We are pleased to update you on the Child Welfare Transitions Project (CWTP)! At this site we will keep you in the loop about the project and related events, inform you on how you can help, and share resources and information found from the project!
Who we are: The CWTP was conceived by Michael Tierney, director of Step by Step, Inc., and Steve Tuck, chief executive officer at Children’s Home Society of West Virginia, as a platform to empower the voices of youth in and aged out of the Child Welfare System.
Why this is important:
“[If] you set out to design, intentionally, the worst possible child welfare system, it would look like the system we have.”
—From Place to Place (2011)
“We move them from a situation of risk, to one of danger, when we place them into these temporary systems…”
—From Place to Place (2011)
Peer lead and directed, the CWTP encourages child welfare youth participants in sharing their stories in order to offer support and a sense of community among peers as well as for others to better understand these lived experiences. CWTP believes that having your voice heard can be not only a catalyst for productive political change, but also healing. The child welfare system needs to be drastically restructured and reformed. The stories we collect here can have radical impacts on the lives of children in and ageing out of the system.
What we want: We are looking for youth participants and alumni of the child welfare system to speak out. If you know anyone who would be interested in this project, please have them get in contact with us! On this site you will be able to find informational flyers to print, read more about our work, and contact us about any questions, resources, or connections you would like to share.
Where we are headed: We want to gather more stories and are looking for others to speak out. Ultimately, we hope to create a steering committee of participants to identify common barriers and challenges to child welfare youth, ways to address these issues, and gather resources for transitioning youth and the organizations that support them.
Our updates: We are up and running with the project. In addition to completing an extensive foundation in background research to support this project, we’ve also started interviewing and gathering the accounts of youth participants.
Our permanent website: cwtransitions.wordpress.com
From Place to Place [Motion picture on DVD]. (2011). USA: Porch Productions.
child welfare transitions project 