We See You. We Hear You. We Support You.
In the past couple of days the nation has been experiencing a deep rooted pain. An all too familiar headline about the tragic death of an unarmed black man in police custody has once again brought so much hurt and repressed emotions to the surface. As the nation continues to grieve, to process, to acknowledge and to turn this grief into policy reform and a culture change we would like to send a message of solidarity to the entire community. For so many at Crittenton our hearts are heavy as well. Many of us work, worship, shop, volunteer, reside and come together in the same neighborhoods and communities as you do. Despite our heavy hearts we are seeing an energy of unity around this particular issue within our criminal justice system we haven’t seen before. An energy, with continued support, we hope will lead to real systematic change.
As a member agency of the California Alliance of Child and Family Services every one of the organizations, including Crittenton, involved in this state-wide advocacy group stand firmly in solidarity and affirm our support with the following statement. We here you, we see you, we support you.
California Alliance Statement on Recent Murders of Black Americans:
The recent murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Armory, Breonna Taylor and countless others have left our communities feeling anger and despair. Amid a global pandemic, we continue to face the realities of abuse of power and racial injustice.
The Alliance stands in support of the families of these victims, and as an organization that represents 145 nonprofits who serve primarily at-risk children, youth and families from diverse backgrounds, we must come together to recognize the structural racism that continues to exist in many of our public systems. As our member organizations work to reduce the impacts of poverty and trauma, we must dig even deeper to uproot the underlying structures that keep these inequities alive. Black, Latinx and Native American children continue to be placed in foster care and in the juvenile justice system at disproportionately high rates and continue to be impacted by the inequities in our educational systems.
These protests are the cries of generations of pain and suffering brought to the surface by experiencing over and over again the fear of being harmed by those who should be a source of protection. A public health crisis and historic unemployment, both of which are impacting communities of color in greater proportion than whites, have further shone a light on the structural inequities in our nation.
It is our responsibility to not only give voice to these inequities, but to act in thoughtful, meaningful and sustained ways to ensure that the next generation of youth can rise up, and to continue to help to heal through understanding, compassion and justice. As we continue to advocate for children, youth and families served in our public systems, the Alliance will work to be accountable to them, to ensure all voices are heard, and to do better on their behalf.
Donate to Uplift and Amplify Voices that Need Our Support:
If you’d like to help in the pursuit of an equal justice system, we encourage our supporters to assist national leading civil rights organizations so they can continue to move the needle on policy reform and continue to push their mission forward.
- NAACP
- NAACP Legal Defense Fund
- National Urban League
- The National Action Network
- The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation
- The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
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Crittenton Services for Children and Families of Southern California (CSCF) is a non-profit social services agency whose mission is to heal the wounds of abuse and neglect; strengthen families; and help troubled adolescents reach their full potential. Established and incorporated in 1966 Crittenton has a highly trained workforce operating 24 hours a day / 7 days a week providing comprehensive mental health services, shelter care, and other support services to the clients in our care. We provide a full array continuum of care programming that includes short-term residential, family preservation, wraparound family services, outpatient mental health, school-linked mental health, transitional age youth programming, and foster care services with a service planning area throughout Southern California that covers Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties.
Visit www.crittentonsocal.org to learn more about our programs and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Flickr