I’m excited to be part of a new group of male Black child welfare leaders working together to support each other and help transform the child welfare system through a race-equity lens.
The group is the Black Male Wellness Collective, an initiative of Casey Family Programs. Casey is one of the leading organizations in the country advocating for better outcomes for children through the use of data, equitable policies, convening and sharing of best practices. It also offers technical support.
The goal of the year-old collective is to support and sustain Black/African American men in executive-level child welfare leadership positions. There’s 14 of us now, from across the country.
But the broader point is to understand that inherent racism in child welfare affects not only children and families, but also child welfare leaders. And because of that, Casey advocates a trauma-informed, systemic response with deliberate investment in recruiting, developing, mentoring and sponsoring Black male leaders in child welfare.
When the team from Casey approached me, I was immediately interested in what they were hoping to accomplish. I’m looking forward to diving deeper into the topics they’re focusing on – building culturally competent leadership in service to children and families and helping build a system driven by race-equity.
I hope to expand my knowledge, network, well-being and overall effectiveness as a leader through participation in the Black Male Wellness Collective. I believe there’s a lot to learn in this topic area and a lot I’ll be able to share with others at the agency.
