Justice in bloom: repairing and restoring from the root

RSA US hosted a wonderful opportunity to dive into critical discussions surrounding child and family work, as well as restorative justice. 

The lineup of speakers, included Angela Burton, Sheldon Spotted Elk,  Kevin Campbell FRSA, and Elizabeth Wendel FRSA, and offered a rich exchange of ideas and perspectives.

This conversation focused on restoring imagination and creativity in practices that impact families, while emphasizing the importance of understanding their unique experiences. By prioritizing family togetherness and justice, participants explored how to foster a more equitable society. The questions posed challenged us to think critically about how past decisions have shaped the present and to consider innovative approaches that truly center the well-being of families.

This gathering promised to inspire all participants to reflect on their roles and responsibilities in creating a future rooted in fairness and restorative practices. It’s an essential conversation for anyone dedicated to making impactful changes in their communities. 

Our speakers are:

Sheldon Spotted-Elk 

Sheldon Spotted-Elk is an agent of change to improve legal outcomes for children and families involved in the child welfare system. He works regularly as a strategic partner with the now 20+ Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Courts towards reducing the amount of Indian children in foster care and prompting Indian family integrity.Sheldon currently serves as a judge for a tribal court of appeals. He has taught adjunct courses and provided many lectures at law schools throughout the country. He has provided technical assistance to tribal courts towards improving their child dependency approaches. He has also authored articles on tribal law and the ICWA.Sheldon is a graduate of University of New Mexico School of Law. He and his two sons are Tsistsas (Northern Cheyenne) and reside in Denver, Colorado.

Angela Burton

Throughout her extensive thirty-year career, Angela has tirelessly advocated for the protection of human, constitutional, and civil rights of parents and children entangled in the family policing and regulation system, referred to variously as the child protective services (“CPS”), child welfare, or foster care system. Her work spans various facets of law and public policy, with a particular focus on challenging injustices inflicted on Black families by the family policing and regulation system. 

A graduate of Cornell University and the New York University School of Law, Angela served with distinction as a law professor at the New York University School of Law, Syracuse University College of Law, and the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law. Angela was New York State’s first Director of Quality Enhancement for Parental Legal Representation at the Office of Indigent Legal Services.

Angela is the Founder and Co-convenor of the Repeal CAPTA Workgroup, a national coalition working to repeal the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 1974, the federal law that codified the national "child protective services/CPS" system. She co-chairs the Narrowing the Front Door to New York City’s Child Welfare System Workgroup, and is on the steering/leadership committees of the New York State Child and Family Wellbeing Fund Workgroup and the national Coalition to End Hidden Foster Care.  

Kevin Campbell FRSA

Kevin Campbell is an American Child Protection, Children's Mental Health, and Health Care Innovator and the Co-founder and CEO of Pale Blue. Kevin developed Family Finding^TM and Family Seeing^TM, a set of strategies now utilized throughout North America, Australia, and Western Europe to convene, catalyze, and facilitate families, communities, and governments in their work to respond to the problems that most affect our lives and futures.  Kevin redefines holistic health beyond traditional medical settings, emphasizing community and family well-being. His strategies have influenced major health plans in the U.S., improving healthcare access and quality for millions. Kevin's impactful work led to including Family Finding™ in several U.S. federal laws, significantly changing the idea of child and family well-being in the US and around the globe.

Elizabeth Wendel FRSA

Elizabeth Wendel, MSW, LSW, is the president and co-founder of Pale Blue, a collaborative organization that seeks to disseminate learning and participatory methods at the intersection of the three e’s: Equality, Economics, and the Environment. These e’s are the foundation of human health, flourishing, and justice. She is an accomplished expert and author in Family Finding^TM and Family Seeing^TM. Her work began in Philadelphia, where she established the Family Finding program and provided services to over 10,000 young people, connecting them with over 26,000 supportive kinship and relational connections. She dedicates her career to justice alongside young people, parents, and families and is privileged to work alongside communities and organizations around the globe.

Photo attribution: The original image can be accessed via Unsplash and is the work of Rajiv Perera.