The Shift: Voices of Prevention — A podcast by Prevent Child Abuse America

Policy Through Lived Experience with Rep. Annessa Hartman

• Prevent Child Abuse America

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In this powerful episode, Oregon State Representative Annessa Hartman shares her journey from personal hardship to public service, illustrating how lived experiences can shape effective policy. As the daughter of a single working mother and a survivor of domestic violence, Rep. Hartman brings a unique perspective to the legislative process. She emphasizes the importance of centering the voices of those directly affected by policies, stating, "We must continue to center survivors in this type of policy work."  

Her commitment to transparency, accessibility, and amplifying historically unheard voices guides her efforts to create compassionate and efficient systems that truly meet the needs of families, caregivers, and service providers.

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SPEAKER_01:

This is The Shift Voices of Prevention, a podcast from Prevent Child Abuse America, where we explore bold ideas, cultural change, and what it truly means to support children and families. Join us to change the narrative one conversation at a time. Hello and welcome to the Shift Voices of Prevention, recording live from PCA America's 2025 National Conference in Portland, Oregon. I'm Nathan Fink, and I'm Luke Waldo. And we're excited to be joined by State Representative Anessa Hartman, representing District 40, member of the Haudenosaunee Cayuga Nation Snipe Clan, Oregon's third indigenous state representative and chair of multiple committees, including the Early Childhood and Human Service Committee. Anessa, thank you for joining the show.

SPEAKER_02:

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01:

Before we get into your efforts to lower costs for working families and ensuring that your communities are safe, I wanted to talk about your entering politics in the first place. Can you share a bit about what inspired you to become a legislator here in Oregon?

SPEAKER_02:

I always laugh at this question because it's not, I don't have a stump speech. I've tried really hard over the past five years to create something under than two minutes, so just bear with me for a little bit. But um I had no dreams of becoming a politician by any means. Um I actually went to culinary school, right out of high school, and was in the food and beverage events business dining world for about 14 years, right up until COVID hit. And then COVID hit as the industry sort of spiraled, um, we lost our jobs, and we were home with a five and seven-year-old, uh, not really knowing what's what's happening. And I think in that time, all of these memories of what my mom went through, she was a single parent, um, and being native, uh, remembering a lot of things growing up, um sort of sparked some interest in just getting involved. And then up until that point, when we moved here, it was it was uh daycare, work, daycare, sleep, work, repeat over and over and over again. So getting to know my neighborhood was new to me. Um, but I gave myself about three months to relax and not do anything, and then I got bored. Um and so I started organizing in my neighborhood, going to the grocery store for neighbors who were immunocompromised, and just sort of finding people. Um and it's through those events, um, and then we had actually the um the death of George Floyd, brought our community together of Gladstone Very. It's a four square mile town of 12,000 people strong. Uh it's the smallest city in this sort of metro region, about 30 minutes south of where we're at right now. And we um had planned some sort of gathering to sort of commemorate that. And I um had thought, okay, we'll get like 15 people to come and like we'll make signs and we'll just like talk about our experiences. And we had almost 300 people show up, and it was, I've planned lots of events in my life, a lot of events. And this was one of those moments where it was like, wow, like I could use all those skills that I've learned over the past, you know, 14 years to do something else. Uh, and so from that is where I met a city counselor um during those moments, and like we organized some like anti-racist groups and sort of like book clubs, if you will. Uh, and he actually encouraged me to run for city council. And my first thought was, well, why would I do that? Like, what does a city counselor even do? Like potholes? Like, you know, what do they do? And so I did that. I ran against three other men. Um, I won. So I was a city counselor for about a year and a half when the previous representative, uh representative Mark Meek, now Senator Mark Meek, said that he was going to run for Senate and said, maybe you should consider running. Uh to myself, I thought, what's the worst that could happen? You know, I could lose. But um little did I know what a swing seat was. So I represent a very purple district. Um, and as a as a Democrat in a uh with no sort of name recognition uh besides to 10,000 people, um, that was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life. And we campaigned for about 18 months, and I won um by 181 votes. Oh, wow. My first race. Yes. And I ran really with the like conviction that every single person deserved to be at all levels of government. Um, that if if certain people can run for higher office, why can't someone who went to culinary school, who was raised by a single mom, who we, you know, had to choose between whether or not she was going to pay a bill versus putting food on the table, like why can't people with lived experience be in these positions? Right. And that sort of is just what carried me through that experience.

