upEND Movement

@upendmovement.org

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Abolition movement to create a society in which the forcible separation of children from their families is no longer an acceptable intervention. upendmovement.org

Slide 1 reads in large bold black text: “CHILD SEPARATION IS A BUSINESS.” Smaller text underneath says: “AND IT IS A VERY PROFITABLE ONE.” Bottom right says: “Swipe to follow the money,” with teal arrows pointing right.
"I didn't want my kids taken away, so I didn't talk." Image of a hospital and a police car.
“Reclaiming Safety for Children Whose Parents Use Substances” cover image features a mom being hugged by her teenage son and an illustration of a living room behind them.
A historical illustration of Black children being taken from a Black mother by enslavers: During slavery, family separations were used as a threat and a punishment. A photo of hundreds of Indigenous children outside of a boarding school: Indigenous children were stolen and violently stripped of their language and culture to destabilize tribal communities. A photo of President Bill Clinton signing the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA): As the system became more formalized, it began targeting Black families. Today, **more than half** of all Black children in the United States are investigated by child welfare authorities.
An illustration of a school surrounded by open steel traps. Speech bubbles above say, “Steel trap setters need to be better trained. We need to reform the steel traps. If only we had oversight of those steel traps."
A gloved hand holds copies of upEND’s zine in front of a little library on the sidewalk.
The family policing system is just one part of the carceral web. From incarceration to borders to family policing, we oppose the surveillance and state-sanctioned separation of children from their families in all forms. Collage image shows a Black mother with an infant, a police officer, and an illustration of a watchful eye.
The child welfare system doesn’t help families. We more accurately call it the family policing system. This collage features news articles about the child welfare system tearing families apart and shows a picture of a Black mother holding an infant.
New upEND Zine! You can read it in a few minutes. Download a printable copy. Get an intro to family policing abolition. upendmovement.org/zine
Abolish the Family Policing System. Features images of Black and Latine families with a greyscale image of a woman holding a clipboard.
1. Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System: The Case for Abolition by Alan Dettlaff 2. Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World by Dorothy Roberts 3. The School for Good Mothers: A Novel by Jessamine Chan 4. We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian 5. Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom by Derecka Purnell 6. We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice by Mariame Kaba 7. We Grow the World Together: Parenting Toward Abolition by Maya Schenwar and Kim Wilson 8. Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare by Dorothy Roberts 9. The Black Child-Savers: Racial Democracy and Juvenile Justice by Geoff K. Ward 10. Border and Rule by Harsha Walia
No Pasaran, ICE out of our schools and communities
This week in Washington, DC, the current administration announced plans to “takeover” the city. This includes federalizing DC’s police force and deploying 800 National Guard troops, who arrived on Tuesday.
A collage of photos from upEND’s work includes behind the scenes images of filming our documentary, a group photo of the upEND team at a conference, and images from upEND’s Convenings.
The poster for A Vision of Grace features a young black woman wearing a fur hat and smiling with her hands over her mouth. Additional information reads: An upEND Movement Film in collaboration with Montrose Grace Place and Rennob Productions. Official Selection: Black Alphabet Film Festival Houston 2025.
The family policing system functions similarly to the criminal punishment system as an agent of social control for the purpose of maintaining oppression and anti-Blackness.
But becoming a parent drew me even further into this basic knowledge: that if we care about kids, then we must destroy the bars and walls and chains that forcibly separate people who love each other.
Policing Is Reproductive Oppression: How Policing and Carceral Systems Criminalize Parenting and Maintain Reproductive Oppression
The upEND Podcast thumbnail features illustrations of different parents on a blue and green background.