NBCDI offers help for black children children

Dorcaus Robinson The Houston Sun Dr. Deborah K. Green is President of the Black Child Development Institute (BCDI) – Houston, the local affiliate of the national organization, National Black Child Development Institute. In speaking with the Houston Sun, Dr. Green wrote, “With our discussion this morning about, " it takes a village," to obtain wraparound support for Black Families, it brought to mind what I usually say when advocating for children and parental rights for schools. "Without parents, there are no children. Without children, there are no schools. Without schools, there are no jobs for teachers and staff. "Therefore, each and everyone is an essential piece and an integral part of the success equation for educational attainment and excellence for Black children!" Also, "No decisions for us ....without us!".

Dorcaus Robinson

The Houston Sun

Dr. Deborah K. Green is President of the Black Child Development Institute (BCDI) – Houston, the local affiliate of the national organization, National Black Child Development Institute. In speaking with the Houston Sun, Dr. Green wrote, “With our discussion this morning about, ” it takes a village,” to obtain wraparound support for Black Families, it brought to mind what I usually say when advocating for children and parental rights for schools. “Without parents, there are no children. Without children, there are no schools. Without schools, there are no jobs for teachers and staff. “Therefore, each and everyone is an essential piece and an integral part of the success equation for educational attainment and excellence for Black children!” Also, “No decisions for us ….without us!”

Currently, it appears that decisions are sometimes being made without Black people of various cultures and backgrounds. This can lead to racially and culturally uninformed decisions that affect policies that may harm Black Children and Families.” Dr. Green, an expert in Child Welfare, Child Abuse Prevention, Mediation, Family Reunification, and Systemic Disproportionality, has over three decades of experience. Dr. Green has held multiple leadership positions in Child Protective Services, including being a Worker, Supervisor, Program Director, Program Administrator, State Office Director, and Juvenile Justice liaison, which allowed her to work with judges, schools/universities, law enforcement, etc. Dr. Green’s focus on Disproportionality and positive family outcomes led her to become published in articles, publications, and books on Disproportionality, including authoring the book Exploring Teacher Strategies to Improve Learning Outcomes for Students At-Risk of Exclusionary Discipline (Green) and co-authoring-Challenging-Racial-Disproportionality in Child Welfare; Research, Policy, and Practice (Green, Belanger, McRoy, Bullard). Through her work and volunteerism, Dr. Green was inspired to found ACTION; the Advocacy, Consultation, Training Innovations & Opportunities Network, which provides training & wraparound support to private/public businesses, schools, parents, community groups and churches. Dr. Green has been a member of BCDI–Houston for over thirty years.

Her work in the area of Disproportionality and working to change state policies on a local and national level regarding children of color led her to becoming President of BCDI-Houston. As President, this allowed Dr. Green to see the nationwide impact of policies affecting Black and Brown children from state to state and develop programs to positively impact the Black family as a whole with wraparound services that start at the root of why Black families were and still are disproportionately impacted negatively across the nation.