Episode 21 Guest: Asia Piña, MSW Host: Shimon Cohen, LCSW   Listen/Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify Follow on Twitter & Instagram, Like on Facebook Join the mailing list Support the podcast www.dointhework.com   In this episode, I talk with Asia Piña, who is an Early Defense Social Worker for the Family Defense Practice at Bronx Defenders, in the Bronx, New York. Asia explains how she works with a team of social workers, parent advocates, and attorneys to best defend parents who are being charged with abuse and neglect of children. We discuss the disproportionate numbers of Black and Brown children, as well as children in poverty, who are removed from their parents, and how racism and systemic oppression set the framework of many child welfare policies and practices. Asia describes that the beautiful, diverse families in the Bronx who love their children, feel like they are under constant surveillance by the state, in the form of the New York Police Department (NYPD) and Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). She also talks about how she got into this work, practicing self-care, and shares a message for students interested in working in the child welfare system. I hope you enjoy the conversation.   Twitter @BronxDefenders Facebook @bronxdefenders  Instagram @bronxdefenders [email protected]