Oscaterin Bautista begins her day at 5 a.m., carving out quiet hours to study before her four children wake. At 35, she balances motherhood, a full-time job and a double major at ĚÇĐÄvlog – all while championing young children’s school readiness. This documentary photo essay follows her journey in her own words, capturing the determination, setbacks and inspiration fueling her pursuit of higher education.

“I’m grateful to contribute to something meaningful, to inspire others to begin their educational journey and to show that it’s never too late if we have the motivation and desire to grow,” she says.

As told to Marilyn Joyce Lehren

Study Time

Even if I only get three hours of sleep, I know it’s worth it. Soon, I’ll have my degree and that will open more doors for us. I want my kids to see that it’s possible.”

I remind myself this is a temporary sacrifice … I want to be a role model for my kids – I can’t expect them to be something I’m not.”

Breakfast and Family Routine

I’m really thankful for my kids; they help me a lot. My 15-year-old takes care of the younger ones when I have evening classes.”

On the Job: Advocating for Families

We have families of every background. I see the worries and the hopes. My job is to remind them help is not a punishment and you are not alone.”

I have a caseload of 113 families. I help them with self-assessments and services, even paperwork they’re afraid to fill out. Sometimes I see what’s missing – maybe a child isn’t getting vaccines or a family needs food. If I can, I help them in my office – especially if they’re afraid of being misunderstood or if there are language barriers.”

I keep the notes as special reminders of my connection with the children, especially throughout their journey to kindergarten. I’ve been part of some families’ lives for one to three years, and when they leave our program, a real connection remains – because I see their faces daily and a bond is built. Creating an impact on the little ones is truly priceless, even if they might not remember me when they grow up.”

Evening: Family, Homework and Baseball

I’m there as his number one fan, even if he strikes out.”

Back to School

At first, I was scared to go back to college. I was 30 with four children, surrounded by classmates half my age. But I met others like me and I learned I wasn’t alone.”

The support from professors and the resources available have prepared me to grow stronger as a family advocate … Sometimes, while working on ourselves, we can lose sight of who we are, but the feedback from my professors reminds me of who I want to become and why I am here.”

After I graduate, I want to get my master’s in social work and create a nonprofit that makes sure no family falls through the cracks. I want to use my experiences to make things easier for other families. If I’ve struggled, so have others – and no one should face that journey alone.”

for a more complete look at Oscaterin’s day as a mother, student and family advocate.

Are You Ready to Start Your Montclair Journey?

• Plan your visitĚý˛ą˛Ô»ĺĚý in applying to become a Red Hawk!

The project is an excellent match between faculty expertise and the needs of the state: ensuring the safety, stability, and well-being of children and families across New Jersey.

“We’re honored to be trusted with this work,” said Zeitlin. “We see this not just as a two-year project, but the beginning of a long-term collaboration to improve the lives of children and families across New Jersey.”

Supporting a Historic Transition in NJ Child Welfare Oversight

In 2006, New Jersey’s child welfare system came under federal oversight following widespread concerns about its performance. Over the next several years, the state made sweeping changes and improvements under the guidance of a federal monitor. When federal oversight ended, stakeholders created a legislative plan to maintain and build on those gains.

In 2022, state legislation charged the Staffing and Oversight Review Subcommittee (SORS) with producing annual performance reports on the child welfare system’s effectiveness in key areas — a responsibility now supported by Montclair State’s expert faculty.

“I am very proud of our faculty,” said CHSS Dean Fatma Mili. “They are investing their research expertise on some of the most important issues, the welfare of the most vulnerable members of our society. Their work has long lasting lessons and an immediate impact on our society. Professors Zeitlin, Douglas, and Shpiegel are a great example of how a public university can serve the public good.”

Faculty Expertise, National Context

Drawing on deep knowledge of national child welfare trends and access to federal data sets, Montclair’s team will contextualize New Jersey’s progress within a broader national landscape. Their work will include replicating and refining previous analyses, enhancing data storytelling, and helping SORS produce reports that are not only technically rigorous but also accessible and meaningful to stakeholders across the system.

“This work is not just about data — it’s about making sure the data tells the story of what is happening right now, and what is needed to best support children and families who come in contact with the child welfare system,” says Shpiegel.

In year two, the project will expand to incorporate additional indicators and responsibilities outlined in state legislation, with the goal of building a long-term evaluation structure that supports ongoing system improvement.

A Transformative Opportunity for Students and the State

The project also creates rare hands-on opportunities for Montclair students, who will gain exposure to the policy, evaluation, and systems-level challenges facing New Jersey’s child welfare agencies.

“Working directly with faculty on this project, our students will learn how research and evaluation can serve communities and drive real-world change,” says Douglas.

Panelists

Erica Fischer-Kaslander, Executive Director, Child Focus

Santiago Gonzalez, Casework Supervisor, New Jersey Department of Children and Families, Division of Child Protection and Permanency

Kelly Klinger, Member Engagement Specialist, New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault

Moderator: , Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy at ĚÇĐÄvlog and Director of Statewide Initiatives, New Jersey Children’s Alliance

Register to attend

Why Attend?

