Navigating Change: A Conversation with Josh Lamers, Co-founder of Collective of Child Welfare Survivors

Navigating Change: A Conversation with Josh Lamers, Co-founder of Collective of Child Welfare SurvivorsEpisode Summary: Adoption is trauma. How do we help surviving children heal the wounds they’ve sustained from the child welfare system? Josh Lamers, a transracial adoptee, is public enemy #1 for child welfare agencies in Canada. He joins the show to discuss what adoption and child welfare are like in Canada; and how his organization, Collective of Child Welfare Survivors, advocates for child welfare survivors though addressing harm reduction, counseling, unpacking racial displacement, and community development…amongst many other things. “The child who's now back in your home is not the same child who was taken out of your home.” In this episode, we cover:(00:21) Who is Josh Lamers?(01:57) His transracial adoption experience OR “My adoption was illegal”(08:51) How child welfare works in Canada OR Adoption system in Canada (13:47) Insights from studying adoption OR What’s wrong with research about adoption(23:51) Psychiatric system and adoption (26:26) Disability and adoption (and why Josh’s adoption was illegal)(32:22) Myth of “unmanageable kids”(34:05) How they advocate for child welfare survivors (45:50) How to support child advocacy workCall To Action:Subscribe to Adoptees Crossing Lines wherever you listen to podcasts, follow us on social media, and subscribe to our Substack for more content and community:Website: adopteescrossinglines.comInstagram: @adopteescrossinglinesBlueSky: adopteecrossing.bsky.socialTikTok: @adopteescrossinglines_Substack: Adoptees Crossing Lines SubstackResources:Outsiders Within Collective of Child Welfare Survivors: Donate Work With Me:Email [email protected] for brand partnerships and business inquiries.Editing by Samuel Oyedele (Editor)Special thanks to Samuel Oyedele for editing our podcast, support his work on Instagram or email him at [email protected]