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About the Speaker
Marian S. Harris, PhD, MSW, LICSW, ACSW
is Interim Vice Chancellor for Equity & Inclusion and Professor (School of Social Work & Criminal Justice), University of Washington Tacoma, and Adjunct Professor, University of Washington, School of Social Work, Seattle, WA.
Dr. Harris received her PhD from Smith College School for Social Work and completed a two-year NIMH Post-Doctoral Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Social Work. She serves on the Coalition for Children of Incarcerated Parents, WA State Children’s Justice Task Force, Board of Directors; Washington State Society for Clinical Social Work, Board of Directors, Children’s Home Society of Washington and is a volunteer partner with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Alexandria, VA.
She is a former Faculty Associate, University of Chicago, Chapin Hall Center for Children, Former Adjunct Professor & Research Adviser, Smith College School for Social Work, former Consultant Reviewer for the U.S. Children’s Bureau, and Inaugural Co-Chair, WA State Racial Disproportionality Advisory Committee. Dr. Harris is the author of varied journal articles, newspaper articles, books, book chapters, reports, Op Eds, and book reviews. She serves on the editorial board for several social work journals. Dr. Harris is a nationally and internationally known child welfare researcher and social justice advocate and has received several teaching, research, and practice awards throughout her career.
Most recent awards are: 2017, Distinguished Research Award, University of Washington Tacoma, 2018 Social Worker of the Year Award, Washington State Chapter, National Association of Social Workers, 2021 Social Justice Award, Washington State Society for Clinical Social Work, 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award & Woman of the Month (November 2021), Professional Organization of Women of Excellence Recognized (P.O.W.E.R). She has dedicated her career to supporting vulnerable and oppressed populations with a major focus on children and families involved with child welfare and other systems including the criminal justice system.
Presentation Overview
Is Racial Equity Possible in Child Welfare? Clinical and Other Considerations.
Children of color are represented in disproportionate numbers compared to their white counterparts at each successive point along the child welfare continuum.
The child welfare system has a long history of separating children and families. For example, “orphan trains” were operational for 50 years until approximately 1909 and transported children from poor families, many of whom had living parents, to work as servants out West in the homes of wealthy people.
During the post slavery period Black youth were often separated from their families and sent north to work as indentured servants in the homes of white families and were called “freedom’s children.” Unfortunately, the federal government continues to offer greater financial aid for states to separate families and place children in foster care than it does to fund programs that keep families together. This presentation will provide an overview of what happens to the attachment relationship when children are removed from the care of their birth mothers and placed in the care and custody of the child welfare system including trauma experienced by mothers and their children.
There will be a discussion of the key decision points in the child welfare system with data regarding the disproportionate number of Black, Indigenous, ad other children of color including children of incarcerated parents. Proactive modalities that can be utilized to maintain the mother-child attachment relationship during placement in foster care will also be discussed. Poverty and child welfare decision making, presentation of outcomes for different racial and ethnic groups, racial bias, utilization of a racial equity lens to advocate for children of color and achieving racial equity in child welfare via data are integral parts of this presentation.
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For questions about this event, please contact: Elree C. Smith at: esmith@icsw.edu or by phone: 773.943.5606