Rise

Rise, a New York City-based group dedicated to giving a voice to and empowering parents involved in the child welfare system, has named two co-leaders who will take the helm in July when founder Nora McCarthy formally steps down.

In less than 24 hours, my classes were suddenly catapulted into the online realm of Zoom meetings and frantic Canvas messages. As a paralegal studies major, this was terrifying. In the law field, one detail can change the entire approach to a case, and in an academic setting the answer to an exam question.

In the spring of 1980, a group of 30 students showed up at high schools across New York City carrying a just-launched newspaper, 150 copies each. The new outlet’s focus was radical for its time — race relations, environmental issues, education quality, gay rights and more.

In recent years, New York City’s child welfare leadership has proudly told the story of how the system has dramatically reduced the number of children in foster care while maintaining child safety.

Lakisha had an idea: “Why don’t they give us a handbook?” Lindsay added: “Yeah, why am I finding out about my rights here? Now?” Both were parents with children in foster care who had joined a weekly writing group I ran at a child welfare services agency called Graham Windham.