"There’s No Place Like Home"

Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) Seminar Series

The Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) Seminar Series brings together experts in the field of child and family trauma to discuss important topics related to prevention science, family intervention, best practices, and cutting-edge research.

In this month's seminar, Maria Griglio will discuss the reasons for and benefits of a preventative legal program for parents whose children are at risk of child welfare involvement. Griglio will provide historical context and statistics showing that there is a disproportionate number of Black children in the child welfare system, and that Black families are traditionally subject to over surveillance. She will also show how the majority of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) investigations are due to general neglect allegations, which are most often not substantiated, yet could result in the trauma of a DCFS investigation. The presentation will then discuss the benefit of preventative legal advocacy for these families and will focus on the Children’s Law Center’s Family Support and Advocacy Center, which provides preventative legal advocacy and social services support for parents who had prior child welfare involvement as children.