• Learn about challenges and opportunities in child advocacy emerging from current trends
• Explore dynamic career paths in child advocacy
• Interact directly with alumni of the program
• Gain insight into the benefits of the Online Master’s in Child Advocacy and Policy

On her decision to invite Dr. Douglas, Dr. Gushwa says, “Emily is an international expert on child maltreatment facilities and policy & research…She brought a new perspective to Ireland (with) both of her talks. I know Emily to be an engaging speaker, and she did not disappoint. Faculty, students and members of the community are still talking about her presentations and panels. She has started new conversations that will serve us well for some time to come.”

Douglas presented two discussions entitled From Darkness to Light: Preventing Child Maltreatment Fatalities in the United States and Two Ships Passing in the Night: How Researchers Can Bring Evidence to Policy-Makers. 

From Darkness to Light: Preventing Maltreatment Fatalities in the United States discussed the existing knowledge surrounding child maltreatment fatalities in the U.S. and adds essential contextual information regarding victims, perpetrators, family units, and prevalence rates. Dr. Douglas also explored existing intervention points, their success rates, and where blind spots remain with regards to the child welfare and criminal justice systems, child death review teams, safe haven laws, and preventative measures.

Finding gaps at the “intersection of social science research and policy,” Dr. Douglas discussed how to connect the two in Two Ships Passing in the Night: How Researchers Can Bring Evidence to Policy-Makers. She pursued the idea that scholarly based work can be communicated to legislators to help them in developing policies and programs that are substantiated in research.

“I hope that my presentations brought new information about high-risk families and the different approaches that have been implemented in the U.S. to reduce risk to children,” says Dr. Douglas.

Dr. Douglas found the collaborative experience, as well as the opening of the Center for Community Research and Innovation, exciting and inspiring, saying, “So often, universities work in communities for only as long as there is funding and this center plans to work over the long-term.”

This graduate certificate will introduce students to the concept of harm reduction, discuss a range of harm reduction services and programs in the United States and beyond, and offer practical training on non-stigmatizing, social justice-oriented, and trauma-informed engagement strategies with people who use drugs. The certificate consists of three, 3-credit courses (i.e., 9 credits in total), offered in an asynchronous online format to provide optimal flexibility for students and professionals from various human service disciplines.

• Date/Time: Thursday, August 31, 2023 at 12:00 PM
• Location: Virtual, Zoom – registration is required

Read More About the Certificate

“It is humbling to be professionally recognized by my community of peers in NJ. When I took the presidency of NJPA in 2020, I could not have envisioned that COVID would turn all of our lives upside down,” says Takagi.

Dr. Takagi continues: “As a leader, advocacy, communication and inclusiveness became the primary focus of my presidency. Suddenly, the parity of telehealth reimbursement for needed treatment nationally and in NJ; advocating for the law that allowed NJ to be part of ; and advocating for the amendment to the involved a team of leaders that preceded and worked alongside me.

“I am proud to have brought these efforts to fruition with the help of the NJPA Executive Board, NJPA staff, my colleagues, family and friends, and with the support of the New Jersey Inter-Mental Health and Psychological Associations Coalition (IMPAC), NJABPsi, LMHANJ, and NJPA. This recognition is particularly meaningful to me, as I am an immigrant, as English is my second language, and as I am privileged to work through human suffering and human resilience in my offices daily.”

, Chair of the Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy, says Takagi’s award is well-deserved. “Lucy has worked so hard to represent her psychology colleagues in the state and their clients. Lucy’s advocacy on behalf of others is remarkable. She is an inspiration to many and an important role model for our students.  We are very lucky to call her our colleague.”

This award marks Dr. Takagi’s second in the past year for her contributions and leadership to the psychology profession. In 2021, she was selected for the 2021 Outstanding Psychologist Award from Division 31 of the American Psychological Association. This award honors a psychologist whose distinguished contributions include demonstrating outstanding leadership in State, Provincial and Territorial Psychological Association Affairs (SPTA).

Dr. Takagi is Brazilian, has a Master’s in Educational Psychology from ĚÇĐÄvlog and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. She has worked clinically with inner-city, ethnically, financially and culturally diverse populations and with adult and child victims of sexual abuse. She is a trained forensic evaluator and has done assessments and treatments of victims impacted by abuse and neglect as well as by other forms of trauma. She has testified as an expert and fact witness in New Jersey’s civil courts. Dr. Takagi has also evaluated undocumented immigrants applying for documentation.

At Montclair State, Dr. Takagi is the current Graduate Program Coordinator for the Child Advocacy & Policy Program at the Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy, where she has taught courses including Abuse and Neglect, Current Social Issues and graduate Practicum and Seminar in Public Child Welfare courses.

Sunday, April 24th at 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

March 15, 2022, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Tuesday, June 29, 2021 at 7:00 PM until 8:00 PM

WHAT WE ARE DOING

The Department actively stands with all who advocate for racial justice and seek reform of all systems that oppress and institutionalize racism. As a department, we recognize the continuing need to confront our own biases in our efforts to challenge racial injustice at all levels.

