The Proximity Process

I'm excited to bring you this week's conversation with Dr Jessica Pryce. Dr Pryce's new 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)

Please message me on LinkedIn ii you would like to join the Proximity Podcast Club. We meet everyone Monday at 9am ET to discuss the most recent episode. 

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

This episode is a follow up to the previous journal episode, Am I Biased? One of our ambitions with this show is to build community and engage the community in a conversation. So, the series of episodes about termination of parental rights led to some feedback that prompted the episode about my biases. And that episode prompted past guest Corey Best to send me a journal prompt that I used for this episode. I do have fears about addressing racism publicly, and I believe that I need to have conversations about racism in public. My hope with all of these episodes is that by sharing a little bit of my own vulnerability it can normalize conversations that often feel difficult.  

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.

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

I'm super excited to bring you the first ever (but not the last) Ask Me Anything episode. We put out a call for questions and you all came through. We received more questions than we could get to in one episode. We also asked the Proximity Podcast Club if someone wanted to guest host. Again, lots of interest but there could only be one host. Kathleen Creamer is a parent defense attorney but has a real talent for hosting. Maybe she'll have her own show soon. Kathleen curated your questions, and we covered ground from why I started the show, what I hope to accomplish, who inspires me, and what gives me hope. Of course, we ended with our two questions, what does proximity mean to me and what advice do I have for the listeners. I hope you enjoy this episode!

For more information about Kathleen and her work please visit Community Legal Services of Philadelphia. Community Legal Services 

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.

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

In this week's episode I start with the journal prompt, am I biased?  This was prompted by some of the feedback to our most recent episodes on Termination of Parental Rights. I thought I would let you all into my process of how I try to approach feedback that is critical or raises questions about my intentions. Rather than defending anything that is being said on the show my hope is to ask myself some questions about what I can learn from the feedback. You'll have to listen to the episode to hear my answer to the prompt. 

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.

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

This week's episode continues our series of conversations about Termination of Parent Rights. I wanted to talk to Vivek Sankaran because he has a unique depth of knowledge to bring to the thought experiment that we've been bringing to these episodes, which is to imagine what if TPR was no longer an option. Vivek directs the Child Advocacy Law Clinic and the Child Welfare Appellate Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School. We talked about TPR from the perspective of its morality, necessity, and constitutionality. We started the conversation with Vivek's earliest experiences as an attorney representing children and how he came to see the need to represent parents. We end the conversation with Vivek talking about a case that he is taking to the Michigan Supreme Court and the implications it could have if successful. 

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.

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

Today's guest, Mollie Warren, is the Director of Family and Children's Services in Boulder County, Colorado. I wanted to return to the conversation about Termination of Parental Rights with someone who is in a "practitioner" role and a position to make decisions about to the use of TPR on a regular basis. One of my goals in these conversations is to normalize a conversation about "what if TPR was no longer an option?" I think it's helpful if we can examine TPR from the perspective of what opportunities are created if we were to take it off the table as an option.  I started the conversation with Mollie about her recently evolving perspective on TPR. 

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.

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

In today's journal episode I share some of the questions and ideas that came up on this week's Proximity Podcast Club conversation. The jumping off question this week was what shifts are happening for each of us as we think more deeply about prevention. In other words, what are we trying to prevent, how, and for whom? This led to a really dynamic conversation. We talked about why it is so important that we remain curios and flexible, particularly as leaders. We also talked about the role of the child welfare system in prevention and the risks of prevention becoming another mechanism for surveillance. The Podcast Club conversation ended with an agency leader saying that they had a meeting the next day to talk about prevention and was able to use the group to think about how to shape that meeting. 

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.

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

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Awareness Month. This is a perfect time to step back and ask ourselves, what is prevention? What values and narratives underpin our ideas of who and what we are preventing? In my conversation with Dr Melissa Merrick, President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, I wanted to understand prevention from the perspective of social justice. Dr Merrick and I talked about the shift that has been happening in both child welfare and the prevention field over the past five years. We also talked about Prevent Child Abuse America's relatively new theory of change and some of the principles that include race equity and changing the narrative of how we see and value parents.

For more information about Prevent Child Abuse America and their Theory of Change you van visit their website. Theory of Change (preventchildabuse.org)

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.

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

Today's episode is a conversation I had with my friend and colleague, Mike Shaver, who is the CEO of Brightpoint in Illinois. Brightpoint began as Children Home & Aid in 1883 and is going through a significant shift in how they see their role in advancing justice for families. Mike and I talked about the leadership challenges and successes he's experienced throughout his career as he worked on major organizational change efforts. What we got into is valuable for anyone who is working within an organization or system and wondering if they should stay and work on change from the inside or take the leap to working outside of the system. Mike and I have been on very similar paths throughout our careers, but we talked about why we made different decisions about whether to stay or go. We also talked about Brightpoint's vision and plans to impact the narratives, mindsets, and policies that drive the root cause issues facing families.  We started the conversation with something Mike said that caught my attention. He said, "when the number of children in foster care goes up, we should take it personally and as a failure." This was a jumping off point to a conversation about accountability and personal responsibility.

For more information about Brightpoint and their blueprint for impact you can visit their website at Brightpoint.

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.

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

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

In this week's journal episode, I talk about a simple practice that I have used throughout my career to remain curious, adaptable, and in service of people. This is something that you can start doing today. This practice has helped me avoid falling into status quo and one I've observed it do the same for other leaders. The practice is to listen to people's experiences, learn from and trust their expertise, and take action together. I share some of my own experiences of how this practice has helped guide my work. I also mention a number of leaders who I really respect and continue to learn from about how they practice deep listening, learning, and action. I'll include their names and LinkedIn pages below as they are great people to have in your network. 

Cherie Craft, Smart from the Start - Cherie Craft | LinkedIn
Katie Albright, Safe and Sound - Katie Albright | LinkedIn
Joyce McMillan, JMacforFamilies - Joyce McMillan | LinkedIn
Melody Webb, Mother's Outreach Network - Melody Webb | LinkedIn
Sarah Winograd, Together With Families - Sarah Winograd-Babayeuski | LinkedIn

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people supporting one another through their process of becoming who they want to be in this work. We meet every Monday morning at 9am est. Message me, Matt Anderson, on LinkedIn for the meeting link.

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