"One of the most important systems of control and mass separation is hidden in plain sight: the child welfare system.” @truthout.org truthout.org/articles/ice...

upEND advocates for the complete #Abolition of what you many know as the 'child welfare system'. But we understand it more accurately as the #FamilyPolicingSystem because that’s how it functions.

upEND’s Josie Pickens writes for @newsoneofficial.bsky.social about a Michigan mother charged with “food stamp fraud.” When a mom trying to feed her kids gets criminalized, that’s not justice. That’s surveillance, control, and punishment wrapped in the language of “help.” newsone.com/6490272/mich...

Ten Books to Get To Know Me (upEND edition) 📚 And if you want to learn more about #FamilyPolicing and #Abolition, we have a whole #syllabus on our website. upendmovement.org/syllabus/

Introducing Kyra Lewis from the Healthy and Free Tennessee Youth Council. 🎤 We are energized by the passion and ideas these young people have for building a future without #FamilyPolicing! #Abolition

Yesterday we joined the Healthy and Free Tennessee Youth Council for a Family Policing Abolition 101 workshop. The brilliance and courage of these young leaders reminds us how important it is to listen to and learn from youth who are system impacted. ❤️ 🔥

This year Haywood County, NC ADDED over $1 million to its #FamilyPolicing budget. Imagine what that money could do to support families instead. #Defund

A federal suit was filed against Georgia's Department of Human Services on behalf of Annalinda Martinez, a mother who lost custody of six daughters in 2018. Since then, the state has charged her nearly $500 a month to keep them in the foster system.

New Mexico will become the first state in the country to begin offering free universal child care. Starting in November, the state will offer child care, or reimbursement for child care costs, to every family in the state, regardless of income.

"Decades before the pandemic made isolation and alienation a mainstream concern, it was already central to how my family and countless other families had experienced the family policing system,” writes Courtnie McMillan.

"No pasarán!" Check out this collection of resources from @interruptcrim.bsky.social on keeping ICE out of schools. 🚌🍎📚 buff.ly/C36wrwb

Once again the thing that always works wherever it's tried works in the place where it was tried.

Reminder: most adoptees and foster youth are removed from their families due to racism and classism, not abuse. Not unwanted. Stolen.

A guaranteed income program has been life-changing for Philly moms. “It would stop DHS from taking our children. Because by us not having the money, they consider us in poverty, so they’re saying it’s neglect, and they’re taking our kids." resolvephilly.org/gih/philly-j...

“We are each other’s hope.” Joshua Dorty, an advocate with Youth Voices Empowered and a star of upEND’s short documentary #AVisionOfGrace, talks about revisiting Tony’s Place in Houston after finding housing stability and community. buff.ly/EtK0G9t

⚠️ 30% of youth in the foster system identify as LGBTQ. ⚠️ 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ. In our film #AVisionOfGrace, youth share their lived experiences with houselessness and family separation while celebrating the joy and healing they’ve found in community. upendmovement.org/grace

"Conservative politicians lean on tropes about 'groomers' and 'pedophiles' that drum up support from a wide swath of Americans... And the laws are getting increasingly punitive.” #ReclaimingSafety @strawburriez.bsky.social buff.ly/esqjYKI

"Child sexual abuse is a lot more common than many people realize. One landmark CDC study found that one in four girls and one in six boys experience sexual abuse before they turn 18,” reports @strawburriez.bsky.social #ReclaimingSafety buff.ly/esqjYKI

Host a screening of our new film #AVisionOfGrace in your community! Submit a request form to receive a free toolkit with - instagram templates - flyers - a discussion guide - the film and trailer upendmovement.org/grace/

Courtney Sellers, Executive Director of Montrose Grace Place talks about the impact of #AVisionOfGrace on the youth in the documentary. #YouthHomelessness #QueerYouth #Houston upendmovement.org/grace

We’re always asked, “If we abolish the family policing system, what do we do when children are sexually abused?” This paper is an answer. Read our latest #ReclaimingSafety installment by journalist Roxanna Asgarian. #FamilyPolicing #Abolition buff.ly/esqjYKI

When harm occurs, we should consider responses that - provide safety and support - honor family and community relationships with empathy and compassion - value healing, connection, accountability, and care #ReclaimingSafety Download the new essay by @strawburriez.bsky.social 🔗 buff.ly/esqjYKI

Announcing a #BlackAugust screening of #AVisionOfGrace in Baltimore, Friday, August 22 @ 7pm. Hosted by @baltlegal.bsky.social. BALT envisions a Baltimore where Black people use their power to determine justice within their communities. RSVP 🔗 buff.ly/mz4ydx1

“While the current administration poses a grave threat, we must recognize that Trump is only able to wield these forces because they already exist. The infrastructure of policing, prisons, and surveillance is always a danger to our collective safety and well-being, no matter who is in power.”

"Those of us working toward the abolition of family policing are familiar with these tactics. The very existence of the family policing system rests on moral panics: narratives that poor Black families will harm their children if they are not surveilled or separated.”

"Right now, we must refuse the trap of moral panic,” writes Maya Pendleton. "We can choose to protect our neighbors, especially those most targeted. We can fight against policies and policing that harm our communities.” #DCPolice 🔗 buff.ly/wMM026e

upEND's Maya Pendleton and @AlanDettlaff.com write, "The destruction of Black and Native families is foundational to the U.S… Abolition of harmful systems that perpetuate racist inequities is the only way forward if we are to truly achieve a just and healthy society.”

