Advocate Joyce McMillan of JMACforFamilies organized a rally on January 18th (Martin Luther King Day) in Harlem calling to abolish ACS. Read reflections about the rally from Halimah Washington and Jeanette Vega of Rise.
Posts Tagged: abolition
Imani’s Testimony to City Council
November 04, 2020 by
At a NYC City Council General Welfare Committee hearing on racial disparities in child welfare on Oct. 28, parents – including Rise’s Jeanette Vega and Imani Worthy – and advocates citywide testified about urgent adjustments and broad shifts to reduce the reach and harm of child welfare. Here is Imani’s testimony, and video where Imani shares her full story:
>> Read in The Imprint about this hearing
>> Read Rise’s written testimony to City Council
‘Abolition Is the Only Answer’: A Conversation with Dorothy Roberts
October 20, 2020 by
As Rise continues to explore child welfare system abolition, we were thrilled to talk with leading scholar Dorothy Roberts about what abolition means to her and why she is certain abolition is necessary as we work toward a different vision for families, communities and society.
Dorothy Roberts is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and researcher, scholar and activist. Here she discusses what she has learned from parents, plans for her next book and the importance of using terms like “family regulation system” or “family policing system” instead of “child welfare system.” She describes connections between the family policing and criminal justice systems and shares more effective, compassionate ways of addressing harm and supporting families.
Toward Our North Star: Rise’s Abolition Retreat
September 30, 2020 by
Artwork by Eileen Jimenez. Learn more.
Rise recently held a three-day retreat for staff to learn together about the child welfare system, abolition and restorative and transformative justice approaches to addressing harm. We discussed roots of oppression (including racism, classism, sexism, ableism, colonization, capitalism) and envisioned our “North Star” — our vision for children, families and communities.
Led by Bianca Shaw, assistant director for programs and culture, and Genevieve Saavedra Dalton Parker, development director, the retreat provided an … Read More
Rise Community Conversations: ‘A Space of Reimagining’
September 16, 2020 by
In exploring child welfare system abolition, Rise is learning that abolition is a vision and strategy to cultivate hope about society and to reimagine community-based care. This summer, Rise began facilitating community conversations as part of a longer-term process to develop and support a vision for building safe, just and healing-centered communities that support the well-being of children and families — without child welfare system surveillance and involvement.
In order to share our journey transparently and in solidarity with others involved in abolition work, we talked with some of the Rise team who facilitated and joined the community conversations: Bianca Shaw, assistant director for programs and culture; Halimah Washington, community coordinator; Nancy Fortunato, senior parent leader; Genevieve Saavedra Dalton Parker, development director; and Careena Farmer, contributor. Here, they discuss what we are working on and learning about at Rise.