This event is hosted by Haymarket Books, Beyond Prisons, Truthout, and upEND Movement.

Join Maya Schenwar, Kim Wilson, Harsha Walia, and Dorothy Roberts for a celebration of this vital new anthology exploring the intersections between caregiving and abolition.

Abolition has never been a proposal to simply tear things down. As Alexis Pauline Gumbs asks, “What if abolition is something that grows?” As we struggle to build a liberatory, caring, loving, abundant future, we have much to learn from the work of birthing, raising, caring for, and loving future generations.

In We Grow the World Together, abolitionists and organizers Maya Schenwar and Kim Wilson bring together a remarkable collection of voices revealing the complex tapestry of ways people are living abolition in their daily lives through parenting and caregiving. Ranging from personal narratives to policy-focused analysis to activist chronicles, these writers highlight how abolition is essential to any kind of parenting justice.

This series is hosted by the MJCF Coalition.

This group is dedicated to families who have experienced involvement with the family policing system and have been reunified. It provides a supportive space focused on rebuilding family trust, cohesiveness, and promoting healing.

Held every 3rd Wednesday every month.

This event is hosted by Operation Stop CPS.

Join us at the Press Conference & Rally as we speak out about the urgent need to fight back against the Family Policing System. This is a critical moment for our community!

When? Wednesday, Nov 20, 3:30pm
Where? Durham County Courthouse

Let’s show up, make noise, and demand a better future for families. See you there!

This event is hosted by RISE and Healthy and Free Tennessee.

Join RISE and Healthy and Free Tennessee for a Pregnancy Decriminalization Teach-In on November 15th. When we say "pregnancy criminalization" we are talking about the ways in which people face punishment for the outcomes of their pregnancies, including abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth, or live birth.

The goals for the teach-in include:

- Define how reproductive justice and abolition work are intertwined

- Articulate the danger and harms of pregnancy criminalization

- Assess resource availability and gaps for the Tri Cities

- Talk about resisting pregnancy criminalization

- Build resource hubs for Tri Cities in communities that are typically on the front lines of pregnancy criminalization and are more likely to experience state surveillance during (and after) their pregnancies

Food will be provided.

UPDATE: We’ve reached full capacity! We have plans to livestream the opening and closing keynotes. Stay tuned for links. To facilitate open dialogue, a fully virtual option is not currently available.

You are invited to Breaking Silos in Reproductive Justice: Building Solidarity to End Family Policing, a symposium hosted by the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice (CRRJ) at UC Berkeley Law, If/When/How: Lawyers for Reproductive Justice, and Movement for Family Power.

When? November 15, 2024 

Where? Berkeley, CA 

Please join us for a full day of panel discussions and critical conversations interrogating the family policing system–or the so-called “child welfare” system–as a site of reproductive punishment and control, particularly for Black, Latine, and Indigenous families, and other marginalized communities. We are thrilled to share that our keynote speaker will be Dorothy Roberts, thought leader, author, and professor–and our closing speaker will be Amanda Wallace, movement leader and founder of Operation Stop CPS.

The post-Roe landscape has amplified the connection between attacks on reproductive autonomy and family integrity. More so than ever, people are being forced to remain pregnant and subsequently punished by the family police for raising children without the necessary support or resources. Through practices like test-and-report and mandated reporting, the family policing system also deters birthing people from seeking the reproductive health care they need. 

We are calling on advocates to unite in advancing a shared vision for reproductive justice that includes an end to family policing.

This group is hosted by Peer Support Space.

A nonclinical, peer-led space facilitated by survivors of the family policing system for fellow adult survivors (18+) (i.e. adoptees, former foster kids, etc). We exist to lower feelings of isolation and to build a support system with other survivors. We uplift that it’s an oppressive, carceral system and this space is centered around those who have survived it.

Join us every second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 6:30PM EST as we build community and support one another, and hold space for each other to talk about our lived experience in an affirming space.

Community Norms

• This is a confidential, affirming and peer led gathering for adult survivors of the child welfare system (i.e. adoptees, foster kids, etc) - not a clinical support group or group therapy (or intended to be a replacement for such)

• In this space we honor people’s experiences - this is not a space to debate, challenge, or resist someone's lived experience as a survivor.

• Give one another an equal chance to take up space.

• Honor that what is shared here stays here.

• Meet your needs as you see fit.

• When possible, please provide content or trigger warnings for things that may be inflammatory.

• We uplift that it’s an oppressive, carceral system and this space is centered around those who have survived it.

This series is hosted by the MJCF Coalition.