When harm occurs, we should consider responses that - provide safety and support - honor family and community relationships with empathy and compassion - value healing, connection, accountability, and care #ReclaimingSafety Download the new essay by @strawburriez.bsky.social 🔗 buff.ly/esqjYKI

The latest paper in our Reclaiming Safety Series by @strawburriez.bsky.social examines how we can respond to child sexual harm from the perspectives of survivors in ways that center accountability over punishment. Read the full article here: upendmovement.org/2025/08/13/r...

NEW RESOURCE: Drawing on the wisdom of survivors, Roxanna Asgarian posits powerful questions that challenge us to respond more humanely to child sexual harm. @strawburriez.bsky.social buff.ly/esqjYKI

I want to read more about the family policing system (all aspects) does anyone here have recs for me?

upEND @upendmovement.org has a great syllabus to go along with their podcast series, and it's also based on a book, so you can approach the topic from a few directions upendmovement.org/syllabus/

"We should not expect a country that’s proud about its campaigns of terror against children to be repentant now… All of this death and ruin is a call for youth liberation,” writes @williamcson.bsky.social for @prismreports.org.

Thank you to everyone who came to our virtual screening! If you would like to show #AVisionOfGrace in your community, let us know more about the event you want to host, and we’ll send you a toolkit with all of the materials you need. 🔗 form.jotform.com/251765258416...

upEND’ s Josie Pickens writes that the so called Big Beautiful Bill “will cause more family separations, not because Black mothers are unfit, but because we are under-resourced.” newsone.com/6305294/how-...

We're going live in one hour! Get tickets to the virtual screening of our new documentary. The recording will only be available for registrants, so don't miss it! 👀🎬🎟️ #AVisionOfGrace www.eventbrite.com/e/a-vision-o...

Waiola is the resident Mother of Montrose Grace Place in Houston and one of the stars of our film #AVisionOfGrace. At our Houston premiere, she talked about what finding and creating chosen family has meant to her. Get tickets for our VIRTUAL SCREENING Thurs, July 10! 🎟️ buff.ly/OBGOD0u

The upEND Team is at @socialismconference.org! Yesterday we kicked off the conference with a session on “Reproductive Justice, Family Policing, and Abolition” and now we get to hear from the incredible activists and organizers presenting this weekend. If you see us around, say hi! #Socialism25

Congress passed the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” that viciously attacks our communities & guts the resources necessary to keep families together. This only makes it clearer: we’re the ones who keep each other alive. Join our Movement Syncs to strategize together: bit.ly/movement-syncs-MFP

The upEND team is on their way to @socialismconference.org to talk about Family Policing Abolition & Reproductive Justice! Catch our session Thursday July 3, 2025 at 2:30pm. #Socialism2025

Today we’re celebrating #Juneteenth and upEND’s 5th birthday! upEND’s Program Director Josie Pickens (@jonubian) writes about what we’re learning and how we’re growing in a new blog post. 🔗 upendmovement.org/2025/06/19/r...

NEW BLOG POST: Breaking Down Family Policing Copaganda in the New ‘Lilo & Stitch’ - by @syddanel.com 🎬 The new movie is poised to impact the way millions think about family policing and the termination of parental rights, and we need to talk about it. ⚠️ upendmovement.org/2025/06/09/b...

On Monday, people impacted by forced family separation, along with advocates, attorneys, and organizers, held a virtual rally via Zoom to declare June 2025 the first annual Stolen Children’s Month. buff.ly/vesv8Sr

We’re excited to share the next essay in our #ReclaimingSafety series! Read “Reclaiming Safety for Children of Parents with Disabilities" by Charisa Smith. Editors Angela Burton and @alandettlaff.com buff.ly/ksJ0oUd

TODAY! Tune in for a special IG Live with Josie Pickens, Executive Producer of @upendmovement.org’s new documentary “A Vision of Grace,” who will preview the film and its first screening at the upcoming Black Alphabet Film Festival!

On what would have been Malcolm X's 100th birthday, @upendmovement.org's Josie Pickens writes about the trauma he experienced from the family policing system and makes a case for abolition as "the only way forward." READ HERE: newsone.com/6165220/malc...

upEND’s Program Director Josie Pickens writes for @newsoneofficial.bsky.social: Malcolm X’s early life—shaped by racist terrorism and family separation—planted the seeds of his radicalism. He saw through the lie of state benevolence. newsone.com/6165220/malc...

CELEBRATING BIG NEWS! “A Vision of Grace,” upEND’ s first short film, is an official selection for Houston’s inaugural Black Alphabet Film Festival! 🎬 🌿 May 31, 11 AM -7 PM Houston, TX Watch the trailer and see upcoming screenings: buff.ly/fGFSZx1

Ash Williams trains new abortion doulas so that they can use their “bodies, hearts, and minds to turn up on the state.” Video: youtube.com/shorts/uvbCb... Full Episode: upendmovement.org/podcast/epis... #ReproductiveJustice #AbortionBans #TransLivesMatter #GenderAffirmingCare

The Season 2 Finale is out now! Reproductive justice has always been the foundation of upEND’s work to abolish the family policing system. That’s why we wanted to speak with Ash Williams, a Black trans abortion doula and community organizer. buff.ly/QpBD88q