Empowered Parents: It’s About Teamwork

Just a portion of participants in the daylong SBCT program, made possible by Turrell Fund, ZERO TO THREE, Health Resources and Services Administration, and CASA of Passaic and Union Counties’ New Jersey Safe Babies Court Team.

Relationship-building, honoring parenthood, removing adversarial mindsets, and seeing one’s humanity were just some of the myriad issues discussed during a recent gathering of Passaic, Essex and Hudson child-welfare participants in ZERO TO THREE’s Safe Babies Program.

Held at the Van Vleck House and Gardens in Montclair – thanks to host Turrell Fund – attendees came ready to engage regarding the crucial work of the New Jersey Safe Babies Court Team (SBCT), which focuses on keeping children and families together by preventing the need for babies and toddlers to enter out-of-home care or experience further involvement in the child welfare system. 

Program facilitation was provided by ZERO TO THREE and the Health Resources and Services Administration, and included data analysis, hands-on activities, and small- and large-group conversations on prioritizing parent voices and empowering parents in determining their family’s future, access to resources, ensuring racial equity and social justice, keeping the child and family at the center of all work and, if children have been removed from home, ensuring family and parenting time.

Says SBCT State Coordinator Sarah Cane-During, "Seeing so many people from the various stakeholder groups gather and lean in to learning together was so helpful, not only to reaffirm commitment to SBCT but to get to know each other as people all working toward the same important goals!"

Attendees included judges, AOC staff, community coordinators, public defenders, law guardians, DCP&P caseworkers, and more. In addition to CASA of Passaic and Union Counties’ Executive Director Erica Fischer-Kaslander and Cane-During, both of whom served as organizers, Hudson County CASA Executive Director Beverly Savage also participated.

Among the activities was a “pass the baby to safety” exercise, demonstrating all aspects of a case, from number of stakeholders involved, impact of communication, enduring trauma, and the need to work swiftly but with careful intention. At far left are Passaic and Union County CASA’s Gino Arevalo, an SBCT community coordinator.