Raising Voices for Change

October 6, 2015 – After spending the last 10 months interning for Michigan’s Children I have learned about the importance of raising community voices up to policymakers. Through this process we can all learn about the true needs of a community from the people who understand the situation best. It is this idea that inspired me to help organize and plan a FamilySpeak event where caregivers of many different forms (birth parents, foster parents, kinship parents and adoptive parents) would come to Lansing and share stories of struggle and triumph in their journey to raise the child(ren) in their care.

On September 22, 2015, 11 caregivers from across the state came to the State Capitol Building in Lansing to address a listening panel comprised of policymakers and community organizations. Watching the Speaker’s Library fill up with elected officials, representatives from DHHS, MDE, and the Governors Office I felt very excited about the policy and administrative changes that could come from this event.

Though the policymakers hold the power to make change, the real stars of this event were the families who made the extraordinary effort to travel from all across the state to share their stories at the Capitol. Few people enjoy public speaking, and even fewer enjoy public speaking about personal, and emotional struggle; but that didn’t stop the 11 caregivers from getting up and telling those in attendance about their experiences with the child welfare system – the good and the bad.

Already, only two weeks out from this event, Michigan’s Children has seen the affects of this event in the Legislature and the Departments. I recognize that policy change is usually slow and incremental, but I truly believe that positive policy change will come from this event.

From myself, and on behalf of Michigan’s Children, thank you to all who attended our FamilySpeak event. And to all the caregivers – Thank you, thank you! This event would not have been possible without your efforts.

– Cainnear Hogan

Cainnear is an intern for Michigan’s Children. She is currently completing her MSW at the University of Michigan – School of Social Work.