{"id":15229,"date":"2023-05-09T11:48:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T18:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/?p=15229"},"modified":"2023-07-10T18:18:44","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T01:18:44","slug":"advocate-for-foster-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/advocate-for-foster-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Drawing from her own experience, she advocates for foster care children through her writing and more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                                              \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/Chadburn_Commencement_Profile_NewSite-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/Chadburn_Commencement_Profile_NewSite-1920x1080.jpg 1920w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/Chadburn_Commencement_Profile_NewSite-1280x720.jpg 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/Chadburn_Commencement_Profile_NewSite-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  role=\"none\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Melissa Chadburn will receive her degree during USC Dornsife\u2019s PhD hooding ceremony this week. Her dissertation reimagines and retells stories of Los Angeles\u2019 most vulnerable children. (Photo: Jaimie Sarra.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=commencement\">Commencement<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>Drawing from her own experience, she advocates for foster care children through her writing and more<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Melissa Chadburn has covered L.A. County\u2019s child welfare system for years, most recently through her dissertation work as the first to graduate from the creative nonfiction track of USC Dornsife\u2019s PhD in Creative Writing and Literature program.\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Sarah Frontiera<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">May 9, 2023<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow 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visually-hidden\">Email<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                  <\/span>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>Melissa Chadburn is self-confident but not self-satisfied. Bold but not boastful.<\/p>\n<p>She is many things, not least of all self-aware.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m highly competitive. I\u2019m Type A. I\u2019m Capricorn,\u201d Chadburn says, tongue in cheek.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s explaining how she has managed to earn her PhD in creative writing and literature from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences in record time.<\/p>\n<p>The doctorate normally requires at least five years \u2014 and often upwards of six \u2014 to complete.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s done it in four.<\/p>\n<p>And she\u2019ll be the first to graduate from the creative nonfiction track of USC Dornsife\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/engl\/phd-creative-writing\/\">Ph.D. in Creative Writing and Literature<\/a> program.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s merely the latest of many feats the 47-year-old has accomplished throughout her academic career at USC Dornsife. Her debut novel, <a href=\"https:\/\/us.macmillan.com\/books\/9780374716509\/atinyupwardshove\" target=\"_blank\"><em>A Tiny Upward Shove<\/em><\/a> (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), published in April 2022, was longlisted for the PEN-Hemingway Award, and her nonfiction work has appeared in<em> Best American Food Writing<\/em>, <em>The<\/em> <em>New York Review of Books<\/em> and <em>The Paris Review <\/em>online.<\/p>\n<h2>Finding the \u201cright container\u201d to tell her story<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_15232\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15232\" style=\"width: 315px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15232\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/Chadburn_Commencement_Profile_InStory_A.jpg\" alt=\"Book cover for A Tiny Upward Shove\" width=\"315\" height=\"490\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/Chadburn_Commencement_Profile_InStory_A.jpg 315w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/05\/Chadburn_Commencement_Profile_InStory_A-193x300.jpg 193w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 315px) 100vw, 315px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-15232\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Melissa Chadburn released her debut novel, A Tiny Upward Shove, to critical acclaim. (Image: Courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Her impressive resume belies a childhood colored by adversity: She was raised by a single mother in Los Angeles before moving into the county\u2019s foster care system when she was in middle school.<\/p>\n<p>Foster children frequently change homes, so the staff at her first temporary group home encouraged her to pursue a GED diploma rather than obtain one by attending high school. But Melissa instead worked on her homework under her blanket with a flashlight. And because she had little time to prepare a lunch, she often saved half of her dinner to eat at school the next day.<\/p>\n<p>She was enrolled in an advanced college preparatory program for \u201cat-risk\u201d youth at Hamilton High School in the Castle Heights neighborhood on L.A.\u2019s Westside, where she was able to take college classes while still a high school student. Still, the staff were right in saying the journey wasn\u2019t easy, and she had to change schools \u2014 and homes\u2014 several times before she finally graduated.<\/p>\n<p>She then attended Cal State University Northridge and by this time was emancipated from the child welfare system. Struggling to maintain her finances and education, she wound up dropping out after her first year. This led her to New College of California, where she earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in English, and then finally to Antioch University, where she was able to obtain an MFA in creative writing.