By Institute for Family
4.9
4444 ratings
The podcast currently has 19 episodes available.
Author, speaker, and mentor Shaka Senghor talks with host Matt Anderson about his lessons learned through fatherhood and 19 years of incarceration. Shaka reflects on how mentorship, literature, writing, and family influenced his journey through imprisonment and led to his success today. In discussing his latest book “Letters to the Sons of Society,” Shaka also touches on the potential impact of contextualizing the entirety of people’s experiences to change narratives and inspire humanity.
Show Notes
00:00:33 | Host Matt Anderson talks about Shaka Senghor’s backstory. Matt sets up the conversation by talking about Shaka’s newest book, “Letters to the Sons of Society,” and its goal to expand the narrative around fathers and sons.
00:02:00 | Shaka begins his conversation with Matt talking about his experience meeting men in prison who navigated the foster care system and the connections between the criminal justice, foster care, and educational systems.
00:04:17 | Shaka recalls a story he mentioned in his TED Talk. When Shaka was in prison, he received a letter from his oldest son.
00:06:32 | Matt asks Shaka about the four keys mentioned earlier, specifically mentorship.
00:10:16 | Shaka talks about the importance of being in relationships with incarcerated people prior to and during their reintegration into society.
00:12:04 | Matt talks about Brian Stevenson’s work on criminal justice reform and the importance of being in proximity with people. Putting theory into practice, The Frederick Douglas Project is mobilizing community members to combat stereotypes and stigmas around incarcerated people.
00:13:23 | Matt asks Shaka about the letter exchange between Shaka and his dad while he was incarcerated and the impact those conversations had on his development as a person and as a father.
00:20:05 | Matt reflects on how systems keep people separated, like youth and parents involved in child welfare, and the negative impact that it has on relationships. Shaka talks about “our greatest untapped resources and that's the emotions of dads, that emotional connectivity”.
00:24:09 | Matt reflects on the collective responsibility mentioned in Shaka’s book “Letters to the Sons of Society” and the collective responsibility to support children and families.
00:24:40 | Shaka talks about the goal of his book “Letters to the Sons of Society.”
00:29:40 | Matt reflects on Shaka’s points and references learnings from Father Greg Boyle.
00:31:28 | Shaka talks about his work conducting workshops around shifting narratives with storytelling. He also gives his advice for professionals like Matt.
00:34:29 | Matt shares his final thoughts.
Resources
Learn more about Shaka Senghor and his work | Shaka Senghor Website
Book: “Letters to the Sons of Society: A Father's Invitation to Love, Honesty, and Freedom” by Shaka Senghor | GoodReads
Shaka Senghor TEDTalks | TEDTalks
About The Frederick Douglas Project for Justice
Shaka Senghor on Oprah’s Super Soul Podcast | Apple Podcasts
About Father Greg Boyle | Homeboy Indust
Sarah Winograd’s journey as a “professional volunteer” led to the realization that poverty was a driving factor in the child removals in the families she was working with. See how Sarah mobilized her community to address family poverty to help families stay together. Through the Together for Families program, Sarah lives out her vision of supporting families by helping them meet basic needs.
Show Notes
00:00:30 | Matt opens this episode reflecting on the child welfare system’s association between poverty and neglect
00:01:10 | Meet Sarah Winograd: Program Manager for Together for Families, Advocates for Children, and an adoptive mom.
00:05:05 | Back in the U.S. as an adult, Sarah dedicated herself to volunteering where she would begin spending a lot of her time working with youth formerly in foster care in New York and later in Georgia.
00:06:45 | Sarah talks about the first case she worked on as a CASA volunteer in Georgia.
00:10:37 | Who was representing and supporting the mom in Sarah’s case?
00:11:28 | Sarah explains the “ah-ha” moment she experienced while talking to one of the children in the family. This helped her fill in gaps that were missing from the family’s case file.
00:15:20 | Matt and Sarah discuss a shift in thinking around the reason Sarah became a CASA volunteer—from helping kids to helping the whole family.
00:17:38 | Sarah explains some of the support she provided to the family while staying within the boundaries of her role as a CASA volunteer.
00:20:37 | Sarah shares how she received the reputation for the "resource queen” by helping families not on her case load meet their basic needs and stay in-tact.
00:22:59 | Sarah shares her findings on poverty as a driver of child welfare involvements, as well as how her colleagues felt about the realities of the families they served.
00:25:10 | Sarah talks about the conversation with her CASA supervisor.