• The calls for social workers to “act to prevent and eliminate domination of, exploitation of, and discrimination against any person, group, or class on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, or mental or physical ability.”
• Similarly, the , Principle E states “Psychologists respect the dignity and worth of all people, and the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination… Psychologists are aware of and respect cultural, individual, and role differences, including those based on age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, and socioeconomic status, and consider these factors when working with members of such groups.”
• The lays out in Section 8.4, that it amounts to professional misconduct for a lawyer to “engage in conduct that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is harassment or discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or socioeconomic status in conduct related to the practice of law.”

We apply these policies using cultural humility (Yeager & Bauer-Wu, 2013): We strive to be life-long learners; we challenge racial barriers and power imbalances that result in systematic injustice; and we promote institutional accountability. Using this framework, here are some of the steps we plan to take that represent these efforts.

Lifelong Learning and Self-Reflection. We recognize and are committing to understanding better the myriad ways that systemic oppression affects our perceptions and lived experiences. We also acknowledge that oppression is existent in systemic structures, including in institutions of higher education and their academic programs. Therefore, we strive to be life-long learners and demonstrate our commitment to our professional and personal growth regarding adopting antiracist practices. For example, we:

• Call on all members of our community, especially our White community members, to educate themselves about racial justice and find opportunities to engage in work for social change.
• Collaborate with the Office of Social Justice and Diversity and other departments and offices to establish training and professional development opportunities for students, staff, and both full-time and part-time faculty.
• Look to the University Senate’s Land Acknowledgement Committee for guidance on how to recognize the presence of the university on unceded Lenape territory in ways that actively support decolonization.
• Continuously reflect, reevaluate, and revise our curriculum and course offerings to thoroughly incorporate topics relevant to challenges persistent in society today. This would include a more honest and critical discussion of the histories of our fields, including a recognition of the ways that helping professionals have both perpetuated and challenged racism within the profession.
• Organize resources and make them easily accessible for faculty, students, and staff.
• Ensure that our courses reflect Black and BIPOC scholarship, and model strategies for students to confront their biases and engage in anti-racist practice and policy.

Challenging Power Imbalances. We reaffirm our commitment to anti-racist policy and practice and always confront and challenge power imbalances that lead to unequal and disproportionate outcomes. With this in mind, we:

• Will form a Diversity Advocacy Workgroup, consisting of both faculty and staff student representation, to represent the Department’s continuing commitment to antiracism in teaching, hiring, and community outreach.
• Will have a diversity advocate serve on each search committee in our department. The primary responsibility of the diversity advocate is to be a vocal and responsible advocate for diversity and inclusion throughout the search process.
• Create a Canvas site with resources on antiracism available for all Department members.
• Empower diverse voices from our local communities, including our current and former students, staff, and faculty, and community stakeholders and give these voices space in a shared governance system.
• Seek direct ways for our efforts to have community impact, including community outreach with collaboration of the Center for Community Engagement to promote field work that addresses community-level needs.
• Ensure students have a safe space to communicate and discuss sensitive topics pertaining to racism and divisive hate on campus.
• Ensure students have equal opportunity to field placements and other professional growth opportunities.
• Commit to the recruitment, support, and retention of BIPOC faculty and staff at all levels of hiring in the department.

Maintaining Institutional Accountability. Finally, we will prioritize processes that are geared toward ensuring institutional accountability in addressing racial and socioeconomic disparities as outcomes to their practices. To do this, we:

• Actively engage in scholarship and evaluation of the racial disparities and social injustices in today’s world, with a particular emphasis on the domains of social services that target children, youth and families of color.
• Ensure our faculty members take part in university committees and outreach to address injustices and promote policy development and implementation that is fair and just.
• Encourage students, staff, faculty, and other members of the university community to speak up as agents of change and contact elected public representatives to influence policy issues.
• We commit to regular self-assessments, both internal and external, that evaluate the success of our efforts to promote racial justice both within and beyond the Department.

We take pride and are humbled by our responsibility of preparing the next generation of practitioners for the richly diverse world that they will inherit as graduates of our programs and experience as change agents in their professional careers. We also acknowledge it is our responsibility to maintain a culturally respectful and inclusive educational environment for all members of our department. Therefore, we embrace diversity and respect for all, while challenging epistemologies and policies that inadvertently promote racism and divisive hate in everything we do.

~ The Faculty and Staff of the Department of Social Work and Child Advocacy

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” —Nelson Mandela

References

Franklin, A. J., & Boyd-Franklin, N. (2000). Invisibility syndrome : A clinical model of the effects of racism on African-American males. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70(1), 33–41.

McCoy, H. (2020). Black Lives Matter, and Yes, You are Racist: The Parallelism of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. 37, 463-475.

Yeager, K. A., & Bauer-Wu, S. (2013). Cultural humility: essential foundation for clinical researchers. Applied Nursing Research, 26(4), 251–256.