Truth & Transformation Community Forums

Our vision is for every child to grow up safely with their family, for families and communities to share and hold power to design their own futures, and to support families in ways that positively impact their lives. You make the difference. We need your help to improve the child welfare system. Let’s talk about supporting families and communities together.

Community Member Registration

Resource Partner Registration

YOU Make the Difference

FAQs

Who are the Forums for?

We would love to hear from community members directly impacted by the NJ child welfare system (DCP&P- the Division of Child Protection and Permanency or DYFS). To improve the system, we need your voices to effect change and strengthen communities. We want to hear your recommendations for what could be better, what resources are needed in your community, and we want to learn about your experiences with the system (only if you are comfortable sharing).

Are you a parent who had a “case” (whether your child was in foster care or not)? Are you over 18 but spent time in foster care and/or a group home? Have you been a kinship caregiver for your younger relative or a foster parent? Do you live in a community where a lot of your neighbors have been impacted by the system? If so, this forum is for you! We need to hear from you.

Where are the Forums being held?

Are transportation & childcare assistance being provided?

Yes, PFPC will be assisting with coordinating transportation and childcare assistance for those who need. If you did not select that you would benefit from transportation or childcare assistance or provide your contact information when you registered for the Forum, please reach out to Powerful Families Powerful Communities (PFPC) by email at info@powerfulfamiliesnj.org or by phone at 609-585-7666.

Where do we park?

Attendees of the event may park in Deck 4 at Rutgers using this link to register. Attendees will click "Visitor" then enter their email and vehicle information to complete registration. Once completed they will receive an email and or text confirmation. Rutgers affiliated Faculty, Staff and Students must have a Rutgers parking permit (Semester, Daily, or Event) and park accordingly. Faculty, Staff, and Students parking without a parking permit or outside their parking permit assignment will be subjected to ticketing and/or towing.

You may also review an Event Parking Guide here.

Attendees that wish to park in the street can use the ParkMobile app.

Will there be food?

What will the forum be like? What can we expect?

The forum will include a facilitated and supportive discussion about how to improve child and family services ( including the child welfare system or DCPP) in NJ. We will discuss:

The truths of community members’ experiences with the child welfare system (including harms done, the impact on communities and things that helped)
Efforts being made to transform the system- including changes that have been made to improve the system so far
What still needs to change to best support families and communities

Most importantly, we want to hear from you on what will the make the child welfare system better and what your community needs to support families so that every child can grow up safely with their family without system involvement. We’ll break bread together, listen, learn, and co-create solutions that reflect the experiences of families and the values of our communities.

How will we continue to stay a part of the work after the Forums?

We need you to be a part of the work to design the future of NJ’s child and family well-being system (including DCPP-the child welfare system). This is just the beginning. After the forums, PFPC community chapters will be starting in the 3 regions of the state to keep the work going. The chapters will bring together community members to provide mutual support, expand advocacy skills, and to continue to identify and advocate for improvements needed in the child welfare system and other systems that impact families in NJ.