I started this blog because I care deeply about keeping children safe and families healthy. My passion comes from having lived on the margins myself. As a young girl, I lived in poverty and crisis. Unsafe housing, dangerous neighborhoods, unpaid bills. I felt afraid most times because that is what poverty does–it is insidious. It infiltrates your soul, makes you anxious, scared and unable to see a future because you must remain singularly focused on the struggles of the day.

I think back to that time– what I saw–what I experienced–how it shaped my adult life. I have been plagued ever since with a singular question: how do we keep children safe and support families in a way that empowers not shames them. This question has guided my career for the past 30 years. Truth is, I care about this system a lot. I am invested in making it work because I have seen firsthand how it can make a positive difference in the lives of children and families. I have also seen the devastating impacts on people when the systems don’t work as intended.

For the past three decades, I have worked in the area of child abuse and neglect–lawyer, policy advocate, non-profit executive director. I currently serve as Colorado’s Child Protection Ombudsman. In this capacity, I work with children, families, community members and child protection professionals every day. My job requires me to listen and learn from their experiences. I then educate and advocate for changes to improve the systems that children and families rely upon. I work to bring differing and often times conflicting perspectives together so we can make sure that policies for children and families accurately reflect what they need– not what we think they need.

This blog will share how people are impacted by the child protection system–from the vantage point of children, families, and the professionals whose job it is to serve them. The goal is that through understanding, empathy and critical analysis we can find answers to how we may all make a positive difference for children and families.