The child welfare system needs to have a policy to fight false allegations, and their workers need to be trained to detect them. Right now, false reports are simply tools for perpetrators to continue controlling their victims even when those victims have succeeded in going on with their lives. ACS becomes puppets of our abusers and our children suffer. The post Silenced: My ex-husband has used CPS to abuse me for more than a decade first appeared on Rise Magazine ..read more

From ages 8 through 18, I was a foster child. I was in so many homes that I can’t remember them all. Some of my foster parents abused their authority. I didn’t know if my real parents loved me. I felt like everyone was against me. I was 17 and at the hospital for a suicide attempt (my last) when I found out I was pregnant. I felt overwhelmed and so ashamed. ... Read More The post From Enemy to Ally: Because my caseworker accepted me, I was able to believe in myself. first appeared on Rise Magazine ..read more

Throughout our series on the intersection of family policing and domestic violence, Rise is exploring community-led, anti-carceral approaches to preventing violence, supporting healing and building safety. Malikah, based in Queens, New York, is a global grassroots network of women leaders who support each other and together remake their communities to be inclusive, safe and just. Here, Rana Abdelhamid, Founder of Malikah, discusses their work, which focuses on self-defense, healing justice, financial literacy and organizing.  Q. Please ... Read More The post Building a World Where Everyon ..read more

This webpage offers a list of organizations that provide support and resources that we hope can be useful to our community around healing, accountability, self- and community care and safety. We also provide resources that can support our continued collective learning around the intersection of family policing and domestic violence and intimate partner violence. The post The Intersection of Family Policing and Domestic Violence: Resources for Support, Healing and Learning first appeared on Rise Magazine ..read more

At Rise, the vast majority of parents impacted by the family policing system are Black and brown women who are survivors of domestic violence (DV), intimate partner violence (IPV) and/or sexual violence. Every year, many—if not most—parents in our Rise & Shine Parent Leadership Program write about and/or discuss experiences of domestic violence, sexual abuse and/or intimate partner violence in connection to their experience with the family policing system, a more accurate term than “child welfare” system. Our intention in sharing stories in our programs and in this publication series is to ..read more