Wisconsin Child Welfare Professional Development System

Statement on Racism and Racial Justice

Original Statement

June 10th, 2020
Like so many others in our community, the UW-Milwaukee Child Welfare Partnership ​mourns the death of George Floyd and other Black citizens killed and treated unjustly. ​Our work is guided by a set of values that  includes a commitment to inclusivity and the inherent worth and dignity of others. We strive to respond to the diverse needs of our learners and the communities in which they live and work with cultural humility and intelligence. We are committed to ethical behavior, including a profound respect for our participants and the families they serve. ​Despite these commitments, we know we have fallen short.  We know we need to understand, take responsibility for, and change actions that have not done right by our staff, partners and community.  Going forward, we will be critically examining our policies and activities, listening to our partners, participants and families, acknowledging wrongs, and actively participating in making our community more just and safe for those who have endured racism, oppression, and discrimination for too long.

We understand that at this moment and for this movement, words are not enough. So, we will be holding ourselves accountable to this statement. Over the coming weeks and months, we will be sharing with you the changes we have made and how we are making them.

Updates

July 2020
Based on our “Statement on Racism and Racial Justice” from last month, we have updated our Staff recruitment, screening, and hiring policies. You can read them here.

October 2020
All-Staff meeting with a speaker from the campus Division of Global Inclusion and Engagement.

December 2020
RAFT training includes a reading and discussion on the Racism statement.

CW Engaging to Build Trusting Relationships curriculum has been updated to include Cultural Humility CH content.

January 2021
In-house Training of Trainers includes sections on ethics and CH.

Ongoing
Our Cultural Humility Council creates and sends out newsletters to staff on CH issues and coordinates CH trainings for staff.