Who We Are
The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) and the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work have collaborated to create the upEND movement, a grassroots advocacy network designed to tap into work already being done and spark new work that will ultimately create a society in which the forcible separation of children from their families is no longer an acceptable solution for families in need.
Why We Need Change
Racism is deeply rooted in child welfare systems’ history, policies, and practices. But despite significant and frequent reform efforts, it has not been meaningfully modified or revised. Rather, the system as we know it must be reimagined and recreated in order to ensure racial equity.
We have known for decades that Black, Native, and increasingly Latinx children have disproportionately high rates of family separation and involvement with child welfare systems. We also know that foster care causes trauma and harm to many children. In addition to the initial crisis of family separation, children too often experience additional trauma from failed or unsafe placements, multiple moves while in care, placements in congregate care settings, and loss of connections to friends, extended family, and school. Children who spend extended time in foster care are at high risk for a host of negative outcomes including low educational attainment, homelessness, unemployment, economic hardship, unplanned pregnancies, mental health disorders, and criminal justice involvement.
Why upEND the system?
The work of the upEND movement isn’t about modest reform; it is about ending the current child welfare system as we know it and creating in its place new, anti-racist structures and practices to keep children safe and protected in their homes. upEND is about changing our nation’s approaches to family poverty and instability so that we work collectively to tackle the core societal stressors that make children vulnerable to unnecessary family separation.