SPEAKER_01:

It almost feels like that is actually the perfect people who should be deciding policy. Um I did have a quick follow-up on that because when we tell these stories, I think it sounds definitive this, then this, then this, then this, right? But as you were in your journey to become what you are now, state representative, were there moments of shake, were there moments of doubt, were there I mean there must have been, right?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh gosh. I mean, when I first ran for city council and then decided to jump into this race for state representative, that what I wasn't prepared for was this um just sort of like opening of wounds that I didn't remember existed. And and I mean that because you you become very public. And when I ran for the city council race, it was during the pandemic. We weren't knocking on doors, we weren't doing commercials, we weren't, you know, it was a small, it was, you know, I think it was like 3,000 people voted, right? It was so different. And that was the only example that I had. And I think the one part that I had forgotten to share was that I absolutely was someone who did not think their vote mattered. Um I only voted for president and never voted for mayor, never voted for state, I didn't even know who my state representative was. And so it was fascinating to me. And I really took that to like to heart uh that I wanted to convince the Anessa like why they should get involved. And that was way more challenging personally than anything, because once I got into it, it was like, wait, what do you mean? Well, I mean, I I'm just like you and I want to get involved, but you're not, you're not, I'm not convincing you. And so it was a lot of those ups and downs of trying to figure out how to talk to the me, me's of the world, um, where I found myself becoming scripted, becoming this repetitive over and over and over again, saying pop political speak. So that was really challenging for me. But what it looked like was a lot of crying. Um we had a plastic green bat in the house that we often would beat the couch up with. Um, and it was just an up and down fluctuation of all of these feelings that I didn't really allow myself to feel, like as a person. So I had to really learn um that really taking the time to fill your cup, like it sounds so easy to say. So many people say that to us all the time, and I didn't know what that meant until this experience of taking on and um, you know, realizing that there are more me's in this world uh than there's not.

SPEAKER_00:

So Anessa, you've you've talked a lot about your own lived experience, right? And within that lived experience, you've talked a lot about family, about your experience as a parent, you've talked about your experience as an Indigenous representative. How has that informed uh your policy priorities? And and more specifically, when you think about your lived experience informing your policy priorities, why do you believe that strengthening families and kind of prevention-focused policy is so important in the state of Oregon?

SPEAKER_02:

Aaron Powell I don't think I would say, like if I were to talk to myself four years ago, if I had any specific pathway that I wanted to go. I knew I always wanted to sort of do something around, if we're categorizing it, human services world, early childhood, right? Um you can look at my old websites and it's like the platform is there, you know, childhood, affordability, you know, working people. But once you step into this space, it's just a flood of information that comes to you, and I think that inspires people, hopefully. What I really wanted when I first began was to make sure that uh when we are creating these policies, that there's a voice there that can advocate for those that that policy would then affect. Uh there are tons of examples where, you know, at the highest of levels of government are making policy that I think solves things, but doesn't actually get to the root cause. And I mean it goes down to even like um, you know, utilities or to like the DMV, right? And so I think um there's not a ton of people that are in the legislature that um come from the life that I come from. There's a handful of us, and I often think we're we we are often fighting for the same thing, but often get sort of overpowered in our our um our advocacy. But I think, you know, it as I continued on, probably like, you know, a couple months in, I realized that when we talk about, particularly when we talk about the family unit, when we talk about human services um as like DHS or CPS or you know or um child welfare, they often are just looking at the child, and that child has to get worse before they have to get bad. Um one of the most common things I heard on the doors uh when we were campaigning in both years was a story about basically um that their child uh had suicidal ideologies, but that they were on the state health care plan, but they couldn't help them until they actually would say to a physician, I I'm going to hurt myself. And so it had to happen in a bad way before that child could get help. And it's and it the question of the why of that disconnect, why do we have to get that far? Um, that can be replicated, I think, in almost every pathway, right? Absolutely. Every pathway. And that that piece alone has just driven me to um make the advocacy for people like that in every single outlet uh that we talk about, um, whether it is foster care or child welfare or the juvenile system um or you know, SNAP benefits, or you know, pick your category. And I think that that that voice is missing. And that that part has like really driven me to to be the loud and sometimes annoying voice that I am.

SPEAKER_01:

So when you look across the kind of the docket of bills or budget allocations or anything that you're working on, are there any significant impacts that you can point to in prevention and supporting families before that crisis?

SPEAKER_02:

