Friend
As the week has continued, we have all seen the movement that has occurred due to the death of George Floyd. It has been heartbreaking yet heartwarming as people come together to have conversations about how we as a community and a nation can do better.
Kansas Children’s Service League (KCSL) denounces racism, discrimination and oppression. We serve children and families without regard to race, creed, ethnicity or sexuality. We believe our children are our future, and they deserve safe, stable, nurturing relationships AND environments to be successful.
At KCSL, we remain committed to our mission,
to protect and promote the well-being of children
. As a part of that mission, we must take seriously the role that structural racism and discrimination has in the ability for children to grow up happy, healthy and prepared to succeed. We know from research and through our work that minorities have a disproportionate rate of trauma. We see our families living in food, child care and health care deserts; rented homes that are not well maintained; a lack of access to education and employment resources to support them as parents. The list of disparities continues.
In the work we do every day, we help parents manage through these obstacles. But now we have an opportunity to speak further with our families and each other to learn more from their experiences in order to increase our knowledge and skills. We have the opportunity to educate more people about the impact of racial injustice on the children we serve. We must continue to examine our own internal biases and the impact those preconceptions have on our work.
It is times like this I am most reminded of the impact we can have.
Sincerely,
