- Kathleen Creamer, JD, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia
- April Lee, Peer Parent Advocate, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia
- Joyce McMillan, JMacForFamilies
- Richard Wexler, MS-J, National Coalition for Child Protection Reform
The media narrative about the “child welfare” system is slowly starting to change. Almost every outlet feels compelled to write at least one story about racial bias in the system, and variations on the phrase “confusing poverty with neglect” are turning up in one news story after another. Yet at the same time, a pernicious, racist “master narrative” about the absence of “mandated reporters” in children’s lives during COVID lockdowns leading to a “pandemic of child abuse” was repeated thousands of times. How can we seize this moment to make sure a new narrative takes the place of decades of stereotypes about families under family police surveillance? How do we best tell the real story, and get media to listen, whether by using news stories, op-ed columns, social media—or billboards and street theater? And how do we do it now, so we’re ready to cope with the inevitable backlash?