Why Abolition Shouldn’t be a Scary Word with Erin Miles Cloud

Some would say that abolishing the child welfare system would put children at risk while others would say it is a beautiful vision for families. How can one idea, one word, spark such vastly different points of view, and what does this difference help us better understand about the child welfare system?

In this episode of Community In-Site, host Valerie Frost balances these differing points of view in her conversation with Erin Miles Cloud, co-founder of Movement for Family Power and co-editor of How To End Family Policing. Erin explains what abolition actually means in practice, how safety can exist outside traditional systems, and what structures must be built to replace what’s removed.

This conversation doesn’t resolve the debate. Instead, it asks harder questions about power, accountability, and whether we can imagine a system that protects children without unnecessarily policing families.