00:30:54 | Matt reflects on the punitive structure of the child welfare system and Sarah’s approach to seeing families for their strengths and with empathy, rather than defining them by their circumstances.
00:32:14 | What’s next for Sarah after CASA?
00:41:14 | Sarah’s vision of what’s next for the Together for Families program.
00:44:40 | Advice for people seeing the same issues in their community who want to address the needs of families.
00:45:53 | Final thoughts from Matt Anderson.
Resources
Together for Families | Advocates for Children
Georgia ranks 38th in the Nation for Child and Family Well-Being | Georgia Family Connection Partnership
One promise became a lifelong mission for this Atlanta family advocate | CBS46
Cobb County, GA Child Welfare Stats | Fostering Court Improvement
A Key Connection: Economic Stability and Family Well-being | Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
Child Welfare: Purposes, Federal Programs, and Funding | Congressional Research Service Reports
Child Welfare Financing SFY 2018: A survey of federal, state, and local expenditures | Child Trends
Cherie Craft, the founding CEO and Executive Director of Smart from the Start, talks about her organization’s unique approach to engaging communities and addressing conditions to enhance child and family well-being. Cherie references a previous episode of Seen Out Loud with Matthew Jackson to explain how Smart from the Start builds trust with families. Cherie also offers advice for other organizational leaders on relationship building, reducing recidivism rates, and incorporating social justice into community work.
00:00:23 | Matt recaps the last episode S2, E5: The Impact of Community Conditions with Matthew Jackson
00:02:36 | What is Smart from the Start and what are they all about?
00:07:39 | What is Cherie’s “secret sauce” to building trust with families?
00:08:52 | Why don’t families trust social workers and service-providing organizations that come into communities?
00:10:14 | Cherie shares how Smart from the Start operates
00:13:03 | Cherie talks about how she saw Matthew when he first approached her at Smart from the Start.
00:18:00 | Cherie talks about baking a strengths-based approach to seeing families into Smart from the Start’s culture.
00:20:10 | Matt and Cherie recall a story Matthew shared in S2, E5: The Impact of Community Conditions with Matthew Jackson
00:25:27 | Matt asks Cherie about what happens when something her team vouches for doesn’t come to fruition.
00:29:06 | Matt asks Cherie how Smart from the Start responds to skeptics of her organization.
00:33:11 | Cherie shares more about her origin story.
00:36:44 | Cherie shares how her organization’s foundation impacts the recidivism rate for fully engaged families in organizational programs.
00:39:50 | Cherie explains Smart from the Start’s intentional approach to addressing systemic issues impacting families and the new program, Justice 4.
00:47:22 | Matt, an organizational leader at Children’s Home Society of N.C. and the Institute for Family asks advice from Cherie for leaders like him that feel like they don’t have relatable stories to use as building blocks when connecting with families.
00:49:12 | Final thoughts from host Matt Anderson.
Connect with us and support us by...
In this episode, Matthew Jackson explains how the community conditions he grew up in influenced the trajectory of his life into adulthood, and the difficulties he experienced with leaving “Jungle” in the past and charting a new path for the betterment of his family. Listen as Matthew shares his story as a single father, passionately invested in his daughter’s life, and how he’s helping other dads, with similar beginnings in Boston, MA and Washington, D.C.
[Warning: This conversation contains explicit language]
Show Notes
00:00:26 | Matt starts the conversation on what he means by child welfare reform.
00:01:18 | Meet Matthew Jackson.
00:04:17 | Matthew talks about parenting his 10-year-old daughter.
00:06:44 | Matthew’s take on how options presented in his community during his youth strongly impacted the trajectory of his early years into adulthood.
00:09:53 | Matthew explains how baseball provided him and his peers a vision of a way out of his neighborhood and the surrounding circumstances.
00:12:06 | How Matthew arrived at the decision to push his baseball dreams aside and pursue the hustle culture that consumed his community and––one by one––each of his teammates and friends.
00:13:50 | Matthew shares how he received his nickname “Jungle” and how the creation of this persona helped him survive in a community where lives were often cut short.
00:17:22 | Matthew recalls the beginnings of his relationship with his then-girlfriend and eventually becoming a first-time dad.
00:20:08 | Matthew reflects on the conflict he experienced while wrestling with how he would provide for his family.
00:21:49 | On Halloween 2014, Matthew’s life changed forever–– he describes the events that take place which hurled him into the role of a single father.