This webinar offers crucial guidance and resources for biological parents whose parental rights have been terminated by child welfare or child protection services courts through dependency and neglect proceedings.

Held every 2nd Wednesday every month.

This event series is hosted by Family Matters 1st of Boston.

Are you impacted by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and want to transform your pain into purpose by driving change on a larger scale? Are you an advocate for children and families? Are you an attorney, policy expert, or social worker looking to make a difference?

Join Family Matters 1st’s Legislative & Statewide Advocacy Meetings designed to empower families and allies to create real, systemic change.Here’s what we do

• Write and Support Bills: Help draft legislation and advocate for family-centered policies.

• Prepare Testimony: Learn how to craft powerful, impactful testimony.

• Lead Public Education Campaigns: Raise awareness and educate the public on the issues that matter most.

• Facilitate Accountability Meetings: Engage directly with attorneys, legislators, and the judicial system to advocate for transparency and reform.

• Strategic Planning: Work together to develop long-term strategies for family defense and child welfare reform.

Meetings are held every second Wednesday of the month from 6:00–7:00 PM ET.

To RSVP, email FamilyMattersBoston@gmail.com.

This event is hosted by the American Bar Association Civil Rights and Social Justice Section.

Join us for our fourth installment in a multi-part In Conversation Series from the Section's Reproductive Rights and Justice Committee on Friday, November 8th at 1p.m. ET.

From the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 until Dobbs decision in 2022, there were more than 1,800 cases across the country in which law enforcement, prosecutors, healthcare workers, family regulation workers, and judges have deprived pregnant people of their constitutional right under the guise of protecting “unborn life.” A recent report documents how the growing popularity of the concept of “fetal personhood” in anti-abortion rhetoric and the reliance on substance use allegations are being used to charge pregnant people with criminal child neglect or endangerment, contributing to the rise in pregnancy criminalization since 2006. Even before Dobbs, people have been increasingly criminalized for their pregnancies, regardless of birth outcome. Join our experts as they discuss the who and why birthing people are being criminalized, the impact of birth people and their communities, and access to maternal healthcare.

Speakers:
Kulsoom Ijaz – Senior Staff Attorney, @pregnancyjust
Dr. Mishka Terplan – Medical Director and Senior Research Scientist – Friends Research Institute, Inc.

Moderator:
Nicolle Vasquez Del Favero– Member, Reproductive Rights Initiative, ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice

This event is hosted by the Whole Child Equity Partnership’s Health Workgroup.

Join us for the third and last webinar of the Understanding California Birth Options Series. We will host a conversation about birthing rights in California with legal professionals.

California is currently experiencing a maternity care and maternal/infant mortality care crisis. We will clearly communicate the importance of the Midwifery Model of Care™, share information on childbirth education options, informed decision making and knowing your rights in a birth space setting – all in support of a safe and affirming childbirth experience for BIPOC families.

When: Thursday, November 7, 2024 / 3:30 - 5PM

Speakers:

• Keshia Adeniyi-Dorsey, ESQ- Family Defender

• Jessica Chandler- Social Worker Investigator

This event is hosted by Give Us Back Our Children Philadelphia.

Join Give Us Back Our Children Philly at 10AM every first Wednesday of the month outside Family Court (1501 Arch St - 15th St. entrance)

Give Us Back Our Children/Philly, part of the Support Not Separation International Network, is joining our sister groups in London and LA rallying outside family courts the first Wednesday of every month. We are demanding the implementation of recommendations from City Council Special Committee on Child Separations, including:

·       Poverty is not neglect

·       Open Family Court

·       No removing children from domestic violence survivors

·       Drug use is not child abuse

Contact 215-848-1120 / philly@allwomencount.net for more information.

This event is hosted by Reclaiming Our Sisters Everywhere.

Join us in a ceremony honoring Black women and girls who are victims of serial murderers in South Los Angeles, as well as other victims of violence.

When: November 2, 204 / 6-8PM PT

Where: The Big House / 180 East 35th Street / Los Angeles, CA

For more information and reservations, contact Grace Montgomery at 323-272-9413.

This event is hosted by Healthy and Free Tennessee (HFTN) in collaboration with the Beyond Roe Collective.

The Pregnancy Decriminalization Teach-In will be on Tuesday October 29th from 6-8 PM in East Nashville, TN. Location address will be released to registered participants the day before the event. Food will be provided.

What is pregnancy criminalization? 

