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🪻 Prompt: On this Padlet, reimagine what an abolitionist family support system would look like with a partner or two.

Reflect on the following questions as you create your vision post:

1. What did you learn from Robert's ideas and concepts on family separation & the welfare system?

2. What surprised or emotionally struck you?

3. How do these readings connect with previous class themes (Intersectionality, Controlling Images, Theorizing Race and Racism, Culture vs Social Structures: What Causes Disadvantages, etc)?

4. Calls to action are fundamental. What's yours?

🍄 Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vQN8_RKDQIDAv6tGHQGJMtS6hIR-jLn0EwTnlPe0ck0/edit?usp=sharing

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💐 Directions

Click “+” next to the 🎨 Community Responses header (or the big "+" at the bottom right) to start creating your group's post.

Give it a unique title (for example: “Care, Not Control”)

In your post, respond to the reflection prompt. Feel free to look at the attached slide deck & questions over in the 🪻 Prompt padlet if needed.

Be creative! Padlet allows various forms of attachments; use them! (see the 🌈 Supportive Attachments & Media padlet, don't forget to add your names!)

Read other posts and interact with them in some way by complimenting them, asking a question, showing support, leaving a star rating out of five, or playing devil's advocate in their comments.

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☘️ Padlet Allows:

Images (JPG, PNG, GIF)

Videos (MP4, MOV, YouTube links)

Audio recordings (MP3, M4A, or record directly)

Documents (PDF, Word, PowerPoint)

Links & embeds (websites, Google Docs, etc.)

Drawings/sketches (using the built-in drawing tool)

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✰ Ahlani

Roberts' readings struck me both. She argues that the system often punishes families (parents and/or guardians) instead of providing them with resources and support. When I was a kid, my mom was reported to the police by neighbors who falsely accused her of "child neglect" for leaving us alone while she worked double shifts to provide for us and pay off bills. As a result, I envision a system that offers free or more accessible childcare services, promising housing and career security, and mental health support, rather than relying on immediate crisis responses (such as child separation). I believe that social workers should act as advocates, not investigators.

💡 Examples:

Free and local daycare or babysitting services for situations like mine.

Free therapy or monthly sessions with a counselor to check in on the parent/guardian's well-being.

Paid family leave and guaranteed basic income with benefits, without a doubt.

Free home repair and maintenance support, universal housing vouchers, rent control, and eviction protection laws that prevent sudden displacement.

💌 Roberts' quote inspires this: "We can build a society where children are safe because their families are secure" (2022:287).

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Dorothy Roberts introduces the welfare system as an integrated arm of the U.S. carceral state, operating with police and prisons to control marginalized populations. She presents a strong analogy between welfare systems and criminal systems -- citing warrantless investigations, monitoring by state agents, potential prosectution of parents, and the death penalty of the sytem (the termination of parental rights). She refers to the widespread surveillance of the welfare system as the stop-and-frisk of Black families, something that could not be more accurate.

Growing up, my family was heavily monitored by CPS. My mom had grown up in the welfare system and we had multiple run-ins with case workers while in elementary school. From what I remember, visits were sporadic, we needed to meet certain living conditions (that weren't really attainable for a single mom with three young kids), and we always were vulnerable to being taken away at any point. It is a terrifying system, one that does make you feel surveilled, imprisoned, and different - for lack of better words.

Welfare systems and the foster-care system are designed to destroy families. I'm reminded a lot of Patricia Hill Collin's "Controlling Images" texts, especially when thinking about the Martriarch stereotype, or stereotypes where mother's are forced to be inactive in their children's lives due to needing to work to provide for their families. With the welfare systems, parents who work often are punished with the removal of their parental rights despite them having to work to be able to provide thier children with a home and an environment that fits CPS' standards. As Roberts points out -- it isn't just a race problem, but also a class problem. In a city like Atlanta with a large, black population with people in all different socioeconomic classes, only poorer Black families are targeted more frequently unless reports are submitted for those families in higher classes.

I think that my calls to actions to build a new, more caring society where family policing is not relied on include:

redirecting funds used to supply CPS to provide "CPS-free zones", where housing, healthcare, and cash assistance are given to people that allows them to live in places that are up to CPS standards.

a kinship circle that guides young parents through conflict resolution, budgeting, and child development -- something that ensures accountability without removing children

network of neighborhood caregivers (elders, social workers, and parents) from a care-pod system that supports families in need. when parents experience tribulations, the caregiver steps in with meals, and temp childcare.

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Rather than punishing families for poverty, communities can create systems of support that help families meet their children's needs. Thinking about the mandated reporter status of teachers in schools, we tried to reimagine ways schools and communities and can be built to support the wellbeing of their members.

What it would look like:

neighborhood food pantry

universal free meals at schools (well balanced foods and options)

winter coat drive

legal resources available to parents

after school programs

free community events focused on shared joy and culture

free counseling services available to parents and kids

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Giselle and Monae - Kommunity Kinship

1. We both had previous knowledge that CPS and foster systems have failed many families. However, Robert's expanded this perception by comparing carceral systems. It showcases the vicious cycle of harm perpetrated by the foster care system on black and brown children and their families.

4. We think a community hub where before and after school programs with free meals and academic help can help families.

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The Effect of the Black Family in America

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The Effect of the Black Family in America

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Robert's reading seemed to continue the importance of the Black family. The US continues to tear the Black family apart as a means to tear apart the Black community. During slavery, slave owners made it a priority to separate families so that they would not revolt and leave. CPS is no different and legalizes how to separate parents from their children.

Have a sense of community that promotes a positive culture of care and support.

Increasing networks of care in the surrounding area

"Everyone wants a village, but no one wants to be a villager"