Rise and the Revolution Books Educational Fund are co-hosting the NYC debut of Dorothy Roberts’ new book, Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families—and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World.
You’re invited! Join us by attending in person at Revolution Books in Harlem or by viewing the event online through Facebook Live.
Parents at Rise have long documented how the family policing system affects Black and brown people living in low-income areas of NYC. In July, a team of researchers from Duke University and Rutgers University published the study, “Contact with Child Protective Services is pervasive but unequally distributed by race and ethnicity in large US counties.” As its title suggests, the paper finds that the system impacts the lives of far too many Black and brown families.
Dr. Frank Edwards, an assistant professor at Rutgers University’s School of Criminal Justice who studies race and state violence, policing and family separation, was part of the team that worked on this study. Here, he discusses their findings in NYC and nationally, mandated reporting, investigations and why he is an abolitionist.
This report shares the results of a participatory action research project that Rise conducted in winter 2021 in partnership with TakeRoot Justice. Our research documents parents’ experiences with the family policing system and explores a collective vision to transform our society’s structures, policies and practices related to family and community support.
Imaginative and sometimes painful community conversations with 48 people impacted by ACS provide the foundation of this report. Findings also reflect 58 anonymous surveys by parents impacted by ACS.
Columbia Journal of Race and Law (CJRL) hosted their 11th Annual Symposium in June. This year, the topic of the symposium was Strengthened Bonds: Abolishing the Child Welfare System and Re-Envisioning Child Well-Being. Videos of all symposium panels are now available online on CJRL’s YouTube and Facebook pages.
At the symposium, Imani Worthy, public speaking coordinator, Halimah Washington, community coordinator and Bianca Shaw, co-executive director of Rise, spoke about community approaches to child well-being and strengthening bonds.
Shakira Paige is a contributor at Rise and a member of Rise’s Peer Vision Team. This reflection on the role of Peer and Community Supporters was published in the Rise Insights report, Someone to Turn To: A Vision for Creating Networks of Parent Peer Care.
