Child Advocacy Watch (CAW) contains curated news and information you can use, including reports, studies, and the latest research. While the site includes information from across the nation, you may notice a substantial amount relating to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest as that is home base for now. The hope is that this knowledge, delivered in small bites from a variety of sources will allow you, the reader, to better serve children, whether you are a leader, a caseworker, a resource (foster) parent, a birth parent, or an advocate. As a former journalist, I’ll be authoring the occasional news story, along with the infrequent opinion piece, which will be clearly labeled.
Why a crow in the logo?
I’ve always loved and admired crows, as perhaps the smartest of all birds. Crows are seen as messengers bringing warnings. They are wise creatures, said to symbolize required changes. The logo has the crow sitting in an open circle symbolizing safety, while keeping watch to the outside world. Finally, in a bit of whimsy, I love that the sound of a crow, “CAW”, is also the acronym for Child Advocacy Watch.
Why me?
Until recently, I threw my heart and soul (and an extraordinary amount of time) into volunteer work at the local, state, and national level, in my efforts to make things better for children and youth. And then I had some serious health issues, which the doctor said were directly related to the stress of my efforts. I regretfully resigned from causes I loved in an effort to recover and save my health. As a typical Type-A, I was miserable during this enforced break and began looking for a way to contribute to the change without sacrificing my health. This website is the result.
I’m a former journalist, lover of research, and data nerd. Because of my insatiable curiosity and appetite for the latest information, I have subscribed to many lists. I have been sharing a wide variety of information related to children and youth, including, but not limited to, foster care, child welfare, unhoused children, runaways and throwaways, LGBTQIA2S+, poverty, and more for years. I have long maintained that the biggest lie we in the US (and perhaps other parts of the world) tell ourselves is that we love our children. While many of us love individual children, our laws, courts, and systems clearly show that, as a whole, we often do harmful things under the guise of ‘saving’ or ‘helping’ children and families. While that is changing thanks to more inclusive and forward-thinking leadership (see ODHS’s Vision for Transformation) there is still so much work to be done. I don’t mean to sound bitter here, but I speak from experience.
Who Am I?
I grew up in a violent and dysfunctional household where children were seen as belonging to their parents, and no one intervened in the ‘family business’. Not the schools, not the church, nor the police. As the oldest of nine, a girl, and the only step-child, I left home at 14 because I knew if I didn’t, I would be dead by 15. After three years on the street in a rural area, I was ‘discovered’ by the state and forced into foster care. After a less than stellar succession of foster homes, I aged out without supports and into the military. Nearly four decades later, my late husband and I became therapeutic foster parents (resource parents) providing crisis respite. Over 16 months, we had 203 intakes and served 149 children and youth, from ages 4 to 18, for one to five days, many in severe crisis. While a majority of caseworkers clearly cared about the children, there were far too many who were cruel, demeaning, and dismissive of those on their caseload. We also saw the results of resource parents who brought their own expectations to the very challenging work of fostering and ended up further traumatizing children who had already experienced more than most their age. Nothing had changed from my time in foster care four decades ago. First, I got mad, and then I got involved, determined to ‘be the change’ I wanted to see. This website is my latest attempt to make a difference in a meaningful way.