Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · 13d

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

1

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · 16d

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. ❤️ 🔥

1 1 7

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · 21d

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

The kids aren't OK: Foster care costs rising with no end in sight

This year Haywood added over $1 million to its foster care budget, by far the biggest increase in county expenses, but the reason is anything but simple.

www.themountaineer.com

2

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · 22d

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.

Legal Challenge in GA Targets Billing Parents for Foster Care

A Georgia mother whose poverty led to the loss of her children is challenging the state’s practice of billing poor parents for foster care.

imprintnews.org

3

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · 23d

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.

New Mexico to become the first state to offer universal child care

The program may offer a blueprint for other states on an issue that was prominent during the 2024 campaign.

www.nbcnews.com

1

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · 26d

"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.

Pandemic Lockdown Traumas Were Temporary. Child Welfare Traumas Have Lasting Effects. — Center for New York City Affairs

The isolation and alienation so many faced during Covid-19 are all too familiar to families entangled in the child protective system.

www.centernyc.org

1 3

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · 26d

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

No Pasaran, ICE out of our schools and communities

3 7

Reposted by upEND Movement

calizaybak.bsky.social @calizaybak.bsky.social · Sep 8

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

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Sep 8

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...

A guaranteed income program has been life-changing for Philly moms. If expanded, it could change lives in Germantown. - Resolve Philly

The Philly Joy Bank gives pregnant moms $1,000 a month to ease financial strain and improve birth outcomes. Should Germantown be next?

buff.ly

1 1

Reposted by upEND Movement

Ouaquaga on Chenango @jnxouaquaga.bsky.social · Sep 8

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

Not unwanted.

Stolen.

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Sep 8

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...

A guaranteed income program has been life-changing for Philly moms. If expanded, it could change lives in Germantown. - Resolve Philly

The Philly Joy Bank gives pregnant moms $1,000 a month to ease financial strain and improve birth outcomes. Should Germantown be next?

buff.ly

13 25

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Sep 8

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...

A guaranteed income program has been life-changing for Philly moms. If expanded, it could change lives in Germantown. - Resolve Philly

The Philly Joy Bank gives pregnant moms $1,000 a month to ease financial strain and improve birth outcomes. Should Germantown be next?

buff.ly

14 26

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Sep 4

“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

1

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Sep 4

⚠️ 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

1

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Sep 3

"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

Reclaiming Safety for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse - upEND Movement

Drawing on the wisdom of survivors, Asgarian posits powerful questions that challenge us to respond more humanely to child sexual harm in ways that prioritize youth agency, center healing, and hold…

buff.ly

1 3

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Aug 26

"You might say that the dismal statistics about child sexual abuse point to the need for more #familypolicing, more state interference. But if you listen closely, many survivors are saying that’s not what they need or want at all.” #ReclaimingSafety buff.ly/esqjYKI

Reclaiming Safety for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse - upEND Movement

Drawing on the wisdom of survivors, Asgarian posits powerful questions that challenge us to respond more humanely to child sexual harm in ways that prioritize youth agency, center healing, and hold…

buff.ly

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Aug 26

"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

Reclaiming Safety for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse - upEND Movement

Drawing on the wisdom of survivors, Asgarian posits powerful questions that challenge us to respond more humanely to child sexual harm in ways that prioritize youth agency, center healing, and hold…

buff.ly

1 2 4

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Aug 25

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/

1 1

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Aug 22

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

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Aug 21

What questions have you wrestled with around #FamilyPolicing and #Abolition? How can we help?

#ReclaimingSafety buff.ly/eZrm6sy

Reclaiming Safety - upEND Movement

upendmovement.org

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Aug 21

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

Reclaiming Safety for Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse - upEND Movement

Drawing on the wisdom of survivors, Asgarian posits powerful questions that challenge us to respond more humanely to child sexual harm in ways that prioritize youth agency, center healing, and hold…

buff.ly

1 1 1

Reposted by upEND Movement

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Aug 15

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

Starting Points to Consider More Humane Ways to Respond to Child Sexual Harm: 1) Survivor-focused, 2) Community-oriented, 3) Safety planning, 4) Transformation and Accountability, 5) Healing spaces for each impacted person.

2 2

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Aug 20

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

3 5

Reposted by upEND Movement

Shannon Bucci 🔻 @shannonbucci.bsky.social · Aug 15

“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.”

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Aug 15

"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

DC’s Militarization Shows How Policing Targets Black Youth - upEND Movement

The current “takeover” of DC has led to federal agents terrorizing DC’s majority Black neighborhoods.

buff.ly

2 3

Reposted by upEND Movement

Doelle Nonnelly @marconi333.bsky.social · Aug 15

"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.”

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Aug 15

"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.” #DCPolice 🔗 buff.ly/wMM026e

This week in Washington, DC, the current administration announced plans to “takeover” the city. This includes federalizing DC’s police force and deploying 800 National Guard troops, who arrived on Tuesday.

Local media and officials have painted these young people as inherently violent and dangerous, circulating reports of teenagers “overrunning” DC neighborhoods.

And the punitive approach doesn’t stop with youth. For years, the city has treated its homeless residents as problems to be removed, rather than people in need of care and support.

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.

3 4

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Aug 15

"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.” #DCPolice 🔗 buff.ly/wMM026e

1 4

upEND Movement @upendmovement.org · Aug 15

"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

DC’s Militarization Shows How Policing Targets Black Youth - upEND Movement

The current “takeover” of DC has led to federal agents terrorizing DC’s majority Black neighborhoods.

buff.ly

1 2 6