Aaron Ross Powell Yeah, I I think that we have, as a state, have been doing our best to help the child. And I say that with emphasis because I think that there, at least for me, becoming chair of human services in early childhood, it's been an eye-opener. There is a lot more work that we have to do to not just help the child, but to help the entire family unit. And I say that because it is a hard, it is a hard place for me to be in because I think like when we talk about representation, right? Like if my mom had access to a high-paying job or a well-paying job, if uh she had access to education as a single parent, where would her life be right now? Um, if she had a sense of community to help support her and to support me during those times of need, where would our lives be? Uh and that is just a tiny, tiny example of so many cases across the country, um, not just just here in Oregon. Uh, we have tons of parents who are dealing with substance use um issues, right? We get a call to the hotline that there's a child running around in the in the yard with their diaper on, um, and they know that maybe the parent is um, you know, maybe uses. They show up, they don't help the parent. They, you know, whether it's taking the child or or whatnot. The goal should be how do we help the unit, right? Because re- if you reunification is the goal of the state and other states, um then we have to help the entire, the entire like ecosystem of that child's life. Um and we we don't necessarily do that. We don't see all the intersections of of um of those supports, right? Uh and and I think that that's the part that I really lean into. You know, I have substance use issues within my family, um, and it it didn't just happen, no one just chooses to be an addict. Um we don't just do that. Uh there is a why, right? And access to therapy and health care is so important. Uh access to like consistent housing is so important. But when we are like siloing all these efforts and instead of like seeing how they all intersect, like we can build all these houses we want, but if you can't afford them, and if you can't manage your budget, if you can't build intergenerational wealth within yourself, then there's no reason that we should be building houses.

SPEAKER_00:

Aaron Ross Powell As a follow-up to that last question, what what barriers do you see in the legislature when it comes to investing further upstream, larger investments in, say, food assistance, housing assistance, not even housing assistance, but greater housing development that is affordable for lower income families, for example, uh wage increases, minimum wage increases, things along those lines, right, that really raise the floor for families so that they don't find themselves even approaching the cliff in the first place?

SPEAKER_02:

I think put it this way, if I had my way, I would just want to blow up the whole system and we could just start over. Uh if I'm doing if I'm being completely blunt and honest. Um because I think um if we're talking about like child welfare or you know these programs, right, and and the history, and I I'm gonna speak from like a native lens, um, the history of uh to my people very much that uh you're not great, you're not a good parent, and so we're gonna take your child away, and we want to assimilate them into white culture. That to me and many other uh cultures is is how we see child buffer. Uh they're not there for the family by any means. They're not there to help. That very much is still alive today. Um, you are not gonna get a CPS worker going to someone's door thinking, you're gonna help me with my kid. So when I say that, like blowing up the system and recreating something from the ground up, I would love to do that because um that trust is not gonna be there, especially within like lower income and like communities of color, uh, because that is the history that all just our parents grew up with. You know, we had the the 60 scoop, you know, for for Native uh families where they just come and take children and these Native kids don't even know where they came from. And so they're still searching for their lineage, right? And so that is like sort of at the core, at least for me, um, and how we fix things, right? It's like, oh, it's so great that we want to change the way our programs are structured, doesn't mean someone's gonna trust you, and especially in this state. Um and so that that part is hard, I think, for people to grasp that, like, well, what do you mean I'm trying to help? But I think one common story I often hear from people is that we keep people poor so that they can stay on these services. You know, when it comes to SNAP benefits, when it comes to housing assistance, when it comes to like affordability, or we have great programs here in the state of Oregon with down payment assistance or these individual uh development accounts, which are match savings accounts that's funded by the state. Really great, teaches you intergenerational wealth building. But it stops at 80% AMI, sometimes 30% AI, sometimes 120% AMI. And so time and time again, I often hear from it, particularly parents, I didn't take that job because it would have put me just over the amount to qualify, and I could not afford, you know, you know, 1% over. So I went from 80% AMI to 82% AMI. Um, I can't afford to live that, so they just stay in their very minimum wage job so that they can still qualify for all this government assistance. I like I see the world like I want to build people's intergenerational wealth. Like that's the goal. I want people to get SNAP benefits and housing assistance, and then how do we grow their own so that they can move on and we can help the next person and just sort of having this sort of revolving, uh not a door, but an escalator where people are just moving up. Um and we don't do that. And so for me, that's a barrier. Um, if we want to get people off government assistance, because people need it, like they need it, um, we have to learn how to invest in that part there to get them off so that we can continue. Otherwise, what we're doing is we're just widening that gap, continuing to wide the gap. Um, and we are a part of that problem. Um, and so I think like for me, that is one of the barriers in a across the board in all different types of agencies, and how do we address um getting people off of that cliff and still helping sort of the quote unquote middle lower class, like in terms of income? And I think the the last the last barrier that I'll talk about is that I just don't think we have enough lived experience in city, county, and state, right? So it's like we can do whatever we want in the state, right? We can pass all these budgets and whatnot, but you still have cities and counties that have a lot of power. Right. Counties run their programs, these health and services programs. And so um we need people who understand what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck. We need people who know what it's like to have a substance use issue or that in your family, uh, and not just sort of like throw like caution to the wind and be like, we're just gonna give you money. We but no, we want to like help people like build that on their own.

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Ross Powell Based on what you said, the conundrum is that those people who may be mistrustful of the systems that they rely on have to be part of the solution, right? Their voice but also showing up to use it. Right? Which is goes back to your early frustrations where you're how do I convince me who has a intergenerational distrust of a system?

