Today’s episode included the following speakers (in the order they appear):Opening quote: Ashlee Jackson – Family Support Specialist II, Children’s WisconsinHost: Luke WaldoExperts:Bregetta Wilson – Lived Experience Coordinator, Wisconsin’s Department of Children and FamiliesSoua Thao – Home Visitor – Children’s WisconsinHannah Kirk – Healthy Support Supervisor – Children’s WisconsinTheresa Swiechowski – Family Support Supervisor – Children’s Wisconsin0:00 – Ashlee Jackson – “Just because one rose grew through the crack in the concrete is great, but if we took off that block of concrete, how many would grow?”00:11 – Luke Waldo – Introduction to how root causes of neglect – trauma and systemic oppression – overload families.2:58 – Bregetta Wilson – Shares her lived experience with the child welfare system when she was a child, her mother’s struggles, and her sister’s support and influence.5:15 – Luke Waldo and Soua Thao – The challenges that Hmong families experience with language barriers.6:17 – Hannah Kirk – Culture differences and the need for cultural competence in the child welfare system. 8:14 – Hannah Kirk – The mistrust that often exists between the families and professionals that work together in the child welfare system.9:43 – Ashlee Jackson – Mistrust with the systems that should be there to support families – schools, healthcare, etc. – as there is fear that they will be reported to child welfare. 11:34 – Luke Waldo – While overloaded families face many challenges, they also aspire to overcome them.12:35 – Theresa Swiechowski – Families struggle with mental health and substance abuse, and have limited resources to support them. These challenges lead to financial and housing instability.16:11 – Soua Thao – Housing and financial instability. Lack of resources to support families with childcare, mental health, and housing. Soua tells a story about a family that was recently evicted.19:30 – Luke Waldo – How do we start to recognize that we too often punish children for their parents’ past?20:16 – Hannah Kirk – The impacts of segregation and bias. 20:42 – Luke Waldo – How these many challenges pile on and overload families.21:36 – Luke Waldo – How might we change our systems and empower families, so that they may overcome these complex challenges?22:17 – Bregetta Wilson – Shares more of her story when she was a child in the child welfare system, and when she asked her case worker, “Can you help my mom?”24:40 – Hannah Kirk – Talks about how families are strong and the importance of seeing families through their strengths. “What has happened?” versus “What did you do?”27:14 – Ashlee Jackson – Shares her lived experience with the child welfare system and the need to advocate for herself.28:29 – Theresa Swiechowski – Talks about her a-ha moment early in her career when she first understood that an overloaded mother was doing the best she could for her daughter by sending her to camp all day.31:04 – Luke Waldo – If we walk in the door asking what families need rather than what families did, it would change our approach of how we work with families.31:30 – Soua Thao – Discusses the importance of cultural traditions and family support. Hmong American Center34:05 – Hannah Kirk – Making a point to talk about families’ strengths. 36:48 – Ashlee Jackson – The power of resilience, resourcefulness and building a network.37:54 – Theresa Swiechowski – Resilience is a superpower. The strengths and challenges of family involvement. 39:41 – Soua Thao – Parents’ enthusiasm for learning how to become better parents.40:47 – Theresa Swiechowski – “Strong, funny, optimistic people doing their best.” 42:40 – Ashlee Jackson – “They love their kids.” 43:14 – Soua Thao – Parents want the best for their kids.43:53 – Luke Waldo – Gratitude and 3 Key Takeaways47:30 – Closing CreditsJoin the conversation and connect with us!Visit our podcast page on our ICFW website to learn more about the experts you hear in this series.Subscribe, rate our show and leave feedback in the comments section.Check out our upcoming events.Sign up for our Strong Families, Thriving Children, Connected Communities initiative and our quarterly newsletter.Follow the Institute for Child and Family Well-being on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