00:24:49 | Matthew shares how wrestling with the grief of the loss of his girlfriend, as well as his newfound responsibility as the sole provider for his daughter, brought him to the decision to leave hustling in his past and chart a new path.
00:27:42 | Matthew explains the difficulties of earning low wages at a retail job and providing for his daughter.
00:31:17 | Matthew shares the impact of the district attorneys on his case postponing his trial and later putting Matthew on probation instead of in jail.
00:35:35 | Matt poses a question to listeners as he reflects on Matthew’s story.
00:36:30 | Matthew shares more on his involvement with Smart from the Start.
00:37:34 | What are some things Matthew is hearing from other dads he works with at Smart from the Start about how they’re viewed and treated as fathers in communities?
00:38:55 | What exactly does Matthew do when working with fathers in the Focusing on Fatherhood program?
00:41:46 | Matt shares final thoughts
Resources
Smart from the Start
Fatherhood Organizations | Child Welfare Information Gateway
Bonus Content
Photo album
Connect with us and support us by...
Keri Hope Richmond, Child Welfare Policy Advocate, Speaker, joins conversation on engaging storytellers with lived experience with the child welfare system. Listen as Keri talks about her experiences sharing her story about navigating foster care—some empowering and some not—and the lessons she’s learned along the way. She also passes along advice to organizations on the do’s and don’t’s in engaging storytellers with lived expertise.
Show Notes
00:02:55 | When was the first time Keri publicly shared her story?
00:04:46 | Keri expresses feeling anger leading up to the moment she shared her story.
00:06:41 | Keri shares what it was like shifting from anger to empowerment.
00:10:10 | Keri talks about her experiences stepping into her role as a storyteller with lived expertise leading up to her participation in TEDxKent State.
00:13:48 | How can including people with lived expertise at the organizational level as employees impact conversations and organizational priorities and policies?
00:17:05 | Keri shares an account of when she felt like her story and the sharing of her experiences were taken advantage of.
00:22:30 | Now, Keri is a part of Unbelievably Resilient, which hosts a storytelling platform and spurs important conversations about foster care and child welfare.
00:25:32 | Matt and Keri talk about key principles and practices for organizations to honor storytellers with lived expertise.
00:27:44 | Final thoughts from Keri on engaging storytellers with lived experience.
00:29:24 | Matt shares his final thoughts.
Resources
What can you learn from a trash bag? By Keri Hope Richmond | TEDxKentState
Episode 40: Keri Richmond | Fostering Change
Healed People Heal People With Former Foster Youth Keri Hope Richmond | Around the World with Archibald Project
Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute
Advocacy | American Academy of Pediatrics
Learn more about UR and their team of storytellers | Unbelievably Resilient
Bonus Content
4 Tips on How To Use Storytelling In Your Work
The Unlearning of Child Welfare, Part 3 with co-host Keri Hope Richmond | The Institute for Family
A Conversation with the FosterStrong (now Unbelivibly Resilient) | The Institute for Family YouTube
Visiting our podcast
Pick up where part one left off with Sana L. Cotten on her journey to find answers about her family history. In this episode, Sana, who has never met her father, goes on a 10-year search to locate her paternal family and find belonging. She reflects on how her unfulfilled need for family connection after entering foster care has impacted her through adulthood.
Show Notes
00:00:30 | S2 E3: In Search of Belonging with Sana L. Cotten, Part One is a prelude to the conversation that continues here.
00:02:09 | To learn her paternal history, Sana takes an Ancestry® DNA test which leads her to finding her birth certificate and her mother’s marriage certificate.
00:05:00 | TV personality and specialist in finding long-lost family members, Troy Dunn of “The Locator” (2008-2010) and his team agree to help Sana follow up on the information from her mother’s marriage certificate.
00:06:00 | Why do children in foster care want to know their family history?
00:07:19 | Sana applies to another TV show, “Relative Race” (2016-Present). The producers and their team take control of Sana’s Ancestry® account in search of clues to help Sana reconnect with her paternal family.
00:09:40 | Sana gets reconnected with her uncle and gets an opportunity to ask the burning question, “Do you know who my dad is?”Sana is able to share this name with the genealogist that was able to finally help her get closer to her father.
00:11:58 | After a 10-year journey of trying to find her father, Sana describes her internal experience before she contacts the family member the genealogist found in Sana’s family tree.
00:14:58 | Hear from Sana on the importance of finding family for youth in care and adoptees.
00:15:20 | Sana calls her family contact who she discovers is her father’s brother.
00:18:19 | On New Year’s Eve of 2020, Sana calls and meets her siblings, two older brothers, over the phone.