SPEAKER_02:

Very heavy.

SPEAKER_01:

To be part then of the system with their voice. Because the systems are perfectly designed to continue in their current shape. So speaking to those families, those community members, those everyday folks, what can they do then to be part of that solution?

SPEAKER_02:

Aaron Ross Powell That is the question, right? I could give you the age-old answer of show up, provide testimony, bug your bug your representatives, you know, bug your counselors, um, you know, protest, all the things, right? But I think in the end, um, and I like just to rewind a tiny bit, as as someone who was the Anessa who didn't vote, what I also want to just highlight is that like I have to represent my constituency. I say that because of where we're sitting right now in the city of Portland is completely different demographic than my district. Completely different. And so if people want to get involved, I want people to get involved for who they are. So whether you're an independent, a green party, unicorn party, apparently there's one. Uh non-affiliated, we have we have the most uh non-affiliated uh registered voters. Uh that's the that's our majority here in the state. It's not Democrats or Republican. Um they don't get to vote in our primaries. So I would love to see open primaries where they get to vote and who that is. So they just get to vote for a Democrat or Republican regardless. Um I think that, you know, I don't want to give you some like, you know, kind of lame answer, but like continue to show up and all those things. Those are important. A lot of the bills that I've passed are from constituents, not all not just in my district, but from across the state, that have brought a problem to me and then they help organize that. So I think when it comes to policy, that's really powerful.

SPEAKER_00:

What what what sort of vision would you have for kind of the future of children and families in Oregon? And in your best world, how might Oregon serve as a leader for the rest of the country when it comes to issues facing children and families and more specifically how you are responding to those issues?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I just say the first thing that came to my mind when you were saying that. Um, again, personal standpoint, uh, you know, very rooted in my, you know, values as a as a native woman. I think like this country and the state, you know, as a whole, we've lost that sense of community, right? Like we, you know, uh, Native people very much lived, you know, like my people, not everyone lives away, but my people, we lived in longhouses. Like we we are a community and we help each other. Uh I don't, I don't, I can't think of a time that I or like my neighbor ever said, like, hey, can I borrow some butter or whatever that may be? Or like the amount of effort it took for me to even like get to know my neighbor was COVID. We lived in that place for so long and we never really conversed with one. So, you know, the hand wave, right? And so I think, and for me, I was a military kid, so we moved around a lot, and so it was a little different, right? You're growing up on base, there's community there. Um, and then when we left, you're like, oh, I don't know my neighbors. Or you kind of like develop this like fear of like, can I go talk to them? And it could just be, you know, my upbringing, but I think that sense, that sense alone of um community and how we help each other, not that um I need to pick up the phone and call because your child's running in the yard. What can I go do to help you? To me, from like a personal standpoint, I don't I don't know how, I mean, I know how we got here, but how did we get here, right? And it doesn't help, like we we're s we we are continuing to be more divided than ever. But that that alone I think would do a lot of good. If someone could just learn to like help their neighbor instead of just immediately judgment and like learn it, like lean in with curiosity rather than immediate judgment, like what could that do for people? Um and I think that the the same thing could be said in an agency lens, right? Like um, if someone is dealing with substance use, not your bad parent, but why? Like, and what can we do to help you instead of judging you in that way? Uh and the same thing with our youth. Like, we have, what are we? I think we're the third highest population of juveniles in in the prison system or in the incarceration system. Like, why, like why is that? What are we not doing? And are we even talking to those those young kids about what they're like where how they got there? Um we have this really amazing um program, it's Parrot Creek is the organization. And sort of they have a uh a campus, if you will, um in sort of the middle of nowhere. Uh and they're instead of going into um into Juvi, like they get to go there, and it's sort of kind of an open, I would say an open, like parents can still come or their caregivers can still come. But I visited there a couple years ago, and uh I would say 90% of them were all had been homeless and they were under the age of 17. Or they were couch surfing. Why? Some gang violence, some substance use, some had already been using. And to me, like why? Like just the question of the why. Like why what are we not doing? And I would just love to sit around a table with one people who have experienced the foster care system, uh, people who have gone to Juvie, uh, who've been homeless and they're all under the age of 18. Like we have our wonderful, like um, we have our high schools that have addiction services within them, and like just off-the-record conversation about what in your life had got you to this point. And I wish we could make policy that way, and that we listen to the people who are actually being impacted by this. And so I think in my time in this in this world, I I sit and I talk to people over and over and they bear their souls and their stories. And I wish that we just made policy off of that, you know, and I think that there's a lot of families out there to be like, I just really needed this, or I really needed that.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, Representative Harbin, thank you so, so much. And thank you for your commitment to Oregon children and families.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01:

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