The Proximity Process

I remember learning about the 2020 Vision in 2007 when I started working in child welfare. It was a new national initiative with the goal of reducing the number of kids in foster care by 50% by the year 2020. I was working with kids aging out and watching the impact of growing up in foster care play out in front of my eyes. I remember being inspired by this initiative and hopeful about its impact. Today's guest is Susan Smith who led the data team at Casey Family Programs for 16 years and was responsible for tracking and reporting on the initiative's progress. As we know, the initiative did not ultimately succeed. Susan and I use the 2020 Vision as a jumping off point to a conversation about what we can learn from the successes and failures of past initiatives. There are a number of national initiatives right now with bold ambitions. What can history teach us about solving and measuring the right problems. 

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 is a journal entry that was prompted by the Proximity Podcast Club conversation. We were talking about a question posed to the group by Corey Best, who am I without the family policing system? This immediately got me thinking about a few fundamental questions that I talk about in this episode. What did the system provide me? What did the system cost me? Where does my security actually come from?  Is there wisdom gained from sitting in the ambiguity that we wrestle with in this work? What would we imagine and create if we were unconstrained from trying to reform or improve the system? These are big questions that we can't answer on one podcast episode (or many) but they are good prompts for us to work with over time. I hope you find them helpful in your own journaling practice. 

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 with Kathleen Creamer that you don't want to miss. Kathleen is the Managing Attorney at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia where she and her team use a holistic family defense model to help parents maintain custody of or reunite with their children. We center the conversation on the necessity of Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) as well as the constitutionality and morality of TPR. We also weave in some of the history of how these policies came to be and the mindsets that underpin them.  One of the questions we leave on the table is what if TPR no longer existed, what opportunities would that create to pursue justice?

If you want to learn more about Kathleen and her work, you can visit Community Legal Services. Kathleen references the work and writing of professor, author, and activist Dorothy Roberts. You can learn more about her work at Dorothy Roberts.

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 is part two of my conversation with Corey Best. You may want to go back and listen to episode one where Corey talks about growing up in DC, his son being born, and his experience of termination of parental rights (TPR). We end that conversation as Corey was hours away from reuniting with his son after 19 years. We pick up Today's episode with the first embrace that Corey shares with son and the experience of being together for a couple of days.  From there the conversation moves to explore the Adoption and Safe Families Act and TPR. We get into some of Corey's position on TPR , his process for why he wants to share this part of his story, and his approach to freedom seeking as it relates to TPR. We end the conversation with where we began episode one, what does freedom mean? Corey shares that he has fears about facing ASFA but he glimpses freedom when he faces his fears. 

To learn more about Corey and Mining for Gold you can visit the website.
MINING FOR GOLD COMMUNITY

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people who are supporting one another through their own 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 is part one of a two-part conversation with Corey Best. We cover a lot of ground in these conversations, but we center around Corey's relationship with his son who, until very recently, he hadn't seen or talked to in 19 years. We get into Corey's early years of growing up in DC, some of the pivotal people and experiences in his life, and the early part of his career. But the heart of the conversation is about Corey's relationship with his son (Corey aka Deuce) and the reunion they are about to have just hours after we recorded this episode. We also talk about Corey's relationship with the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 and Termination of Parental Rights, specifically Corey's experience of a judge terminating his rights in 2004.

To learn more about Corey and Mining for Gold you can visit the website.
MINING FOR GOLD COMMUNITY

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people who are supporting one another through their own 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 is a journal episode. This episode was inspired by the recent Hill Briefing that was organized by the Repeal CAPTA Coalition. What came across so clearly in the briefing is that we don't have to wait for justice, we can act now to advance justice. Part of the proposal of the Repeal CAPTA Coalition is to shift funds from Title I of CAPTA to Title II and increase that amount to $500 million annually. This would put more money into community-based programs that are meeting the economic and concrete support needs of families. When so much of the federal funding requires families to be separated this proposal to invest in the well-being and integrity of families is a practical way to advance justice.

To learn more about the Repeal CAPTA Coalition you can visit their website. 
Repeal CAPTA

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people who are supporting one another through their own 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 is a recently released conversation I had as a guest on the Leaving Well with Naomi Hattaway podcast. Naomi is a skilled interviewer, and it was a joy to talk to her about my experience of leaving well, including the one regret that I had in the process.  I think Naomi's work has a lot to offer the community we are building around The Proximity Process. I hope this is an opportunity to discover a new show that brings you value.

Leaving Well is the art and practice of leaving a job, role, project, or title, with intention and purpose, and when possible … joy. Naomi's podcast brings experiences and lessons learned about necessary endings in the workplace, through conversations on topics such as grief, confidence, leadership, career development, and the Leaving Well Framework. For more information about Naomi's work, you can visit her website where you all also find the episodes with Yanique Redwood and Nkem Ndefo.
Leaving Well Podcast — Naomi Hattaway

You are invited to join the Proximity Podcast Club, a growing community of people who are supporting one another through their own 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

On this episode I share some of my reflections on Shawn A Ginwright's book The Four Pivots: Reimagining Justice, Reimagining Ourselves. I talk about the first pivot, which is from lens to mirror. The way Shawn talks about this pivot speaks directly to how I have come to understand the proximity process. My reflections are related to how I understand this pivot, how I have seen this pivot play out in my own work, and how it is now informing my work at Proximity Design Studio. I also share some of my current work with past guest Keith Howard and how we have been applying the lens to mirror pivot in his role as the CEO of Circle of Care in Oklahoma. I end the episode with ideas of how we can all work on making our own lens to mirror pivot.

To learn more about Shawn's work you can visit his website at Shawn Ginwright.

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

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

Today's episode is a conversation with my friend, colleague, and Podcast Club collaborator and co-host, Dr. Kimberly Offutt. We tell the origin story of how we decided to create the weekly Proximity Podcast Club. The story starts with Kim listening to episode one and calling me to say, "I feel like I was punched in the gut". Our conversation moves into why community building is part of the process and the value that it brings us. Of course, we also had to dive into Kim's process of how she is making visible what has been invisible to her in her career. As a 25-year veteran of child welfare, Kim talks about how she is still learning and unlearning things about herself, her values, and who she wants to become in this work. 

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

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

We are at the beginning of 2024 and many of us are thinking about resolutions, intentions, and goals. In this episode I talk about the early days of 2023 and how I set intention to handle some of the challenges and uncertainties of leaving my job. A conversation with a friend prompted an intention that shaped 2023. The intention is to be whole in who I am in all aspects of my life. My intention for 2024 is to build on 2023 and remain free to be me. At the end of the episode, I share four journal prompt questions that you may find valuable as you set intentions for 2024. 

1.  Who was I in January of 2023? 
2. What is one area of interest for 2024? 
3. Who will I be? 
4. What will I give up? 

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

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