When we say “pregnancy criminalization” we are talking about the ways in which people face punishment for the outcomes of their pregnancies, including abortion, miscarriage, stillbirth, or live birth. Pregnancy Justice defines pregnancy criminalization as an instance in which someone is either arrested for reasons related to their pregnancy, or where the terms of their bail, sentencing, or probation are heightened because they became pregnant after being charged with an unrelated crime.

Goals for the teach-in include: 

+ Define how reproductive justice and abolition work are intertwined

+ Articulate the danger and harms of pregnancy criminalization

+ Assess resource availability and gaps for Nashville

+ Talk about resisting pregnancy criminalization

+ Building resource hubs for Nashville in communities that are typically on the front lines of pregnancy criminalization, and are more likely to experience state surveillance during (and after) their pregnancies

This event is hosted by Mother’s Outreach Network.

You are invited to a lunch and live broadcast of a discussion on Mother’s Outreach Network’s (MON) fight against poverty-driven child and family separation among Black mothers in low-income families across the District. The discussion will include a conversation with independent researchers Dr. Jim Greiner and Mandy Mobley Li, Esq, of the Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School, who are evaluating our pilot programs. If you can’t make the lunch in person, there will be an online option!

MON will exclusively share the early lessons from the pioneering Mother Up Guaranteed Income Research Pilot conducted for MON by the Access to Justice Lab. This program investigates the hypothesis that poverty is a primary cause of the problems that trigger the involvement of D.C.’s Child and Family Services Agency (“CFSA”). This is MON’s ongoing pilot program that provides monthly direct cash assistance to Black mothers in Washington D.C. currently or recently involved with CFSA and in danger of being separated from their children. Mother’s Outreach Network’s hope is to ease financial burdens on mothers, prevent further punitive interventions from the child welfare system, and keep families together. 

This group is hosted by Peer Support Space.

A nonclinical, peer-led space facilitated by survivors of the family policing system for fellow adult survivors (18+) (i.e. adoptees, former foster kids, etc). We exist to lower feelings of isolation and to build a support system with other survivors. We uplift that it’s an oppressive, carceral system and this space is centered around those who have survived it.

Join us every second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 6:30PM EST as we build community and support one another, and hold space for each other to talk about our lived experience in an affirming space.

Community Norms

• This is a confidential, affirming and peer led gathering for adult survivors of the child welfare system (i.e. adoptees, foster kids, etc) - not a clinical support group or group therapy (or intended to be a replacement for such)

• In this space we honor people’s experiences - this is not a space to debate, challenge, or resist someone's lived experience as a survivor.

• Give one another an equal chance to take up space.

• Honor that what is shared here stays here.

• Meet your needs as you see fit.

• When possible, please provide content or trigger warnings for things that may be inflammatory.

• We uplift that it’s an oppressive, carceral system and this space is centered around those who have survived it.

This series is hosted by the MJCF Coalition.

This session welcomes biological parents and all family members, including grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, nieces, and nephews, offering them tools and information to effectively navigate complex family dynamics.

Held every 4th Wednesday every month.

This event is hosted by the People’s Alliance and Carolina Parent Defenders.

Join the People’s Alliance’s Child and Family Action Team for a presentation and co-design session with Carolina Parent Defenders as we dream of what strong parent representation could look like for families in Durham.

When? October 21, 2024 at 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Where? People's Solidarity Hub
1805 Chapel Hill Rd
Durham, NC 27707

This series is hosted by the MJCF Coalition.

This group is dedicated to families who have experienced involvement with the family policing system and have been reunified. It provides a supportive space focused on rebuilding family trust, cohesiveness, and promoting healing.

Held every 3rd Wednesday every month.

This series is hosted by the MJCF Coalition.

This webinar offers crucial guidance and resources for biological parents whose parental rights have been terminated by child welfare or child protection services courts through dependency and neglect proceedings.

Held every 2nd Wednesday every month.

This event series is hosted by Family Matters 1st of Boston.

Are you impacted by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and want to transform your pain into purpose by driving change on a larger scale? Are you an advocate for children and families? Are you an attorney, policy expert, or social worker looking to make a difference?

Join Family Matters 1st’s Legislative & Statewide Advocacy Meetings designed to empower families and allies to create real, systemic change.Here’s what we do

• Write and Support Bills: Help draft legislation and advocate for family-centered policies.

• Prepare Testimony: Learn how to craft powerful, impactful testimony.

• Lead Public Education Campaigns: Raise awareness and educate the public on the issues that matter most.

• Facilitate Accountability Meetings: Engage directly with attorneys, legislators, and the judicial system to advocate for transparency and reform.

• Strategic Planning: Work together to develop long-term strategies for family defense and child welfare reform.

