Field Center Blog
Thank you for visiting the Field Center blog! Members of the Field Center network are passionate about our work and we welcome the opportunity to share more of our stories, reflections, and impacts with you. The Field Center hopes to use our blog to introduce you to members of our team, including faculty and staff, students and fellows, board members and donors, without whom our work on behalf of abused and neglected children would not be possible. Every stakeholder has a story to tell about why the Field Center’s work is a priority to them.
Each month, we will post a new blog entry, representing perspectives across multiple disciplines. Our team is excited to share our passion with you, and increase our ability to respond to pressing issues in real time. Happy reading, and please share widely with your networks!
Simple Stories Covering Hard Histories
November 30, 2021
By Nimo Ali, Field Center Lerner Fellow in Child Welfare Policy As I close out my first semester at the Field Center as the 2021-2022 Lerner Fellow, I am struck by the competing narratives of the Thanksgiving holiday and their echoes in the current Child Welfare System discourse. As an immigrant child, I learned the. . .
Children and the Influenza Pandemics of 1918-1919 and 2020-2021
June 23, 2021
By Cynthia Connolly, PhD RN, Field Center Faculty Director Professor of Nursing Rosemarie B. Greco Endowed Term Chair in Advocacy Associate Director, Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing In early December of 1918, physician Harriet L. Hartley, Chief of the Philadelphia Health Department’s Bureau of Child Hygiene, took the stage. . .
Reflections on a Year of CASA Advocacy
April 28, 2021
By Felicia Saunders, Field Center Administrative Coordinator Joining the Field Center team two years ago filled me with a sense of pride and gave me a renewed sense of purpose in my work at Penn. It was an honor to know I’d be supporting a small but mighty team in such important work on behalf. . .
My Path To Penn: A Personal and Professional Journey of Growth
March 22, 2021
By Hannah Rawdin, Director of Development at the Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research I am honored to write our March blog post; not to speak about the topics my expert colleagues are so deeply committed to, but to share a bit about my journey to the Field Center and joining the ranks. . .
A New Year and A New Conception of Justice for Children and Families
January 29, 2021
By Kara R. Finck, Esq., Field Center Faculty Director, Practice Professor of Law, Director of Interdisciplinary Child Advocacy Clinic Traditionally, a blog post at the start of the new year should be replete with hopes, aspirations and resolutions for the year ahead. I should be making predictions about the Biden administration’s plans for family and. . .
Meet the Young Professionals Council: Q&A on Equity in Child Welfare
November 23, 2020
By Jessica Barmash (Events Chair)I was introduced to the Young Professional Counsel (YPC) a little over three years ago by a colleague. At the time, I supervised a behavioral health emergency program at a foster care agency. Often, I felt like I was not doing enough, but through the YPC I was able to connect. . .
Disproportionality, Disparity, and Definitions: Race and Child Welfare
October 27, 2020
Barbara Chaiyachati, M.D., Ph.D., Fellow Physician, Child Abuse Pediatrics, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Cindy W. Christian, M.D., Field Center Faculty Director, Anthony A. Latini Chair in Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on US minority populations and the spring’s video evidence of the unjust deaths of Black. . .
