare, international women's rights, and economic justice.
CFR In The New York Times
Click here to read "Hard Days
Behind Her She Helps Families With Theirs", featuring Robin Lyde, a CFR parent advocate.
This article is a wonderful example of the unique approach Parent Advocates bring to a child welfare case and
the unparalleled connection they are able to forge with clients. For so many parents, a confrontation
with the child welfare system often leaves them feeling intimidated, defeated, and overwhelmed.
Parent Advocates address these crucial issues by lending their personal experiences – and successes – with family court,
empowering parents with confidence and support.
Victory for Family Visiting
CFR is proud to announce the successful achievement of one of its central policy objectives: In June of 2007,
Commissioner John Mattingly of the City's Administration for Children's Services (ACS) issued "Visit Host Guidelines:
Bridges Back Home." The guidelines provide direction to the city's more than 40 foster care agencies on how to
recruit and train Visit Hosts to support families separated by foster care; they were developed over an 18-month period
by a citywide task force co-chaired by CFR's Deputy Director, Michele Cortese. The task force included
professionals from ACS, foster care agencies, parents, attorneys and family court staff.
For years, research has demonstrated that high quality meaningful visiting between children in foster care and
their parents is the single best predictor that a family will safely reunify, yet New York state law only requires
that children see their parents for one hour every two weeks, or the equivalent of one day a year.
In addition, most family visits occur in cramped, sterile agency offices and most foster care workers report that
they don't have the resources to arrange visits around activities that truly mimic normal family life including
sporting events, shopping trips, family dinners, holidays and birthdays.
CFR recognized that frontline practice would only change when ACS directed foster care agencies to seek other,
more natural supports for visits. A Visit Host is someone identified by the family (parents, youth
or relatives), or by the foster care agency who can monitor family visits in place of the agency worker.
Visit Hosts have been relatives, teachers, guidance counselors, pastors. Visit Hosts are 'win-win' for families and
foster care agencies: a child's safety is assured, and a family can visit for longer periods, more
frequently, around activities that reflect family life. Agency workers have an additional resource that is free and
helps support their work with a family.
The Visit Host guidelines are another example of CFR's ability to translate best practices on our own cases into
systemic reform that benefits children and families.
