shel

The Transsexual Chofetz Chaim

Mutant, librarian, poet, union rabble rouser, dog, Ashkenazi Jewish. Neuroweird, bodyweird, mostly sleepy.


I write about transformative justice, community, love, Judaism, Neurodivergence, mental health, Disability, geography, rivers, labor, and libraries; through poetry, opinionated essays, and short fiction.


I review Schoolhouse Rock! songs at @PropagandaRock


Website (RSS + Newsletter)
shelraphen.com/
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in reply to @shel's post:

Yeah I rly sympathize. i wonder if Philly has any Family Resource Centers that use transformative justice/are anti-carceral/etc. They might be able to answer this question or point you towards intervention training which, as someone working with the public, it makes sense that you would need.

Family Resource Centers are a national initiative that started i think sometime in the 2000s to provide resources and interventions to families to prevent interactions with CPS, though at least the one i worked at in Amherst did very much work with CPS and the police, too. So im wondering if there's one in Philly, or a similar org that is grassroots/independent, that explicitly uses an abolitionist framework.

It is just so awful that for parents who are abusive they are kind of by definition not going to be receptive to professional help and, as you say, likely to be retributive towards the child. I can imagine a world where CPS does not act punitively or as an arm of the police to punish poverty, but mainly to give kids a safe place to get respite from abuse and give abusive parents the intensive therapy they need to stop abusing their kids, without destroying anyone's life. Its frustrating that the only way the state can intervene in any problem is with punishment or the threat of it.