00:20:40 | Sana meets more of her family at the family reunion for her paternal family in April 2022.
00:23:56 | Sana reflects on a photo of her as a young girl when she sat on the stoop of her aunt’s trailer feeling like she didn’t belong and how it captured her feelings from childhood until now.
00:26:50 | Matt shares his final thoughts.
Resources
Meet Sana L. Cotten
Book: “Everyone will know it was God” by Sana L. Cotten
The Social and Emotional Well-Being of Children in Foster Care| National Conference on State Legislators
Creating and Maintaining Meaningful Connections | Child Welfare Information Gateway
Connect with us and support us by...
Determined to discover where she came from, Sana L. Cotten recalls her ventures to uncover her past, face her family’s trauma, and reconnect with relatives who are part of her story. Hear from Sana how the process of learning about her birth family after adoption has helped her break generational cycles, shape her identity, and begin a journey to healing through empathy.
Trigger Warning: Descriptions of rape and sex trafficking
Show Notes
00:01:19 | Meet Sana L. Cotten, as she recalls, through the reading of her case files, how she and her twin brother were taken by child protective services as children after undergoing traumatic experiences in their home.
00:06:24 | Sana paints a picture of life as a young child in Bridgeport, Connecticut
00:09:30 | Sana describes the limited relationship she had with her mom as a result of being in foster care and her mother being incarcerated.
00:11:05 | Sana shares a memory of her mother’s attempt to visit Sana at her foster home, which was rejected by Sana’s foster mother.
00:14:58 | Sana talks about her experience of being adopted, still yearning for a relationship with her mother, and beginning a journey to find her.
00:15:38 | Sana learns that her birth mother, who was incarcerated, had been longing to connect with the twins.
00:17:46 | Matt asks Sana about the opportunities she had to ask her mother about the details of her childhood.
00:19:38 | Sana shares her experience of developing a relationship with her mother once she was released from prison and why it was brought to a halt.
00:21:10 | Sana recalls being 18 years old and pregnant and feeling an urge for her birth mother’s presence after being written off by her adoptive family.
00:24:18 | Sana learns of her birth mother’s passing. She recalls being angry and feeling victimized because of the harmful events she endured as a young child.
00:26:28 | Sana reflects on impact of the reunion she had with her uncle on her healing journey as she learned more about her family’s history and her mother’s regrets.
00:31:12 | Matt reflects on the nuanced conversation on framing experiences with ‘what happened to you’ versus ‘what’s wrong with you’ with guest Dr. Bruce Perry as it applies to Sana’s journey finding love for the inner child of her mother. See more on S1 E3: PEOPLE CHANGE THROUGH STORIES.
00:33:55 | Sana shares that she originally intended on learning more about her dad when she reunited with her uncle.
Resources
Meet Sana L. Cotten
Book: “Everyone will know it was God” by Sana L. Cotten
Connections Matter: Relationships with Birth Families are Important for Foster, Adopted Children | The Imprint
Human Trafficking | Child Welfare Information Gateway
Child Trafficking and the Child Welfare System | Polaris Project
Connect Our Kids
Connect with us and support us by...
Gina Wassemiller is a mother of three and a passionate parent ally. In the short film “Being Gina” she shares her evolution from being a parent struggling with substance use disorder, domestic abuse, and the removal of her children to being a leader at the F.I.R.S.T. Legal Clinic. This organization supports new mothers experiencing substance use challenges with legal advocacy and other services to prevent Child Protective Services removals. Gina is also a contracted Social Service Specialist with the Office of Public Defense Parent Representation Program. Gina has been actively involved in local and national organizations and support groups, including Snohomish County Parent Ally Committee, Washington State Parent Ally Committee, and Birth Parent National Network.
Show Notes
00:00:26 | Matt introduces Gina Wassemiller from the Institute for Family’s short film “Being Gina” and her work with the F.I.R.S.T. Legal Clinic (Family Intervention Response to Stop Trauma).
00:01:26 | Gina talks about her source of passion for her work. Gina and Matt dig into her background as a parent experiencing substance use disorder, domestic violence, and the removal of her children., and talk about the dichotomies of addiction.
00:04:25 | Gina explains the difficulty of asking for help while engulfed in addiction, despite experiencing the removal of her children and other consequences.
00:05:55 | In September 2009, Gina opened to her family about her addiction and began the journey to recovery.
