Read DCF(S) STANDS FOR DIVIDING AND CONQUERING FAMILIES: HOW THE FAMILY POLICING SYSTEM CONTRIBUTES TO THE STALKER STATE, our new report researched and written in partnership with the Downtown Women’s Action Coalition (DWAC). The report was produced through focus groups, community conversations, and community-based research with mothers and families in Skid Row who have been harmed over the years by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.
You can download the full report or download an executive summary.
In Los Angeles, specifically in Skid Row, the family policing system has always used surveillance and criminalization tactics to separate and monitor generations of families. Throughout the years the system has made Skid Row families more vulnerable to having their housing, employment, and children taken away. The family policing system continues to justify their policing and surveillance practices through the criminalization and categorization of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities, constantly defining who they believe should be considered a “safety” threat or “high risk” parent.
All the research and work on this report was led by our dear friend Victoria Copeland. Watch Victoria introduce the report:
The report also would not have been possible without the guidance and input of Tosha Smith and Monique Noel, two organizers with DWAC. Watch them both explain the report’s importance:
We’ll also be hosting an in-person community town hall about this research at the Los Angeles Community Action Network (838 East 6th Street) on Tuesday, May 23, at 6pm:
