Today’s episode included the following speakers (in the order they appear):

Opening quote: Ashlee Jackson – Family Support Specialist II, Children’s Wisconsin

Host: Luke Waldo

Experts:

• Bregetta Wilson – Lived Experience Coordinator, Wisconsin’s Department of Children and Families
• Soua Thao – Home Visitor – Children’s Wisconsin
• Hannah Kirk – Healthy Support Supervisor – Children’s Wisconsin
• Theresa Swiechowski – Family Support Supervisor – Children’s Wisconsin

0:00 – 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 Center

34:05 – 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 Takeaways

47:30 – Closing Credits

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