Contact

The history of the child welfare system is based on institutional racism resulting in devastating consequences for children and families of color. Black, Native, and, in many jurisdictions, Latinx children have disproportionately high rates of family separation and system involvement. Despite decades of efforts aimed at reform, they continue to have poorer outcomes and these inequities remain despite reform efforts. Eliminating these inequities will only result from a fundamental reimagining of the meaning of child welfare—a reimagining that is fundamentally anti-racist.

The upEND Movement works to create a society in which the forcible separation of children from their parents is no longer an acceptable intervention for families in need. This movement involves making the need for the current system of foster care obsolete and re-imagining the care and well-being for children that is designed by and for families and communities and results in critical and effective community-based support.