Advocacy Issue

As a professional counselor, I have decided to advocate for the abolition of the child support system. The child support system of the country is one of the factors responsible for the economic inequality and low-income families, especially those of color, are affected more adversely. As a counseling professional who prioritizes social justice and clients’ well-being, I should point out that such a discriminatory system must be stopped. The book by Patrisse Cullors emphasizes some key strategies that I am set to employ in my advocacy work.

My goal is to change the prevailing societal narrative that presents child support as an appropriate and essential system. I will hit this goal by speaking, writing, and leading discussions. I will put forward the narratives of those who have suffered the most because of the current approach. The main accent will be highlighting the fact that it criminalizes poverty, destroys families, and fuels the cycle of trauma and economic disempowerment, affecting mostly Black and Brown communities. In addition, a community that collectively practices care-giving and support among themselves instead of resorting to punitive measures for ensuring the health and safety of children and families will be portrayed.

Creating a sense of community will be crucial to transforming this new narrative into a significant shift. Van Dernoot Lipsky highlights that one of our primary duties is to work toward understanding our relationship to get support if we wish to provide our service continuously (van Dernoot Lipsky, 2010). To avoid burnout and maintain ourselves, it is critical to know when and how to seek support, particularly while involved in emotionally hard advocacy. As a counselor, I can coordinate the efforts of other mental health providers who observe the psychological effects on their patients of the child support system. I will organize counselors to share knowledge, develop plans of action, and work together. Simultaneously, I will work closely with and learn from the directly harmed communities, who have been battling against this system for centuries. It is only by putting the most disadvantaged at the center and developing group power that we can hope to change systems of oppression.

Another key component of my lobbying strategy will be an emphasis on damage reduction and non-reformist reforms, while abolition remains the goal. Cullors, therefore, suggests a lessening of the effects of the oppressive systems using harm reduction while at the same time trying to bring about the collapse of the same systems (Cullors, 2022). For child support, it will mean fighting hard to change the measures that cause people to be incarcerated as punishment for their failure to pay the dues. The other possible reform that is non-reformist is to struggle to keep a bureaucratic line between child support and public assistance programs. Those modifications cut down damages without reinforcing or legitimizing the underlying system.

Finally, I will utilize the methods that Laura van Dernoot Lipsky outlined in her book to maintain myself as a trauma steward during this intensive advocacy activity. This includes self-care and mindfulness practices where the significance of being fully present is paramount to providing care for others and to the environment (van Dernoot Lipsky, 2010). I will address any of my vicarious trauma while defining the boundaries that will allow me to advocate with conviction and transparency. Developing deep relationships with other advocates and emphasizing group care will help support my sustainability.

In the end, it will take a visionary commitment and tenacious organization over many years and fronts to dismantle the child support system. I will help achieve this critical goal as a counselor by educating myself and others, shifting narratives, uplifting affected communities, pursuing strategic changes, and practicing trauma stewardship. We can empower and care for children and families instead of criminalizing and controlling them. Counselors are crucial to this abolitionist future that we must make a reality.