The Proximity Process

This is a particularly exciting episode because we are doing something a little bit different. Today’s guest is Jalaycia Lewis who is part of the Imagination Factory community and someone I’ve been coaching for the past 6 months or so. Like so many of us, Jalaycia has ideas and dreams for what she wants to do in the world. She wants her work to align with her values, what she loves, what she’s good at, and how she wants to create a more just world. For her, that is an idea she calls The Social Recipe, which is an organization she’s wanted to start for years. 

In this episode you are going to drop into a live coaching session with me and Jalaycia. You'll her about what The Social Recipe is, what she’s been working on, and a key question she’s focused on right now. I hope you enjoy this one and find it valuable. I would love to hear your feedback, please hit me up on LinkedIn or email.

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We have two options to make this community accessible. We meet every Monday at 9am ET and 9am PT (12pm ET). You can join the club by filling out this form and we'll send you the meeting invite. Proximity Podcast Club - Google Forms

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In this week's journal episode, I share a simple exercise that my coach, Brendalyn King shared with me. Since then, I have shared this with a number of people I work with, and they typically resonate with it and find it valuable. This came to me at a time in my process where I was questioning the impact of my work and if I was doing enough and doing "the right" things. I think this is an experience that most of us have felt throughout our lives and careers. The exercise helps us to identify where those feelings are coming from and how we can remind ourselves that we are always enough, and we can trust our future to emerge. 

If you haven't listened to the episode with Brendalyn, I would highly recommend doing so. She is an incredibly skillful coach and absolutely amazing person. You can listen here.  Should I Leave My Job with Brendalyn King

Here is this week's journal prompt. 
- Am I Enough? 
- Am I Doing Enough? 
- Can I Measure My Impact? 
- Can I Trust My Future to Emerge? 

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We have two options to make this community accessible. We meet every Monday at 9am ET and 9am PT (12pm ET). You can join the club by filling out this form and we'll send you the meeting invite. Proximity Podcast Club - Google Forms

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

I've been under the weather, so I decided to rerelease a gem from season one. I'm excited to share my conversation with Dr Jessica Pryce. Dr Pryce's book, Broken: Transforming Child Protective Services, gave us a great backdrop to a wide-ranging conversation. At the beginning of the book, she lays out a framework or process of moving from being an agent of the child protection system to becoming an advocate and then activist. We talk about what these terms mean, the process of moving from one to the other, and how this has played out in Jessica's career. The conversation then turns to the subtitle of the book, transforming child protective services, Dr Pryce's Ted Talk, and her perspective on Termination of Parental Rights.

Please visit Dr Pryce's website to learn more about her work, listen to her Ted Talk, or to purchase her new book. Reimagine Child Protection (jessicaprycephd.com)

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We have two options to make this community accessible. We meet every Monday at 9am ET and 9am PT (12pm ET). You can join the club by filling out this form and we'll send you the meeting invite. Proximity Podcast Club - Google Forms

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

In this week's journal episode, I wanted to return to the conversation about Termination of Parent Rights. I've been surprised by the number of conversations that are happening around TPR in recent months, more than any time in my career, including national working groups. While we have a long way to go in terms of making significant strides, it seems as though we are normalizing the conversation about a world without TPR. So, I wanted to come back to the thought experiment of, "what if TPR no longer existed?" 

I also reference a future episode that we are developing that will likely touch on a particular policy in Washginton state that was passed in 2022, which requires the state to rule out guardianship before proceeding with adoption and TPR.

Can you read the bill language here. 1747-S HBR FBR 22 (wa.gov) 

The journal prompt this week is...in ten years, TPR will no longer exist, what will need to change between now and then to be prepared for a world without TPR? This is a creative constraint to help us imagine the future we want to see rather than how we want to change the current structures of the system. 

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We have two options to make this community accessible. We meet every Monday at 9am ET and 9am PT (12pm ET). You can join the club by filling out this form and we'll send you the meeting invite. Proximity Podcast Club - Google Forms

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

We're excited to bring you an update on what is happening with Together with Families (TwF) since our last episode with Sarah Winograd. TwF is, in my opinion, one of the more innovative organizations working with families impacted by the child welfare system. I had the pleasure of catching up with Sarah and her partner and co-founder Andel Jones-Foster.

TwF is an interesting organization for us all to learn from but not because of what they do but rather how they do it. I think what makes them unique is their ability to build relationships, to share power, and to co-design with the families they serve. Their approach leads to an organizational culture and programming that is far more relevant, responsive, and impactful. 

TwF is about to launch The Hub, which is their new office location and family resource center. They’ll also be launching a new website, a short film about their work, and a playbook that anyone can use to learn about and apply their unique approach. We will update these notes with links as soon as the website is live. 

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We have two options to make this community accessible. We meet every Monday at 9am ET and 9am PT (12pm ET). You can join the club by filling out this form and we'll send you the meeting invite. Proximity Podcast Club - Google Forms

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

One of the biggest lessons I've learned over the past few years is that the practice of letting go is critical to my process. I've see how letting go has helped me and many others I've had the opportunity to work with. In this episode I talk about letting go as the practice of creating space for our future to emerge. And one of the key elements of this practice is discerning between things that we think are comforts but are actually constraints. This is a practice of letting go what feels like security but is actually holding us back from the future we really want to create.

The journal prompt is, what parts of my life have I come to see as comforts, but are actually constraints? Another way to reflect on this is, what I do I believe is giving me security but is actually holding me back? Lastly, what can I let go so that I am free to create my future?
 
You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We have two options to make this community accessible. We meet every Monday at 9am ET and 9am PT (12pm ET). You can join the club by filling out this form and we'll send you the meeting invite.
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Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

This is the next in a series of conversations about the intersection of child welfare and affordable housing. Nationally, 10% of children come into foster care simply because their families cannot access affordable housing. Dustin Koury describes how Wisconsin came to a decision that rather than removing children, causing undue stress and harm, they would instead invest in stable housing and related support. Dustin and I start the conversation with a question we often come back to on the show, should I stay, or should I go? In other words, can I have the kind of impact that is aligned with my values while working within the system, or do I need to work from the outside. Dustin talks about some of the conflicts that exist within this work and how he has come to his decision. 

We will update these notes as soon as the Family Keys films are available. In the meantime, you can find more information about the project here. Family Keys Pilot Puts Families First

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We have two options to make this community accessible. We meet every Monday at 9am ET and 9am PT (12pm ET). You can join the club by filling out this form and we'll send you the meeting invite. Proximity Podcast Club - Google Forms

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

In this week's episode I return to one of the core questions that not only led to the development of the show but also my decision to leave my job. Am I in right relationship? I share a few thoughts on being in integrity with my values as one way to answer the question. Then I dive more deeply into what has emerged for me over the past year or so, which is that I want to work and live at the intersection of purpose, joy, and justice. I talk about what these words mean to me and offer an example of how my work shows up right now at that intersection.

The journal prompts for this week are, 1) am I in right relationship with myself and the people I serve, 2) what are the conditions for how I work that would put me in right relationship (I reference two examples in the episode purpose, joy, and justice and freedom, joy, and sanctuary)?

Please use this short survey to share your feedback. This will help us make the show better as we move into year two. Thank you. The Proximity Process - Google Forms

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We have two options to make this community accessible. We meet every Monday at 9am ET and 9am PT (12pm ET). You can join the club by filling out this form and we'll send you the meeting invite. Proximity Podcast Club - Google Forms

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

This is the one-year anniversary of The Proximity Process podcast. Thank you for listening and being part of the community that we are building. To mark this milestone, we thought we'd go back into the archives and pull clips of our guests answering the question that ends every episode. What does proximity mean to you? I also talk about what the proximity process means to me. I hope you enjoy. 

I'm going to send 5 people a small gift as a gesture of gratitude. All you have to do is share this episode on social media and tag me in your post (so I see it). The first 5 people will get a little something to say thank you for helping us get to the one-year mark. 

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We have two options to make this community accessible. We meet every Monday at 9am ET and 9am PT (12pm ET). You can join the club by filling out this form and we'll send you the meeting invite. Proximity Podcast Club - Google Forms

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn

Why do we remove kids from their family and pay for foster care when stable housing is a better solution? 10% of children in foster care are removed due to unstable or unsuitable housing. Investing in affordable housing programs to prevent foster care is better for kids, families, communities, and its less expensive.

When we start to look at the child welfare system through an economic justice lens, we can gain a better understanding of the root cause issues and solutions. In this episode I share some of my own process of beginning to see myself and my work from this perspective, and why I'm particularly interested in affordable housing solutions. 
 
To learn about the data being released by Chapin Hall you can look follow this link: Family and Child Well-being System: Economic & Concrete Supports as a Core Component to Address Race Equity

To learn more about the Family Keys program in Wisconsin you can follow this link: Family Keys Pilot Puts Families First | Wisconsin Department of Children and Families

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We have two options to make this community accessible. We meet every Monday at 9am ET and 9am PT (12pm ET). You can join the club by filling out this form and we'll send you the meeting invite. Proximity Podcast Club - Google Forms

Please connect with me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn - Matt Anderson | LinkedIn