00:08:05 | As a parent ally at the F.I.R.S.T. Legal Clinic Gina engages pregnant women and mothers of newborns with substance use disorder at risk of CPS intervention.
00:10:35 | Matt shares his thoughts on a lesson for the system.
00:11:08 | Gina and Matt give insight on leveraging compassion to help parents turn their fear of losing parental rights into hope.
00:18:30 | Gina reflects on her journey as a parent and how helpful it would have been to have someone like herself approach Gina early on.
00:20:45 | Matt shares final thoughts
Resources
F.I.R.S.T. Legal Clinic
Reunification Heroes: Gina Wassemiller | American Bar Association
Birth Parent National Network | Children's Trust Fund Alliance
Supporting Early Legal Advocacy before Court Involvement in Child Welfare Cases
Resources for Families Coping with Mental and Substance Use Disorders
Bonus Content
Featured short film: "Being Gina" | Institute for Family
Connect with us and support us by...
Dr. Bruce Perry and Matt pick up from their conversation in Season 1 to dive deeper into strategies for creating positive change for families. Hear Dr. Bruce Perry give his advice for organizations like the Institute for Family on what it takes to make an impact—from shifting mindsets through storytelling to creating sustainable connections in communities.
Show Notes
00:02:00 | Picking up from S1 E3: PEOPLE CHANGE THROUGH STORIES, Matt recalls a compelling statement from Dr. Bruce Perry.
00:08:30 | Matt asks, “If our systems are a collection of individuals who make decisions, to address the issues of those who have been marginalized is it about a mass number of people changing through story, or a right select group of people that hold the right power, or some combination of [those options]?”
00:10:13 | What changes people’s minds?
00:12:00 | Matt and Dr. Bruce Perry discuss how the Institute for Family is making progress with the strategy of storytelling to influence thinking and behaviors.
00:13:45 | Dr. Bruce Perry reflects on the historical impact of storytelling. “Ultimately, the most efficiently transmitted information is relationally mediated.”
00:14:50 | Matt notes the difference in narrative between the status quo perspective that childhood adversity is an individualistic parenting problem with “bad parents” and the shifting viewpoint that long-term, systemic inequities are part of the issue.
00:15:18 | Matt and Dr. Perry talk about the needs and challenges in solving systemic issues through community connectedness.
00:19:00 | If organizations want to create conditions in communities that help families succeed, what can they focus on?
00:20:45 | Dr. Bruce Perry examines society’s expectations on parenting. “Parenting is hard even if you have a bunch of people in the house."
00:21:21 | To meet family needs, should systems be focused on providing better programs and direct services or on creating better community conditions?
00:27:30 | Dr. Bruce Perry gives advice for family providers and advocates.
00:28:46 | Final thoughts from Matt Anderson
Resources
How the Media Shapes Our Perception of HIV and AIDS | Healthline
Public health campaigns using storytelling - Digital Storytelling for Change | HIV.gov
Emotive content while learning a concept – What Makes Storytelling So Effective for Learning? | Harvard Business Publishing
Book: What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing | Author: Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D.
Connect with us and support us by...
On this bonus episode celebrating social work month, Jaquia Wilson returns to the mic with her former social worker Raven Mitchell. Hear from Jaquia and Raven about the solid foundation they built during Jaquia’s time in foster care. Get insight on the importance of relationship-building between youth in care and social workers and how impactful Raven has been on Jaquia’s early years.
Show Notes
00:00:36 | On S1, E5: CRACK THE CONCRETE WHEN YOU WALK we meet Jaquia Wilson and learn about her experiences as a youth in foster care, meeting an influential social worker, and aging out of the foster care system.
00:02:30 | Meet Raven Mitchell, Senior Human Services Worker at Prince William County Department of Social Services in Virginia. Hear how Jaquia describes the lasting impression Raven had on Jaquia as her social worker.
00:03:48 | Hear from Raven on her aspirations for youth in care as a social worker.
00:04:38 | Hear from Jaquia about the impacts of her social worker being consistent, reliable, and treating her like a person first.
00:06:20 | What could’ve happened if Raven wasn’t as present in Jaquia’s life during her time in foster care? Hear from Raven and get insights on how she managed her relationship with Jaquia. “Every day wasn’t progress or no progress, sometimes it was ‘How are you doing? Is there anything I can help you with?’ and that was important to me,” says Jaquia.
00:10:33 | Hear final thoughts from Matt Anderson.
Resources
Social Work Month Toolkit from NASW
Why Consistency Matters
Connect with us and support us by...
The podcast currently has 19 episodes available.