Meetings are held every second Wednesday of the month from 6:00–7:00 PM ET.

To RSVP, email FamilyMattersBoston@gmail.com.

This event is hosted by the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice.

Join this important discussion on the criminalization of pregnancy in the post-Dobbs era! The Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice presents Pregnancy as a Crime: Research and Advocacy in a Post-Dobbs Landscape, featuring leading voices in the field:

• Wendy Bach (University of Tennessee Law School)

• Dana Sussman (Pregnancy Justice)

This conversation will explore Pregnancy Justice’s newly-released report, “Pregnancy as a Crime: A Preliminary Report on the First Year After Dobbs.”

When? Tuesday, October 8th./ 3:35PM - 5:45PM
Where? Zoom Meeting [DM @berkeleycrrj for the link]

This event is hosted by Elephant Circle and co-sponsored by Movement for Family Power.

The 2024 People's Parade is an inaugural, invigorating & intergenerational celebration of our movement and its ancestors. The parade is a call to action, and a call to imagination: What if joy and celebration were the defining dimensions of perinatal experiences? What if, hand-in-hand with the heartbreak surrounding perinatal care, there could be drumming, feathers, and the irresistibly joyful feeling of moving to the rhythm of the beat?

We believe in the power of parades  to:

• Build community power

• Connect hearts + minds

• Nurture joy at the roots of our movement for birth justice

Join us on Sunday, October 6th in Denver, CO.

This event is hosted by Better Together Baltimore, Fathers Fighting 4 Fathers, and The Food Project.

Come share your thoughts about CPS at a community listening session! Join us at The Food Project (424 South Pulaski St) at 12PM on October 3 as we gather together to listen, learn and engage on critical topics like:

• Knowing your rights

• Child safety & welfare

• Family support resources

Light refreshments will be provided.

This event is hosted by Give Us Back Our Children Philadelphia.

Join Give Us Back Our Children Philly at 10AM every first Wednesday of the month outside Family Court (1501 Arch St - 15th St. entrance)

Give Us Back Our Children/Philly, part of the Support Not Separation International Network, is joining our sister groups in London and LA rallying outside family courts the first Wednesday of every month. We are demanding the implementation of recommendations from City Council Special Committee on Child Separations, including:

·       Poverty is not neglect

·       Open Family Court

·       No removing children from domestic violence survivors

·       Drug use is not child abuse

Contact 215-848-1120 / philly@allwomencount.net for more information.

This event is being hosted by The Injustice Reform Network in partnership with HEAT Foundation and the Coalition for Families Against Child Separation.

Join us for an impactful evening dedicated to highlighting the often-overlooked experiences of formerly and currently incarcerated women. This event seeks to shed light on the systemic challenges these women face, including the severe lack of support and resources both inside and outside prison walls. We will also explore the pervasive erasure of their voices in discussions about criminal justice reform. 

Location: Main Library, Gellman Room (101 E. Franklin St, Richmond, VA 23219)

Come listen to powerful testimonies, engage in meaningful conversations, and be part of a movement that demands justice, dignity, and visibility for all women impacted by the criminal injustice system. 

All are welcome to attend this free event. RSVP is appreciated but not required to attend however RSVP'd guess seats are secured.

This event is hosted by the Narrowing the Front Door Workgroup.

The event will feature a keynote address by Amanda Wallace, Founder of Operation Stop ACS, followed by a panel titled "Self-Examination and Personal Accountability: What Does Reckoning Mean to You?" with staff representatives from Good Shepherd Services, Graham, and New York Foundling. Attendees will have the chance to share their thoughts during an open mic session, "Speak Up, Your Opinion Matters." A CEO roundtable will discuss strategies for sustaining momentum and driving change, with insights from Michelle Yanche (Good Shepherd Services), Melanie Hartzog (New York Foundling), and Kimberly Watson (Graham), moderated by Angela Olivia Burton, Attorney and Co-Chair of the Narrowing the Front Door Workgroup. The event will be emceed by Joyce McMillan, Founder and Executive Director of JMACforFamilies.

This series is hosted by the MJCF Coalition.

This webinar offers crucial guidance and resources for biological parents whose parental rights have been terminated by child welfare or child protection services courts through dependency and neglect proceedings.

Held every 2nd Wednesday every month.

This event is hosted by Operation Stop CPS and Emancipate NC.

Join us for Freedom in the Park on September 21 from 3-6 PM. Don’t miss this fun-filled day with a curated Kids Corner, DJ, yoga, meditation, and more.