<\/p>\n<p>Despite a life-long commitment to her education, she hasn\u2019t always felt like she belonged in these prestigious educational institutions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a \u2018Blackapino\u2019 who was raised in poverty and went through the foster care system, I have a very nontraditional background,\u201d she explains. \u201cI just did not feel like I\u2019m even supposed to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Chadburn made a home for herself at USC Dornsife. As she worked toward her PhD, she studied with Florence R. Scott Professor of English <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/profile\/dana-johnson\/\">Dana Johnson<\/a>, who also was her mentor while she pursued her MFA, as well as Associate Professors of English <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/profile\/danzy-senna\/\">Danzy Senna<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/profile\/elda-maria-roman\/\">Elda Maria Rom\u00e1n<\/a>, along with many others across USC Dornsife. These members of her dissertation committee became her \u201cfamily crew,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Her sense of belonging at USC stands in sharp contrast to another feature of her upbringing: When Chadburn was a young child, her mother attended UCLA. \u201cShe used to train me to stick my tongue out at Trojans,\u201d Chadburn says, laughing. \u201cAnytime somebody had a USC sweatshirt on, I would have to stick my tongue out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked how her PhD fits in with her already successful career as a writer \u2014 she\u2019s a self-described \u201crecovering journalist\u201d who has written for numerous news outlets \u2014 she is quick to share how proud she is of her dissertation. She says that it would never have been possible had she not been exposed to the types of ideas circulating in the program.<\/p>\n<p>Chadburn has written across many genres, with much of her work inspired by her childhood foster care experiences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been trying to tell this same story about the child welfare system over and over again,\u201d she says. \u201cI told it in journalism. I\u2019ve told it in creative nonfiction and in essays. And I\u2019ve translated them to fairytale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her dissertation is the latest form she has mastered to tell her story and the stories of many others with histories similar to hers. It is, as she says, the \u201cright container for these truths.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>A pencil as sharp as a knife<\/h2>\n<p>Though Chadburn\u2019s work has been based on her own experiences, her work has a far broader scope than just autobiography.<\/p>\n<p>She has appeared in the Netflix docuseries <em>The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez<\/em>, which explores the fatal mix of abuse and systemic neglect that ultimately led to the death of 8-year-old Fernandez in 2013.<\/p>\n<p>She has also been a tireless activist and advocate for others in the foster care system, writing extensively about the ways that it has impacted the lives of 30,000 children across L.A. County. Her dissertation, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theredacted.org\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>The Redacted<\/em><\/a>, is a \u201ccritical experiment concerned with child fatalities within L.A. County\u2019s foster care system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chadburn reviewed all the case files of child deaths in the county with open Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) investigations, then compiled their stories, case by case and year by year, into a navigable digital archive of their short lives.\u00a0It is a heartbreaking and sobering account of the staggering loss of life that occurs in our midst each year.<\/p>\n<p>She then adapted their highly redacted case records into fairytales. When asked, \u201cWhy fairy tales?\u201d Chadburn replies, \u201cI\u2019m driven by an impulse to insert not any children but<em> these<\/em> children, who have had all means of violence visited upon their too-short lives, and to allow them once again \u2014 or once ever \u2014 to live among children and to have been treasured and preserved within the family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When Chadburn was a child and still living with her mother, they did not own a pencil sharpener. Her mom taught her to sharpen her pencils with a steak knife, and Chadburn says she has been doing that ever since. Her words (\u201cthe biggest tools in my toolbox\u201d) are sharpened to a fine point and used to cut through layers of bureaucracy and redaction to get to the human child obscured by their formality.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to being an advocate for L.A.\u2019s at-risk children, Chadburn has also been a dedicated defender of workers throughout her career. She worked as a union organizer and labor activist prior to enrolling at USC Dornsife and used her experience to help organize the university\u2019s substantial graduate student worker population. In this way, she has left a lasting mark on this institution.<\/p>\n<p>When asked what\u2019s next for her, Chadburn laughs. \u201cHopefully, I will be getting myself a J-O-B.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She wants to teach creative writing and help other aspiring writers hone their craft, find their \u201cfamily crew,\u201d and ultimately select the containers that will best showcase their own stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-related-stories\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--section-title\">\n\n    \n  <h2>\n          Related News\n      <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n                  <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/news.usc.edu\/207777\/salutatorian-liam-tsao-continues-branching-out-of-his-comfort-zone-to-take-on-new-challenges\/\" \n         target=\"_blank\"                 class=\"\" \n      >Salutatorian Liam Tsao continues branching out of his comfort zone to take on new challenges<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/opportunities-for-north-korean-refugees\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Graduating human biology major creates opportunities for North Korean refugees<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/student-founded-group-for-mena-students\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Graduating sociology major founded USC\u2019s first group for students of Middle Eastern\/North African descent<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n            <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first to graduate from the creative nonfiction track of USC Dornsife\u2019s PhD in Creative Writing and Literature program, Melissa Chadburn has covered the child welfare system across multiple genres.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":15233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,52,24,17],"tags":[56,74,75,1901],"class_list":["post-15229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-commencement","category-social-impact","category-student","tag-class-of-2023","tag-english","tag-humanities","tag-phd-in-creative-writing-and-literature"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Drawing from her own experience, she advocates for foster care children through her writing and more<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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