Foster Care and Child Welfare Week in Review
Here are some news items from last week related to foster care, adoption, and child welfare that caught our eye:
Newborn Mila Jackson, removed by Child Protective Services on March 28 after her parents chose to treat jaundice with their licensed midwife, was returned to her family Thursday morning after 22 days in the foster system, according to a press release from The Afiya Center, a reproductive justice advocacy group. The parents, Temecia, 38, and Rodney Jackson, 37, were scheduled for a court hearing on April 20 at 1:30 p.m., but it was canceled alongside a rally coordinated by The Afiya Center. The district attorney’s office signed off on the reunification, but declined to comment.
Last week at a press conference, Temecia Jackson recalled the moment when police officers and child protection services agents had “stolen” her baby from her Dallas home. Her words, and her story of how her newborn baby was taken from her because she opted to follow a midwife’s recommendation over a physician’s, sparked outrage across the country. The case, as well as similar cases in Tennessee and Florida, shows just how racial biases within the American carceral system, along with the medical racism that pervades hospitals, creates an environment that puts Black families at heightened risk of separation.
Last week a long-term Heart Gallery exhibit was placed at Sunset Mall in San Angelo. This is One Accord’s first long-term exhibit in San Angelo and will feature up to 15 portraits. These are portraits of children and youth featured on the Heart Gallery of West Texas and are all looking for their forever home. Visitors at Sunset Mall are invited to come see the exhibit and scan the QR Code to read their profile; there they can also put an inquiry in to find out more about the child.
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