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To: Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

#ReimagineChildSafety: Get Cops Out of Child Protective Services

We demand that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors end DCFS’s partnership with law enforcement.

Why is this important?

The child welfare system traumatizes children and rips families apart. Far from helping, law enforcement only makes things worse. Their partnership must end now. Los Angeles County is home to the largest locally-run foster care system in the country, run by the Department of Children & Family Services (DCFS). The system disproportionately targets Black, Brown, and Indigenous children for surveillance and removal, actions that, even when well-intentioned, terrorize and traumatize families of color.

While Black children are 10% of LA County’s population, they represent 40% of the young people in the child welfare system. DCFS works in direct partnership with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and LA Sheriff’s Department (LASD). Approximately 25% of DCFS referrals come from law enforcement. DCFS and law enforcement agencies work together to enter homes and remove children. Police presence during DCFS investigations further traumatizes children and escalates the situation. Removing law enforcement from the child welfare system is the first step to curb the racist practices that break up families of color.

We must demand an end to systems that separate families instead of supporting them.

The REIMAGINE CHILD SAFETY campaign is supported by: Black Lives Matter LA; ACLU of Southern California; Alliance for Children’s Rights; Black Los Angeles Young Democrats; Dignity & Power Now; JusticeLA; La Defensa; Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers; Movement for Family Power; National Coalition for Child Protection Reform; Public Counsel; The RightWay Foundation; Trans Lifeline; and White People 4 Black Lives.

Updates

2021-07-29 19:03:32 -0700

Feel free to follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reimaginechildsafety/
on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DontTakeOurKids
and with the hashtag #reimaginechildsafety

2021-01-26 05:44:36 -0800

1,000 signatures reached

2021-01-19 13:12:01 -0800

500 signatures reached

2020-12-16 18:39:47 -0800

100 signatures reached

2020-12-14 18:41:21 -0800

50 signatures reached

2020-12-14 11:08:35 -0800

25 signatures reached

2020-12-14 09:50:25 -0800

10 signatures reached