Each year in New York City, more than 2,000 children are removed from their homes and placed into foster care. Tens of thousands of additional families become involved in child abuse and neglect investigations.
These cases disproportionately affect low-income communities. While Black and brown New Yorkers make up less than half of the city’s population, they account for more than 80 percent of child welfare investigations.
Nowhere is this impact felt more strongly than in the Bronx, the borough with the highest number of families involved with Child Protective Services (CPS).
In the midst of these challenges, a group of Bronx parents are working to reshape what the child welfare system looks like — by centering the voices and experiences of families themselves.
RISE, a parent-led nonprofit located on East Tremont Avenue, is at the heart of that effort. Founded in 2005, RISE is run by parents who have been directly impacted by the child welfare system.
According to Jeanette Vega Brown, executive director of RISE, the organization has helped thousands of parents build skills, find support and advocate for themselves and their families through a combination of grants, donations, and community support.
Vega Brown, who brings both professional leadership and lived experience to her role. After navigating her own challenges with the child welfare system, she joined RISE with a commitment to ensuring other parents would not have to face the process alone.
“Our work at RISE is really about giving parents information and knowledge,” Vega Brown said. “It’s about helping them understand that they’re not alone—and that this can happen to any of us at any time.”
RISE offers a wide range of services designed to empower parents, including peer support groups, advocacy training and writing and public speaking workshops. These programs help parents better understand their rights, communicate effectively with agencies and support others going through similar experiences.
Staff members say RISE fills critical gaps that traditional training does not always address. While social workers from the city’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) receive formal education, RISE emphasizes the expertise that comes from lived experience.
“It doesn’t matter where you go — if you’re a parent or a parent advocate,” said Teresa Marrero, Peer Support Program coordinator at RISE.
“When you walk into a room with ACS or step in as a resource for another parent, you are the professional. Your life experience is what makes you who you are, and I carry that proudly.”
By placing parents at the center of advocacy and reform, RISE is helping to shift the narrative around child welfare — from one focused on punishment and surveillance to one rooted in support, dignity, and community strength.
In the Bronx, parents who once felt powerless are now leading conversations about change, proving that those most affected by the system can also be its strongest agents for reform.
