The Accountability Dialogues
Domestic Violence Survivors and Policymakers Co-designing Child Welfare Practices and Policies
People of color who live the problems we aim to solve have the most important information and the most unobstructed point of view. They see and experience on a daily basis what other solution designers only hear about from others – who themselves are usually not impacted people. Unfortunately, our current model of policymaking often excludes meaningful partnership with people of color who are survivors themselves – and fails to recognize and follow their leadership.
The Accountability Dialogues aimed to change that. This three-part series of online discussions modeled a process for the co-design of policies to improve the lives of adult and child survivors of domestic violence who are involved with the child welfare system. It centered the voices, experiences, and wisdom of survivors of color and provided an opportunity for policymakers and influencers to hear directly from them about the impact the child welfare system has had in their lives and their communities. In doing this, the Dialogues catalyzed new ways of seeing and working oriented towards justice for survivors, as well as a poignant awareness of the urgent need for change and accountability in child welfare.
The Accountability Dialogues are now available as videos accompanied by an Executive Summary.
The Dialogues were organized by advocates at Futures Without Violence, Ujima, Inc. the National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community (Ujima), Latinos United for Peace and Equity (LUPE), and Women Transforming Families: Rising to End Violence, Oppression and the Legacy of Trauma (a project of Ujima).
To learn more about the speakers, visit the series registration page.
Executive Summary
NEW: Recommendations and Policy Solutions to Help Families Thrive
Read recommendations from the Accountability Dialogues – for the Children’s Bureau, the White House Gender Policy Council, Congress, the Judiciary and Family Courts, and States, Tribes, Territories, and Child Welfare Agencies. (Complete) | (Summary)
Recommendations for the Children’s Bureau (Complete) | (Summary)
Recommendations for the White House Gender Policy Council (Complete) | (Summary)
Recommendations for Congress (Complete) | (Summary)
Recommendations for the Judiciary and Family Courts (Complete) | (Summary)
Recommendations for States, Tribes, Territories, and Child Welfare Agencies (Complete) | (Summary)
Video series
Justice is Truth: Truth-telling by survivors of domestic violence
Speaker view (Survivors are more visible when speaking) (English)
Full gallery view (English with ASL interpretation)
In this first of three dialogues, survivors of domestic violence speak directly to policymakers and influencers to share their stories and define the practices and circumstances that led to harmful outcomes for themselves, their children and their communities.
Justice is Accountability: Policymakers exchange ideas for new bold change based on survivors’ stories
Full gallery view (English with ASL interpretation)
In this second session, policymakers and influencers explore what solutions they have tried before and share ideas for new bold change. They were asked to respond to the problems of automatic mandatory reporting of domestic violence, definitions of neglect and “failure to protect,” and accountability for harm caused by the child welfare system.
Justice is Prevention: Policymakers and survivors co-design innovative policy to address harm done to families and transform the system
Full gallery view (English with ASL interpretation)
In the final session of The Accountability Dialogues, survivors and policymakers come together to re-invent the process of developing policy recommendations and refine policy agendas and priorities based on the survivors’ own experiences and wisdom.
Accessibility:
Each session is presented in English with American Sign Language interpretation available and closed captions in English. If you require other accommodations, please email us so that we can do our best to meet your need.
Questions?
Please e-mail the Children’s Team at ChildrensTeam@futureswithoutviolence.org.
