On April 19, 2024, Dawn served as a panelist on “Nurturing Freedom Dreams through Abolition” at the University of Miami School of Law, and argued for an end to the systemic policing of families. Moderated by Corey B. Best, the panelists were Allison Schild, Parent Engagement Manager, Citrus Family Care Network, Amanda Wallace, Founder, Operation Stop CPS, Charisa Kiyô Smith, Professor of Law & Co-Director, Family Law Practice Clinic, CUNY Law, and Dawn Blagrove, Executive Director & Attorney, Emancipate North Carolina. They discussed the frameworks and strategies needed to move towards abolition and concretely discussed alternatives for families to thrive in a world without the family policing system.
The discussion provided a critical understanding of the current laws, policies, and practices that harm families in the name of child safety, and they explored how abolition frameworks might apply to the family policing context and connect to abolitionist theories in other carceral spheres. The conversation proposed an alternative vision to address the root issues that bring families into contact with the family policing system, and how to achieve that vision through communication, action, and policy. Diverse speakers drew from their own scholarship and activism to provide a path to actionable solutions and sound policy.