Friday, March 8th | 1:00 – 2:15 PM (ET)
Mother’s Outreach Network is excited to announce our new coalition: the End Poverty, Preserve Families Coalition! Discover how we can work towards a future with support, rather than punishment of our families at our upcoming “What Is Family Policing?” webinar series.
Register to join our virtual discussion! More details are below.
In Solidarity
Melody (she, her, hers)
Melody R. Webb, Esq.
Founder and Executive Director
Mother’s Outreach Network / Guaranteed Income Coalition
March 8th Webinar & Coalition Launch!
Join us on Friday, March 8th for the launch of the End Poverty, Preserve Families Coalition DC!
Mother’s Outreach Network is thrilled to announce that we are initiating an effort to transform the child welfare system here in DC: the End Poverty, Preserve Families Coalition! Through this new coalition, Mother’s Outreach Network will be able to continue the advocacy and education about family policing we’ve always done while enlisting new partners in the struggle to end poverty and preserve families.
We are kicking off the coalition at 1pm with our webinar: What is Family Policing and What are the Alternatives that Provide Real Support? This first event in a series of webinars will feature special guests Alan Detlaff, Professor of Social Work at University of Houston, and Maya Pendleton, Co-Founder of the upEND movement. In a discussion moderated by Mother’s Outreach Network Executive Director Melody Webb, our panelists will present about the history of the child welfare system and the transformational, abolitionist alternatives they envision. We will also get to hear about Prof. Detlaff’s new book Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System: The Case for Abolition. We hope you will tune in to engage with our panelists, whether you are an expert in the field or completely new to the child welfare advocacy space.
What: Webinar: What is Family Policing and What are the Alternatives that Provide Real Support?
Who: Hosted by the new End Poverty, Preserve Families Coalition (a project of Mother’s Outreach Network)
When: Friday, March 8th | 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Where: Zoom (register below)
This webinar is the first of several that will be hosted by the new End Poverty, Preserve Families Coalition. If you are interested in joining the coalition or have ideas for future webinars, please let us know at info@
Child Protective Services Is Being Weaponized Against Our Black Patients
While Child Protective Services are meant to protect children from abuse or neglect, involvement has been found to disproportionately impact Black families. Research has shown the prevalence and harms of over reporting of Black families to CPS agencies, including this Stanford study. Over 50 percent of Black children undergo an investigation by child welfare services before the age of 18. This article identifies how CPS involvement can do more harm than good and examines the lack of repercussions for the medical personnel who misuse their authority. Read more on their call for CPS reform and their vision of a multifaceted approach to ensure Black families are protected.
Force multipliers: How the criminal legal and child welfare systems cooperate to punish families
Dual system involvement occurs when families are involved with both the criminal legal system and the child welfare system, both of which have an overrepresentation of Black and Brown people. Involvement in one system leads to challenges with punishment instead of properly addressing social issues. Read more to learn about the two intertwining systems and how more resources and less punishment can better support families and children.
After a violent altercation with her boyfriend, Stephanie went to the police and got a restraining order. She was told she did everything right; later, she discovered she was accused by the Department of Children and Families of child neglect. This case was one of hundreds of others that were overturned by internal hearing offices last year as investigators lacked proof, ignored evidence, or violated their own policies. Read the full story here.
Class Action Lawsuit Against NYC Children’s Services for Coercive and Threatening Home Searches
On February 20th, “on behalf of nine plaintiffs and a proposed class of tens of thousands of parents and other caretakers, the Family Justice Law Center, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and the NYU School of Law Family Defense Clinic filed a major, first-of-its-kind class action lawsuit against New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) for having a persuasive and unnecessary practice of using highly coercive tactics to illegally search tens of thousands of families’ homes every year.”
Source: Press Release Family Justice Law Center, February 20, 2024
