In this special issue article, the voices of mothers affected by the child welfare system are at the forefront. A group of five women, including our own, Jeanette Vega and other Rise staff and parents, discuss their experiences with the child welfare system, highlighting and illustrating the many systemic injustices. It is their hope that sharing personal stories inspires and helps others across the country. The article also focuses on the development of Rise as … Read More
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.
Keyna Franklin recently launched a staff book club at Rise. Here, she describes why she started the book club, how our learning together can support our work at Rise, and what we are reading.
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.
It is no surprise to me that American Idol star Syesha Mercado had her children taken from her under these horrific circumstances, because I went through something similar. Mercado was seeking help and care for her child –– and instead, her one-year-old son and newborn were both taken away. Tragically, this is common within the world of family policing, commonly known as “child welfare”. Many Black parents, myself included, have sought support from hospitals, only to be met with new traumas and more health issues.
