Laura LeBrun, University of Minnesota MSW Graduate and Outreach Graduate Assistant at CASCW
July 2021
Welcome to the Expanding Knowledge blog series! The following is an eight-week series that will feature means to enhance your child welfare work through education by non-conventional means, exploring content beyond traditional academia. We recognize that everyone learns in unique ways and thus will suggest resources from social media, books, podcasts, and more to help broaden the child welfare knowledge base and increase access to a variety of voices.
Our first week in Expanding Knowledge will explore ways to learn from social media as consumers of information. In the past few years, social media has taken a unique form as a medium of advocacy and accountability, with account owners curating their feed to speak about topics that they feel passionate about. Cultures and life experiences are connected, not inhibited by distance. Facebook groups have been formed for similar communities and interests, as well as learning opportunities; even “Generation Z” has their own means of education and advocacy through short, one-minute videos on TikTok.
While these other social media forms have value, I have been particularly enriched by how Instagram has been used to share one’s story, particularly those of adoptees. Oftentimes, Instagram posters will put a simple photo with a longform post (under Instagram’s limit of 2,200 characters) so that people gain a greater understanding of how the child welfare system and adoption has shown up in their lives and affected them. Infographic-style posts and videos are also used, though less commonly. What these posts lead to, in my opinion, are little moments of scrolling that improve how I work with families and children, as I consider more fully the effects my actions have on them.
It is important to consider the lens that content creators use when considering how these perspectives will influence your child welfare practice. Often, foster and adoptive parents are centered in conversations due to many factors, including age, power differentials, and perception of role. While most of the creators below hold the title of “adoptee,” they also have multiple identities including social worker, Black, transracially adopted, parent, and more. As former foster youth and adoptee voices are the center of our work, their voices should be elevated. I invite you to consider the positions, identities, and power dynamics inherent in any of the child welfare-related accounts you might follow. Whose voice is centered? Are those with lived experience exploited or further marginalized?
Below are ten accounts that I suggest you consider following. While the first three are explored more in-depth, I have found all of these incredibly valuable and thus have organized the rest in order of least to greatest followers, with the hope that you will find some new voices from which to learn:
1. Amanda Woolston (@amandatda)
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Amanda is an author, educator, therapist, MSS, LSW, and adoptee who posts in long-form, infographics, and videos. Using her lens, she writes posts like the example above, regarding how she works with adopted children to help them process the complexity of their adoption. In addition, she writes about the unanswered questions from her adoption (such as where childhood belongings ended up) and the relationship with her first family. She is also active in the greater community, participating in events such as a Zoom discussion series so that people can benefit from her emotional labor. Amanda is great at creating content for all types of learners, ensuring that all of her information is easy to understand and attainable. She is particularly a good resource for the social worker and/or foster parent looking to explain adoption and foster care in an age-appropriate way.
2. Kris/Anup (@indianlatediscoveryadoptee)
Kris identifies not only as a husband and father but also as an Indian who discovered he was adopted at the age of 34. Although he notes that he always felt out of place, it was not until he took a DNA test that he was able to confirm his adoption. Many of his posts document how he is processing this fact, as the identity he once had was “shattered.” In addition, Kris has had to face rejection-related loss from his adoptive family, noting the immense emotions that come with this change. In his long-form posts, he is honest about the questions he has experienced, with each aspect of his life now holding new meaning. He also is vulnerable about his emotions, noting that anger can be a means to survive. He is a great resource for the child welfare worker who wishes to understand the long-term effects of adoption and the importance of explaining to children their stories.
3. Sixto M. Escalera-Cancel (@sixtocancel)
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Sixto actively gives his time and efforts to help explain child welfare from an former foster youth’s perspective as well as being a leader. He is also the CEO and Founder of Think of Us, which describes itself as “a systems change firm focused on transforming child welfare by leveraging lived experience and system proximity to drive systems change.” In particular, Think of Us seeks to leverage technology to help foster youth aging out of the system. On social media, Sixto primarily shares information about new and beneficial legislation for youth through images and brief commentary about the current state of our society and the child welfare system. Sixto actively gives his time and efforts to help explain child welfare from an adoptee’s perspective as well as being a leader. He is an excellent resource for the child welfare worker who seeks out new methods and policies to better help youth who have experienced the child welfare system.
4. Laura (@lauraisalot)
Laura identifies as an adoptee, advocate, writer, and new mom. She typically posts a rotation between short- and long-form. She has recently started a new series about the fears battled by adoptees.
5. Stephanie Oyler (@adopteelit)
Stephanie describes herself as a social worker (MSW, LSW), therapist, founder, and owner of AdopteeLIT, agent for change, blogger, wife, and mother. She seeks to educate, advocate, and share her experience. She posts educational resources but also hosts quite a few webinars and other educational opportunities.
6. Torie DiMartile (@wreckageandwonder)
Torie is a speaker, writer, and anthropology Ph.D. student who was also a biracial Black child adopted by white parents. She primarily writes in long-form but does occasionally use slides to highlight questions or quotes. Recently, she proposed a series of questions for people considering transracial adoption.
7. Cam Lee Small (@therapyredeemed)
Cam is from the Twin Cities and is a therapist (MS, LPCC) and Korean adoptee. He posts in brief posts, typically proposing a question or a comment for greater reflection. He also posts lists, videos, and has longer posts through links in his bio. Cam seeks adoption reform and racial justice, holding workshops (for adoptees and adoptive parents) and other free resources to help further this mission.
8. Jessenia Parmer (@iamadopted)
Jessenia identifies as a transracial adoptee and mental health advocate who is particularly passionate about adoption, mental health, and suicide prevention. She has been particularly notable for lifting other adoptee voices, and she has been recently sharing their pictures with their stories about how their mental health has been affected by adoption in the captions.
9. Hannah Matthews – Hey TRA (@_heytra)
Hannah holds an M.S.Ed and is a writer and educator. She is a transracial adoptee who is passionate about identity, adoption, and antiracism. Writing from her lens as a transracial adoptee and now as a mother, she writes about her own experiences as well as giving other transracial adoptees a space for community and support.
10. Angela Tucker (@angieadoptee)
Angie is a transracial adoptee who has sought to share her and other adoptee voices through a variety of mediums. She primarily shares when and where these resources will be available on her social media feed, but she is also known for posting short clips from other voices. One of the things she posts often is her Adoptee Manifesto, a resource that should and needs to be revisited often and reminds adoptees that they are not alone.
Finally, I would encourage all social media consumers to consider paying for the emotional labor of those who are using their platforms to educate and enrich the child welfare field. While many people will have a link for voluntary payments, others will not, and it is okay to ask for, and thus recognize, a means to pay the content creators for their efforts. We are benefiting from the time and labor that it takes for them to create each post.
The reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are expressly that of the author and are not that of the University of Minnesota, School of Social Work, or Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare.