Pregnancy Justice Senior Staff Attorney Aarin Williams Moderates Panel on Child Welfare and the War on Drugs

On March 13th, Pregnancy Justice Senior Staff Attorney Aarin Williams moderated a panel discussion co-hosted by the Child Welfare Organizing Project (CWOP) and The New School Center for NYC Affairs entitled: “Child Welfare: The Unintended Consequence of the War on Drugs.”

This panel “focus(ed) on the intersection of child welfare policy and drugs” and the ways in which “race and socioeconomic status have shaped reactions to drug use and the consequences for parents and their children.”

Panelists included Dinah Ortiz (Parent Advocate Supervisor at The Bronx Defender Services), Kassandra Frederique (New York State Director at the Drug Policy Alliance) and Emma Ketteringham (Managing Attorney of the Family Defense Practice at The Bronx Defender Services).

Thank you to this panel’s speakers, organizers and audience for a dynamic, engaging and critical discussion of the punitive consequences of the civil child welfare system and its connection to the war on drugs.

Pictured here (left to right): Pregnancy Justice Senior Staff Attorney Aarin Williams and panelists Kassandra Frederique, Dinah Ortiz, & Emma Ketteringham.