Activist, Author Speaks at Hephzibah

Daphna Ziman has a lot of passion when it comes to fixing issues in the foster care system. One of the most important goals, she said, is getting people to open their eyes to a major problem.

An advocate for curbing trafficking for prostitution that occurs through the foster care system, Ziman has written a fiction novel, “The Gray Zone,” to bring more attention to the issue.

In order to do a better job for children in Chicago, she said, those in the system need “to come together and exchange information and focus on how we can cohesively adopt some new programs.”

One idea is to forgive student loan debt when a college graduate signs up to mentor foster care children. Another piece of legislation she’s advocating asks for leniency in the justice system for girls who have been trafficked. In another proposal, she wants to increase the penalties for rapists and traffickers.

Ziman, a Beverly Hills filmmaker and founder of a music label, has also founded nonprofit Children Uniting Nations after adopting her daughter from a homeless shelter, according to a press release. The charity provides volunteer mentors to foster children.

After speaking to a group of foster parents and staff at on Friday, Ziman said the visit to the “genuinely informed organization” was the “highlight of my trip.”

“I found an organization here that is actually a group of people trying to change the system into a more positive organization,” she said. 

Mary Anne Brown, executive director at Hephzibah, credited Ziman’s important speech. 

“It was really exciting that somebody who has experience with the child welfare system would donate her time to helping,” she said. “It made me wish there are more people like her in the Chicago area.”

Hephzibah provides aid to children in group homes or foster care, as well as family services, diagnostic treatment and school-age daycare to about 1,200 kids a year. The Oak Park agency was founded in 1897.

Ziman invited members of Hephzibah to join her at an upcoming “Keeping the Promise to Our Children” conference July 28 in Washington, D.C., where politicians and researchers will discuss ways that laws can help children in America. Those expected to attend include Congresswomen Michele Bachmann, Sen. John Kerry, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Diane Feinstein and Sen. Mary Landrieu, among others.

About her book, she said she thought a thriller novel would reach more of an audience than a scholarly book or article.

“I wrote the book because I wanted to talk about the issues but I was afraid it would never see the light of day,” Ziman said.

In the book, a six-year-old girl’s mother is murdered and her father is wrongly convicted of the crime. When the girl is put into the foster system, she’s exposed to abuse and human trafficking.

While the novel is fiction, Ziman said the lead character is based on the combination of six different girls’ stories, with different parts making up the protagonist’s story.

After her speech, she spoke with foster children at Hephzibah.

“One of the little girls I met was actually trafficked when she was seven,” Ziman said. “(Hephzibah) knows the things I’m trying to get everyone to open their eyes to.”