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Recent Posts
Black History Month: More Than Commemoration—A Blueprint for Liberation
February 12, 2025
Throughout history, Black people have resisted not only through direct action against oppressive forces but also by creating systems of care that ensured collective survival.
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Evaluating Texas’ “Active Efforts” Reform Using an Abolitionist Framework
Proposed Texas Senate Bill 620 would amend the Family Code by replacing all references to “reasonable efforts” with “active efforts” to reunify families separated by the family policing system and establishing a clear definition of the term. We acknowledge that SB 620 may reduce some harms currently inflicted by the child welfare system, and we […]
Season 2 of the upEND Podcast Explores Questions of Solidarity
Let’s deepen our political education and bring new people to the fight for our collective liberation.
Don’t Miss Our Keynote Conversation with Kelly Hayes and Maya Pendleton at upEND’s 2024 Convening
Kelly Hayes is a Menominee author, organizer, movement educator and photographer. She is the host of Truthout‘s podcast Movement Memos and co-author of the book Let This Radicalize You, with Mariame Kaba.
Confronting the “What about…” Questions
How should we respond when harm occurs? A new series from upEND Movement seeks to thoughtfully engage with these questions and propose responses grounded in care and compassion.
Reflections on Pride 2024
Ending the family policing system and fighting for an abolitionist world necessarily also includes developing a robust platform that centers and amplifies the realities that Black LGBTQ youth face as they navigate carceral systems.
“Dream, Create, Liberate” Afrofuturist Art Book Out Now
As we embark on this journey of imagination and liberation, we invited artists to join us in envisioning a world free from family policing.
upEND Featured In
Confronting the Racist Legacy of the Child Welfare System with Alan Dettlaff
Adoptees Crossing Lines Podcast
News Archive
Fostering tragedy: Experts say system designed to protect children can break up families, CBS Sunday Morning, December 4, 2022
No More Carseats, How Is That Legal? Podcast, July 6, 2022
“It’s Like A Leech On Me”: Child Abuse Registries Punish Unsuspecting Parents Of Color, Buzzfeed News, April 27, 2022
What Did Child Welfare Learn From 2020?, Child Information Gateway Podcast, January 15, 2021,
New upEND Publication Calls for Fundamental Transformation of Family Policing, July 27, 2021
CPS disproportionately takes custody of Black children, report says, July 26, 2021
Being with Family Is a Human Right: We Can’t and Won’t Deny It, A Second Chance, Inc., December 14, 2020
What It Means to Abolish Child Welfare As We Know It, the Imprint, October 24, 2020
Reimagining Child Welfare Services: A Call to UpEND Child Welfare as We Know It, Children’s Bureau Express, August/September 2020
University of Houston Launches upEND Movement (VIDEO), Fox 26 Houston, July 15, 2020
Now Is the Time for Abolition, the Imprint, June 22, 2020
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